**LOUISVILLE, Ky.** – The goalkeepers came out on top on Friday night as Racing Louisville FC and San Diego Wave FC battled to a scoreless draw in the lone match of the evening’s action, with both teams registering four shots on target but the visitors San Diego outshooting the hosts Louisville, 15-10. The result sends San Diego top of the league for two nights with 20 points from 11 games, depending on other results around the league this weekend. On the other side, Louisville remains in 8 ^th place with 12 points from 11 games but could technically drop as low as last place once all the weekend’s matches have concluded.
The bulk of the opportunities for both sides came toward the end of each respective half, but San Diego managed to perk up the Louisville defense with a chance from forward Jaedyn Shaw in the 11 ^th minute. Driving toward goal from well outside the box, Shaw decided to pull up and launch a shot toward Louisville goalkeeper Katie Lund’s goal that was just wide in the end. Twenty minutes later, the hosts Racing got involved with a headed chance for defender Abby Erceg in the 32 ^nd minute, but though the cross from out wide landed squarely on Erceg’s forehead, she was unable to put the necessary direction behind the effort to beat San Diego goalkeeper and captain Kailen Sheridan.
A flurry of chances to end the first half then saw both Louisville and San Diego nearly break the deadlock, but after trading looks on goal the match still went into the break without an opening goal. In the 39 ^th minute, Racing midfielder Wang Shuang shimmied outside the box and placed a dart of a left-footed strike just over the bar. Moments later, Louisville’s Ary Borges nearly closed down on a short back pass from a San Diego defender to the ‘keeper Sheridan, but Sheridan was able to slide clean through the ball and make the necessary clearance in time.
Then, a look from San Diego forward Makenzy Doniak just seconds after the Sheridan scare allowed the visiting Wave to build a little momentum toward the end of first half regulation. Just before the halftime whistle sounded, the Wave built an attack that saw forward Sofia Jakobsson unleashed down the middle of the field with plenty of opportunity in front of goal. However, the attacker opted to twist her way into the box rather than going full speed toward goal and shooting, and her movement inside the area allowed the Louisville defense enough time to track back and eventually end the move.
The second half did not bring a quality chance until the 70 ^th minute when Shaw got around a Louisville defender and worked her way into the left side of the penalty area just a few yards up from the endline. Though Shaw did well to get to that position, however, her right-footed curler could not nestle into the top right corner as she missed just high and wide in the end. Ten minutes later, Wave midfielder Madison Pogarch barreled ahead outside the box where she picked up her head and slung a shot from there, but like Shaw, her effort missed high in the end.
The final ten minutes of the match were perhaps the most action-packed, with both Racing and San Diego providing plenty of fuel for a late winner. First, there was San Diego forward Amirah Ali who eventually found herself on the ball just inside the penalty area to the right of center of goal after a failed clearance by the defense. Ali lined up a shot toward the top far corner, but she failed to beat the post as another shot missed high.
On the other end, Louisville midfielder Alex Chidiac attempted to give the home crowd something to send them into a late frenzy when she produced Racing’s final opportunity of the game from just inside the 18-yard box. However, a lined effort toward Sheridan’s stomach saw the goalkeeper make a comfortable stop in the end.
The final two looks were all San Diego’s with Ali and midfielder Danielle Colaprico looking to beat Racing from different angles and spaces, but neither one had what it took to separate the match and a scoreless draw was the end result at Lynn Family Stadium. A positive for San Diego, however, is the fact that the club has now recorded four consecutive clean sheets away from home, a figure that is tied for the most in league history with two other teams (2021 Courage, 2019 Reign).

Match Highlights

Match Highlights