Offseason Update

This offseason for Louisville professional soccer teams has been a slower one, marked more by departures than new signings and arrivals. This is concerning with each club needing to address season’s ending on question marks: How will Louisville City respond to finally not making an Eastern Conference Final? What can Racing Louisville do to take that final step towards making the NWSL playoffs? Let’s look at what each club has done, or in some cases, not addressed during the offseason.

Louisville City: Coming off the heels of the most successful regular season and disappointing postseason in franchise history, the question was what Louisville City would do? The roster didn’t have any glaring holes from a group that won the regular season shield, but the franchise is known for being aggressive and not standing pat. The initial offseason news revolved around a rash of re-signings and returns concluding with the returns of Niall McCabe and Brian Ownby.
Then the shock of the offseason as Twitter starts reporting that Wilson Harris is in Israel finalizing a move to Maccabi Petah Tikva. The deal was confirmed, and the franchise’s second all-time leading scorer was departing in a truly surprising move. City will now have to replace the league’s second leading scorer from last season and 53 overall goals. The assumption is that task will initially fall to Phillip Goodrum, a midseason transfer last year that broke the internal USL transfer record. Goodrum is a gifted scorer in his own right, with 55 USL goals since 2020 and scored 4 in 11 appearances for City last season. There should not be much drop off from the striker position for City, but to further shore things up, Goodrum needs a reliable backup. Goodrum has the unfortunate tendency and reputation for racking up yellow cards, so a sturdy backup will be needed. I would say targeting a backup before the start of the season would be part of the agenda, but it appears the team may be rolling with Isaac Cano, returning from a season long loan with Lexington, and an assortment of Sam Gleadle, Brian Ownby, etc. I would feel much better if the team brought in a dedicated, out and out striker behind Goodrum, and preferably a younger one.
The backline saw some shifting as longtime player Wes Charpie departed to be closer to his significant other, Kaleigh Riehl, who plays for Utah in the NWSL. City addressed this by signing former UL Captain Josh Jones to his first pro contract. Jones brings height, at 6’5, and was coming off a summer where he won the USL League Two Defender of the Year award with Ocean City Nor’Easters.
The other shock move of the summer, also broke by Twitter, was the transfer of homegrown Elijah Wynder to the LA Galaxy for a USL record $400,000 plus other add-on incentives. What is it about the Wynder’s and setting USL transfer records? The shock is not in the fact that Elijah made the move, but more so in how soon it occurred, but maybe I shouldn’t be surprised with him coming off a Second Team All-League campaign. Can we double check and make sure there are no more Wynder’s out there who play soccer??
So now Louisville City had a midfield-sized hole to fill with Elijah’s departure. They moved quickly by bringing in Kevon Lambert, a Jamaican international and USL veteran at 27 years old. Lambert comes in on loan from MLS’ Real Salt Lake, but spent last season with the USL’s San Antonio and is Phoenix Rising’s all-time appearances leader at 147.
City was not done addressing the midfield as they also signed Zach Duncan, formerly of the Memphis 901. Duncan is a 24-year old Australian who led Memphis in tackles last season and was second in interceptions.
Both of these signings, along with Carlos Moguel (did you also forget he played here), will help to cushion the loss of Elijah and his ability to dribble out of the midfield and relieve opposition pressure. I am especially excited for Duncan, as I feel his addition will allow Taylor Davila to play higher and contribute more to our attack.
City also appear to be rolling on with their current Goalkeeper situation of Danny Faundez and Ryan Troutman. The club has not announced any additions in net and it appears it will come down to those two. Faundez is a reliable club veteran who helped City to a USL Cup Final, but I would still feel better with some competition for him, preferably from a USL veteran.
Overall it has been a weird offseason for City. Elijah moving on actually fits with our image of helping younger plays move up, but when you pair it with the shock move of Wilson Harris leaving, it leaves a rough taste in your mouth.

Racing: This was always going to be a difficult offseason for Racing with the NWSL collegiate draft gone and everything decided by free agency. Oh, and the team and GM Ryan Dell mutually agreed to part ways. So not only was Racing embarking on its most difficult offseason, but was now doing so without its GM.
The biggest offseason news, aside from Dell’s departure, was the release of veteran defender Abby Erceg, who was a free agent that Racing had decided not to pursue. Abby was a key part of the deal that sent Emily Fox to North Carolina and would record 48 appearances across two Racing season’s, but I never really felt we saw her best here.
The main offseason additions have been rookies. They signed Ella Hase, a left-footed player from Duke who has second in the NCAA in assists last year. Hase was a wingback for Duke, but can also play higher up. Racing also brought in Sarah Weber,a three-time All-Big Ten Conference first team selection for Nebraska with 43 goals to her name. Weber was deployed as a winger and a center forward and has previously represented the U.S. at the youth level. Allie George, a former Sacred Heart standout, was signed after a career at Virginia Tech and three seasons with Racing’s W League team and plays Right Back.
Milly Clegg, the 19-year old New Zealand striker signed last offseason, will be spending 2025 on loan with the Halifax Tides FC in Canada. It was also announced that Elexa Bahr will spend the 2025 season on loan with her former club in Colombia.
I like and appreciate the infusion of youth this offseason, but Racing needs immediate difference makers, not projects. Now that is not to say that one of those rookies could have an Emma Sears-like impact, but let’s be honest the odds are against it. Sending Clegg out on loan, with a squad that struggled to score last year, does not compute with me. Sure she is young, but the club had to have seen something in her to sign her, but then only played her in the final game of the season. Overall this is shaping up that Racing will essentially be running back the same roster from last year that underperformed and struggled to score. I will eternally hope I am wrong, but next season looks to be another tough one.