Racing Louisville kicked off the season with raised expectations, but underperformance, injuries and a tough schedule mean they have ground to make up.
There are 30 matches in the 2026 NWSL season, so the first seven league matches will comprise the “first quarter” for our purposes. After Racing Louisville made the playoffs for the first time ever in 2025, there are higher expectations for this season. In retrospect, those expectations may turn out to be misguided or unfair, but there’s still the majority of the season to play.
Racing’s roster went through a big transition in the off-season, and while it’s too early to judge the overhaul too definitively, some retrospective analysis is probably fair. Bev Yanez won the 2025 NWSL Coach of the Year and has returned, but there is a sense that teams may not be as baffled by what Racing offers as an opponent this season compared to last season.
The injury bug always seems to hit Racing at the worst times, and this season has been no different. Despite adding depth, the team has been caught lacking a few times due to injuries. The schedule makers haven’t done Racing any favors either by having them play 5 of their first 7 matches on the road, but Racing was a much better road team last season than they have been this year.
The Matches
Courage 2 – Racing 1
Best Bit: Jordyn Bloomer makes a great double save to keep Racing level in the second half.
Worst Bit: Racing’s defending on both goals leaves lots to be desired.
Takeaway: The team plays with plenty of grit, but this match follows the all-too-familiar pattern of conceding a late goal.
Racing 2 – Spirit 2
Best Bit: Emma Sears’ end-to-end run and finish puts Racing up 2-0.
Worst Bit: The realization that no lead Racing builds can ever be “safe”.
Takeaway: Racing earns its first point of the season but leaves two on the table.
Seattle 2 – Racing 1
Best Bit: Macy Blackburn scores her first goal on a nice header, but it is essentially the last meaningful action of the match.
Worst Bit: A rare goalkeeping error by Bloomer in the 11th minute gives Seattle an early lead.
Takeaway: Racing can’t put out a lineup nearing full-strength due to injuries, so if you wanted the answer to the question “can Taylor Flint be an effective center back for 90 minutes” the answer is clearly: “not a chance”.
Dash 4 – Racing 3
Best Bit: Despite being a match where seven goals were scored, the best bit was when the final whistle blew and this disaster-class defending performance from both teams could be relegated to the dustbin of history.
Worst Bit: Watching Flint have to play center back for 90 minutes again.
Takeaway: An extended international break can’t come soon enough as Racing’s list of injuries has piled up so high that they can’t fill out a full bench, even with 2 goalkeepers.
Racing 3 – Pride 2
Best Bit: Lauren Milliet’s wonder strike and then scoring another for her first brace.
Worst Bit: Having the last few minutes be nervy because Racing once again gives up a second half stoppage time goal.
Takeaway: Racing does just enough to hang on to win, but I don’t think this team has a clean sheet in it.
Spirit 1– Racing 0
Best Bit: The fact that it wasn’t 3-0 or 4-0.
Worst Bit: Racing’s attacking performance which was absolutely dreadful.
Takeaway: The league’s better teams have figured out that Racing can’t hurt them if they play within themselves.
Gotham 1 – Racing 0
Best Bit: Absolutely nothing.
Worst Bit: Realizing that despite being down a goal since the 11th minute that Racing didn’t manage to have a touch in the box in the second half until the 86th minute.
Takeaway: See above. Teams know that Racing can’t play through them, so if you minimize set pieces and transitions Racing is not all that dangerous.
Also read: A closer look at Louisville basketball transfer portal options
Why isn’t Racing getting results?
It comes down to the 3 items mentioned in the opening:
Roster:
Many Racing Louisville fans were excited in the preseason by the sheer number of young and talented players that the club added. Each player, taken on their own, would have to be seen as a positive addition. Racing needs young attacking and defending talents. However, Racing didn’t replace what they lost. I may have been tough on Ary Borges at times, but I never doubted her talent and contributions. I really wished that Racing could have convinced her to sign a new contract. They didn’t and she went to Angel City. Racing doesn’t have another player that can do as many things well as Ary does.
Macey Hodge took her spot on the roster as the most similar player, but she doesn’t have Borges’ dribbling skills or attacking prowess. When the team lost Janine Sonis to Denver, they lost a leader who could contribute all over the pitch. Her experience was vital as well. The long and short of it is that Racing’s roster is deeper but also lighter on proven talent. It is possible that some of the first-year players can develop into players as good as Borges or Sonis, but they are nowhere near their levels yet.
Racing Louisville was also a little spoiled last season in that they found 3 starters in Ella Hase, Katie O’Kane and Sarah Weber in their rookie class. None of this year’s rookies has had the chances that they got, so it is tough to know if any of them could be starter-level. This brings up this question: were Hase, O’Kane, and Weber actually good enough or the only options? I think they showed flashes of being good enough to start for Racing, but if you ask yourself how many minutes this trio gets on any other team that isn’t Boston or Denver, the answer for Hase and O’Kane is probably “not many” based on what I have seen so far this season.
Racing isn’t in a position to go out and improve at every position every year, but no team is going to be successful if they don’t at least try to clearly upgrade a starter or two every year. Racing did not do that, although to be fair, they may not ever be in a position to do that based on their circumstances. Racing brought in depth, which they needed to do. However, they still only let you play with eleven and Racing’s best eleven this year aren’t as good as what they could put out last season, at least not yet.
Injuries:
Racing Louisville started this season with an injury in the one position they could not afford to: center back. Arin Wright missed the first four matches before the international break, and you could definitely feel her absence. Racing’s starting center back pairing is league-average, at best, and that has been the case in every season unfortunately. It’s hard to upgrade at that position, but if center back isn’t a top priority for the next two transfer windows, then we will just have to kiss the concept of a clean sheet goodbye.
Taylor Flint was forced into a center back role for two matches and made a not-so-great midfield even worse. Midfield is a place where Racing has had talent, if not cohesion. They have less of both there this season because Savannah Demelo remains unavailable with no timetable to return. Makenna Morris is listed as a midfielder but often plays on the wings. She wasn’t available for the first four matches either. Quincy McMahon was meant to challenge Courtney Petersen for minutes at left back but has missed time too. Mirann Gaocich comes with a good pedigree from Ohio State but only played one match before getting injured. She might be part of the long-term plan on defense. None of the injuries were major, but they all came at once, which left Racing shorthanded.
Schedule:
Five of Racing’s matches have been against teams currently in playoff position. Sometimes that is misleading this early in the season, but I think most people expect Washington and Gotham to be in the discussion for the Shield. Racing has accumulated its four points at home, and four out of a possible six isn’t bad. It is the 0 from 15 possible on the road that looks concerning. However, even the most optimistic fan probably only saw 3-4 points from those matches as being likely. Racing is in a hole, but it isn’t one that is impossible to dig out of.
Then again, the schedule in this league is brutal and no matches are foregone conclusions. Racing did a good job of stealing points on the road last season, even if they left some on the table by conceding goals late in matches. The next 4 matches before the summer break look kinder with three out of four at home.
Has the league figured Racing out?
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is yes, and they were always going to.
I am pleased that Racing has a clear identify. Their tough and aggressive style is the one that has the best chance of working in my opinion. That doesn’t mean that there don’t need to be tweaks and as Bev likes to say “evolutions”. The problem is that they haven’t evolved enough to be both a nuisance to play against AND hard to beat, now that the teams know full well what to expect.
Racing’s style last season always treated the ball as a hot potato. They didn’t want to touch if for long in their half and once they got some possession in attack or transition, a shot was not very far from their minds. That has carried over to this season, but with teams knowing that the best way to play Racing is to pin them back without getting caught in transition. Racing’s midfield has never been that difficult to play through, but this season it looks even easier. Patient teams can do it through controlled passing. Aggressive teams cut through it like a hot knife through butter.
The team is so poor with the ball at their feet at times that if I was an opposing coach I would always have my goalkeeper kick it long if there was any sort of pressure from Racing. Even if Racing Louisville wins the ball at midfield, they are just as likely to turn possession back over. They haven’t shown great signs of being able to generate much attack from midfield, especially now that they don’t have players like Demelo or Borges to dribble out of trouble or win a free kick.
The proposed fix
They scores the same types of goals that all teams score, and overall offensive efficiency isn’t the biggest problem. Here is how I would isolate the problem. Racing went down 1-0 against Gotham in the 15th minute and ultimately ended the match with 39% possession. In the next match they went down 1-0 in the 16th minutes and ultimately ended the match with 38% possession. You cannot win matches that way. You might snatch a draw now and then, but you essentially write off the possibility of three points by not being able to possess the ball meaningfully and for sustained periods. If the defense was top quartile, maybe you could get something this way. The defense is bottom quartile, so this is never going to work. Teams can limit opportunities by simply playing keep away. Sure, Racing might steal a goal every now and then but if you play the numbers, you end up succeeding more often than you fail.
Racing Louisville has to add some possession into its game. It just isn’t clear where it is going to come from. Bev definitely needs to rethink Fischer at the 10. She isn’t nearly an accurate enough passer to play there. I am not sure who is, but it is worth trying something different. Racing probably needs to figure out a way to overload the midfield at times. The trio of Flint/O’Kane/Fischer can’t currently impose themselves on a match.
Inverting a wing back is the flavor of the month solution to this, but Racing’s defense probably won’t stand up to that kind of pressure and inversion works best for teams that have more possession. I don’t like to suggest tactical or formation changes, but I really don’t see how Racing Louisville can get better without some sort of change. I find it odd that not more teams don’t play 4-4-2, but what do I know.
What’s the next move for Bev Yanez?
All that I can say is that I am glad that I am not the coach.
There doesn’t seem to be an obvious solution. I am okay with Racing Louisville being a bottom-of-the-table team from time to time if it means they figure things out for the better in the long term. You just don’t want to turn into a consistent punching bag. It’s too early to write off a season, but it isn’t too early to shake things up. I don’t think anyone should walk into practice in the next few weeks assuming that their job is safe. There isn’t a single player on the roster that I would say is having their best season other than Weber, and maybe Sears (if you ignore the last two matches for both of them).
Something needs to energize this team. The performances haven’t been poor, there just hasn’t been the same ferocity that we saw in some of the performances last season. Bloomer brought a lot of energy last year, but her energy is kind of baked into the “run rate”. They need an extra boost. I have talked to the players and Bev about what kind of catalyst they need. I don’t think anyone has a ready-made answer.
One thing that I do know is that Bev is working tirelessly to figure things out. That may be her greatest strength. If anyone can right the ship, she can.
