Louisville City FC striker Chandler Hoffman said Saturday that, “obviously, you never want to drop points.” At this point in the season is preferred to later.
LouCity earned one point rather than three after Wilmington Hammerheads FC equalized in stoppage time last time out. The draw moved Louisville into sole possession of the United Soccer League’s Eastern Conference standings but shifted the club from No. 1 to No. 2 in the league’s new power rankings.
“If you want an idea of how narrow the margins can be between success, and coming up just short, you need only look at the past week in the USL,” wrote Nicholas Murray, who compiles the rankings.
New York Red Bulls II tied Louisville temporarily atop the league standings Thursday night with a fourth straight 1-0 victory, the latest over the Harrisburg City Islanders. Two days later, LouCity pulled back into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference by earning a point for its draw.
LouCity has played 13 matches so far this season and New York 12.
“Our team is good enough and resilient enough to know better,” Hoffman said of Wilmington’s late goal, which came on a corner kick, “and we’ve shown all year that we’re the ones scoring the late goals. So tonight it’s frustrating to drop points like that.”
Louisville has lost just once this season, and not since April 2, when New York took a 2-0 decision at Louisville Slugger Field. Coach James O’Connor’s team led for all but three minutes of the second half Saturday against Wilmington after Hoffman scored his second goal of the evening.
“For a good part of the game, Louisville looked good going forward, but there were other times – particularly in the second half – when Wilmington’s passing saw the visitors maintain a decent foothold in the contest,” wrote the USL’s Murray. “City’s inability to find a decisive finish to kill the game off ended up costing them two points, and the top spot for now.”
