Chicago 1 Louisville 0 Player Ratings

Louisville may not be technically eliminated, but I have written them off. Changes need to be made.

Lund-6: Maybe should have done better on the goal.

Pickett-5: Distribution from the back was off, but has to be furious that no one was on the back post for her fantastic corner.

Erceg-5: Maybe unfair but gets the captain's downgrade for a poor team performance.

Lester-5: Not terrible, but hard to say anything more positive.

Milliet-5: Not her best match defensively as she got beaten for pace a few times.

Pikkujämsä-5: Hit the post, but Yuki made her look foolish more than once.

Fischer-6: Hit the post as well. Disappointing to see her subbed off.

DeMelo-5: Not the same player since the World Cup.

Monaghan-5: Not very memorable.

Nadim-6: Only individual brilliance was going to do anything tonight, and at least she tried.

Davis-5: Don’t like her on the right.

Chicago v Louisville Pre Match Thoughts

It’s Louisville versus Chicago for the fourth time this season and the visiting team will be looking to make it 4 wins in a season against their hosts. Only 3 points will matter for either team, so hopefully we see an open and entertaining match.

Louisville was probably extra thankful for the international break, but neither Baggett nor Howell will be fit enough to make the match day squad. Pickett considers herself fully healthy, so that is welcome news. A few international players might be last minute calls to make the match day 18.

Everyone around the team is fully aware that it is 3 points or bust time. I don't get the sense that anyone is carrying any extra nervousness, but one would hope that they are carrying that extra little bit of intensity. A win in Chicago could really set off a late playoff push. Louisville has a history of playing well late in the season, but the playoffs haven't been in reach in the previous two campaigns. I will say that I am hopeful for a late push, but my observations to date don’t make me optimistic about getting 9 points from 3 matches.

In more positive news, the Lou City and Racing Foundation raised over $300,000 as a result of the Soccer Ball on Wednesday. It's always fun to see the players and coaches outside of the normal confines of the training ground and the stadium. I got to chat with Howell for a few minutes and tried to give her my jacket to wear for an upcoming player entrance. She politely declined and shared her plans to celebrate one of her favorite footballers at the upcoming home finale. Also, a player that will remain nameless was seen carrying out an unopened bottle of wine from the event. (Each table was provided a bottle of white and red, so plenty of wine was consumed and also left unconsuned.) Overall it was a fun night for a good cause.

Louisville 0 Houston 1 Post Match Thoughts

Courtesy David Mucker

Louisville is starting to look like a team that has simply run of out steam and ideas. The team has made strides this season, but it looks like they will ultimately come up short of their playoff dream.

• There were some frankly candid quotes from Erceg last night. I think it would be tough not to agree with her assessment of the situation. The injuries at this point in the season start to pile up and if you don't have a full squad that is ready to go it can make life very difficult. We know that Coach Björkegren will always play a player he trusts out of position over a like-for-like player that he doesn't. I agree with Erceg's assessment that Pokorny is “not a defensive player” but also that she is “stepping in to do a job that's not hers.” The truth is that the roster isn't balanced with enough defensive depth. Louisville simply carries too many players that don't consistently tribute much to the team. There are a plethora of reasons, but those reasons aren't of much solace right now.

• It's probably time to start asking the question if Coach Björkegren has done enough winning to secure a third season. I think the evidence likely points to “no”, and I think we have started to see signs of regression since the return of the World Cup players. This team might need a bigger personality to lead the squad next year because unless something drastic happens, I think you can firmly label it “veteran squad”. This team is a piece or two away from challenging next year, but needs to get more from some players that Björkegren simply hasn't gotten. I won't write his obituary yet, but I think it's coming.

• I think Erceg's most telling quote from last night was “we stopped playing as a team.” The current starting XI are a disjointed group of players that don't seem to have any real connection with each other on the pitch. While they have been scoring some goals, there hasn't been much creativity recently. The win over Portland patched over that weakness to some degree as that goals in that match were more of a “scrappy” nature. Louisville has seemed to lose its ability to cut through a defense. Maybe they weren't ever good at it. They need to find a way to attempt to score a team goal because the individual efforts have dried up.

Louisville 0 Houston 1 Player Ratings

Louisville seemed to run out of attacking ideas and were a little too undisciplined on defense and ultimately it cost them all three points. The results at the end of the weekend will determine how much hope this team still has of making the playoffs.

Lund-6: Pretty standard performance from her.

Milliet-6: Tried to get some attacking going but couldn't find anyone to finish a pass.

Erceg-7: Solid and found Pickett on one of Louisville's best chances.

Lester-6: Didn't close the wing down quick enough on the goal.

Pokorny-6: Good in attack, but probably not disciplined enough to play outer back.

Pikkujämsä-6: Had to cover at the back more than she would have wanted.

Borges-6: Better than her most recent performances and had a headed opportunity saved.

DeMelo-7: Tried to drag the team back, but lacked that final bit of quality.

Davis-6: Had a golden opportunity on the breakaway but couldn't finish it.

Nadim-6: Lashed a good shot on target towards Campbell that produced a fine save.

Kgatlana-6: Was all over the place in the first half, but kind of disappeared in the second half.

Louisville v Houston Pre Match Thoughts

Courtesy Madeline Mullenbach

It's Louisville vs. Houston for the 4th time this season, and both teams will be looking to get all 3 points. I personally think that while they would never admit it Houston has pulled the plug on this season and would see any last ditch playoff push as a bonus to their season. Louisville has great incentive to come out early and try to put Houston away before they get any momentum.

• Fatigue seemed to be the word of the day during Wednesday's media availability. I would agree that fatigue played a large part in Louisville's performance on Saturday but they will have to shake that off against Houston. As for the “new manager bump”, that is really explained by what happens right before the sacking of the previous manager which is usually a below average run of form. Naturally the form with the new manager will return to the mean, but the best study I have seen shows that new managers get about 1.3 points per match compared to average of 1.0 points per match prior to their hiring. It's not nothing, but it isn't definitive either. In the NWSL specifically, the margins are so fine that almost any result can be seen a “noise” in the context of the season. Louisville hasn't been great at creating goals through incisive ball movement recently (their 3 September goals coming from corners and the mistake made by the Reign), so they definitely want to get going from that perspective if they are to make a playoff push.

• I am a little caught between two minds when I think about how the NWSL should have handled the scheduling once they knew the four Challenge Cup semifinalists. Part of me wishes that they would have pushed back the Louisville/Houston match to Saturday or Sunday once they new that Louisville could potentially be playing on super short rest on Saturday against the Courage. On the other hand, nobody likes a last minute change in the schedule that could effect the fans’ availability to attend a match. Therefore, we will just have to live with a Friday evening kickoff even though Louisville would probably have appreciated an extra day or two of rest.

• There was a small tidbit that I forgot to include from my Post Match Thoughts piece on the Challenge Cup Final. I got the chance to meet Arsenal legend and quadruple winner Leanne Sanderson at the match. We chatted briefly as I kept her up to date on Arsenal's Champions League qualifier which they ultimately lost on penalties to both of our chagrin. Anyway, she made it a point to say goodbye to me before we left the stadium. She is an absolute treasure and I will have very strong words for anyone who has anything other that glowing things to say about her.

• Louisville will be in a position for the next three league rounds to play either the first or second match of the weekend. It will give Louisville the chance to put up points early in the weekend. Hopefully they take advantage of this and post 3 points every match until the final one in San Diego where there will be (thankfully) simultaneous kickoffs to end the league season. Just like the conventional wisdom on penalty shootouts, you like to “go first” to out pressure on your opponents, but run the risk of having the tables turned on you if you don't take advantage.

Challenge Cup Final Post Match Thoughts

Courtesy Elizabeth Shaw

I will forgo my traditional format to some degree and touch a little more on the big picture in this post. Let's get the painful stuff out of the way first.

• The Courage were the better team on the day once again. You can't really say anything other than Kerolin's goal was a fine finish from a tough angle and that Manaka Matsukubo's goal was an absolute stunner. Those things happen in soccer and you just have to accept it and congratulate you opponent.

• Louisville didn't play poorly on the day, especially given the circumstances. I entered this week of the opinion that I was sad to see the Challenge Cup go and now I have done a complete 180 to say that I am glad to see the back of it and “good riddance.” I still like the idea of a cup competition, but it has to be better and the NWSL has to find the right partner to televise it. The TV partnership with CBS/Paramount has outlived its usefulness and the league needs to move on. It was extremely detrimental to Louisville to have a 12:30 PM kickoff locked in after the travel day they had on Thursday. The lack of flexibility in the CBS schedule especially on the weekends in the fall meant that there were limited time spots. Ironically, it didn't even matter because CBS didn't show most of the match due to the weather delay. Broadcast television can die if we collectively have to will to euthanize it. It is no longer needed and if we can get over the misguided idea of having to have big events aired on “Big CBS” or “Big NBC”, etc. we can move to a better system.

• The coaches and players won't make excuses and the Courage have no need to apologize for winning, but I cannot think of another competition where you don't know where you will be playing on such short notice. The idea of playing a semifinal on Wednesday and a final on Saturday is laughable and the NWSL has proven itself unserious once again for backing itself into a corner. Fortunately, Louisville will get a couple of days off to recover before preparing for Houston and trying to make a playoff push.

• As tough as it is to lose a cup final as a fan it pales in comparison to losing one as a player. Both Milliet and Lund looked absolutely miserable when I talked to them after the match. Coach Björkegren was a little less sad, but it's definitely a feeling you don't want to repeat.

• If it cheers you up at all, I can tell you that I was less than impressed with WakeMed Park. To call it a “dump” would be an insult to dumps. The field was fine and there seemed to be a great sense of pride in how quickly it drained. On the other hand it is an anonymous stadium in an anonymous part of an anonymous “city”. I estimate that only 10-15% of the seats have chair backs. There was absolutely no character to the park. It's like if Mitt Romney was a soccer stadium. Appreciate Lynn Family Stadium because it really is quite a gem in this league.

• I will briefly pause my embargo on the word “deserve” to say that the North Carolina players deserve a better place to play and I will say that 95% of the fans do as well. The other 5%, who yelled at an injured DeMelo that she “hurt herself” and was “wasting time” deserve WakeMed Park and its complete pathological lack of charm.

• The small crowd that remained after the rain delay was pretty good. This is the second stadium I have visited where the fans got involved in a simple chant. This time it was a simple alternating “NC” on one side of the field and “Courage” on the opposite site. It was signaled and led by the waving of a giant flags. It was effective and makes me wonder why we can't get something simple like this figured out at Lynn.

• At some point hopefully (maybe when the prize money gets deposited in their accounts) the players will look back fondly on the run that they made in this competition. They represented the city well and exceeded expectations. I just hope it hasn't drained the energy from them so that they can make a real playoff push. I think the big takeaway from this competition and the season so far is that Louisville's 1 through 11 are as good as any in the league but that the back end of the roster still needs some development. They need out least one more reliable outside back and a little more midfield depth. The quantity of injuries and absences caught up to them in this match.

North Carolina Louisville Challenge Cup Final Player Ratings

Louisville fought valiantly but 2 moments of brilliance meant the Courage retained the Challenge Cup. It was a good and entertaining run but too many key players were missing to cause the Courage enough problems.

Lund-8: Brilliant but it wasn'tenough.

Holloway-5: Got beaten by Kerolin on the goal, but might have been slowed by an injury.

Erceg-6: Led the team well.

Lester-5: Made some really questionable attacking decisions in the first half.

Milliet-7: Had to play both left and right back and did well.

Pikkujämsä-7: Had a solid effort.

Borges-6: Didn't look like her usual self for the 2nd consecutive match.

DeMelo-7: Tried to get the Louisville attack going but ultimately couldn't.

Monaghan-6: Missed a decent early chance.

Davis-7: Led the line admirably.

Kgatlana-6: Created some problems but not enough.

North Carolina v Louisville Challenge Cup Final Pre Match Thoughts

Courtesy USA Today Sports Images (Jaylynn Nash)

It's Louisville's first NWSL competition final and of course their nemesis, the North Carolina Courage stand in their way. The Courage are the defending champions, but looked rather unconvincing in their late win vs. the Current. Both teams will be playing on short rest, so it could be a test if conditioning as much as anything else.

• I don't think Louisville will rotate much from the semifinal on Saturday. North Carolina could be tempted to rotate a bit with an eye on the Shield/Playoffs but I wouldn't expect them to rotate as much as the Reign did on Wednesday. Louisville was not outplayed in either match earlier this season, but ended up on the wrong side of thr scoreline due to a couple of key breaks that went North Carolina's way.

OL Reign 0 Louisville 1 Post Match Thoughts

Elli Pikkujämsä said it was not a pretty match, but the results for Louisville were beautiful. The game was a reminder of the fine margins that exist in this league, but it was nice to see things break Louisville's way for once in this match-up.

• Louisville was absolutely gifted the goal and it is the type of thing which poor Sam Hiatt will have to live with, unfortunately for her. Nevertheless, Davis still had plenty to do and took the one really good chance she had with clinical precision. The Reign (I thought rather admirably) stayed consistent in their approach to the cup by starting a heavily rotated lineup. That decision likely cost them a chance at the finals. I do feel a bit sorry for the Reign because a victory would still have meant a trip to North Carolina. Their focus can now shift fully to the playoff race, if it wasn't there already.

• The match definitely had a “cup tie” feel. Louisville was visibly wobbly early and they frankly never did look very comfortable in possession. On the opposite side of the ball, the Reign had half chances, but never an absolutely golden one other than Huitema's chance that I think Lund had covered at the near post at least.

• Conversely Louisville's defense on the night was excellent. I have to believe that having an experienced leader like Erceg at the back helped the team settle. The last 15 minutes or so could be classified as “desperate defending”, but I think you saw enough energy and desire to keep a clean sheet to categorize it more favorably as “committed”. Pikkujämsä was singled out by Björkegren but the entire back line played really well.

• I thought this might have been Lund’s best match of the season. She didn't have to make many saves, but her positioning and decision making were near perfect. Other than an odd bounce that she ultimately handed awkwardly, I can't think of a foot that she put wrong. Much of the credit can go to the defenders in front of her, but this was a towering, confident performance.

• The team will spend Thursday traveling to Cary/Raleigh, so this has turned into quite a long week for the players. I thought Demelo looked like her usual self, but Louisville would benefit greatly if Howell can be ready by Saturday to get some minutes. I still don't think she will start, but I do think gving Fischer some minutes will be something to look out for too.

OL Reign 0 Louisville 1 Player Ratings

It wasn't pretty, but Louisville got the job done. It's on to Cary on Saturday to play in a final.

Lund-8: A masterclass in goal for her. Really took charge during the last minutes.

Holloway-8: Massive to play most of the game with a yellow card.

Erceg-8: The leader Louisville needed on the night.

Lester-8: Kept just about everything in front of her.

Milliet-8: Not nearly as involved offensively, but solid as ever on defense.

Pikkujämsä-7: Won the ball at critical times.

Borges-6: Not really involved as much as usual.

DeMelo-7: Starting to play her way back into peak form.

Monaghan-7: Found herself in a dangerous attacking spot more than once.

Davis-9: A stone-cold killer in this match. Had one good chance and buried it.

Kgatlana-7: Still nervy on defense, but was the most frequent attacking outlet.

OL Reign v Louisville Challenge Cup Semifinal Pre Match Thoughts

Courtesy USA Today Sports Images

Louisville will play in its first ever NWSL knockout match on Wednesday night at 10 PM Eastern time in Seattle. Knockout matches are different, regardless of any protestations of players and coaches stating that they treat them like any other match. It is virtually impossible to play them in the same manner in which you would play a normal league match. In my opinion, knockout matches tend to be cagier affairs with neither team wanting to make an early mistake. I believe the players and coaches when they say the preparations are mostly the same (both Lund and Björkegren confirmed that penalty taking had taken up some of their preparation time in the last week or so). However, the reality of “win or go home” is something that no human can reasonably ignore.

Still, there is no way that Louisville will come out and play demonstrably different than they have all season. There was every reason to be conservative against Portland and to their tremendous credit they simply didn't and got a fantastic result. DeMelo will be back, but Coach Björkegren made it sound like Howell and Nadim would only be available from the bench and Baggett and Pickett didn't travel. I think Pickett’s absence is the key once again, but I agree with Coach Kim's assessment that Holloway overcame her early error to play a good match against Portland. It was something she didn't do in the brief chance that she got last season.

It will also be 6 midfield combinations in 6 matches for Louisville, but this time I suspect that the only change to the Starting XI will be DeMelo slotting into her normal spot with Wang now absent (maybe permanently?) due to her international obligations to the Chinese national team. I don’t believe that Wang has an option for 2024, so she could be allowed to stay in China to plot her next move. Louisville has plenty of cover at her position. Having Monaghan and Kgatlana on the pitch at the same time worked in the last match, so I think you stick with that.

As previously stated, I hate penalty shootouts even when I have no skin in the game, so I hope this match ends in regulation. There is a certain randomness to the outcome of any NWSL match, so adding that extra bit of randomness from a shootout is a bridge too far for me. Nonetheless, I will watch it if it comes to that, but will be miserable the entire time that I do so

Louisville 2 Portland 1 Post Match Thoughts

Courtesy Jordan Prather

There is lots of credit to go around for this match because it truly was a team victory. Only time will tell if this 3 points leads to something better on the horizon, but on the evening you couldn't ask for a better result, especially under the circumstances.

• Louisville throughly outplayed Portland. Portland were poor on the night. That is not an excuse, but a circumstance that Louisville imposed on them. Missing Sophia Smith might be given as an excuse, but I don’t trade in excuses and believe you make no apologies when you get 3 points. A tremendous amount of credit must be given to the coaching staff. I don't think I would have set up to play Portland in their typical manner with the number of key players missing, but obviously the staff thought sticking with the usual game plan with a few tweaks was the right decision and they were proven 100% correct. Portland looked average, and frankly maybe they are average at best without Smith.

• Even though I gave Rebecca Holloway a low rating out of principle, other than that moment of madness I thought she did really well. It's tough to say if making that early mistake sharpened her focus, but I give her full credit for shaking it off and rising to meet the challenge for the rest of the match. She will likely be called upon again on Wednesday, so I expect her to retain the focus she showed during the majority of this match.

• Abby Erceg put in a great performance and was key in ensuring that Portland never really had many chances in the final stages of the match. Her value to the club this season cannot be overstated. She has to take a great deal of the credit in keeping her teammates focused after conceding early.

• Thembi Kgatlana put in a tremendous attacking performance that was finally rewarded with a goal. To my eyes she is still to overly reliant on her right foot, but taking that extra touch to score the winner was very shrewd. Louisville attackers always seem to favor shooting at the near post and both she and Kanu had opportunities where I would have liked to see them challenge the keeper by going across the goal. The scoreline could have been much h more comfortable if Louisville had converted any of the 3 big chances that they missed. I give credit to Bella Bixby for keeping Portland in the match. It speaks volumes when your best player is your goalkeeper and you still lose 2-1.

• Louisville will get Sunday off before practicing on Monday then flying out to Seattle. DeMelo will be available, but it's tough to say anything about the rest of the absentees. I think Howell is probably closest, but that is purely a guess.

Louisville 2 Portland 1 Player Ratings

Courtesy Elizabeth Shaw

Louisville overcame an early mistake to finally beat Portland and the result was entirely fair. There should be tremendous belief in themselves and each other after such a good performance.

Lund-7: Fantastic in goal and in distribution.

Holloway-5: Had one costly error in an otherwise solid performance.

Erceg-8: Got a goal (or caused an own goal) and was great leading the back line.

Lester-7: Was a great CB partner for Erceg on the night.

Milliet-7: Another really good performance for Lo.

Pikkujämsä-7: Deputized for Howell superbly.

Borges-8: Absolutely bossed the midfield.

Wang-7: Was the best version of herself tonight.

Monaghan-6: A little unlucky not to score.

Davis-7: Had a really good performance leading the line.

Kgatlana-8: Scored a fantastic goal and was voted player of the match.

Louisville v Portland Pre Match Thoughts

Courtesy Racing Louisville Football Club

The main storyline for Louisville this weekend has to be the combined absences of DeMelo, Howell, Pickett, and Baggett. Baggett is natural cover for the midfield so her absence hurts almost as much as DeMelo and Howell. This guarantees that Louisville will be using its 5th different starting midfield in 5 matches.

• Then there is the opponent: Portland. If ever you wanted your best possible midfield to be fully available it is against Portland. The Thorns honestly didn't have much trouble cutting through Louisville's midfield in the first match this season, so I wouldn't expect that they will have much trouble in the return match against a weakened Louisville squad.

• Louisville will need to keep an eye on goal differential in this match. They currently have an equal or better differential than the 4 teams directly ahead of them in the standings. A heavy defeat would wipe that away and be truly devastating to their playoff hopes. I have never thought of Louisville's playing style as very pragmatic, so this could be a very dangerous match to go down by a goal early.

• Usually I would say that Louisville needs come out and believe that they can win a match like this. However, I feel like a smash and grab is pretty much the only chance for a win here. The longer this match stays 0-0, the better I will feel. Louisville has been conceding quite a bit of possession recently, so I think you have to go into this match stating that you cannot under any circumstances give up a counterattacking goal.

• I can't picture a scenario where Louisville will score “playing through” Portland, so the onus will definitely be on the strikers to create a moment of individual brilliance or to win a corner where you might get something from a set piece. Kgatlana has to find the balance between defending and attacking while she is on the pitch in this match. To me, she always defends on the aggressive side and is capable of picking up a yellow at almost any point. If she can find herself isolated in attack, I think she has to be encouraged to shoot because I have a feeling that she won't have too many attacking options aggressively following behind her.

Gotham 0 Louisville 0 Post Match Thoughts

Courtesy USA Today Sports Images

Louisville escaped New Jersey with a point and were frankly fortunate to get it. As presently composed, it's difficult to see this team as much of a playoff threat but this weekend's results mean that they are still in the hunt.

• Four different midfields in four matches isn't ever going to work in the present set up. Gotham looked like they were organized and could plug and play pieces, but Louisville's can't afford to make 3 changes and retain any cohesion. I think it's likely a system issue. In fact, I'm not sure Louisville’s best 11 are its best XI. I believe that next season we will see a roster that may have fewer famous names and more players that work in the system. Kgatlana is tremendously talented, but is isolated too much for my taste. Wang can’t demonstrate consistency and Nadim can't stay healthy enough to be relied upon to be a key contributor. None of these things are the players’ fault, but you have to think that these next few matches could be their last ones representing Louisville. I think Björkegren has to figure out the best group of players to see out the remainder of the season. Injuries have forced his hand, but the fact is that this current group of available players hasn’t figured out how to play together yet, so they attempt to rely on individual brilliance. Louisville fired speculative shots multiple times in a demonstration that they didn't trust their teammates to make the right run in the box.

• The defense played well, but the back four struggled to convert anything into an attacking move. A few long balls worked out late in the match when Kgatlana could use her speed, but she rarely had any other option other that to try to take on defenders one-on-one to try to get a shot. The best opportunity of the match came from a cross into the box from Milliet to Monaghan, but she decided to pass instead of shoot and DeMelo's shot was blocked.

• Pikkujämsä, Holloway, and Lester performed well, but Louisville missed Pickett's attacking flair and Howell's ball winning ability. Holloway had a shocking 42% pass completion rate but did just about everything else well. However, it would be difficult to picture Pickett below 60% in her worst match. Louisville has to have a healthy Howell to have any kind of shot at winning matches consistently. At this point in the season, every team has injury issues so using it as an excuse doesn't ring true even if it is factual on its face. For as visually pleasing as Gotham played and they really seemed to understand and play well in Juan Carlos Amorós's system, it ultimately didn't pay off any more for them. However, I would say that they dealt with their absentees better than Louisville did.

• I would propose that there is no more margin for error, but who knows? Not since the inaugural season has a team finished first in the standings with a below 50% winning percentage. As things stand right now Portland is in first place with a 47% winning percentage. Last year the OL Reign managed a 50% winning percentage, down from 53% in 2021 (Portland). The league like to market this as “Chaos”, which is one of my least favorite words. I have taken the advice of Tom Benson and treated the word “Choas” how the Smurfs use the word “Smurf”, in essence a catch-all term when they can’t come up with anything more descriptive. Let me propose an alternative theory to chaos and claim that every team in the NWSL is just about bang average for the league and the results point to it. In my opinion, that isn’t very exciting to watch (although I am sure many people disagree). This league needs its top teams to be better and frankly I can’t see how the Red Stars have 5 wins. It does make the league unpredictable, but in the most frustrating way possible. All of that to say that you can’t quite write off Louisville’s playoff chances, but it’s not through anything the team has done particularly well. It’s just that every other team has refused to slam the door shut on their chances.

Gotham 0 Louisville 0 Player Ratings

Louisville were frankly outplayed and probably lucky to end up getting a point in New Jersey. The passing wasn't nearly crisp enough to create any real danger but the defense help up to keep a clean sheet.

Lund-7: Had a really solid performance other than a little lapse late in the first half.

Holloway-6: Did fine substituting for Pickett, but didn't have her attacking influence and had a dreadful passing accuracy percentage.

Erceg-7: Held the back line together well.

Lester-7: Made some really good recoveries.

Milliet-8: Clearly Louisville's best player on the afternoon.

Pikkujämsä-7: Did well in Howell'sspot and was fairly accurate in her passing.

Borges-7: The most accurate passer in the midfield.

DeMelo-6: Not her best game, but she is allowed an off night every now and then.

Monaghan-6: Probably should have shot instead of passed on Milliet’s excellent cross.

Davis-6: Not really involved much and was the first player subbed off.

Wang-6: Not at her best, but not her worst.

Gotham v Louisville Pre Match Thoughts

Louisville travels to New Jersey to face Gotham on late Sunday afternoon at 5:30, and will be looking to duplicate the result that they achieved at home in June. The availability report will probably make for interesting reading for both teams. Pickett has been confirmed as out after leaving the last match at halftime. Coach Björkegren said that Howell was “50/50”. Gotham has new and returning World Cup players too, but their availability hasn't been formally announced yet. The NWSL Availability Report rules are an absolute mess and are in need of serious revision, but that will be a topic for another day.

Louisville is now in maximum point accumulation territory, and probably but not definitely need 3 points here. It is still too early to determine which teams above Louisville absolutely need to drop points, so any chance to make sure the team above you gets zero when you face them has to be taken. Any loss probably leaves no margin for error for the rest of the season. In my recent piece for the State of Louisville I stated that 12 points would probably be enough, possibly 11.

I hope to see some improvements in sharpness and cohesion during the next match. The projected kickoff temperature is 79 degrees, so the players will get a break from their hometown's absolutely oppressive heat this week. At this point of the season, their is a decent chance that many players are carrying some kind of ache or pain. Any chance to take the weather out of the equation will surely be appreciated.

For a chance to beat Gotham, Louisville will almost surely need improved performances from Nadim, DeMelo, and Monaghan this match as they are their most likely goal scorers in my opinion. With Howell not sure to start, them team could be looking at its fourth different midfield in four matches which isn't the recipe for success. The back four will be different too, so if Louisville is to scrape 3 points at Gotham, there will likely need to be a player or two that put in 8-plus level performances.

Louisville 1 Angel City 1 Post Match Thoughts

Courtesy USA Today Sports Images

A record crowd saw a pretty mediocre soccer match on Saturday evening in Louisville. In the end, the home team shared a point with the visitors, but neither team will be too happy with that outcome. Louisville’s returning international players were honored prior to the match, but they all looked like they needed about half of the match to readjust to their club teammates.

• Without giving too much away, I don’t think that Louisville played in the manner in which they hoped to play. Angel City definitely kept more of the ball in the first few minutes and Louisville never got a chance to get its press going in the first half. As much as Louisville dictated the first half in Los Angeles, they really couldn't get a foothold in the match until the second half of the home match. There were a couple of stops and starts in the first half that meant that the overall play from both teams was choppy. The 9 minutes of stoppage time in the first half was proof of just how disjointed the first 45 minutes were. Monoghan had a really decent chance in the third minute of first half stoppage time. From my vantage point it appeared that Haracic made a fantastic save, but on the replay, it was hard to tell for sure. All in all, there wasn’t much going on for Louisville until first half stoppage. Angel City figured out how to manage Louisville’s press fairly effectively by sending their wingers wide and playing the ball into space.

• Angel City scored with McCaskill again being involved through an assist. She also had a really good opportunity in the first half that produced an excellent save from Lund. Louisville probably had to trade McCaskill away to grow as a team, but when you compare the production that Louisville ultimately got out of the trade (just barely over a season for Jess McDonald) to what Angel City got, I think it’s fair to say that Angel City won that trade. Conversely (I don’t think this is controversial to anyone with half a brain) Louisville clearly won the trade that sent Press’s right to Angel City for the chance to draft DeMelo. Maybe one day the two Savannah’s will play together, but I do wonder what might have been here in Louisville.

Sav and Lo (who are both delightful off the pitch but play like they are in a bar fight)

• Rough segue time, but speaking of Sav DeMelo let’s talk about Maddie Pokorny and let me explain why that isn’t as rough of a segue as you might think. On a cold day in the winter of 2022, Bekki Morgan and I stood on the practice field and watched an intersquad scrimmage at Louisville’s training facility. Memory isn’t always a trustworthy source, but I believe that I remember being taken by surprise at how “league ready” DeMelo seemed to be on day one. I think Bekki and I got to talk to her on that day (if it wasn’t on that day it was one soon after) and we were both pleasantly surprised at how professional she already was fresh out of USC. To be fair, she was already 23 when Louisville drafted her. However, we all saw that she was ready to hit the ground running. Which leads me to Maddie Pokorny. She obviously isn’t Sav DeMelo, but all that I can tell you is that the feeling I get when I watch her is a very close approximation to that feeling I got when I saw Sav DeMelo play for the first time in person. I think it’s probably the energy she brings to her performances. On her first substitute appearance, I was really impressed with what she brought to the match. She is the type of high energy substitute that teams need to change a match. Obviously, she and Davis saved a point for Louisville last night. I want to also heap praise on Davis as well, because even if Pokorny did the hard work on the goal, there was still plenty to do on the header. Davis was able to generate enough power from not a super close distance to get the goal.

• Look for my 3rd Quarter of the season review on the State of Louisville sometime this week where I will surely get into Louisville’s playoff hopes, but right now I would say that there isn’t any more margin for error.

Louisville 1 v Angel City 1 Player Ratings

Louisville looked like a team that hadn’t played together for a awhile and took about 75 minutes to look like they were starting to play in rhythm. The subs of Pokorny (8) and Davis (8) really saved a point.

Lund-6: Had a few good saves then an almost calamitous error, so on average an average rating seems right.

Pickett-6: Went off injured on what looked like an ankle problem.

Pikkujämsä-6: Made a few nice recoveries.

Erceg-6: Good in the air on defense.

Milliet-6: Must be made of iron to take the physical beatings she consistently gets.

Howell-6: Louisville's best player in a weak first half.

Borges-6: Looked slightly off the pace.

DeMelo-6: Was clearly winded at 75 minutes.

Monaghan-5: Didn't really have the opportunity to do much.

Nadim-5: Held up the ball well on a few occasions, but looked rusty in her first start.

Wang-5: Picked up a yellow card and didn't do much else of note.

Louisville v Angel City Pre Match Thoughts

Louisville prepares to take on Angel City on Saturday night in front of a crowd that is already expected to be greater than 9000 fans. The team has seven more league matches to try to overcome a two-point gap in the playoff positions while holding off the teams below them. Angel City is one of those teams and they have been on a decent run of form with former Louisville player Savannah McCaskill winning the NWLS Player of the Month award for July. All that being said, I believe Louisville is the better and deeper team at this point.

If there is one thing that I hope the returning World Cup players brought back with them from Austrailia/New Zealand I hope it is confidence. Coach Björkegren said that he watched how the players were deployed in the World Cup, but I don’t think he will deploy them any differently in Louisville’s setup, at least not this season. However, I think all of the players will be striving to show that they can continue their form in Louisville.

I counted 20 outfield players available at practice today, and those 20 are the best collective 20 that Louisville has ever had available for selection in my opinion (Kgatlana is expected back soon as well). I asked Lauren Milliet if there was an increase in the intensity of practices due to the players available now and she said that “having a lot of people healthy makes it way more competitive in terms of spots.” Competition at every spot is something that top-tier clubs have in my opinion, and something that Louisville has lacked until this season. With Nadim and Ekic now fully back, the competition for minutes up front will keep everyone on their toes. The midfield depth is much improved over the start of the season, and there is probably just enough depth in defense to manage the remaining schedule.

Björkegren, Pikkujämsä. and Milliet all basically categorized the matchup on Saturday as a “must win”, and I tend to agree. Björkegren even went a step further to basically label every home match as a “must win”, but things aren’t that dire yet. I think a road match in Chicago is more winnable than a home match vs. Portland, but that’s only based on the standings (as I continue to think this team and fans give the Thorns way too much credit and reverence.) The Louisville vs. Angel City match ups so far have been wildly entertaining from a neutral fan perspective and there have been loads of goals. I think any reasonable score line is possible, but I think a 3-2 either way seems more likely than a 1-0. Louisville could have that extra little bit of an edge looking to avenge a draw that felt like a loss, and with a record crowd might be able to ride the emotion to a slight advantage. Either way, it will be key to not play scared and to come out on the front foot. Louisville still has a tendency to start slow, and you don’t want to lose the crowd before you have a chance to win it over.