# 2021 Racing Louisville FC season

The 2021 Racing Louisville FC season was the club's first season of play. Racing Louisville competed in the National Women's Soccer League, the top flight of professional women's soccer in the United States.

## Background

Racing Louisville FC was announced on October 22, 2019, as an NWSL expansion team set to begin play in the 2021 season. Former Sky Blue FC head coach Christy Holly was named as Racing Louisville FC's first head coach on August 12, 2020. The club proceeded to build their roster through a combination of free agent signings, a trade with Chicago Red Stars for Savannah McCaskill and Yūki Nagasato in exchange draft protection, the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft, and the 2021 NWSL Draft. Since the opening of the season, Racing also added English internationals Gemma Bonner and Ebony Salmon, former North Carolina Courage defender Sinclaire Miramontez, and Dutch international Nadia Nadim.
Holly was fired for cause on August 31, 2021, and the club named Mario Sanchez, head of the club's youth academy and former collegiate coach, as the interim head coach.

## Current squad

As of June 9, 2021
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | USA | Michelle Betos |
| 2 | MF | USA | Lauren Milliet |
| 3 | DF | USA | Erin Simon |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Gemma Bonner |
| 5 | FW | USA | Cece Kizer |
| 7 | FW | USA | Savannah McCaskill |
| 8 | MF | SWE | Freja Olofsson |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Ebony Salmon |
| 10 | FW | DEN | Nadia Nadim |
| 11 | DF | USA | Emily Fox |
| 12 | DF | USA | Sinclaire Miramontez |
| 13 | FW | USA | Emina Ekic |
| 14 | DF | USA | Nealy Martin |
| 15 | DF | USA | Brooke Hendrix |
| 16 | DF | USA | Julia Ashley |
| 17 | FW | JPN | Yūki Nagasato |
| 18 | DF | USA | Kaleigh Riehl |
| 19 | MF | USA | Taylor Otto |
| 20 | FW | JAM | Cheyna Matthews |
| 21 | GK | USA | Shelby Money |
| 22 | FW | USA | Katie McClure |
| 23 | GK | USA | Katie Lund |
| 24 | MF | USA | Noelle Higginson |
| 26 | DF | USA | Addisyn Merrick |
| 27 | FW | DOM | Vanessa Kara |
| 33 | FW | USA | Jorian Baucom |

## Competitions
### NWSL Challenge Cup
#### Standings — East Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 | Qualification for the Championship |
| 2 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 7 | |
| 3 | Orlando Pride | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 5 | Racing Louisville FC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 2 | |

#### Match results

Racing Louisville's group stage matches in the East Division of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup were the first competitive matches in club history. The opening match, a 2–2 draw against Orlando Pride, was the club's first at their home ground, Lynn Family Stadium. With two draws and two losses in four group matches, Racing finished at the bottom of East Division in their first Challenge Cup.

### NWSL Regular Season
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 33 | 17 | +16 | 44 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | OL Reign | 24 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 24 | +13 | 42 | Playoffs – Semi-finals |
| 3 | Washington Spirit (C) | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 39 | Playoffs – First round |
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 38 | Playoffs – First round |
| 5 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 24 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 35 | Playoffs – First round |
| 6 | North Carolina Courage | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 33 | Playoffs – First round |
| 7 | Houston Dash | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 32 | |
| 8 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 28 | |
| 9 | Racing Louisville FC | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 21 | 40 | −19 | 22 | |
| 10 | Kansas City | 24 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 36 | −21 | 16 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: October 31, 2021. Source: Match reports
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Ground | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | W | D | D | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | D | D |

#### Match results
### The Women's Cup

Racing Louisville hosted and participated in the inaugural The Women's Cup, a four-team competition featuring two sides from the NWSL and two sides from Europe. Racing Louisville and Chicago Red Stars from NWSL were joined by Paris Saint-Germain Féminine and FC Bayern Munich. In the semifinals on August 18, 2021, Racing Louisville drew with Chicago Red Stars and advanced to the Championship match on penalty kicks, where they would face Bayern Munich, who had also advanced past Paris Saint-Germain via penalty shootout. In the Championship match, Racing Louisville fell behind early in the second half before quickly equalizing on a goal by Jorian Baucom, then took the lead on a goal by Yūki Nagasato, only to yield another to Bayern Munich in stoppage time, sending the match to penalties. Racing Louisville prevailed in an 11-round shootout, after backup goalkeeper Katie Lund converted her spot kick and saved the attempt by her counterpart, Laura Benkarth.

### NWSL Playoffs

Racing Louisville did not qualify for the NWSL Playoffs. Playoffs will start on November 6 and will conclude with the NWSL Championship on November 20, to be held at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville.

## Player statistics
### Top scorers

| Place | Pos. | No. | Name | CC | IWC | NWSL | Total |
| 1 | FW | 5 | Cece Kizer | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 | FW | 9 | Ebony Salmon | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | FW | 10 | Nadia Nadim | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | FW | 17 | Yūki Nagasato | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | FW | 33 | Jorian Baucom | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | FW | 7 | Savannah McCaskill | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | DF | 15 | Brooke Hendrix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | 13 | Emina Ekic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | 20 | Cheyna Matthews | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | 22 | Katie McClure | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 4 | 2 | 21 | 27 |

### Assist leaders

| Place | Pos. | No. | Name | CC | IWC | NWSL | Total |
| 1 | FW | 5 | Cece Kizer | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 2 | FW | 9 | Ebony Salmon | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | FW | 7 | Savannah McCaskill | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | MF | 2 | Lauren Milliet | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | FW | 17 | Yūki Nagasato | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | DF | 11 | Emily Fox | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | 8 | Freja Olofsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | DF | 3 | Erin Simon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | FW | 13 | Emina Ekic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | FW | 10 | Nadia Nadim | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | FW | 22 | Katie McClure | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 4 | 1 | 14 | 19 |

### Clean sheets

| Place | Pos. | No. | Name | CC | NWSL | Total |
| 1 | GK | 1 | Michelle Betos | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 1 | 4 | 5 |

### Disciplinary

| Pos. | No. | Name | CC | IWC | NWSL | NWSL | Total | Total |
| FW | 7 | Savannah McCaskill | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FW | 17 | Yūki Nagasato | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | 18 | Kaleigh Riehl | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | 33 | Jorian Baucom | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | 20 | Cheyna Matthews | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | 14 | Nealy Martin | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | 11 | Emily Fox | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | 4 | Gemma Bonner | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | 18 | Kaleigh Riehl | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | 10 | Nadia Nadim | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | 9 | Ebony Salmon | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | 12 | Sinclaire Miramontez | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MF | 8 | Freja Olofsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | 22 | Katie McClure | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HC | - | Christy Holly | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | 13 | Emina Ekic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | 3 | Erin Simon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | 16 | Julia Ashley | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | 3 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 35 | 1 |