**Louisville, Kentucky** – Racing Louisville FC put on an impressive display as it defeated the Orlando Pride, 2-0, at home on Friday night behind goals from forward Nadia Nadim and midfielder Savannah DeMelo for the club’s first win since May 22.
It was actually the Pride who first produced a solid look on goal as they lined up a set piece play on a free kick that eventually saw midfielder Erika Tymrak strike the bar. After winning the free kick, midfielder Meggie Doughtery Howard then flicked on a pass from the set piece into the path of Tymrak who was stationed inside the penalty area. Receiving the ball, Tymrak then rocketed a shot with her left foot that shook the underside of the crossbar as it bounced off it and back into play and Orlando narrowly missed out on the game’s opening goal.
However, in the 10 ^th minute, Louisville scored their first of two goals on the night as simple move down the right side of the field saw forwards Jessica McDonald and Nadia Nadim link up, with Nadim tapping home from close range. Louisville had begun to help even out the momentum when the forward McDonald was played in down the right flank and began to head toward the endline. Picking her head up, McDonald then rolled a ball across goal for her teammate Nadim who had little left to do as she touched the ball over the line past Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse for the opener.
The Pride would not allow Louisville full control of the game, though, with forward Darian Jenkins asking questions of the hosts’ defense in the 26 ^th minute. Teammate Kylie Strom fed the ball through to Jenkins and the forward took off as she attempted to get around Louisville defender Gemma Bonner. Bonner did enough to get back and get in front of the playmaker, but Jenkins still got a shot away that forced a good save from Louisville netminder Katie Lund.
At the half, both sides had produced plenty of opportunities for a goal, but only Louisville had managed to find the back of the net as they clung to their one-goal lead.
Into the second half, though, any momentum Orlando had begun to build up was negated by Louisville’s second goal which came in the 50 ^th minute via midfielder Savannah DeMelo. DeMelo was in possession in the center of midfield when she played a one-two pass with teammate Wang Shuang that saw her receive the ball again just outside the penalty area. DeMelo then took a glance toward goal and fired a powerful curling shot that soared past Moorhouse and in to double her side’s lead.
A few minutes later, Orlando had an opportunity following a giveaway in the middle of the park that saw Tymrak advance with the ball. However, lining up a shot from distance, Tymrak could only force another save out of Lund that resulted in an ultimately harmless corner. Then, in the 66 ^th minute, Tymrak was again making Lund move as she ripped a right-footed shot from just outside the box that was headed for the top left corner only for Lund to leap and push the shot away again.
Louisville would create another few half-chances as the half wore on, but ultimately their two goals were enough to claim all three points against Orlando as the side not only earned its first win in over three calendar months but also kept a clean sheet for just the second time in two months.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights