By Caitlin Ladd, LouCity Insider
Eighty-five minutes realized, Saint Louis FC’s Charles Renke takes the corner. He looses the kick with his left foot, skillfully launching the ball toward Louisville City FC goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh. The ball brushes the fingers of Ranjitsingh’s right hand in a desperate effort to keep it out of the goal and forces LouCity and Saint Louis to battle for possession. Saint Louis takes possession and sends a cross off toward Ranjitsingh’s left. Ranjitsingh dives, stopping Saint Louis from scoring as cheers roar through Louisville Slugger Field.
Saturday’s game Kings’ Cup match against Saint Louis ended in Ranjitsingh’s third consecutive shutout of the season.
Incidentally, these past three games have provided Ranjitsingh with the opportunity — to test his year-plus of training as Louisville City’s No. 2 keeper — on the field after playing a just one regular season game last season, which ended in a 2-0 loss to Charleston Battery. He featured in one half of a friendly against MLS-side Orlando City SC, and the U.S. Open Cup game LouCity played against Lansing United.
“Last year, I was the backup to Scott Goodwin and Scott’s a great goalkeeper,” Ranjitsingh said. “In training it’s always competitive where you push each other. I think just having that kind of environment to train (in) every day, when you know you have people pushing each other, you get better.”
In addition to more regular season game time, Saturday’s game was also the first home start for Ranjitsingh. The fans played a role in his excitement and Ranjitsingh joked that his voice was almost gone because he had to shout over the crowds for his defenders to hear him.
When asked how he felt about starting, Ranjitsingh lit up.
“(It was) amazing,” Ranjitsingh said. “Last year I got a little test in exhibition versus Orlando, but to have a season game and to start my first game at Slugger, it was great. The environment that they have here, all the fans behind us, it’s awesome to play.”
For Ranjitsingh, saves seem to add even more to the atmosphere of the game and the ambiance that Slugger provides, especially the back-to-back saves he achieved at Saturday’s game.
“It’s great how after a save, you get all pumped up,” Ranjitsingh said. “Sometimes it happens during the game, you don’t get much to do and late in the game, 85th, 86th (minute), you have to come up and help out the team. That’s what it’s like to be a goalkeeper and I was just pumped to be able to help the team out.”
Despite all of the excitement surrounding the three shutout streak — and a seventh consecutive unbeaten match from LouCity — Ranjitsingh refused to take credit, insisting that it’s a team effort. He thinks his teammates are doing a great job by minimizing who gets past the defense and what he’s forced to deal with when that happens.
“Ultimately, it’s just that one moment,” Ranjitsingh said. “You have to come up big and no matter if it’s a busy game or not you just have to be ready for it.”
Next up for Ranjitsingh and LouCity, is the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup second-round match on Wednesday against Detroit City FC at Bellarmine University (7 p.m. | TICKETS).
Fans can stay up to date with all of Louisville City’s breaking news, roster updates and ticketing information by following the Club on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Season tickets are available for Louisville City’s historic second season via the Club’s official website.
