Racing Louisville 2022 football season
The 2022 Racing Louisville FC season was the club's second season of play. Racing Louisville competes in the National Women's Soccer League , the top flight of professional women's soccer in the United States . The club finished 9th in the 12-team league's regular season and failed to qualify for the playoffs, was eliminated during the group stage of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup , and were runners-up in the 2022 The Women's Cup hosted by the club.
Background
In its inaugural season, Racing Louisville built a squad from the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft , the 2021 NWSL Draft , a series of free agent signings, and international transfers after the opening of the season under first head coach Christy Holly . After two losses and two draws to open the campaign in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup , Racing Louisville experienced an up-and-down 2021 NWSL season which saw the club finish 9th in the 10-team league and miss the playoffs.[ 1]
The club's greatest success in the first year was as host of an inaugural international competition called The Women's Cup , a 4-team mid-season competition won by Racing Louisville with a defeat of FC Bayern Munich on penalties.[ 2]
In the middle of the season on August 31, 2021, the club fired Holly for cause and installed Mario Sanchez as interim head coach.[ 3] [ 4] On December 9, after the season concluded, the club announced the hiring of Kim Björkegren as the second permanent head coach of Racing Louisville.[ 5]
The 2021 NWSL Championship, originally planned to be played in Portland, Oregon , was moved by the league on October 13, 2022, to Racing Louisville's home ground of Lynn Family Stadium following player complaints regarding the artificial turf at Providence Park and the 9 a.m. local kickoff time required to meet television obligations.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8] The match, played on November 20, 2021, was won by the Washington Spirit over the Chicago Red Stars before 10,300 attending fans, a record for a women's soccer match in the venue.[ 9] [ 10] [ 11]
Current squad
Several players departed from Racing Louisville's 2021 squad after the season ended. Aside from free transfers, Racing traded Savannah McCaskill to Angel City FC ,[ 12] [ 13] Julia Ashley was sent to Houston Dash ,[ 14] [ 15] Yuki Nagasato was traded back to Chicago Red Stars ,[ 14] [ 16] and Kaleigh Riehl was selected by San Diego Wave FC in the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft .[ 14] [ 17] Louisville traded Cece Kizer and Addisyn Merrick to their hometown club of Kansas City ,[ 18] [ 14] [ 19] and Ebony Salmon to Houston Dash ,[ 18] [ 14] [ 20] while also waiving Erin Simon , who was subsequently signed by Leicester City W.F.C. on a free transfer.[ 18] [ 21]
Racing Louisville traded the rights to Christen Press to Angel City FC in exchange for expansion draft protection,[ 22] the rights to Janine Beckie to Portland Thorns FC in exchange for allocation money,[ 23] and the rights to Tobin Heath to OL Reign for allocation money and draft picks.[ 18] [ 14] [ 24]
Racing Louisville reloaded primarily through the 2022 NWSL Draft , bringing Jaelin Howell , Savannah DeMelo ,[ 25] and Jordyn Bloomer into the squad. Louisville acquired Jess McDonald through a trade with North Carolina Courage , signed 2021 draftees Kirsten Davis and Parker Goins , and signed free agents Hillary Beall , Taylor Malham , Julia Lester , Rebecca Holloway , Alex Chidiac , Satara Murray , and Thembi Kgatlana to pro contracts.[ 14] [ 18] Following FIFA 's ruling that foreign player contracts with Russian clubs were voidable in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine , Sh'Nia Gordon left CSKA Moscow and signed with Racing Louisville.[ 14]
On July 27, 2022, Racing announced that Gordon and Taylor Otto had mutually terminated their contracts with the club to pursue playing opportunities in Europe, and that National Team Replacement player Zaneta Wyne had signed a contract through 2023. The club did not offer permanent contracts to its other National Team Replacement players — Hannah Adler , Isabella Beletic , and Allison Whitfield .[ 18]
On August 1, 2022, Racing traded $30,000 of allocation money and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft to OL Reign for the discovery rights to sign China women's national football team forward Wang Shuang to an NWSL contract.[ 26] [ 27] On August 10, after Wang received her visa, the club announced that it had signed Wang to a contract through the 2023 season .[ 28] [ 29]
On August 15, 2022, Racing announced the transfer of goalkeeper Kelsey Daugherty from Djurgårdens IF . Per a club statement, Björkegren said the signing would allow the club to loan out backup goalkeepers Beall and Bloomer.[ 30] [ 31]
On September 7, 2022, Racing announced the transfer of midfielder Freja Olofsson to Real Madrid four months into her three-year contract with Racing, in exchange for an undisclosed transfer fee.[ 32]
Racing announced the loan of goalkeeper Hillary Beall to Western United FC , from the end of the NWSL season to the end of the A-League Women season in April, on September 27, 2022.[ 33]
As of September 7, 2022[update] [ 34]
Competitions
Preseason friendlies
All preseason friendlies for this Racing Louisville season were closed to the public with results not published.
NWSL Challenge Cup
Match results
NWSL Regular Season
Following their loss to the North Carolina Courage on September 10, Racing were eliminated from NWSL playoff contention.[ 35]
Standings
Results summary
Overall
Home
Away
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
22
5
8
9
21
37
−16
23
3
4
5
11
17
−6
2
4
4
10
20
−10
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Stadium A A H H A A H H A A H A H H H A H A H A A H Result L D D W W L L L D D L D L D D D L L W L W W Position 10 9 9 5 3 5 8 9 9 8 10 10 11 11 11 9 10 11 10 11 10 9
Updated to match(es) played on October 1, 2022. Source:
Match reports A = Away;
H = Home;
W = Win;
D = Draw;
L = Loss
Match results
The 2022 NWSL Season will feature 12 teams with the addition of expansion sides Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC . All clubs will play a balanced schedule with one home match and one away match against all others.
The Women's Cup
NWSL Playoffs
Racing Louisville FC finished 9th in the regular season and did not qualify for the 2022 NWSL Playoffs.
Player statistics
Source: NWSLsoccer.com
Goals
Matches as of October 1, 2022.
Assists
Matches as of October 1, 2022.
Clean sheets
Matches as of October 1, 2022.
Place
Pos.
No.
Name
CC
NWSL
NWSL Playoffs
Total
1
GK
1
Katie Lund
2
6
0
8
Total
2
6
0
8
Disciplinary
Matches as of October 1, 2022.
References
^ Shaw, Michael (November 4, 2021). "Racing Louisville FC: Recapping the Season at the Finish Line" . State of Louisville. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Krieger, Rachel (August 21, 2021). "Racing Louisville wins The Women's Cup over Bayern Munich in chaotic PK shootout" . The Equalizer. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Garnder, Hayes (August 31, 2021). "Racing Louisville FC fires first head coach Christy Holly 'for cause' " . The Courier-Journal . Retrieved August 31, 2021 .
^ "NWSL's Racing Louisville FC fires coach Christy Holly" . The Athletic . September 1, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Woitalla, Mike (December 9, 2021). "NWSL: Racing Louisville hires well-traveled Swede as head coach" . Soccer America . Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Anzidei, Melanie (September 16, 2021). "A pro soccer championship at 9 a.m.? NWSL draws ire from players for 'laughable' move" . North Jersey Media Group . Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Anzidei, Melanie. "NWSL championship final moved from Portland to Louisville after player complaints" . North Jersey Media Group .
^ "NWSL championship game moved from Portland to Louisville" . NBC Sports . Associated Press . October 14, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Sherek, Dakota (November 20, 2021). "Lynn Family Stadium draws national crowd as Louisville hosts NWSL championship" . WDRB . Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Graham, Bryan Armen (November 20, 2021). "NWSL championship 2021: Washington Spirit 2-1 Chicago Red Stars – as it happened" . The Guardian . Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Saxon, Jonathan (November 20, 2021). "Washington Spirit beat Chicago Red Stars for first NWSL championship after overcoming early-season turmoil" . USA Today . Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Tracy, Trebor (December 17, 2021). "Angel City FC acquire midfielder Savannah McCaskill via trade with Racing Louisville" . Angels on Parade. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Yang, Steph (March 17, 2022). "Angel City's Savannah McCaskill: 'Everything that I'm doing now is to try to get back to the national team' " . The Athletic . Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ a b c d e f g h Morgan, Bekki (July 6, 2022). "Racing Louisville 2022 Roster Tracker" . bgn.fm . Beautiful Game Network. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Lloyd-Hughes, Theodore (December 17, 2021). "Houston Dash acquire Julia Ashley from Racing Louisville FC" . The Striker. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Hruby, Emma (January 11, 2022). "Yuki Nagasato traded back to Red Stars following engagement" . Just Women's Sports. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Tonelli, Jenna (March 24, 2022). "After a pair of expansion-draft moves, Kaleigh Riehl gets her big moment" . The Equalizer. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ a b c d e f "NWSL 2022 Summer Transfer Tracker" . The Equalizer. June 9, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Hruby, Emma (June 9, 2022). "Racing Louisville trades Cece Kizer and Addisyn Merrick to KC Current" . Just Women's Sports. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Lloyd-Hughes, Theo (June 27, 2022). "Exclusive: Ebony Salmon on her 'unfinished business' in the NWSL" . The Striker. Retrieved July 12, 2022 .
^ Frith, Wilf (July 11, 2022). "Leicester City Women recruit Erin Simon from Racing Louisville" . shekicks.net . She Kicks Magazine. Retrieved July 12, 2022 .
^ Gardner, Hayes (August 23, 2021). "Racing Louisville FC trades rights to Christen Press to Angel City FC" . The Courier-Journal . Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Blake, Riley (April 1, 2022). "Portland Thorns FC sign Janine Beckie to three-year contract" . KPTV . Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Henry Jr., Larry (June 16, 2022). "Tobin Heath joins OL Reign in trade with Racing Louisville" . sbisoccer.com . SBI. Retrieved July 11, 2022 .
^ Herrera, Sandra (March 11, 2022). "Racing Louisville FC NWSL preview: New dawn ahead with new draft picks Jaelin Howell and Savannah DeMelo" . CBS Sports . Retrieved July 30, 2022 .
^ Sandra Herrera and Lisa Roman (August 3, 2022). "News & Notes: USWNT to face England | Christen Press inducted into Stanford HOF | NWSL Trades (Soccer 8/3)" (Podcast). CBS Sports . Event occurs at 32:09. Retrieved August 10, 2022 .
^ "OL Reign Acquires $30,000 in Allocation Money and 4th Round Draft Pick" (Press release). OL Reign . August 1, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022 .
^ "Racing signs star Chinese forward Wang Shuang through 2023" (Press release). Racing Louisville FC . August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022 .
^ Tyler Greever [@Tyler_Greever] (August 10, 2022). "Some context on Wang Shuang and Racing Louisville FC: She just got her visa to start training with the team and is available to play on Friday. Shuang has been in Louisville for more than a week, but couldn't do anything with the team until the visa went through" (Tweet ). Retrieved August 10, 2022 – via Twitter .
^ Rahm, Nils (August 15, 2022). "Kelsey Daugherty lämnar Djurgården" . Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved August 15, 2022 .
^ "Racing completes transfer, signs goalkeeper Daugherty" (Press release). Racing Louisville FC . August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022 .
^ "LIVE Transfer Talk: AC Milan eye €120m for Rafael Leao's transfer amid Real Madrid, Chelsea interest" . ESPN . September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022 .
^ "Racing goalkeeper Beall loaned to Australian club" . September 27, 2002.
^ "Roster" . racingloufc.com . Retrieved August 15, 2022 .
^ "NWSL Results: Washington earns thrilling 4-3 victory over San Diego; North Carolina routs Louisville" . The Equalizer . September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022 .
^ "Racing Louisville FC vs. OL Reign - Football Match Summary" . ESPN . August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ "Houston Dash vs. Racing Louisville FC - Football Match Summary - August 12, 2022 - ESPN" . ESPN . August 12, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022 .
^ "Houston Dash vs. Racing Louisville FC - Football Match Summary" . ESPN . August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022 .
^ "Racing Louisville FC vs. Orlando Pride - Football Match Summary" . ESPN . September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022 .
External links
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Soccer Holdings, LLC
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John Neace
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