Emma Sears Scores Twice as Racing Louisville Wins 3-1 for First Regular-Season Victory at Orlando

Six regular-season trips to Orlando had produced zero Racing Louisville wins. It took a 17-year-old and a record-setting striker to fix that.

Audrey McKeen headed in her first professional goal, Emma Sears scored twice in the second half, and Racing Louisville FC beat the Orlando Pride 3-1 on Friday night at Inter&Co Stadium. Kerry Abello's long-range strike in stoppage time made the scoreline a little more respectable for the hosts, but this one was Louisville's from the 16th minute on.

The Kid Gets on the Board

Louisville came out like a team that had read the scouting report and didn't care. Sears tested Anna Moorhouse from long range in the second minute, Kayla Fischer forced another save in the 11th, and the visitors kept piling up corners. Three of them arrived between the 12th and 15th minutes, and the third finally broke Orlando.

Katie O'Kane whipped the ball in, nobody picked up McKeen, and the teenager nodded it into the bottom right corner from point-blank range. Racing said she became the youngest goal scorer in club history, in just her second professional start. Her explanation afterward was beautifully simple.

"That was kind of my job for corners, just go and find the ball," McKeen said. "They left me unmarked, I saw it, and I just went for it and put it in the back of the net."

Somebody in Orlando's video room is going to have a long week.

Crossbars Everywhere

The rest of the first half was a demolition derby against the woodwork. Sears smacked the bar from the left side of the box in the 26th minute. Orlando answered in the 34th when Simone Jackson, on the end of a Julie Doyle cross, rattled it from the middle of the box. Hailie Mace forced Jordyn Bloomer into a save a minute later, Fischer tested Moorhouse again, and a VAR check in the 39th minute ended with no penalty for Orlando. Louisville went to the break 1-0 up.

The second half opened with more of the same from the visitors. Lauren Milliet clipped the crossbar from outside the box in the 50th, and Fischer headed wide moments later. Orlando coach Seb Hines went to his bench in the 55th, sending on Solai Washington and Summer Yates for Nicole Payne and Jackson. Rafaelle nearly equalized with a header from a difficult angle that slid wide of the left post.

The Turning Point

The match swung in the 68th minute, and it started with Orlando losing a key piece. Doyle went down in the 65th and was replaced by Abello because of an injury two minutes later. Moments after Moorhouse stopped a Maja Lardner shot, Louisville broke. Milliet led the fast break, Sears cut in from the right side of the box and drilled a left-footed finish into the bottom left corner.

It was Sears' first goal since a May 8 win over Portland, and according to Racing it moved her into sole possession of first place on the club's all-time scoring chart. That's not a bad way to end a three-month drought.

She was not finished. A VAR review in the 79th minute wiped out what would have been another Sears goal for offside. Orlando's Zoe Matthews then headed a corner off the crossbar in the 84th, the fourth time the bar got involved in this game. Two minutes later Milliet sprung Sears again, and this time Sears used her right foot, finding the same bottom left corner. Racing said it was the second brace of her career, after one at North Carolina last October.

Abello gave the home fans something in the fourth minute of stoppage time, cracking a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top right corner. Orlando said it was her first goal of the season. Bloomer then stopped Washington's long-range effort in the 99th minute, and 10 minutes of added time finally ran out.

Sears, McKeen and the Supporting Cast

Emma Sears was the best player on the field: five shots, three on target, two goals, a crossbar and a disallowed goal. She was a constant headache for Orlando's back line, and the club record now belongs to her alone.

Lauren Milliet assisted both Sears goals on fast breaks and hit the bar herself. Two assists, two shots, a lot of space devoured in transition.

Audrey McKeen scored on one of her two shots and set up three other Racing attempts before coming off in the 71st minute.

Jordyn Bloomer made five saves for Louisville. Moorhouse made four for Orlando, three of them before the break.

Racing head coach Bev Yanez was thrilled. "Fantastic performance, really, really happy for the group," Yanez said. "I think we hit the crossbar a few times; we had even more chances than obviously what the scoreline shows."

Sears shared the credit. "I think that we're building on some good momentum right now as a group," she said, and she made sure to praise McKeen, saying the teenager "really put the group on top."

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Louisville 20, Orlando 18; on target, Louisville 7, Orlando 6.
• Saves: Bloomer 5, Moorhouse 4.
• Possession: Orlando 51.9 percent, Louisville 48.1.
• Corners: Louisville 9, Orlando 8.
• Tackles: Louisville won 15 of its 22; Orlando won 7 of 13.

What It Means

Louisville moves to 5-2-11 with 17 points. Racing said this was its second straight win and third in four matches, dating to July 26, and the club's own math put it within one point of 14th-place Bay FC. It also completes a regular-season sweep of the Pride after a 3-2 home win on April 24. Louisville returns home to host Boston Legacy FC next Saturday.

Orlando falls to 7-2-10 with 23 points and has lost four of its last five, including a 5-0 defeat at North Carolina a week earlier. Hines didn't sugarcoat it. "We were close in moments, but close right now isn't enough to get us three points," he said. "We need to be better and turn this around." The Pride head west to face the Portland Thorns on Saturday, Aug. 15.

Closing Take

Every franchise has a building where nothing seems to go right. For Louisville, Orlando was that building. On Friday a 17-year-old walked in, found a free header, and the club's record-setting striker did the rest. Consider the curse of Inter&Co Stadium officially lifted.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and additional details from Racing Louisville FC's official recap and the Orlando Pride's official match report.