Spirit came back from behind to get a draw in Louisville

The Washington Spirit entered Friday night's match in Louisville looking to get their first points of the 2026 season after their defeat to the Portland Thorns. Their opponent, Racing Louisville, was looking to do the same thing in front of their home crowd after losing their first game of the season on the road against the North Carolina Courage.

Racing Louisville and the Washington Spirit played to a 2-2 draw Friday night. Photo Credit: Connor Cunningham/Racing Louisville FC

In a rematch of their meeting from the 2025 NWSL Playoff meeting, where the Spirit came out victorious after a penalty kick shootout, Louisville took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but the Spirit were able to bounce back as both teams shared the spoils as the match ended 2-2.

The Game

The Spirit would have the first goalscoring chance of the game. After pressuring Racing's backline, Rose Kouassi would strip the ball from a Louisville defender and headed towards the box, where she played a cross to Trinity Rodman, who hit a quick one-time shot, forcing a save from Jordyn Bloomer, who was able to corral the ensuing rebound shot from Rodman.

The Spirit would have a bigger opportunity to open up the scoring in the 7th minute, after a back pass to Courtney Petersen, Kouassi stripped the ball from the Louisville defender and dashed towards goal, leaving her one on one with Bloomer, but the Ivorian striker's shot would be stopped by a kick save from Bloomer and cleared out of bounds for a corner.

Louisville would open up the scoring in the 28th minute. After circling the ball a bit, Elle Jean would end up with the ball and play it to the wing to Emma Sears, who fed it to Kayla Fischer. Fischer settled the ball just outside the box and took a shot from distance. Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver was equal to the shot but could not keep it out, and it crossed the line and went into the back of the net.

In the 31st minute, the Spirit would have a response of their own as Leicy Santos tried her luck with a shot from distance of her own. Bloomer got a hand to the ball, as the Colombian international's shot hit the inside of the post and cleared out of danger.

Louisville would double its lead just three minutes before halftime, as a Gabby Carle cross was cleared out by Fischer. The ball fell to Sears, who bolted down the field, taking on Spirit defenders as they backed downfield to stop her. With one touch, Sears beat the mark of Tara Rudd and rushed towards goal, as she got a perfectly angled shot past Maclver to give Racing the lead to end the half.

The Spirit would find their response in a major way in the 50th minute. A short corner by Santos was played to Esme Morgan, who laid the ball off to Kouassi. Kouassi would then play a short pass to Sofia Cantore, who lined up a shot from outside the box, placing her shot on the right-hand side of Bloomer's net to cut back the deficit for the visitors at that moment, and opening up the Italian international's scoring tally for the season.

The Spirit would complete the comeback in the 74th minute. A Washington throw-in would find its way to Rudd, who played a through ball deep into Louisville territory. The ball would find the foot of Claudia Martinez, who flicked the ball to Kouassi, who sent a low cross to a wide-open Santos, who one-timed the ball past Bloomer and into the back of the net to tie the game.

The Spirit would have several opportunities to put the game away, but Bloomer was equal to every chance they threw her way, keeping Washington's offense at bay and keeping the deadlock until the final whistle.

With this result, Racing Louisville ended up in 9th place of the NWSL standings, while Washington currently sits in 12th place of the NWSL standings, with both teams sitting a 1 point a piece.

The Spirit go back to the friendly confines of Audi Field in Washington, DC, when they host Utah Royals FC on Wednesday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm.