Racing Lou >!4 - 1!< Boston Legacy

>!⚽ Racing Lou: K. Fischer 44', K. O'Kane 53' (P), E. Sears 59', K. Fischer 62'!< >!⚽ Boston Legacy: S. Smith 90+5'!< >!🏁 Racing Lou win!<

✅ Full Time

Kickoff	Sat, Aug 15, 6:30 PM EDT
Venue	Lynn Family Stadium — Louisville, Kentucky
Watch	ION, NWSL+
Referee	C. Radosav (AR1: M. Rodman, AR2: R. Williams, VAR: M. Corrigan)
Attendance	7,018
Live comments	reddit-stream

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Form

• Racing Lou: W W L W D L
• Boston Legacy: L D W L W W

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Lineups

Racing Lou (5-3-2) — Boston Legacy (3-4-3)

Starting XI

Racing Lou	Boston Legacy
24 Jordyn Bloomer (C) · GK	1 Casey Murphy · GK
5 Ellie Jean · DF	2 Lilly Reale · DF
3 Arin Wright · DF	29 Deja Davis · DF
15 Mirann Gacioch · DF	20 Nicolette Hernández · DF
12 Quincy McMahon · DF	6 Annie Karich · MF
4 Makenna Morris · MF	26 Alba Caño · MF
20 Katie O'Kane · MF	21 Barbara Olivieri · MF
2 Lauren Milliet · MF	53 Bianca St-Georges · FW
9 Kayla Fischer · MF	12 Nichelle Prince (C) · FW
88 Audrey McKeen · FW	14 Aïssata Traoré · FW
13 Emma Sears · FW	15 Aleigh Gambone · FW

Subs

Racing Lou	Boston Legacy
1 Maddie Prohaska · GK	18 Laurel Ivory · GK
6 Ella Hase · DF	4 Emerson Elgin · DF
8 Courtney Petersen · DF	5 Josefine Hasbo · MF
16 Maja Lardner · FW	7 Amanda Allen · FW
19 Avery Ciorbu · MF	8 Sammy Smith · FW
21 Rachel Hill · FW	9 Amanda Gutierres dos Santos · FW
23 Macy Blackburn · DF	10 Ella Stevens · FW
26 Taylor Flint · MF	16 Jorelyn Carabalí · DF
42 Sarah Weber · FW	34 Laurel Ansbrow · DF

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Match Statistics

Stat	Racing Lou	Boston Legacy
Possession	39%	61%
Expected Goals (xG)	3.07	1.02
Shots	17	11
Shots on Target	4	4
Big Chances	5	5
Corners	5	2
Crosses	12	15
Offsides	4	0
Fouls	9	9
Tackles	27	24
Interceptions	12	7
Clearances	19	13
Saves	3	0
Total Passes	284	460
Pass Accuracy	78%	86%
Yellow Cards	0	0
Red Cards	0	0

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Match Events

Min		Event	Details
	▶️	Kickoff
44'	⚽	Goal	K. Fischer (Racing Lou) scores!
	⏸️	Half Time
46'	🔄	Substitution	J. Carabalí (in) - N. Hernández (out) (Boston Legacy)
53'	⚽	Penalty Goal	K. O'Kane (Racing Lou) scores from the penalty spot
59'	⚽	Goal	E. Sears (Racing Lou) scores!
61'	🔄	Substitution	Amanda Gutierres (in) - A. Traoré (out) (Boston Legacy)
61'	🔄	Substitution	J. Hasbo (in) - A. Gambone (out) (Boston Legacy)
61'	🔄	Substitution	S. Smith (in) - Alba Caño (out) (Boston Legacy)
62'	⚽	Goal	K. Fischer (Racing Lou) scores!
63'	🔄	Substitution	E. Hase (in) - M. Morris (out) (Racing Lou)
63'	🔄	Substitution	T. Flint (in) - A. McKeen (out) (Racing Lou)
74'	🔄	Substitution	A. Allen (in) - N. Prince (out) (Boston Legacy)
78'	🔄	Substitution	R. Hill (in) - Q. McMahon (out) (Racing Lou)
82'	🔄	Substitution	M. Lardner (in) - K. Fischer (out) (Racing Lou)
82'	🔄	Substitution	S. Weber (in) - K. O'Kane (out) (Racing Lou)
90+5'	⚽	Goal	S. Smith (Boston Legacy) scores!
	🏁	Full Time

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Updated: Sat, Aug 15, 8:33 PM EDT

Match Thread Bot by u/Several_Region_3710 | GitHub (view code, contribute, or report issues) | ☕ Ko-fi (support the project)

I don’t want this to come off as a knee-jerk reaction to the last game, but I want to put a question out there that I think is on other people’s minds too: is Casey Murphy worth the huge salary we’re paying her?

I know she has her moments of greatness, she has been a superhero some games. But for a 29-year-old keeper, I’d expect more consistency than these stretches of good games followed by godawful ones. The last game obviously isn’t the best example, she wasn’t the main issue on most of those goals, but this has been on my mind since the start of the season. I know the Legacy is a new team and some inconsistency is fair to expect but she is well into her career, and she’s one of, if not the, highest-paid goalkeeper in the league, and yet she doesn’t inspire confidence in me when she plays.

For context here are some stats from FBREF:
• 32 goals allowed, 1.60 per 90: second-worst GA90 in the league
• 63.6% save percentage: 15th of 16 teams
• 3 clean sheets in 20 games, a 15.0% rate: also 15th of 16
• 5-5-10 record

For context, Gotham as a squad leads the league at 83.3% save percentage. The middle of the pack (Louisville, Orlando, Current) sits around 66-69%.

Distribution and game management are the other half of it, and those don’t show up in this table at all that’s eye-test and more opinions based, and people are going to see it differently. But at least in my opinion she’s not a player I see the team feeling comfortable playing back to nor do I understand the teams incessant need to play short 90% of the time until I see her try to go long and have it skew off to the side (obviously barring that beautiful assist she had in Denver but I have to concede the conditions of being that far above sea level may have assisted her.

So that’s the question, and I’m putting it out there rather than answering it even though I think my opinion is less than thinly veiled: is Casey Murphy worth the $1.5 million contract we signed her to? Curious where people land.

Filing this in the 75th minute because I have to put my kids to bed and I don’t wanna watch any more of this, LOL. Our form has been frustrating the last few games because it seems like that last playoff spot is right for the taking. But it’s also clear. We don’t have the quality yet and teams have figured out how to press us.

Louisville’s heat was a factor, but Boston looked out of sync from the start. Even Karich had some bad turnovers, and there was very little sustained possession in the first 20 minutes. They struggled to play out of the back, and teams increasingly seem to have figured out how to press Boston effectively.

Taking Elgin out felt like an overreaction given how solid she has been outside of the previous game. Davis didn’t look ready for such a big role. She got turned on the first goal, lost Sears on the third, and couldn’t close her down on the fourth. Carabali’s penalty was awful. She looked great during Boston’s hot streak, but she still sometimes looks like an excellent athlete learning the position, with costly mistakes and messy touches.

Murphy continues to look less than convincing with the ball, although there wasn’t much she realistically could have done on the goals. Reale handled Emma Sears reasonably well when matched against her, but pushing Reale higher in the second half gave Sears far too much space to attack in behind. Sears was extremely dangerous and would be a terrific offseason addition for Boston.

There wasn’t much cutting edge from Aissata, Barb, or Prince. Nikki also looked hurt and lacked the pace she showed earlier in the season; it almost seemed like she was trying to hang on until halftime. Cano was quiet. Bianca was generally solid and composed and won possession frequently, although she lost Fischer on the third goal.

Overall, Boston looked tactically disjointed, struggled badly against Louisville’s press, and compounded those problems with individual defensive mistakes.

Really bad first half from the Legacy, and I think a significant part of it was the game plan. Portland is built to play front footed and press high, and they have the athleticism and finishing quality to punish mistakes once they force turnovers. Robert Vilahamn has specifically talked about wanting Portland to be a high pressing team, so trying to play through them without enough support or good spacing was always going to carry a lot of risk.

Boston was 3–0 down after only 10 minutes, which tells you how badly the opening setup failed. The third goal was particularly representative of the problem: Jessie Fleming intercepted a pass from Elgin, and Portland immediately turned the mistake into a Tordin goal. You can criticize individual execution, but that also looked systemic. Karich was not positioned particularly well to help on the buildup or compete for the loose ball, and Boston repeatedly left itself with very little margin for error against a team designed to attack those moments. The buildout was splayed and sort of look like what bad U11 teams do.

FK goal was a terrific strike from Tordin, but one Murphy probably has to do better. It's another one (maybe 4th of the season?) that she got her hands on and should have stopped. I think it's mostly still a quickness issue there. I think 75% of the other starting GKs in the NWSL save that.

The Wilson goal was on Carabalí for me, although it also exposed Elgin’s lack of recovery pace once Portland got behind the line. Carabalí simply made too many mistakes in that first half and consistently makes one a game.

The fourth goal might have been the most frustrating because it was completely avoidable. Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold simply hit a long ball over the top for Tordin, who was suddenly running at goal. I still do not understand why Boston's defensive line was positioned that high given Murphy's starting position. If you are going to hold that line, everyone has to recognize the danger and be synchronized. It looked more like a collective mental lapse than Portland doing anything especially sophisticated.

There were a lot of positives once Boston changed the structure. Hernández replaced Elgin and Gutierres replaced Smith at halftime, and the game immediately became much more favorable for the Legacy. The numbers are pretty striking: Boston ended up with 60% possession, six corners to Portland's two, and 24 touches in the opposition box compared with only 15 for Portland. Expected goals were almost even, 1.43 for Boston and 1.49 for Portland. But some of that is about how clinical elite caliber finishers like Tordin and Smith are when you make dumb mistakes.

BSG was great I thought. Don't think any of the goals were on her and the running/energy were great.

Gutierres was more effective that she's ben. I thought she gave them more than Aïssata in her minutes, and her finish for the third goal was excellent.

Gambone feels like a particularly useful player on hot days or late in games because her energy immediately changes the tempo against tired defenders.

Reale was dangerous carrying the ball and generally solid. They were in sort of 5-4-1 in the 2nd half with Reale carrying and her, Karich, and Cano could break the press way better than playing from deep. I do think some responsibility for the backline communication problems has to fall on her and the other defenders collectively, particularly on the long ball goal. This was less about one defender losing an individual matchup and more about the line failing to recognize the same danger at the same time.

Caño was another major positive. Ran her self out as always.

Prince looked dangerous but seems to flatter to deceive a bit.

Sammy brought energy and some threat. She seems pretty consistent about that and I like having her out there.

Didn't see much from Amanda Allen, seemed like she was trying to play safe. Looks pretty fast and has good touch.

So I would put more of this result on the initial tactical setup than the final score suggests. Against a team whose identity is pressing high and attacking quickly after turnovers, Boston chose a buildup and defensive posture that magnified exactly the things Portland does best. Once they reconfigured, Boston largely controlled the match. The encouraging part is that the adjustment worked and they had pretty good game control outside of 4 moments of madness. The frustrating part is that it took going 3–0 down in 10 minutes to make it.

Thought it was going to be a long day, but it turned into a really fun game. It’s unfortunate not to get a point, but it was fun regardless. Curious to hear others’ thoughts. Here are some of mine:

From my perspective, Elgin was at fault for 2/4 goals. She went for/missed an ambitious tackle while Carabalí was already on the ball, which led to Wilson getting in behind for the second goal, and then made the turnover that led to the third. I think unfortunate day for an otherwise solid player.

That being said, subbing Elgin, shifting Reale inside, and adding Hernandez as a quicker attacking option on the left produced some pretty great chances and I don’t think our defense suffered for it. That could have been the general momentum of the game, but I’ll be interested to see if that combo becomes something we see more.

Gambone continues to impress off the bench. I’m glad Guti got a goal in the run of play. Hoping and praying Aissata starts putting away more chances—she’s my favorite player to watch either way though. Her passion is awesome, and I think the fans feel it when she’s out there.

Hello all! I would like to add EWWS shirts from every team (minus already purchased Royals version) as well as several jerseys to my personal collection.

As you can imagine, that's a lot of $$$+shipping... 😅 If you are willing to help me save some money by using your STM discount code, please DM me! (I can return the favor on the Royals side!)

Thank you in advance!<3

8/1/2026 EDIT: Thank you so much to those who have reached out! I've listed all teams below and struck through the ones that were so generously shared.

• Angel City
• Bay FC
• Boston Legacy
• Chicago (Red :P) Stars
• Denver Summit
• Houston Dash
• KC Current
• Gotham FC
• NC Courage
• Orlando Pride
• Portland Thorns
• Racing Louisville
• SD Wave
• Seattle Reign
• Washington Spirit

Hi all! Just wondering if anyone could help me out with figuring out parking for Sundays game against Portland. I can’t seem to find any links for open lots. I’ve got 2 young girls and trying to avoid a huge walk. Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone! I bought tickets to the Sunday game, my first big outing since foot surgery. I’m limited with how far I can crutch. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for parking on Sunday? Is it easy to get close to the stadium to be dropped?