South African Striker Thembi Kgatlana scored a 64th minute winner to lead Racing Louisville to an historic win – the club’s biggest regular season victory against top of the table and defending NWSL champions, Portland Thorns.
Coming from behind, Racing won 2-1 – the first time in six games that they managed to defeat Portland Thorns.
The clash took place on Saturday, 2 September at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville.
Kgatlana was restored to the starting line-up – her fourth start this season in only her 10th match, with two goals to her name (including the latest).
The 27-year-old was the only change for the club following the goalless draw against NJ/NY Gotham in New Jersey last weekend where she came on as a substitute.
Kgatlana paid off the confidence of her coach in fine style as she struck the winner before she made way in the 90thminute. She was named Player of the Match.
“I was thinking, ‘Can I get a shot? Can I get a shot? I knew the minute she was wrong-footed that I needed to strike without hesitation, so I took the shot,” said Kgatlana on the club’s website.
Abby Erceg had scored the equaliser in the 60th minute after Portland Thorns had taken the lead in the first half.
The victory saw Racing move into sixth place on the 12-team table – the last spot in the NWSL playoff picture – ahead of other weekend matches in the league.
It was the first time in the club’s three-year history that Racing beat Portland, and also the first time they scored multiple goals against the Thorns.
“It shows the potential that we can beat all the teams in the league. We have talked about it since the start of this year, and now we did it. That shows that we are getting closer to the best teams, and on a good day like this we can beat them,” Racing coach Kim Björkegren told the Media.
The Randfontein-born forward was instrumental in helping the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana to an historic, first ever progress to the Round of 16 at the recently ended 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
She scored two goals in the competition – against Argentina and Italy – taking her tally in a FIFA World Cup to three, in addition to the one she netted against Spain in 2019 in France.
The next assignment for Kgatlana and Racing Louisville is on Wednesday, 6 September when they face OL Reign in the semi-finals of the NWL Challenge Cup in Seattle – their first appearance in the knockout stages.
This will be the third meeting between the two sides this year with two draws and one win for OL Reign.The Challenge Cup final is set for 9 September 2023.
By Matlhomola Morake
