| 2022 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Owner | John Neace | ||
| Manager | Kim Björkegren | ||
| Stadium | Lynn Family Stadium | ||
| NWSL | 9th | ||
| NWSL Playoffs | DNQ | ||
| Challenge Cup | Group stage | ||
| The Women's Cup | Runners-up | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: Nadia Nadim (6) All: Nadia Nadim (6) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 8,729 (Aug. 27 vs. CHI) | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 5,107 (Aug. 2 vs. SEA) | ||
| Average home league attendance | 6,048 | ||
| Biggest win | 2 goals (2–0 Sept. 16 vs. ORL) (3–1 Sept. 25 vs. LA) | ||
| Biggest defeat | 4 goals (0–4 Aug. 27 vs. CHI) (1–5 Sept. 10 vs. NC) | ||
| |||
← 2021
2023 →
| |||
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.
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]
Several players departed from Racing Louisville's 2021 squad after the season ended. Aside from free transfers, Racing traded Savannah McCaskilltoAngel 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 SalmontoHouston 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 PresstoAngel City FC in exchange for expansion draft protection,[22] the rights to Janine BeckietoPortland Thorns FC in exchange for allocation money,[23] and the rights to Tobin HeathtoOL 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 DrafttoOL 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 OlofssontoReal 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 BealltoWestern 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]
| No. | Position | Nation | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK |  USA
|
Katie Lund |
| 2 | MF | USA
|
Lauren Milliet |
| 4 | DF |  ENG
|
Gemma Bonner |
| 6 | MF | USA
|
Jaelin Howell |
| 7 | MF | USA
|
Savannah DeMelo |
| 10 | FW |  DEN
|
Nadia Nadim |
| 11 | DF | USA
|
Emily Fox |
| 12 | MF | USA
|
Taylor Malham |
| 13 | FW | USA
|
Emina Ekic |
| 14 | FW | USA
|
Jess McDonald |
| 15 | DF | USA
|
Julia Lester |
| 16 | FW |  RSA
|
Thembi Kgatlana |
| 17 | DF | USA
|
Nealy Martin |
| 18 | GK | USA
|
Hillary Beall |
| 20 | FW |  JAM
|
Cheyna Matthews |
| 21 | FW | USA
|
Parker Goins |
| 22 | FW | USA
|
Kirsten Davis |
| 24 | GK | USA
|
Jordyn Bloomer |
| 25 | DF |  NIR
|
Rebecca Holloway |
| 27 | MF |  AUS
|
Alex Chidiac |
| 30 | DF | USA
|
Zaneta Wyne |
| 31 | GK | USA
|
Kelsey Daugherty |
| 44 | DF | JAM
|
Satara Murray |
| 77 | FW |  CHN
|
Wang Shuang |
All preseason friendlies for this Racing Louisville season were closed to the public with results not published.
| February 18, 2022 | Racing Louisville | v | Louisville Cardinals | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Stadium: Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center |
| February 21, 2022 | Florida State Seminoles | v | Racing Louisville | Tallahassee, Florida |
| Stadium: Seminole Soccer Complex |
| February 24, 2022 | Florida State Seminoles | v | Racing Louisville | Tallahassee, Florida |
| Stadium: Seminole Soccer Complex |
| March 5, 2022 | Racing Louisville | v | Tennessee Volunteers | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Stadium: Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center |
| March 12, 2022 | Racing Louisville | v | Murray State Racers | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Stadium: Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center |
| 18 March 1 | Racing Louisville | 1–1 | Kansas City Current | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 PM ET | Kizer  20' Bonner  60' |
Report | McCain 78', 83' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,332 Referee: Danielle Cheskey |
| 25 March 2 | Racing Louisville | 2–3 | Houston Dash | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 PM ET |
40' 61' |
Report |
20' 45' 56' 65' (pen.) 72' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 3,800 Referee: Sergii Demianchuk |
| 30 March 3 | Chicago Red Stars | 0–0 | Racing Louisville | Bridgeview, Illinois |
| 6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET |
|
Report | Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Referee: Calin Radosav |
| 2 April 4 | Kansas City Current | 0–3 | Racing Louisville | Kansas City, Kansas |
| 2:00 PM CT/3:00 PM ET | Report |
50' 60' 65' 90+6' |
Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Referee: Alyssa Nichols |
| 16 April 5 | Racing Louisville | 1–1 | Chicago Red Stars | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 PM ET |
76' |
Report |
51' 75' 84' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 4,409 Referee: Laura Rodriguez |
| 24 April 6 | Houston Dash | 2-1 | Racing Louisville FC | Houston, Texas |
| 4:00 PM CT/5:00 PM ET |
29' 35' 61' |
Report |
29' 67' |
Stadium: PNC Stadium Attendance: 3,073 Referee: Brad Jensen |
Following their loss to the North Carolina Courage on September 10, Racing were eliminated from NWSL playoff contention.[35]
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OL Reign | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 32 | 19 | +13 | 40 | NWSL Shield, Playoffs – semi-finals |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC (C) | 22 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 49 | 24 | +25 | 39 | Playoffs – semi-finals |
| 3 | San Diego Wave FC | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 36 | Playoffs – first round |
| 4 | Houston Dash | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 36 | |
| 5 | Kansas City Current | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 36 | |
| 6 | Chicago Red Stars | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 28 | +6 | 33 | |
| 7 | North Carolina Courage | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 32 | |
| 8 | Angel City FC | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 27 | −4 | 29 | |
| 9 | Racing Louisville FC | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 35 | −12 | 23 | |
| 10 | Orlando Pride | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 45 | −23 | 22 | |
| 11 | Washington Spirit | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 19 | |
| 12 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 16 | 46 | −30 | 13 |
| 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 |
Last updated: October 1, 2022.
Source: Match reports
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.
| April 30 1 | Chicago Red Stars | 2–1 | Racing Louisville FC | Bridgeview, Illinois |
| 19:00 CDT |
25' 47' |
Report |
75' |
Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 3,028 Referee: Jeremy Scheer |
| May 8 2 | OL Reign | 2–2 | Racing Louisville FC | Seattle, Washington |
| 15:00 PDT |
64' 70' |
Report |
60' (o.g.) 65' |
Stadium: Lumen Field Attendance: 4,396 Referee: Karen Callado |
| May 14 3 | Racing Louisville FC | 1–1 | Houston Dash | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
82' (Milliet) |
Report |
77' 78' 89' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,271 Referee: Samantha Martinez |
| May 18 4 | Racing Louisville FC | 1–0 | San Diego Wave FC | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 19:30 EDT |
27' 89' |
Report |
44' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,302 Referee: Joshua Encarnación |
| May 22 5 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 0–1 | Racing Louisville FC | Harrison, New Jersey |
| 17:00 EDT |
69' |
Report |
73' 90+4' |
Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 2,672 Referee: Thomas Snyder |
| May 30 6 | Kansas City Current | 1–0 | Racing Louisville FC | Kansas City, Kansas |
| 14:00 CDT | Report | Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 6,484 Referee: Danielle Chesky |
| June 4 7 | Racing Louisville FC | 0–3 | North Carolina Courage | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
|
Report |
45+1' (Mathias) 75' 90+1' (Smith) |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,738 Referee: Eric Tattersall |
| June 11 8 | Racing Louisville FC | 2–3 | Angel City FC | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
65' (pen.), 85' 74' 90+2' |
Report |
36' (Reid) 47' (Press), 90+3' (pen.), 49' 68' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 6,139 Referee: Matthew Thompson |
| June 17 9 | Washington Spirit | 2–2 | Racing Louisville FC | Washington, D.C. |
| 19:30 EDT |
34' (Sanchez) 43' 51' |
Report |
73' |
Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 2,790 Referee: Matthew Franz |
| July 3 10 | Orlando Pride | 2–2 | Racing Louisville FC | Daytona Beach, Florida |
| 20:00 EDT |
47' 50' 59' (Jenkins) 69' (Tymrak) 77' |
Report |
34' 51' 61' |
Stadium: Daytona International Speedway Attendance: 7,573 Referee: Alex Billeter |
| July 8 11 | Racing Louisville FC | 1–2 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
67', 90+1' 85' |
Report |
24' 25' (Sheehan) 43' 74' 80' (Kawasumi) |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,771 Referee: Danielle Chesky |
| July 15 12 | San Diego Wave FC | 0–0 | Racing Louisville FC | San Diego, California |
| 19:00 PDT |
48' |
Report |
|
Stadium: Torero Stadium Attendance: 4,747 Referee: Karen Callado |
| July 29 13 | Racing Louisville FC | 1–2 | Portland Thorns FC | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
75' 89' |
Report |
21' 74' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 7,089 Referee: Alyssa Nichols |
| August 2 14 | Racing Louisville FC | 1–1 | OL Reign | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
45+1', 61' |
Report |
55' 90+2' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,107 Referee: Laura Rodriguez[36] |
| August 5 15 | Racing Louisville FC | 1–1 | Washington Spirit | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
78' |
Report | Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,364 Referee: Rebecca Pagan |
| August 12 16 | Houston Dash | 0–0 | Racing Louisville FC | Houston, Texas |
| 19:30 CDT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: PNC Stadium Attendance: 5,279 Referee: Katja Koroleva[37] |
| August 27 17 | Racing Louisville FC | 0–4 | Chicago Red Stars | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 19:30 EDT |
90+4' |
Report |
18' (Pugh), 23' (Pugh) |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 8,729 Referee: Alex Billeter[38] |
| September 10 18 | North Carolina Courage | 5–1 | Racing Louisville FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:00 EDT |
56' (Kerolin), 84' (pen.) 90' (Kerolin) |
Report |
45+1' 72' |
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Referee: Samantha Martinez |
| September 16 19 | Racing Louisville FC | 2–0 | Orlando Pride | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 19:30 EDT |
50' (Wang) 82' |
Report | Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,397 Referee: Anya Voigt[39] |
| September 21 20 | Portland Thorns FC | 3–0 | Racing Louisville FC | Portland, Oregon |
| 19:00 PDT |
48' (Kuikka) 33', 56' |
Report |
|
Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 15,652 |
| September 25 21 | Angel City FC | 1–3 | Racing Louisville FC | Los Angeles, California |
| 17:00 PDT | Report |
40' 43' (pen.) 75' 82' 90' (Fox) |
Stadium: Banc of California Stadium Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Adorae Monroy Assistant referees: Katarzyna Wasiak, Melissa Beck Fourth official: Joseph Salinas |
| October 1 22 | Racing Louisville FC | 1–0 | Kansas City Current | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 19:30 EDT |
90+2' (DeMelo) |
Report |
90+1' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 6,622 Referee: Danielle Chesky |
v
AC Milan
| August 17 Semifinal | Racing Louisville FC | 2–0 | AC Milan | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 20:00 EDT |
12' 24' |
Report |
41' 50' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium |
v OL Reign
| August 20 Championship | Racing Louisville FC | 1–2 | OL Reign | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 19:00 EDT |
|
Report Story Highlights |
66' 59' |
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium |
Racing Louisville FC finished 9th in the regular season and did not qualify for the 2022 NWSL Playoffs.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com
Matches as of October 1, 2022.
| Place | Pos. | No. | Name | CC | NWSL | NWSL Playoffs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FW | 10 | Nadia Nadim |
0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | MF | 16 | Savannah DeMelo |
0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| FW | 14 | Jess McDonald |
1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | FW | 22 | Kirsten Davis |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| FW | 13 | Emina Ekic |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 6 | DF | 4 | Gemma Bonner |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| MF | 27 | Alex Chidiac |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| MF | 2 | Lauren Milliet |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| N/A | - | Opponent Own Goals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 10 | DF | 11 | Emily Fox |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| FW | 5 | Cece Kizer |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 7 | 23 | 0 | 30 | |||
Matches as of October 1, 2022.
| Place | Pos. | No. | Name | CC | NWSL | NWSL Playoffs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FW | 14 | Jess McDonald |
1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | MF | 16 | Savannah DeMelo |
0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | FW | 5 | CeCe Kizer |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | FW | 13 | Emina Ekic |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| FW | 22 | Kirsten Davis |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| MF | 6 | Jaelin Howell |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| MF | 2 | Lauren Milliet |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| MF | 77 | Wang Shuang |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| DF | 11 | Emily Fox |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 2 | 13 | 0 | 15 | |||
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 | |||
Matches as of October 1, 2022.
| Place | Pos. | No. | Name | CC | NWSL | NWSL Playoffs | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| ||||
| 1 | DF | 30 | Satara Murray |
0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | DF | 4 | Gemma Bonner |
1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| MF | 7 | Savannah DeMelo |
1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| MF | 6 | Jaelin Howell |
0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| MF | 8 |  Freja Olofsson |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 6 | DF | 15 | Julia Lester |
0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| GK | 1 | Katie Lund |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| DF | 17 | Nealy Martin |
1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| FW | 10 | Nadia Nadim |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 10 | FW | 22 | Kirsten Davis |
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | 11 | Emily Fox |
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| MF | 2 | Lauren Milliet |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| DF | 3 | Erin Simon |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| DF | 30 | Zaneta Wyne |
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 15 | FW | 13 | Emina Ekic |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | 14 | Jess McDonald |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 1 | |||
|
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| Club |
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| Stadium |
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| Affiliated clubs |
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| Culture |
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|
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|
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|
| Related articles |
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2022 NWSL season by team
| |
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« 2021 2023 » | |||||||
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