Racing Louisville earns result in inaugural match
By Official Florida FC
The first viola derby in NWSL history ended in a stalemate on Saturday night at Louisville’s Lynn Family Stadium.
Largo native and former University of Florida midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard produced a pair of assists for the Orlando Pride to help the club overcome an early deficit. But, it wasn’t enough.
Racing Louisville’s inaugural NWSL match ended in a 2-2 draw following a stoppage time goal from Brooke Hendrix.
Louisville’s goal canceled out Taylor Kornieck’s first NWSL goal in the 44th minute and Abi Kim’s 88th minute goal.
The Pride (0-0-1, 1 point) were playing without center forward Alex Morgan, who was playing with the U.S. women’s national team in a friendly against Sweden. But, the club did have forward Sydney Leroux and midfielder Marta available. Orlando’s two other members of the USWNT Player Pool — Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger — went the full 90 minutes in Louisville.
As bitterly disappointed as the Pride might be, Saturday was an opportunity for the club to provide valuable minutes to three members of its 2020 draft classs. Kornieck and Kim scored. Meanwhile, Phoebe McClernon and Konya Plummer both went the full 90 minutes in defense.
Orlando will have its home opener in the NWSL Challenge Cup on April 14 when it hosts NJ/NY Gotham FC at 7pm.
