Match Preview: North Carolina Courage vs. Racing Louisville FC
WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina – Saturday, September 10 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
North Carolina forward Fuka Nagano has three goal contributions in five appearances in 2022 after scoring the lone goal in the club’s win over Gotham FC. Nagano is one of four Japanese players with at least three goal contributions this season (Hina Sugita, Yuki Nagasato, Jun Endo), which is tied with Canada for most such players by a foreign country in NWSL in 2022. Also always dangerous is forward Diana Ordoñez, who has already smashed the goals record for a rookie and is still in second place in the goals department (11) across the league.
Despite failing to score in its most recent match against the Red Stars, Louisville found a bright spot through midfielder Savannah DeMelo who added another chance created to her league-leading total of 45. DeMelo has nine more chances created than any other NWSL player this season (María Sánchez – 36) and 24 more than anyone else on Louisville (Jessica McDonald – 21).
Match facts: The North Carolina Courage and Racing Louisville FC wrap up Saturday’s action with an early evening contest at WakeMed Soccer Park with the hosts looking to continue building momentum heading into the final few games of the regular season.
The Courage have now won three of their last four matches and have managed to shut out their opponents twice in that stretch, including the 1-0 win over Gotham on Sunday. In the first 12 games of the season, North Carolina had just two wins and shut out its opponent only once, a 3-0 win over Racing Louisville.
Saturday’s visitors, though, have collected just six points in their last 12 games (D6 L6), the team’s longest winless streak in its brief history. It’s the fewest points Louisville has compiled in a 12-game span in its history, with only Gotham having collected fewer points in a 12-game stretch this season (3 points).
North Carolina has the advantage in the pair’s history so far, having won all five matches played against Racing Louisville in all NWSL competitions (4 regular season wins, 1 Challenge Cup win). The four league wins without a loss or draw is the best 100 percent record for any team against a single opponent in NWSL history.
