Mother nature wanted to hold off Saturday’s match between the Chicago Red Stars and Racing Louisville FC as long as it could. However, soccer still happened. After a two-and-a-half-hour storm delay, Chicago and Louisville fought on and off downpours for 90 minutes, and Chicago’s past came back to haunt them in a 3-0 loss to Racing Louisville FC.
The first half began with big tackles. Racing Louisville FC’s Gemma Bonner sent Chicago midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo leaping with a strong slide tackle. Moments later, Chicago sent Racing’s Savannah McCaskill out of bounds on the second foul of the match in only the fifth minute.
McCaskill continued being part of the action, for Louisville. Off a Chicago turnover, McCaskill ran half the length of the field, uncontested, as most of Chicago was in their offensive third. If not for forward Ebony Salmon not reading where McCaskill would go, Louisville could have had an early first-half lead.
Rain conditions made the midfield into more of a puddle than a pitch too. That made tackles on the ball more dangerous as players were prone to slipping and moving further than usual on slide tackles. In one case, Chicago midfielder Danny Colaprico earned a yellow card for a leaping header in the midfield, taking out Louisville’s Lauren Milliet in the process, which came back to hurt Chicago in the second half. It also created opportunities for both teams.
In the 8th minute, Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher slipped during a goal kick. The ball landed at the feet of McCaskill who instead of starting to build an attack, lobbed in a shot from midfield. Naeher ran back and punched the ball away just under the crossbar, keeping the match level.
Each team also had a potential penalty kick case. The first was on Louisville fullback Emily Fox. In chasing a ball down in her penalty area, as Chicago had possession, Chicago fullback Casey Krueger knocked Fox down, but not enough for a foul from the referee’s perspective. Just two minutes later, Louisville’s Erin Simon knocked Chicago forward Mallory Pugh down as she was leaving her penalty area. There was a foul given, but inches outside of the penalty area; creating a free kick opportunity that ended up hitting the Louisville wall.
For the first time in the regular season, Racing Louisville had a strong first 20 minutes of soccer. They had the best opportunities and on multiple occasions, they were one move away from a shot on goal. Chicago responded.
The Red Stars created two of their best chances on net 30 minutes into the match. In the 31st minute, Chicago’s Krueger played a beautiful dummy in the penalty area, leaving the shot to Chicago captain DiBernardo. It was on its way into the top center of the net if not for a leaping save by Louisville goalkeeper Michelle Betos. Only two minutes later, DiBernardo had another clear shot. This time, she rang the shot off the crossbar.
An entertaining one-on-one battle throughout the night was between Louisville’s Salmon and Chicago center back Sarah Gorden. Louisville’s system places Salmon up top for counter opportunities, for most of the match, Gorden neutralized these chances, but Salmon would win one important battle.
Instead of on the counter, Salmon was on the receiving end of a cross. Racing winger Cece Kizer sent in a pass to Salmon. Her subsequent shot wasn’t powerful, but it had enough of an angle and rotation to get past a diving Naeher.
Louisville entered halftime up 1-0, and it only got better for Racing in the second.
The second half started with Chicago on the front foot. Like most matches this season, Racing was susceptible to allowing shots and shots on goal from their opponents. Betos made two saves, one in the 53rd and a second in the 54th, that were crucial for what happened next.
At the 55th minute, Louisville winger Yuki Nagasato made a run that was destined to give Racing a chance. Nagasato timed a pass well and Colaprico brought her down before Nagasato could break. The referee gave Colaprico her second yellow, sending Colaprico off the field for Chicago in her first match back from injury.
Nagasato played for the Red Stars from 2017-2020, her only years in the NWSL. Saturday afternoon, Nagasato scored her first league goal against the Red Stars. In the 56th minute, off the free kick awarded off the Colaprico foul, Nagasato received a deflected shot on the far post. Her shot then deflected off a diving Chicago defense and past Naeher.
McCaskill didn’t want to feel alone in scoring off her former Red Stars team. At the 62nd minute, McCaskill also found a deflection for Racing’s third and final goal. In the 74th minute, Chicago head coach Rory Dames brought off three starters in Morgan Gautrat, Kealia Watt, and DiBernardo. Dames put it frankly, post-match.
“Most disappointing loss in my time at the club,” said Dames. That’s 10 years of history as the Red Stars coach. “I’m the head coach. I’m the guy in charge of the team. Everyone’s frustration comes my way and I have big shoulders to take it.”
Racing Louisville FC celebrates their first road victory in their franchise history, in all competitions.
Past Teammates
A storyline coming into the match was the return of Nagasato and McCaskill. Their trade, in November, to keep Chicago free from having players selected in Racing’s expansion draft, paid dividends for Louisville tonight. Not only for the two-goal scorers, but an international spot received too. With the extra flexibility, they brought in England-natives Salmon, defender Bonner, and Denmark international Nadia Nadim. All three goals can be traced to the transaction and made the night a little more special for Louisville.
“It’s very very special,” said head coach Christy Holly. “I’ve spoken quite a bit about how important they are to us as a team and a club. It’s very rewarding for everybody to see that.” It was rewarding for everybody in Louisville, but not for Chicago.
“They have a lot of past here,” said Chicago’s DiBernardo. “Both of them, they were part of our team last year. It was nice to see them, but a little hard to see them score on us too.”
The Power of Pasta
Prior to Salmon’s first goal, in Louisville’s 1-0 win against Houston, she ate pasta the night before. That turned into an Instagram post by Nagasato who referenced Salmon eating pasta on the team bus, adding an emoji over her face. With both Salmon and Nagasato scoring, the question is obviously, “did Nagasato eat pasta too?”
“She told me she didn’t but I reckon she did,” said Salmon about her World Cup-winning teammate Nagasato. If the two players did, and they’re superstitious, they’ll want to keep that tradition moving forward.
What’s Next
Chicago and Louisville both survived their three-match weeks. Now, both teams have a week before their next matches. Friday, July 2, Chicago travels to Leesburg, Virginia to play the Washington Spirit. Louisville welcomes the Portland Thorns to Lynn Family Stadium on Sunday, July 3.
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