Ben Lundt, a goalkeeper in title, has proven to be more than a top defensive piece for Louisville City FC.
The 24-year-old on loan from Major League Soccer’s FC Cincinnati posted his second clean sheet of the season — and first since the USL Championship restarted play — last Saturday when LouCity defeated Loudoun United FC by a 2-0 score.
But with Lundt’s responsibility to get LouCity’s offense going from the back, coach John Hackworth also refers to the native of Germany as “the first attacker for us.”
“We depend on him to be good in our buildout and distribution,” Hackworth said.
While previewing Saturday’s 8 p.m. visit from Sporting KC II, Hackworth looked back to a key sequence versus Loudoun. Lundt decided to distribute to outside back Jonathan Gomez, and three passes later forward Cameron Lancaster was blasting a shot just over the bar.
“That in my humble opinion is our best and most efficient buildout,” Hackworth said. “He does a lot of things and he is doing them well.”
Selected 37th in 2019’s MLS SuperDraft out of the University of Akron, Lundt first went on loan to LouCity last year. He started 12 games with four shutouts before an ankle injury shut down his season mid-June.
Back between the posts in 2020, Lundt started his campaign with a 1-0 win on March 7 at North Carolina FC. The restart didn’t treat him quite as well when LouCity dropped a 3-1 decision to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on July 12.
“If you think of our progress, we’ve made turnovers with Ben specifically,” Hackworth said. But, the coach added, since then “there has only been one time I think we’ve made a bad decision and that was really just a technical execution from Ben that I would be critical of. Everything else is much better.
“There is risk in that, but there are also a lot of rewards. We can bring an opposition into that, and if we play through them, it gives us a lot of space to attack.”
Lundt, comparing his role in LouCity’s offense to the defense, noted that there’s typically little to do with saves, which he posts at a 68.4% clip. The boys in purple have only had 19 shots taken on target taken against them through seven games this season.
“As a goalie, it’s not always easy to play for a team like Louisville because sometimes you only get one or two shots on goal and you have to be there,” said Lundt. “Sometimes, like early in the season, it bounced and didn’t go my way. I get a touch on it, but it still goes in goal.
“That’s kind of the life as a goalie here at Louisville City. You have to stay focused for 90-plus minutes and really wait for your chance to help your team.”
That was the story of Lundt’s time in goal Saturday. With his side up 1-0 late in the first half, Lundt turned away Loudoun’s only shot on the frame just before the break. In the second half, Loudoun’s other top look on a breakaway came in the 69th minute. Lundt came up with another save to preserve a 2-0 scoreline.
Beginning the offense from his side of the field, as opposed to playing long and hoping for the best, Lundt helped LouCity control 59.2% possession in its first multi-goal game of 2020.
“That’s my playing style — playing off the back, finding the full backs or open men,” Lundt said. “Of course, it’s unusual as a goalkeeper playing off the back as much as I do, but I know coach Hack and the rest of the coaching staff expect that from me.
“…I think the win was more important for the team than myself. We feel like things are clicking as a team. It gives the confidence to the other players in the final third so they can take more risks. Even if they give the ball up, they know the back line will do a good job.
“It comes down to confidence in your teammates and the ability to get some rhythm down and get used to your players.”
