LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Racing Louisville FC closed out its season Sunday night when falling by a 3-1 score to San Diego Wave FC at Lynn Family Stadium.
San Diego found the back of the net twice in the opening half – first through Jaedyn Shaw three minutes in, followed by a precisely taken free kick off the left boot of Maria Sanchez. Racing's Bethany Balcer halved the Wave’s lead in the 68th minute, but Savannah McCaskill's far-post header sealed the two-goal victory for the visitors eight minutes later.
Racing (7-12-7, 28 points) entered Sunday's match already locked into a ninth-place finish, just eliminating the club from playoff contention following results elsewhere around the league this weekend.
“It’s time to reflect,” said coach Bev Yanez. “It’s time to understand and prepare for next season. So that process starts very quickly.
“We wanted to be in a playoff position, and it came down to the last week," she added. "We were the only team outside of playoffs that was still in contention to be in playoffs. I think that says a lot about what we were able to achieve … But there’s only so far of that you can do, because the reality is this is our scenario, and I think we have to take the lessons as much as possible that we received early on to help us be better not only now but in the future.”
San Diego (6-13-7, 25 points), whose postseason hopes were extinguished two weeks ago, came out of the gate strong despite some unusual circumstances surrounding Sunday's finale. The game, originally scheduled to be played at Snapdragon Stadium in southern California, was moved Friday to Louisville due to field conditions on the Wave's home pitch.
San Diego still managed to strike early, hitting the back of the net in the third minute after Shaw saw her intended cross trickle past Racing goalkeeper Katie Lund. Nineteen minutes later, Sanchez converted her free kick into the left corner to make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.
The Landon Donovan-coached Wave began the second half much like the first – on the front foot. Racing, however, absorbed the pressure and countered.
In the 68th minute, Balcer brought the home side back into the match with her third goal for Louisville. The veteran striker pounced on the rebound after Kayla Fischer's shot struck the woodwork.
The match circumstances allowed for some rotation. Forward Milly Clegg and defender Ángela Barón made their league debuts in lavender, entering as second-half substitutes. As Racing rotated in new faces, San Diego sealed the three points in the 76th minute when McCaskill redirected home a Delphine Cascarino cross.
“Obviously tonight it’s disappointing tonight to end the season this way," said Racing midfielder Marisa DiGrande. "But I think when you look back at the collective of the whole year, there were a lot of good things and lot of growth. Now it’s just focusing on next season and taking some time to look back and reflect on what worked and what was good, and maybe some things we have to clean up on.”
“We’re going to have a different mindset going into next year,” Fischer said. “We can’t end like that, but we start together and finish together. So we’re just on to the next year.”
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