Racing Louisville FC and the Houston Dash have agreed to a trade, with Ebony Salmon heading to Houston in exchange for allocation money.

The two sides announced the trade on Monday. After the deal, Salmon signed a contract extension with the Dash through the 2023 season. She will be available for Houston’s next match on July 1.

For 2022, Racing will receive $150,000 in allocation money. Then in 2023, they will receive $25,000 in allocation money. There is also a performance-based incentive, with Racing receiving up to $15,000 more in allocation money this year if Salmon meets the criteria while with the Dash.

“We thank Ebony for all of her contributions here in Louisville and see this as an opportunity for her to get the minutes she’s seeking,” said Racing coach Kim Björkegren. “At the same time, the allocation money received will in return allow us to pursue new player signings this year.”

Salmon was the team’s highest scorer in Louisville’s inaugural season, notching six goals in 2021. Through the first months of the season in 2022, she’s made nine appearances – including two starts.

“I am excited for the next chapter, but I want to thank the Racing fans for all of their support over the past year,” Salmon said. “When I arrived in Louisville, they welcomed me with open arms.”

In a statement, Louisville president James O’Connor called the decision to trade Salmon “difficult.”

“Ebony is a young player with a bright future. We wish her the very best moving forward and appreciate the work she put in here,” he said.

With the departure of Salmon, four of the team’s top five scorers last season are no longer with the club. Cece Kizer was traded to Kansas City in early June while Savannah McCaskill was traded to Angel City in the offseason. Yuki Nagasato also returned to the Chicago Red Stars in the offseason after requesting a trade back to Chicago to be closer to her fiancé.

The Women’s Cup lineup is complete, with Tottenham Hotspur FC (England) and AC Milan (Italy) joining the tournament, which will take place Aug. 14-20 at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville.

Also playing are host Racing Louisville FC, OL Reign, Club América (Liga MX Femenil, Mexico) and Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza (WE League, Japan). Their participation had been announced in April, alongside the announcement that Louisville would once again be hosting the event, of which they are defending champions.

A total of seven games will be played between the six teams.

“The Women’s Cup has quickly become the preeminent professional women’s club soccer tournament in the world,” said J.P. Reynal, The Women’s Cup’s president and CEO. “With the addition of these two storied European powerhouses, we’ve solidified an international field like none previously assembled. We look to continue growing the tournament in years to come.”

Tottenham finished the 2021-22 season with a best-ever FA Women’s Super League finish with a 9-8-5 record. For the efforts, manager Rehanne Skinner was nominated as FA Women’s Super League Manager of the Season. Defender Ashleigh Neville was also shortlisted for Player of the Season.

AC Milan, meanwhile, is still new to the women’s game having been founded in 2018. Last season, the club finished with a 14-4-4 record and finished the year as runner-up in the Supercoppa Italiana.

“It is a huge honor to have AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur representing Europe in the 2022 edition of The Women’s Cup,” said Jaime Phillips, the tournament’s co-founder and executive director. “These are prestigious soccer clubs worldwide, and we are excited to have them competing for a championship this summer in Louisville.”

It’s the first time six teams will play in the Women’s Cup, up from last year’s four. The winners of the first round of games will play Racing Louisville and OL Reign in the semifinals while the losing teams will play one another for fifth place.

The final is set for Saturday, Aug. 20.

The Washington Spirit’s Friday night contest against Racing Louisville ended in an all too familiar fashion, with the hosts once again dropping a first-half lead in the game’s final minutes.

Goals from Trinity Rodman and Madison Elwell put the Spirit up 2-0 at the break, but a second-half surge from Louisville spoiled what would’ve been Washington’s first regular-season win in eight games.

Nadia Nadim logged both of Racing Lousiville’s goals, the first in the 66th minute and the second in the 89th, for a dramatic finish to the clubs’ first meeting of the year.

Washington’s late defensive implosion has become a pattern for the team, who has weathered a loaded schedule to start the season.

Friday’s contest comes after the Spirit watched a draw slip through their fingers Saturday, giving up a stoppage-time goal to the North Carolina Courage. It was a similar story during the team’s May contest against Orlando, with the Pride notching two goals in stoppage time to rob the Spirit of their second regular-season win.

“They wanted it more than we did in the second half,” Spirit coach Kris Ward told reporters in the post-game press conference. While he emphasized that the team needed to play with more heart and urgency, Ward also pointed to the absence of Andi Sullivan in the second half, with the Spirit captain battling a nagging injury.

“I can only speak to people’s emotions currently because people are pretty pissed. All of us are pissed because we know it’s not good enough,” Sullivan said after the game.

The Spirit’s winless streak extends to nine, with the team receiving a break before their July 3 matchup as seven players report to international duty for the USWNT.

Cece Kizer and Addisyn Merrick are on their way home to Kansas City after Racing Louisville FC agreed to trade the pair to the Current.

Both Kizer and Merrick are originally from the Kansas City area.

In exchange, Racing will receive $150,000 in allocation money, international roster slots in 2022 and 2023 as well as up to an additional $25,000 in incentives from the Kansas City Current, the club announced Thursday.

Kizer and Merrick have been with Louisville since its inception. They were selected during the 2020 NWSL expansion draft.

“We would like to thank Addie and Cece, who joined us from the start and worked hard to help us launch Racing Louisville,” club president James O’Connor said in a statement. “We wish them every success as they continue their careers closer to home.”

Through 26 appearances with Racing, Kizer has seven goals – including the first goal in club history. She also scored the club’s first goal in this year’s Challenge Cup.

Merrick, meanwhile, has made seven appearances this year after missing the 2021 season with an injury.

“Both players have asked to be back closer to their families, and in these cases we always want the best for the player,” Racing head coach Kim Björkegren said in a statement. “We thank both for what they’ve done for the club.”

Louisville has a 2-3-2 record so far this season and next will face Angel City FC on Saturday, while Kansas City is 1-4-2 and next goes up against Gotham FC on Saturday.

Racing Louisville FC has confirmed that backup goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer was injured by a falling goal during a training session Sunday in Kansas City.

The visiting team had planned to practice Sunday at Park University’s Hemingway Field ahead of Monday’s match against the Kansas City Current, but field conditions prevented them from doing so, manager Kim Björkegren said.

“We had a goal that was not a normal goal, that was falling down on [Jordyn] Bloomer, our goalkeeper,” Björkegren said after Racing’s 1-0 loss Monday.

The extent of Bloomer’s injury has not been released yet, but the rookie was in a boot and crutches, reported WHAS11’s Tyler Greever.

Katie Lund, the usual starter, played in net for Monday’s match, and emergency backup Hillary Beall was flown in to replace Bloomer.

Per the NWSL’s operations manual, each home team is required to provide visitors with reasonable access to its training facilities. It’s unclear whether or not Hemingway Field is the training facility that the Current use, but the Current did issue a statement saying that all visiting teams have been provided the same field “without incident.”

The Current are in the process of building a new stadium and practice facilities and released new renderings of the stadium Tuesday.

Racing forward Nadia Nadim, who had called out the Current over the training field earlier in the day, responded to the renderings. “Make sure the field are appropriate and the goals are safe and so on,” she wrote on Twitter.

Racing Louisville FC lost 1-0 against the Kansas City Current on Monday. But according to Racing manager Kim Björkegren, the club’s woes started a day earlier due to the conditions of the practice field.

The visiting team planned to practice Sunday at Park University’s Hemingway Field, according to a report.

“We were trying to do a training here in Kansas, but we couldn’t do it because of the quality of the pitch that they gave us,” Björkegren said after the loss. “We had a goal that was not a normal goal, that was falling down on [Jordyn] Bloomer, our goalkeeper.”

Bloomer was in a boot and crutches, and the club is concerned about her condition and waiting to learn more, reported WHAS11’s Tyler Greever.

Katie Lund, the usual starter, played in net for the match, and emergency backup Hillary Beall was flown in to replace Bloomer. Bloomer has not played in any regular-season matches so far, but did play in a Challenge Cup match against the Houston Dash in April.

“It had been a mess with many things, and I think these kinds of things can’t be a part of a professional league,” Björkegren added.

In response, the Kansas City Current said they will look into the incident, but also said the practice field is the same one that has been provided to all visiting teams “without incident.”

The league’s operations manual states that visiting teams should be given reasonable access to use of the home team’s practice facilities, per The Athletic’s Meg Linehan.

Kansas City is in the process of building a soccer-specific stadium as well as a brand new training facility. Those plans were unveiled in September 2021. The team currently plays at Children’s Mercy Park.

Racing forward Nadia Nadim took to her Twitter account to call out the training conditions. While no official announcement has been made connecting the falling goal and Bloomer’s injury, Nadim seemed to allude to a connection. She also called on the NWSL to take action.

“Giving poor conditions, trying to benefit in order to beat us, with our teammate getting hurt as a result,” she wrote. “Whatever it takes to win right? This cant be happening in a league that suppose to be one of the best?!”

San Diego Wave FC experienced its first stumble of the regular season Wednesday, falling to Racing Louisville FC 1-0.

The team was without coach Casey Stoney, who was left behind in San Diego after testing positive for COVID-19. But the defense remained sound, with only a free kick by Louisville making it past the team’s back line and through the goaltender.

“It was a frustrating evening for us,” said Wave assistant coach Rich Gunney, who took over for Stoney in the interim. “Obviously, we’re disappointed with the result. It’s tough on the road, especially with a short turnaround.”

Savannah DeMelo was the owner of said free kick in the 27th minute. She sent one high into the net from roughly 30 yards out to put the Wave behind for the first time in the new franchise’s regular-season history. The goal made SportsCenter’s top 10 plays for the day, coming in at No. 10.

It’s just the second goal scored on San Diego through four matches this season. It’s also the first win of the season for Racing Louisville. The team has been dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, which limited practice time and led to some reshuffling in the lineup.

“It shows that we have a lot of depth on this team,” DeMelo said postgame. “No matter if you never play or if you play all 90 minutes, once you step on the field, I think everyone is equal. I think it showed these past two games.

“I’m just really excited that we got our first win under all those circumstances, and now we know what we have and just carry it forward to this weekend.”

Both sides generated nine shots over the course of the match, with Racing goalkeeper Katie Lund making four saves on the evening.

Racing Louisville FC announced Monday that it had signed defender Satara Murray, having previously claimed her NWSL playing rights by adding her to the discovery list.

Murray, a member of the Jamaican national team, most recently played for Bristol City FC in England. Prior to that, Murray played with Kolbotn in Norway. And this will not be Murray’s first stint in the NWSL, as she spent the 2019 season with the Houston Dash.

She will be available for selection after the transfer window opens on June 1.

“Satara comes in with a lot of club experience,” said Racing coach Kim Björkegren. “She is a physical and strong center back. She is quick and not easy to beat one-on-one.”

During the 2021-22 FA Women’s Championship campaign, Murray appeared in 22 matches for Bristol City, helping the club finish third in the league. The club also reached the fourth round of the FA Cup as well as the FA Women’s League Cup final, where it lost to Liverpool.

Originally born in New York, Murray grew up in Texas before going to North Carolina for college. While there, she won a NCAA championship with the Tar Heels and was a two-time All-American. After graduation, she played four seasons at Liverpool, including three alongside current Louisville captain Gemma Bonner.

“I’m so excited to be here and hope to bring a championship home to Louisville,” Murray said. “It’s a great team and a great club with great facilities. I’m excited to get started.”

Saturday’s matchup between Racing Louisville and the Houston Dash was quiet until the final 15 minutes of the game, with the clubs splitting points in a 1-1 draw.

The night’s first goal didn’t come until the 77th minute, with Nichelle Prince nodding in a deflected save from Louisville’s goalkeeper to put the Dash up 1-0 late in the game.

With less than 10 minutes left in regulation, things looked dire for Louisville before Jessica McDonald headed in a lofted cross for a thrilling equalizer.

The draw propels the Dash to third in the NWSL standings, while Racing Louisville sits in ninth with two draws and one loss to start the season.

Freja Olofsson has inked a three-year contract with Racing Louisville FC, the team announced Monday.

After a successful inaugural season with Louisville, Olofsson will remain with the club through 2024.

The midfielder started 20 matches in 22 appearances with Racing Louisville, playing 1,711 minutes during her opening campaign. Olofsson joined the NWSL team in 2021 after a successful club showing in Sweden.

“I feel like I grew a lot last year personally and as a football player by developing things I wasn’t as good at,” Olofsson said in a statement. “With that being said, it took almost a whole year for me to adjust to things. That’s another reason why I wanted to stay and give it more time.

“I feel very honored that the club wants me here. I think that’s always a good thing as a player. I really believe in what the club is doing and working toward. I really enjoy being a part of this organization and working with everyone.”

Racing Louisville fell to the Chicago Red Stars in the team’s NWSL season opener and will continue their season next Sunday against OL Reign.