By Christine Espinoza
The Challenge Cup is a preseason tournament that allows players, coaches, and viewers alike to get a preview of what we may see during the season. Keyword: May. Of course, it does not define the season; however, pros and cons such as dynamic duos, possession advantages or issues, rookies’ exposure to the NWSL, and other abilities may be observed and grown upon with time. In the case of Racing there were some new faces and dynamics yet also some continuing issues that were observed in their first game.
The game against Kansas City began on shaky ground. Louisville struggled for possession and Kansas City had already attempted to score against them. Morale and possession would soon pick up when at the 20th Cece Kizer made a dash across the field, redirected the ball to Louisville newcomer, and outstanding NWSL and USWNT soccer player, Jessica McDonald who passed it perfectly back to Kizer who found the back of Kansas City Goalkeeper AD Franch’s net.
The connection between Kizer and McDonald will be one to look out for in the future. Of this connection Kizer has mentioned that she and McDonald are “connecting really well” during their preseason.
The pace of the first half continued to be in their favor after the goal. Unfortunately, the Current began to put pressure in the second half; enjoying better possession and seeking a goal. That chance would come when Racing’s Gemma Bonner made an accidental pass to the Current’s Addie McCain who capitalized on this error and scored at the 78th minute. With the goal, Kansas continued to press however were unable to score again, ending Louisville’s first preseason game with a draw.
While it is still too early to define the team just yet, an issue that seems to have followed Racing into this game was a lack in taking more chances to score. In this game, Kansas City outshot Racing with 24 attempts and 9 on target, while Racing had 12 shots with 3 on target.
Like last year, Racing has great defensive potential with Emily Fox, who has built up a reputation for her daring plays in USWNT games and continues to shine in her team as well. Goalkeeper Katie Lund continues to make impressive saves and got an assist on a save from Bonner who kept what would have been the Current’s second goal out of the net at the 82nd. The midfield needs to become stronger and capitalize on connections such as the one that might be building between Kizer and McDonald and utilizing other powerful strikers such as Lauren Milliet and Ebony Salmon to create great set pieces in the future.
However as Racing Coach Kim Bjorkengren commented this game was a “typical first match, you have fifteen minutes when we play good then 15 minutes that are not so good and then back again.” Meaning that it is still too early to truly define the team, which one hopes continues to improve and grow into their skills with their new players in the Challenge Cup and into the regular season.
We are Area Sports