BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH, but only if you happen to be a divisive Roman political figure in the first century AD. I know of no other person who has any reason to be wary of March 15, except maybe pizzerias that under-stocked for Pi Day. But March 15 it is, and a happy one at that for LouCity and Racing Louisville fans. Perhaps not so much for basketball fans, but this isn’t a basketball website.

Photo courtesy loucityfc.com and Haley Simpson

Preseason “friendly” result: Louisville City 3, FC Cincinnati 0

ALL OF THE LULZ, ALL OF THE LUUUUHUUULLZZZZ. Sure, FCC fans and beat writers can bake in all of the qualifiers they want…

  • “We just got started!”
  • “Lou Shitty’s been training for a month more than us!”
  • “We didn’t really care about this game!”
  • “COVID protocols!”
  • “WE WERE ON A BREAK!” [dated Friends reference]

… but you can guarantee the Pride et al would be trumpeting this result to the rafters if the score line was reversed. Abdou, Ownby and Cuatro all got on the score sheet. Hackworth did a wholesale roster substitution for the second half. Elijah Wynder’s younger brother, age 15, played. The team trainer even saw the field. FCC did not score. They are ostensibly an MLS team. Your day, if you did not already have this knowledge, is now better.

Preseason actually friendly game result: Racing Louisville 4, West Virginia 0

Emina Ekic scored the opener to beat the WVU keeper back post and Katie McClure banged in two more, one off an Ekic assist, and trialist Jordan Baucom capped off the scoring in another friendly match on Saturday afternoon in Louisville. In spite of my HOTTAKES about West Virginia, they’re actually the #7 team in the country at the moment, and there are some talented players on that roster – especially the goalkeeper, who kept things from being even worse for the Eers.

I still have my reservations about how Racing’s inaugural season is going to go just because of NWSL talent and roster restrictions. However, based on what I learned on Saturday, this is going to be a team that’s always in a game because they work really, really hard, and can transition on a dime. Fans are going to fall in love with Yuki Nagasato’s cerebral play, Lauren Milliet’s hustle, Erin Simon’s fearlessness, and Michelle Betos’s leadership. And those aren’t the ones that necessarily score the goals!

In other words, from what I can tell, Holly and his team have put together a squad we’re going to be proud of, no matter the result. That’s a good feeling.

VAMOS!