Two late goals, including Bethany Balcer’s penalty kick in extra time, gave Racing Louisville FC a 2-1 victory against the visiting North Carolina Courage on Saturday.
Emma Sears, a substitute, tied the match in the 79th minute for Louisville (6-8-7, 25 points). It was the first goal for Sears, who has scored four times this season, in nearly four months.
Balcer produced the game-winning tally after North Carolina’s Dani Weatherholt was called for a hand ball in the penalty area. Balcer scored for the second straight match.
Brianna Pinto scored for the Courage (10-8-2, 32 points), which had a three-match unbeaten streak (2-0-1) end, in the 43rd minute. Ashley Sanchez assisted on the goal.
Red Stars 1, Wave 0
At Bridgeview, Ill., Ludmila’s goal in the 12th minute held up as Chicago prevailed.
The Red Stars (9-10-2, 29 points) blanked San Diego for the second time this season. Alyssa Naeher made two saves for the clean sheet.
Hannah Anderson notched an assist by sending the ball into the box off a corner kick as Ludmila scored her first NWSL goal.
The Wave (4-10-7, 19 points) were denied their first two-match winning streak of the season despite a hefty edge in possession time.
Dash 1, Reign 0
At Houston, Yuki Nagasato scored in the 50th minute for her first NWSL goal as the Dash snapped a nine-match winless string ().
Houston had lost six straight before handing Seattle just its second loss in eight matches.
Nagasato, a 37-year-old forward from Japan in her first NWSL season, was appearing in her 22nd match with the Dash (4-12-5, 17 points), who have the league’s second-worst record.
The Reign (5-11-5, 20 points) had won two straight entering the week by scoring three goals in each of those matches, but couldn’t dent Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell and suffered their second shutout defeat this week. Campbell made two saves.
It was the first loss for Seattle since June 9 at Kansas City.
–Field Level Media
