Photo Credit: EM Dash-Imagn Images
Losses for both Racing Louisville and the Boston Legacy in Friday night National Women’s Soccer League play officially ended both teams’ playoff hopes for the 2026 season.
Louisville opened the weekend of games by hosting the in-form San Diego Wave and falling 2-0. The loss went down as Racing’s sixth consecutive, and officially ended the team’s hopes of a return trip to the NWSL Playoffs after they seemed to turn things around post-World Cup break. Last season, they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in Racing’s history.
The home team produced an encouraging start when Kayla Fischer found the back of the net, but a narrow offside call denied Louisville the opener after VAR. Gia Corley netted the Wave’s opener inside the first 30 minutes before Ludmila scored shortly after coming on as a halftime substitute. The win marked San Diego’s fifth win in six games, pushing the Wave past the Washington Spirit into second place.
The third game of the night (Gotham bested Chicago 3-1 before this one) ended with the same scoreline as the Reign defeated the Legacy 2-0 in Seattle. Following the trend of most other NWSL expansion teams, the result officially eliminated Boston from playoff contention in their first season. Plus, Boston’s record-setting 13-game scoring streak ended as Jess Fishlock and the Reign set scoring records of their own.
One more team, Bay FC, can still be officially eliminated this weekend with a loss or draw when they host the Orlando Pride on Sunday. The Chicago Stars were the first team to be eliminated last weekend.
