Preview: Spirit Eyes a Victory over Racing Louisville FC in Return to Audi Field

Washington, D.C. (10/11/2024) – The Washington Spirit will face Racing Louisville FC on Sunday, October 13 in the final regular season matchup between the sides this year. The match begins at 5 p.m. EDT at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. and will be broadcast locally on Monumental Sports Network and streamed on NWSL+. Fans can also tune into the Washington Spirit Radio Network by visiting WashingtonSpirit.com or the ESPN 630 website or app starting at 4:30 p.m.

The Spirit

Last week, the Spirit fell to the undefeated Orlando Pride. In the shutout loss, the Spirit surrendered a penalty kick — one that keeper Aubrey Kingsbury nearly saved — and an own goal from wonky deflection off a Spirit defender.

Similar to previous weeks and with several regular starters absent from the match, the Spirit Starting XI was quite modified compared to lineups throughout the season. Undrafted rookie Heather Stainbrook notably made her first professional start following seven appearances for the Spirit as a substitute prior to the match. Paige Metayer even made an appearance on the Spirit front line, meaning she has now appeared at every level of the field as a field player for the Spirit this season. Finally, Jenna Butler, who the Spirit signed through the end of the season after appearing as a National Team Replacement player (NTR) this summer, made her NWSL regular season debut, coming onto the pitch in second half stoppage time.

Near the end of the match, Spirit captain and former No. 1 overall pick Andi Sullivan was downed with an apparent knee injury that was later diagnosed as a torn ACL. She will miss the remainder of the season.

Despite two losses in its last three games, the Spirit still controls its destiny at the #2 position on the NWSL Table. That said, Washington (47 points, +17 goal differential), Gotham FC (47 points, +14 goal differential) and the Kansas City Current (46 points, +20 goal differential) are all tied or within one point of each other, so these final three matches are of supreme importance.

The Spirit finishes out the season with Louisville, Chicago and North Carolina. Based on current seeding of future opponents, the Kansas City Current has the easiest schedule the rest of the way. Gotham FC still must face Orlando for a final time. Both Gotham FC and Kansas City will also play in CONCACAF W Champions Cup matches, as well as a match against each other for the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup Final.

Keep an eye out for the final Spirit opponent of the season, North Carolina, this weekend. Should the Courage lose or tie on Saturday, the Spirit will automatically clinch a top-four seed in this year’s playoffs, ensuring a home playoff match at Audi Field in November.

Washington is on a seven-game unbeaten run against Louisville (3-0-4), including a 2-1 road win earlier this season. The Spirit has scored in every match during this period, the second time in team history it has scored in seven straight NWSL matches against a single opponent without losing (seven games vs. Chicago from 2013 through 2016).

Additionally, the Spirit has made its home turf of Audi Field live up to its “Rowdy at Audi” moniker. Washington has scored multiple goals in three straight home matches and in nine of its 12 matches at Audi Field in 2024. It also scored multiple goals in two Summer Cup home matches played outside of Washington, D.C. The 11 home games with two or more goals in all competitions are the second most in a single season by any team in NWSL history, trailing only Kansas City who has 12 this season.

With an appearance in Sunday’s match, Ashley Hatch will reach 150 career regular season games played. Hatch has also notched six career goals against Racing Louisville FC, all in the regular season. This is the most league goals scored by any player against Racing. The only other teams Hatch has five or more regular season goals against are the Pride (nine) and Dash (seven).

Another milestone to watch on Sunday: Kingsbury is just three saves away from becoming the second goalkeeper in NWSL history to record 450 or more saves with a single club (Jane Campbell, Houston).

Next week, the Spirit closes out its regular season home campaign on Sunday, October 20 at 5 p.m. EDT. The Spirit will celebrate Fan Appreciation Night in the last opportunity for fans to catch the Spirit at home this regular season. Tickets are available here.

The Opposition

Racing Louisville FC enters Sunday’s match hungry for a win following a decisive defeat to the Kansas City Current. Racing Head Coach Bev Yanez lamented the team’s lack of chances in the match, so look for the club to reignite its offense this Sunday.

A reason for Louisville’s subpar performance – a result similar to Washington’s match against Kansas City a few weeks ago – could be thanks to NWSL Golden Boot leader Temwa Chawinga who scored in the second minute, forcing the Louisville squad on its back heel. The match was chippy with 23 total fouls called, and Vanessa DiBernardo added a security goal just before the final whistle.

Despite this, Racing Louisville completed 447 of its 529 attempted passes (84.5%) last Saturday. It was both the fourth-most completed passes and the fourth-highest passing accuracy in any regular season match in team history.

The loss puts Racing Louisville in a tough position with only three matches left in the season. The team sits in the ninth position on the NWSL Table, just one slot outside of the final playoff eligible position, currently held by Bay FC.

At 25 points (6-10-7), Louisville trails both Bay FC and Portland Thorns FC (who Racing Louisville plays after the Spirit) by only three points. Among teams in the seventh seed or lower, Racing Louisville is tied with Portland for the best goal differential at -2.

The last match between Washington and Louisville was a physical and thrilling contest. The final scoreline would be 2-1 in favor of Washington, and all three goals were scored in the first half.

Croix Bethune, Ouleye Sarr and Sullivan combined to create the first goal of the match in the fifth minute, setting the tone. Kingsbury later would deny a Louisville penalty kick. Currently, Kingsbury has seven regular season career penalty kick saves, third most in NWSL history.

Finally, both Katie Lund and Abby Erceg have played every minute of the 2024 regular season for Racing Louisville. Only six other NWSL players have played 2070 minutes this regular season with the only other set of teammates to do so being North Carolina’s Casey Murphy and Kaleigh Kurtz.

Next up, Racing Louisville FC will face Portland Thorns FC at home on Saturday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

Series History

The Washington Spirit owns a 3-1-4 regular season record against Racing Louisville FC. At home, the Spirit has never lost to Louisville, going 1-0-2 over three games. The all-time goal differential stands at +4 (13-9) in favor of the Spirit.

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