Mistakes sink Racing in 1-0 loss against Bay FC
Another conceded penalty is all it took to doom Racing and extend their winless streak to four
Note: This article has been updated to reflect Sunday’s scores and their impact on Racing’s place in the standings.
Slipping Away
“Truthfully, I think we let this game slip,” was how Racing Louisville’s head coach Bev Yanez summed up her side’s 1-0 loss to expansion side Bay FC on Saturday afternoon.
After playing a mostly evenly matched game in painfully hot, oppressively humid weather, Michael Shaw of Fleur de Lis FC rightly predicted at half-time that the first team to make a mistake would lose the match. In the 75th minute, Racing’s Jordan Baggett fouled Bay’s Princess Marfo in the box and Bay won via the resulting penalty that Asisat Oshoala converted.
Defender Ellie Jean said that the heat was no excuse because they had been practicing in it all week. They simply didn’t finish their chances and get the ball in the back of the net. Yanez agreed.
“I think there was an opportunity for us to get three points out of this match,” said Yanez. “Credit to Bay with the opportunity that they had to take those three points. But I think for us, we really feel like we were in a position to have those three points today. I felt like a majority of the momentum was with us. We feel we've let this game slip out of our hands.”
Also slipping out of their hands is, unfortunately, a playoff spot. After barely holding on for the past few weeks, Racing has finally slipped out of 8th place and beyond the playoff line into ninth.
By the Numbers
Racing started the match well, which was a relief considering slow starts had doomed their matches against Angel City and Gotham. It took into the 40th minute for Bay to even register a shot against Racing. While Racing was able to take some shots and create chances, they weren’t that dangerous and, in the first half, Racing generated 0.55 xG out of six shots with one on target. Bay comparatively generated 0.15 xG out of three shots with none on target.
In the second half, Racing’s production dropped and they generated only 0.2 xG on two shots with none on target. Bay comparatively generated 0.99 xG out of four shots with one on target. However, 0.79 of that xG was from the penalty kick so Bay actually only generated an identical 0.2 in the run of play.
Possession remained at almost exactly 50% across the first half and ended with Racing with 54% overall as Bay conceded possession and played defensively towards the end of the match.
Racing had a noticeably higher passing accuracy than usual with 86% to Bay’s 82%. The oppressive heat likely hampered the press to some degree raising accuracy on both sides.
Kayla Fischer and Lauren Milliet led the team in tackles with six and five respectively. Fischer also won the most tackles (4) and won the most duels (9). Savannah DeMelo, unsurprisingly, led both teams in fouls drawn (5).
One interesting stat is that Abby Erceg had 11 passes into the final third this match and was in the top three for FTE while Carson Pickett had seven passes into the final third but did not make the top three in FTE. This is not normal. For Pickett, seven is slightly below her average of about 8.5 this year. She has been in the top three for FTE in very match this season until Sunday. Erceg, on the other hand, has only made the top three once against Kansas City. Her 11 final third entries this match are also miles ahead of her season average of 3.5.
Why did this happen? For one, Pickett played up noticeably higher than usual so she wasn’t dribbling into the final third or distributing it to someone else if she was already there herself. For another, with Taylor Flint and Arin Wright out, Erceg took on additional distribution duties. This was only exacerbated at the death of the match when Racing was driving forward trying to get a goal.
Sending Carson up as high as she was did create more attacking opportunities. She created a chance and did get a shot off against Bay. Staying up so high did leave the center backs more exposed which will be a risk against teams with a better counter-press, but Erceg and Jean held off Bay without too much trouble for much of the match.
Regardless, this was a noticeably different look for the left side. With the likely return of Flint and Wright next match, it’ll be interesting to see if these changes persist or are adjusted for the more challenging North Carolina Courage.
KeyTakeaways
Reality bites
The frustration over this loss was evident in the response from players and coaches alike. In addition to Yanez being more plain in admittance that the team needs to do better, players also expressed disappointment.
“We really want this one back,” said defender Ellie Jean after the loss. “We're really hoping this doesn't bite us in the butt.”
Unfortunately, it’s reached that time of the season where every dropped point is a bite out of the post-season pie and Racing’s potential portion is getting gobbled up by other teams fast. June was filled with four out of five games against teams below them in the standings. Instead of dishing up some solid points during this stretch, they walk away with a measly four points on the month.
The worst part is that it’s Racing’s own performance that has led to these results. They came out slow against Gotham and Angel City but by the time they adjusted against Angel City, at least, it was too late. Versus both Seattle and Bay, points were lost due to conceding penalty kicks. Yanez emphasized after the match that no one intends to get a penalty kick so she can’t blame the players for mistakes. However, these costly mistakes are mounting. All of these matches with the exception of Gotham were very winnable, but Racing’s inability to play a clean game or put in a full 90-minute performance has consistently kept them from getting results.
This isn’t to say Racing hasn’t played well in significant stretches. This is the most frustrating part. They’ve shown their talent. They’ve shown they can get the better of the teams they’re playing at times. But for every bit of progress they make, they only seem to fall back into the same mistakes. Growth is talked about a lot, but Racing has yet to show that they are capable of sustaining it. Growth is of course hampered by injury — as soon as a player like Howell returns, a player like Flint goes out — but that’s not an excuse for everything.
Finish them!
The reality is Racing cannot finish. They can’t score goals despite the fact they are consistently getting into dangerous areas and creating enough chances to at least get a goal. In this match, they made 58 final third entries to Bay’s 35 but only got off one more shot. Yanez agreed the team needs more quality in the final third and said that the team can improve technically, but is improvement within the current team enough to turn around Racing’s fortunes completely?
All season it’s been evident that they were missing that final true goal scorer. Emma Sears has been excellent, and DeMelo has been, too, but both are just as good at setting up their teammates and they currently have no one consistent to set up. Uchenna Kanu has been out on and off with injury. Reilyn Turner seems to be used as a super sub although she can hopefully be developed into a starter soon. Elexa Bahr hasn’t produced since the first match. Ary Borges and Kirsten Wright have been out all season with injuries. Parker Goins is favored as a sub.
Most frustrating, however, is the lack of interest in using Milly Clegg and Linda Matlhalo. Racing went to the trouble of acquiring these players so it seems they should be used at some point. Would it really hurt to give them five minutes here or there at the end of matches just to see what they can do in an actual game environment? Obviously, we’re not seeing what the coaches are seeing in practice, but we are seeing a lack of production in games and something has to change.
It seems like the answer is that Racing needs to get some new players, but in their four years as a club, Racing has had a revolving door of players, particularly in the attack. That was understandable in the upset of the first couple of years. It’s understandable to an extent now as this is Yanez’s first year as head coach, but the constant turnover is tiring. This team has never been settled and, as a result, it’s never had a settled season of performances. It’s hard to imagine that they will be able to find this elusive missing piece after all these years, but they did improve the defense and midfield quite successfully so let’s hope they can finally figure out a solution here, too.
Fill the Fam
This match was Racing’s big Fill the Fam push for the 2024 season and it failed to break the attendance record with only a hair above 8,000 fans showing up. This was an awful choice for a weekend for Fill the Fam. It’s the weekend before July 4th and many folks are on vacation, the heat index was around 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and Bay just honestly is not a team that will draw fans. All things considered, 8,000 fans are actually pretty okay in these conditions, but it’s still disappointing after over 11,000 showed up for Thunder Over Louisville.
The decision to host it this week was almost certainly made because the game was broadcast on ESPN. Of course, the club will want a large crowd for a nationally broadcast match. If they want a large crowd, though, there needs to be more of a concerted push to make it seem like a big event. Compared to past years, Fill the Fam was almost invisible this year. I saw plenty of posts from the Racing social media accounts and a few from Louisville City, but they only reach existing fans. There were no player or coach appearances on television. It definitely wasn’t advertised anywhere visibly as far out as Lexington.
I’ve heard from multiple individuals within and without the club that this community hasn’t embraced this team, but I truly don’t think this community is well enough aware of the team to know to embrace it. There’s no presence at Pride. There are no tables at Fleur de Flea or other major community events. Even the billboards haven’t consistently had QR codes or information about where to buy tickets. I know it costs money to do these things, but you can’t rely on Lou City’s fans to fill the stadium for Racing. New fans who don’t even realize they like soccer yet need to be found and that involves going out into the community more.
Just as much as better marketing would continue to help Racing grow, so too would better performances on big stages. Losing to Gotham during their last ESPN broadcast was a bit more understandable. Losing to Bay this time was not. Considering they also lost during their Amazon Prime broadcast against the Spirit, Racing is not putting their best face forward during these large platform opportunities and that’s not good for a team that really needs to attract new eyes.
Looking Ahead
One game remains before the extended international break for the summer Olympics. It will not be an easy one for Racing. They’ll be taking on the North Carolina Courage — the only non-expansion team Racing hasn’t beaten or even drawn. Ever. They’ll also be playing in Cary, NC where the Courage have not lost since 2023.
This is going to be a very tough match, but it’ll be a good barometer for the team’s mentality. If they come out hard and play to their best ability even if they lose, that’s a sign their mentality is intact. If they shrink and wither as they did against Gotham or in their slow start against Angel City, that’s a big red flag.
For her part, Jean said the players are still bought in.
“I think we're all there for each other and individually we're all trying to play our best and collectively we're all trying to help each other out. I think we work really hard to watch film. What can we do better? What can we continue to do really well? And continue to take this belief because it's evident that we're playing really well. We have the majority of possession and we have the majority of the shots on goal. It's just that final product.”
Whether or not Racing can find that final product against the Courage will be decided on Sunday, July 7 at 4:30 PM on CBS Sports Network.
As much as we want Racing to make the playoffs they just don’t have it collectively. And fans aren’t going to come until they win consistently. LouCity won the whole thing the first two years in existence. That is the way to build a fan base and keep it.
I am not faulting the players or Bev just yet. It has been a rough few years.
But these players are not playing like a gelled team yet. Too many passes to a player only to have the player not give or go as the passer expected. That shouldn’t happen this far into the season. Injury’s or not. The trust isn’t there. Even Bev doesn’t trust her players. Maybe it is justified based on what she sees in practice. But look how pleasantly surprised she was with Jean play last game. And I thought she did great this game.
And our players need to quit playing dirty. Fisher. And Jordan. You can’t be doing that in the box.
The players need to quit whining about having fans at the game and just kick butt and win for themselves. Then the fans will come.
I have season tickets. Have had them for 3 years. My hubby and I were there Saturday. It was so miserable and then to see them give it away to boot. Such a bummer.
I will always be a fan but I am not wearing rose colored glasses these days. Bev and her staff need to step it up. And the players need to get over themselves.
For as long as I can remember, I have been wishing for a "nifty nine" to solve our scoring problem. This morning, I have a new question. Although the team is moving the ball into the final third, are they moving it too slowly, giving the defense time to fill up shooting alleys?