**LOUISVILLE, Ky.** – The North Carolina Courage travelled to Louisville and took all three points away from Racing Louisville after a 2-0 victory on Saturday night. Two goals in seven minutes from Rikke Madsen (53’) and Kerolin (60’) separated the two sides for good and extends the Courage’s unbeaten streak to six games in all competitions.
After taking time to settle into the match, neither side got going until Louisville’s first real look on goal in the 35 ^th minute through the left foot of attacker Wang Shuang. Racing were moving forward in possession thanks to Lauren Milliet, who picked her head up inside North Carolina territory and played a ball across the midfield to Wang Shuang near the top of the box. From there, Wang Shuang attempted to curl an effort toward the bottom far corner, but it did not have what was required to beat North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy. Then, one minute later, forward Kirsten Davis missed a right-footed shot after defender Julia Lester worked her way all the way down to the endline before crossing a low ball in.
North Carolina then looked to capitalize on a few chances of their own to close the half, beginning with defender Malia Berkely’s powerful effort on goal in the 39 ^th minute. On the ball just inside the Louisville half, Berkely weaved her way through the midfield and drove a rising shot toward goalkeeper Katie Lund. Lund would ultimately end up getting behind the shot to push it away, though.
With limited chances in the first half, the two sides went into the second half with all to play for and Louisville ignited the home crowd after just three minutes with another look on goal. A loose ball outside the box was falling out of the sky and ended up trapped at the feet of midfielder Jaelin Howell. On the ball just to the left of the center of goal, Howell took one touch to her right and darted a shot toward the far post that Murphy did well to see away in the end.
Then in a flash, North Carolina found themselves two goals ahead after forwards Rikke Madsen and Kerolin lifted them first one then two up in the 53 ^rd and 60 ^th minutes. First, defender Ryan Williams sent a high cross into the box that soared all the way to the back post. Leaping to head the ball back across goal was Madsen, and her header bounced through all in the area and landed in the far side netting to give North Carolina their lead.
Seven minutes later, Kerolin then put her stamp on the match as the Courage capitalized on a fast break the other way and the Brazilian punished the Louisville defender. Teammate Narumi Miura fed Kerolin forward, and she danced her way from the left to the center of the penalty area while evading challenges from the defense. Just a few yards out there, Kerolin then ripped a shot that Lund had no chance at saving to put her side in a great position for the final 30 minutes of play.
Louisville did its best to test North Carolina and the shotstopper Murphy in the final half-hour of play, and the closest it came in a good period of play was in the 76 ^th minute through an oddly created chance for midfielder Ary Borges. Racing had won a corner that resulted in midfielder Savannah DeMelo mishitting a shot with her right foot that screwed back toward the corner flag and still in play. That then allowed defender Carson Pickett to sprint back to the ball while still onside and feed Borges at the near post. Though Borges was able to place a strong reaction shot on frame, Murphy was still equal to the effort and preserved the clean sheet even still.
However, in the 88 ^th minute, Louisville was able to pull one back through substitute Jordan Baggett, whose goal gave the hosts that much more hope of a late comeback. After an initial cross into the box was cleared, Louisville was able to recycle the ball back in through midfielder Lauren Milliet. Millet’s ball was swinging in toward goal and landed just in front of the penalty spot where Baggett raced to meet it and bundled it over the line for her team’s first of the night.
Despite late attempts to find an equalizer that included notably energetic play by Louisville forward Uchenna Kanu, Racing would be unable to find the goal it was looking for as it suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to North Carolina. The win propels North Carolina to 6 ^th place on 14 points while Racing is in 8 ^th place on 10 points and ahead of the Orlando Pride, who suffered a 1-0 defeat to Chicago on the same night.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights