by Alyce Collett (4/8/26)
Above: It was happy times for Racing Louisville on the weekend after defeating Chicago to win their second of three matches within the span of a week. Photo: via NWSL.
Racing Louisville have completed a triple match week in their National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) schedule on a high note, defeating Chicago to take a second win out of the three matches.
Speaking to the media after the match, Racing Louisville coach Bev Yanez spoke of how big the win was in the context of the season, especially considering the 2026 season has not always gone to plan for her side.
“I think this is big for us to get six points of a potential nine points with three games in seven days” Yanez said.
“We told the group from the start that we needed everybody, and I believe they did just that tonight.
“They executed really well. We went up 2-0, which gave us a lot of confidence. At the end, we did our best in every way, shape, and form. Obviously, when you get plus nine minutes, you’re like, ‘Jeez-a-moly’, but did everything that we possibly could to make sure that we closed out the match.
It got a little nerve-wracking, but we took care of business. We walked away with three points, and that’s ultimately what we wanted.”
She also spoke highly of the overall effort from her team in the win over Chicago.
“I thought we created a lot today” Yanez said.
“and we spoke about it at halftime, that we believed the game would be won in possession. Felt like the press was really good, felt we put them under enough for them to go back and then go long, and then compete for first and seconds there.
“Said that we needed some quality final actions, a bit more. But feel really good that we walked away again with the three points, especially here at home.”
One thing she also agreed on was the notion that the planning of the week – which began with a win over Angel City the previous week and also included a mid week trip to Kansas City – had helped her side play so well against the Stars.
She said that “I think people have been competing and have continued to compete” which had “put us in a good position here to get what we could from this match specifically, and get who we believed we could on in the game and what we felt the game plan was going to be and who we felt would execute it in those specific roles.
“But again, called on people early. I think Ellie Jean came out in maybe the 50th, around there, and Courtney [Petersen] stepped in and did really well. I thought EJ [Ellie Jean] had a fantastic first half.
“So I think it’s just showcased that this has paid dividends for us when players are getting minutes and getting experience. I think when they’re called upon, they’re executing in those opportunities.”
Although Yanez has kept a pretty settled starting formation in recent matches – choosing to go with the exact same starting formation for a number of matches in a row – Yanez said that she is “still trying to find what we feel is best based off of opposition.”
“That’s a huge part of what we’re doing and a huge part of what we believe we have in the ability to execute a game plan” Yanez explained.
“So I think it ultimately comes down to opposition and what we feel they may offer, and what we feel the tendencies of which players would fit and suit which roles.”
Follow Impetus on social media:
@ImpetusFootball on Threads, Instagram and TikTok.
impetusfootball.org 