Emma Sears lifts Racing Louisville past Wave with 59th-minute strike

Emma Sears collected her team-high seventh goal of the campaign and Racing Louisville won their first match since the international break, beating the host San Diego Wave 1-0 on Sunday night.

Louisville (7-6-4, 25 points) remained seventh place in the standings, four points clear of eighth-place Gotham FC in the playoff chase. Before Sunday, Racing had lost once and drawn twice this month; their last win came back on June 20, 2-0 over the Orlando Pride.

Jordyn Bloomer was put to work and made eight saves to keep a clean sheet for Louisville. The last of those came in the first minute of second-half stoppage time when Melanie Barcenas tried a left-footed shot from outside the box.

The Wave (8-4-5, 29 points) suffered their first loss since June 6 despite outshooting their visitors 22-12 overall and 8-2 on goal. Kailen Sheridan made one save for San Diego.

The 59th-minute sequence that broke the scoreless tie began on the feet of Ella Hase, who lost possession on the left flank but won it back with a sliding tackle that poked the ball free to her teammate.

Hase took the ball to the corner of the box before popping a cross into the center for Sears, who controlled it with her chest. Her shot to the far post narrowly got by her defender and was well out of reach of Sheridan.

--Field Level Media