San Diego Wave faced Racing Louisville at Snapdragon Stadium in a Group Stage match of the Women's NWSL on Friday evening. The hosts took an early lead through L. Milliet before T. Flint equalised just before half-time. Louisville then took control with two goals from T. Byars, but K. Dali pulled one back late on. The visitors secured a 3:2 win despite the late surge.
Milliet opened the scoring in the twelfth minute, a moment that seemed to settle the home crowd. Flint responded for Louisville in the twenty-third, working a quick combination to level things. The second half began with a substitution for San Diego at the break, Fazer coming on. By then Louisville had shifted the momentum, and Byars made them pay in the forty-seventh minute.
Things tightened as the match wore on. Fischer picked up a yellow card in the fifty-eighth minute, and McMahon followed in the fifty-ninth. Louisville made changes at seventy-one, bringing on both Fischer and McMahon — or perhaps those were the cards, and the substitutions came after. Godfrey entered for San Diego in the seventy-fourth. By then Louisville had built a comfortable cushion.
Byars completed her brace in the seventy-sixth minute, extending Louisville's advantage to 3:1. Dali refused to let the game slip away, finding the net in the eightieth to cut the deficit. San Diego pushed forward, bringing on Flint and Milliet in the eighty-fifth minute to add fresh legs. The visitors held firm, with Barcenas and Byars both substituted in the ninetieth minute as the clock ran down.
The statistics tell you how the game played out. San Diego dominated possession at 72 per cent and registered 100 attacks compared to Louisville's 77. They took 21 shots, ten on target, and created three big chances. Louisville managed nine shots with only three on target and one big chance. The hosts also recorded more corners, 11 to 6, and completed 580 passes against 215.
The result leaves San Diego in fourth place with 39 points from 22 games. Louisville remain in thirteenth, sitting on 23 points after the same number of matches. The gap between them is 16 points, and neither side is likely to move much without a run of form. The Wave had been inconsistent recently, picking up only two wins in their last five matches. Louisville showed more resilience on the road, winning four of their last five away fixtures.
