Racing Rallies in Stoppage Time Draw Against Seattle Reign
An early red card puts Racing on the back foot, but rookie Reilyn Turner salvages the match with a 97th minute equalizer
On Sunday night, Racing Louisville got off to a disastrous start against the Seattle Reign when defender Arin Wright was shown a red card in only the ninth minute. Seattle’s Bethany Balcer converted the resulting penalty kick to put the Reign up 1-0 leaving Racing to play 80-plus minutes not just down a goal, but down a key player.
Despite the major setback, the belief Racing Louisville players had in getting a result didn’t waiver, said midfielder Marisa DiGrande. Players went to head coach Bev Yanez, figured out what they needed to do, and buckled in to weather the Reign’s storm.
“We said from that moment on, we're still in this game, we're still going to fight, we're still going to go for it,” DiGrande said. “We knew that we would get chances and we would have to put them away and that's what we did.”
In the 96th minute, Racing earned a late set piece. Goalie Katie Lund came up well beyond the midfield line to take it so Louisville could throw everything they had at the Reign. It worked. Captain Jaelin Howell fought for the initial header to send it across goal to substitute Reilyn Turner. Turner toed the ball straight into the top netting despite taking a hard late hit by Seattle keeper Claudia Dickey that left her breathless and teary amidst her teammate’s celebrations.
“Obviously, being in the stoppage time, having a free kick near the goal—it's most likely your last opportunity on goal,” Turner said. “So I knew that we were going to get something on it. I knew that someone was going to get it across the goal and that I'd be here in case I needed to clean anything up. Luckily I was and it's just a great feeling. I know I was crying in the moment from pain, but it's a great feeling overall to be able to be there at the right time.”
Yanez said she’s proud of the group’s resiliency and ability to adjust to adversity. The importance of scratching back this point on the road after two consecutive losses in one week was huge for the team’s mentality as well.
“Considering the circumstances, I think it was unbelievable to walk away here with the point,” said Yanez. Obviously, the previous two games not having a result, to be down a player and to still push and want some sort of point on the road was incredible from the group.”
By the Numbers
Considering Wright was ejected from the game in the 9th minute, it’s unsurprising the numbers were lopsided in the Reign’s favor for most of the match. Seattle had 2.04 xG overall and 60% of possession to Racing’s 0.66 xG and 40% possession. It is worth remembering that 0.788 xG was awarded to Seattle for their penalty, so they earned closer to 1.25 in the run of play. Ultimately, Seattle did help Racing out by failing to capitalize on some of their opportunities with four big chances created and 13 total shots with six missed and only three on frame.
Jaelin Howell made her return to the starting lineup after a season plagued by lingering injuries. She won eight out of 11 duels and three out of four aerial duels.
Carson Pickett, Marisa DiGrande, and Abby Erceg were also aggressive at winning back possession. Pickett led both teams with possession won nine times and DiGrande came in second with eight. Erceg tied two Seattle players with seven.
Racing Louisville has now tied Seattle for six consecutive regular-season games, matching the league record, which is held by Seattle and the Orlando Pride for six draws between 2017-19.
Key Takeaways
Stepping Up
There’s no question that Racing has had a time starting matches lately. There wasn’t enough time to truly gauge what kind of start Racing was having collectively against Seattle because Wright was taken out so quickly. On the one hand, Sears had a solid early look in the first couple of minutes where she split defenders and took a shot. On the other, Jordyn Huitema got so free that Wright was taking her on one-on-one heading into the penalty box.
Once Racing, did go down a player, they dropped into a 4-4-1 defensive formation and focused on containing the Reign. Yanez was pleased with the performance and, most importantly, the unity she saw from the players.
“You saw in our defensive third players willing to leave their feet to block shots, players willing to put pressure, players [coming] from the midfield, and higher up to fill in positions to make sure that our defenders could be hyper-aggressive,” Yanez said. “I think it shows our togetherness and where we're at as a group and how we dealt with the scenario. Sometimes you can't predict these types of things, but you can take control of what you can control in the moment. I felt the group did that massively today.”
For a team that’s given up quite a few leads this season to settle for draws, it was good to be on the other side for once. Another loss could have been a major setback mentally for the players, so being able to capitalize off the momentum of a comeback draw heading into a big home game against Bay FC is a good place to be.
Hard Hits
Even with the relatively positive result, Racing took some hard hits this match that will linger.
Losing Arin Wright is arguably a big blow. Since Elli Pikkujämsä’s season-ending injury, Wright has been the unquestionable right-center defender for Racing. She’s slotted in effortlessly next to Abby Erceg and has been an example of the excellent depth added this off-season.
Just as big as Wright is the almost guaranteed loss of Taylor Flint who suffered a head injury in a collision with Seattle keeper Claudia Dickey. Flint was down for an extended period of time and looked woozy walking off the pitch. The good news is she was able to fly back with the team the next day. As hard as it will be to lose one of Racing’s best players this season, there’s no question that Flint needs to be rested and treated with care.
Stepping In
The good news for Racing is that they do have the personnel available to cover these injuries. Jaelin Howell is back from injury just in time to cover for Flint. Howell’s ability to step back into the center-back position after Wright went out was key to Racing’s success in keeping Seattle from scoring. When Flint went out, Ellie Jean stepped into the center-back role which pushed Howell back up into the midfield. With the success of these two shifts in the roster, Racing demonstrated again just how much their depth has improved this season.
Jean hasn’t had much time to show off her skills this season with Yanez choosing to stick with a steady backline of Carson Pickett, Erceg, Wright, and Lauren Milliet. Despite this lack of minutes, she didn’t miss a beat against Seattle and proved that she’s more than capable of stepping in when needed.
“I thought she was fantastic,” said Yanez of Jean’s performance. “She was asked to come in at a very crucial moment. I thought she was very clean on the ball. I thought she was very effective. We know they like to overload the back posts and her decision-making helped us in those spaces, specifically in the back post during crossing opportunities. I thought she was very good today and she stepped up when the team needed her. I'm very proud of her.”
After the match, DiGrande spoke glowingly of the team’s mentality and her teammates’ ability to rise to the occasion when called upon.
“Anyone who steps in is going to fight for this team, fight for this club,” DiGrande said. “I keep saying I’m so proud, but that’s exactly what I’m feeling right now. Grateful to be part of this club, and I know we all are, and we want to fight for it. We want to fight for this city.”
Looking Ahead
Racing will have their next chance to fight for their city this Saturday when they take on Bay FC for the very first time.
Heading into the match, Louisville sits in eighth place with a 3-4-7 record with 16 points. This will be a critical match considering the three teams below them all sit at 15 points (including Bay in 11th place). Houston in 12th has 14 points. If all these teams win and Racing loses, they could drop all the way down to 12th in a single week.
Bay is an interesting team in that they’ve been entirely feast for famine. In the exact opposite of Racing, they haven’t had a single draw all season. Instead, they’ve won five games and lost nine. Racing has scored two more goals than Bay so far and, more importantly, they’ve let in 7 fewer goals. Bay’s defense is vulnerable. If Racing can get off to a hot start and create enough chances, there’s a decent likelihood they’ll get on the board. They’ll have to watch out for Bay’s fast and dangerous defense, though. Although they’ve had some trouble producing lately, Bay forwards can break lines and create dangerous chances. Missing Wright and Flint is a bit of a worry, but luckily Bay star forward Racheal Kundananji will also be out due to a suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Speaking of yellow card accumulation, DeMelo sits on four, so she’ll have to be careful not to get a fifth and miss Racing final match before the summer break against the North Carolina Courage.
This match will also be the club’s annual Fill the Fam event where they attempt to break attendance records. Racing Louisville recently announced that their sponsor Rabbit Hole distillery is offering a free ticket to the match for anyone who hasn’t attended before. Click here to share the link or get your free ticket if you haven’t seen Racing yet at Lynn Family Stadium! Just fill out the form by Friday at noon!