Lynn Family Stadium | Louisville, Kentucky – Saturday, May 27 at 8:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Louisville midfielder Savannah DeMelo has been on fire this season and scored and collected an assist against Kansas City on Saturday, bringing her to three goals and two assists in seven games this regular season. In 22 games in her rookie year last year, DeMelo contributed six goals (4 scored, 2 assists) and never had more than one goal contribution in a game. At the back, goalkeeper Katie Lund is still holding it down between the posts and leads the league in saves (35) and sits second in saves per game (4.38).
North Carolina forward Tyler Lussi attempted seven shots against Angel City on Saturday but failed to score. The only other player in NWSL this season to attempt at least that many shots without scoring in the game is Chicago Red Stars rookie Penelope Hocking against Racing Louisville earlier in May (8 shot attempts with no goals). In goal, shotstopper Casey Murphy has helped the Courage defense to allow just nine goals over its eight games, giving her a GAA of 1.19 that stands fourth-best in the league.
Match facts: Racing Louisville FC faces the North Carolina Courage in what will sure to be an entertaining matchup, as new Racing stars Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett will line up against their former side and Louisville looking to extend a two-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Courage enter riding a four-game unbeaten streak (W2 D2) in which forward Tyler Lussi has scored twice, both times netting the winner. Racing currently sits in 7th place with 10 points (W2 D4 L2), while North Carolina sits in 6th place with 11 points (W3 D2 L3).
Racing Louisville is on a three-match winning streak in all competitions, the longest in franchise history. Two of those wins have come in league play, matching the teams’ longest regular season winning streak, done just twice before. The hosts have performed well at home, too, where they remain unbeaten through three games (W1 D2).
Meanwhile, the Courage are unbeaten in five straight in all competitions (W2 D3), with all four matches in May taking place at home. North Carolina’s last match on the road was April 28 in Houston, a 1-0 victory in a match that ended after 52 minutes due to inclement weather. That result was also the Courage’s only road win in all competitions this season (D1 L2).
North Carolina has won all six meetings with Racing Louisville since Louisville joined the league in 2021: all five league matches and a Challenge Cup match. There is one other matchup in that time in which one team has won every game: Portland over Racing (min. 5 meetings).
