**Los Angeles, California** – Racing Louisville FC pulled out a surprise performance as the club produced an exceptional away performance to defeat Angel City FC, 3-1, at Banc of California Stadium in the final of four Sunday games across the league. Louisville, who had gone a goal down in the first half, went on to turn the tide of the match around with two goals in the first half and a third and final in the second half to earn all three points.
Angel City was first on the board in the 14 ^th minute as a unique goal from midfielder Savannah McCaskill separated the two sides early on. The hosts were on the attack with playmaker Jun Endo leading the charge. As Endo worked her way around the edge of the box, she unleashed a powerful drive with her right foot that cannoned of the stomach of McCaskill and misdirected Lund on its way in. The goal marked the fourth time in the last five games that Louisville conceded first, a statistic that had previously seen the side lose all three of its games because of.
However, Louisville immediately began to put pressure on the Angel City with midfielder Savannah DeMelo drawing a good save out of Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic in the 17 ^th minute. Midfielder Jaelin Howell had spotted DeMelo with a cross, but the right-footed effort from DeMelo was well-saved by Haracic as she preserved her side’s lead. Then in the 22 ^nd minute, Louisville was again knocking at the door as Howell was on the other end of a chance after having provided the ball in minutes earlier, but that too was saved by the Angel City netminder.
Louisville grew into the game well though, and in the 37 ^th minute, forward Kirsten Davis rewarded her side for their hard work with their equalizer via a calm finish from near the endline. The midfielder Howell had just put in a great tackle in the center of midfield where she was able to recover the ball back and start a move for her side. Sprinting toward the edge of the penalty area, Howell then peeled off to her right and played a pass for Davis to her left down toward goal. In on goal from there, Davis struck with conviction as the shot sailed past Haracic and brought Racing level.
Not done in the first half still, Louisville would then need just six minutes to find their second goal of the night as midfielder Alex Chidiac buried a chance from the spot to flip the game on its head. Midfielder Lauren Milliet was in possession in the left side of the penalty area where she was judged to have been fouled by Angel City defender Paige Nielsen, resulting in the penalty. Up to take, Chidiac sent Haracic the wrong way with a well-taken and her side had gone from one goal down to up a goal heading into the halftime break.
Back into action for the second half, Angel City’s halftime team talk for the attack was in effect early. In the 48 ^th minute, it was forward Claire Emslie who pulled up from distance and attempted a venomous strike toward the Louisville goal. However, Lund was more than equal to the effort and the danger was clear. Then, in the 62 ^nd minute, Emslie was at it again as she cut in toward the middle from the right side of the field this time to create space. However, her curling effort toward the near post was again easily saved by Lund.
The forward’s third and final opportunity of the night then came in the 82 ^nd minute, when Emslie was lined up on a free kick outside the right edge of the 18-yard box. Looking to use her left again, Emslie struck a powerful cross-cum-shot of sorts that sailed toward the back post but was not found by a teammate and not accurate enough to find the top corner.
Instead, Racing rubbed salt in the hosts’ wound in the 90 ^th minute with a goal by forward Emina Ekic that ended the match in style. A cross from the right side via defender Emily Fox found Ekic at the back post, and the playmaker only required one touch to bring the ball down before she roofed her shot into the back of the net and lifted Louisville in front by two goals for good.
Though the visitors are out of playoff contention, the win is a big momentum boost as they look toward next year. However, for the hosts Angel City, a loss is worst-case-scenario type stuff, as they now sit in eighth place (29 points) behind Chicago (30 points) and North Carolina (31 points), meaning they will need help from San Diego to defeat North Carolina with Angel City traveling to Chicago next Sunday.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights