Louisville City FC scored twice in as many minutes Monday night while putting FC Montreal away early at Louisville Slugger Field. From there, a 2-0 victory became as much about the club extending its unbeaten streak in USL matches as providing proper sendoff for Scott Goodwin.
Packed and ready to leave for Harvard Medical School, the goalkeeper entered in the 57th minute to the usual chants of “Scot-ty Good-win!” from Louisville supporters. He made three saves down the stretch to seal a shutout in his final game before hoisted off the field by teammates.
“Since he’s made the decision to go, he’s pushed himself even harder in training,” said coach James O’Connor. “And even for tonight, I’m sure he was disappointed he didn’t start the game. He masked it. He was really professional, and when he went on, he really did well.
“And we needed him, you know? It wasn’t as if we just put him on there and just waved him off. We needed him to make a big save for us. He’s someone who’s very reliable — very trustworthy and is an all-around good guy.”
Goodwin’s defense backed a LouCity attack that volleyed 25 shots on FC Montreal, which played with 10 men after its captain, Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, received a straight red card in the 37th minute.
Earlier in the match, midfielder George Davis got LouCity on the board by zipping a straightaway shot past Montreal keeper Maxime Crepeau in the 11th minute. Seconds later, striker Chandler Hoffman headed in a cross from Kyle Smith for his 11th goal on the season, ranking second in the league.
“We win two-zero, but no one’s satisfied with the performance tonight,” Hoffman said. “It’s good to win, but we felt like-especially when we went up a man and the way we dictated the game in the first half, that we should finish more chances and really put them away.”
LouCity’s USL unbeaten streak moved to 15 games, as the club hasn’t lost since early April. Still, on Monday LouCity wanted more after only six of its shots were recorded on goal.
Ilija Ilic, a 65th-minute sub for Hoffman, saw one of his two shots on the night deflect off the crossbar. A number of other services into the box managed to carom away from the back of Montreal’s net.
“The team that we have and the standards that we have, we’re very excited about a good result,” Goodwin said. “I think we also know that we could’ve done a little more second half, and I think we know our standards a little bit above the way we played in the second half.”
LouCity faces a quick turnaround to its next match and the end of four straight at Slugger Field. The club hosts the Charleston Battery, a winner of three straight, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Summary
Match: Louisville City FC vs. FC Montreal
Date: July 4, 2016
Venue: Slugger Field
Kickoff: 7:32 p.m.
Weather: Partly cloudy, 77 degrees
Attendance: 6,686
Man of the Match: Chandler Hoffman
Scoring Summary
LouCity (2, 0, 2)
FC Montreal (0 , 0, 0)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 13-Greg Ranjitsingh (57′ 1-Scott Goodwin), 24-Kyle Smith, 18-Paco Craig, 6-Tarek Morad, 2-Ben Newnam, 4-Aodhan Quinn, 36-Paolo DelPiccolo, 11-Niall McCabe (57′ 9-Cameron Lancaster), 7-Kadeem Dacres (53′ 77-Andrew Lubahn), 17-Chandler Hoffman (65′ 14-Ilija Ilic), 22-George Davis IV (75′ 12-Mark-Anthony Kaye).
Subs not used: 5-Conor Shandosky, 8-Guy Abend.
Head coach: James O’Connor
FC Montreal: 40-Maxime Crepeau, 73-Zakary Sukunda (61′ 77-Brandon Onkony), 66-Janouk Charbonneau, 64-Thomas Meilleu-Giguere, 59-Aron Mkungilwa (73′ 42-Nevello Yoseke), 28-Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, 53-Mastanabal Kacher, 46-Philippe Joseph-Lincourt, 39-Cameron Porter (61′ 57-Yacine Ait Slimane), 54-Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla (80′ 48-Heikel Jarras), 24-Anthony Jackson-Hamel (74′ 71-Jimmy-Shammar Sanon).
Subs not used: 70-David Paulmin, 43-Fabrice Mbvouvouma.
Head coach: Philippe Eullaffroy
Stats Summary: LouCity / FC Montreal
Shots: 25 / 5
Shots on Goal: 6 / 4
Saves: 4 / 4
Corner Kicks: 8 / 4
Fouls: 9 / 4
Offside: 6 / 0
Officials
Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.
Assistant Referee 1: William Gaither III
Assistant Referee 2: Paul Terry
4th Official: Adam Warner
