Orlando City B scored both its goals Saturday night in stoppage time, rallying to defeat Louisville City FC 2-1 after a wild finish at Slugger Field.
A LouCity crowd of 8,351 let its frustration be known after the final whistle. Minutes earlier, Orlando forward Tyler Turner converted a penalty kick to equalize before Keegan Smith netted the game-winner on a counter attack.
The late flurry offset Guy Abend’s first half goal, a header off a corner kick from Paolo DelPiccolo, who wore the captain’s armband as fellow midfielder Aodhan Quinn sat out due to yellow card accumulation.
LouCity dropped its second game in a row dating back last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at FC Cincinnati. But elsewhere, the Richmond Kickers also knocked off the New York Red Bulls II, a result that left Louisville in first place in the USL’s Eastern Conference standings.
For much of Saturday’s game at Slugger, it looked as if LouCity was bound for a victory not long removed from a 17-match unbeaten streak. Abend scored his fourth goal of the season — second on the team to striker Chandler Hoffman’s 14 — in the 13th minute.
From there, LouCity controlled possession in the first half, numbering nine shots and six corner kicks. Orlando went on the attack in the final 45 minutes, finally breaking through after goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh saved five shots on goal.
On a corner kick, officials quickly whistled LouCity for a foul. Turner buried the ensuing penalty past a diving Ranjitsingh, who leaped right and nearly came up with another stop.
“For me, obviously, when you look at the game, we haven’t played as well as we could,” LouCity coach James O’Connor said. “But for that to happen — for a penalty to be given like that — to say it’s soft, if you’re gonna give a penalty for that, you should’ve given ten penalties.
“And literally, one minute later, the goalkeeper comes out and absolutely wipes Cameron Lancaster out of the game and there’s no penalty. Now, I’d never come out here and moan about referees, but when you look at the Charleston game (July ) where the game is decided by the referee and you have another game that is decided by the referee, and now you go and you ask, ‘Can you speak to the officials?’ to actually go through and explain their thinking, you can’t actually speak to them.
“When you get a situation like this, to say it’s infuriating is beyond that. It’s just not right, and it’s not good enough that games get dictated by the referee, especially so late in the game. You speak about consistency. You speak about how guys work. You speak about all these things, and you get that.”
Leading up to the winner, 17-year-old David Leora, a product of Orlando’s academy stepping up to the USL side, crossed from right of the box and found Smith, who scored despite slightly mishitting the ball.
The final whistle followed after LouCity midfielder Kadeem Dacres attempted the game’s final shot, firing on goal but straight at Orlando keeper Mark Ridgers, who registered four saves.
Summary
Match: Louisville City FC vs. Orlando City B
Date: July 30, 2016
Venue: Louisville Slugger Field
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 81 degrees
Attendance: 8,351
Man of the Match: Sean Reynolds
Scoring Summary
Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)
Orlando City B (0, 2, 2)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 13-Greg Ranjitsingh, 2-Ben Newnam, 20-Enrique Montano (90’+ 24-Kyle Smith), 5-Conor Shanosky (85′ 6-Tarek Morad), 15-Sean Reynolds, 36-Paolo DelPiccolo, 8-Guy Abend, 11-Niall McCabe (46′ 9-Cameron Lancaster), 12-Mark-Anthony Kaye (46′ 7-Kadeem Dacres), 17-Chandler Hoffman (74′ 10-Magnus Rasmussen), 22-George Davis IV.
Subs not used: 28-Tim Dobrowolski, 14-Ilija Ilic.
Head coach: James O’Connor
Orlando City B: 50-Mark Ridgers, 2-Tyler Turner, 45-Mikey Ambrose, 48-Kyle McFadden, 57-Antonio Matarazzo, 40-Johnny Mendoza, 49-Andrew Ribeiro, 46-Tony Rocha, 47-Marius Obekop (54′ 62-Davis Loera), 54-Keegan Smith, 51-Michael Cox.
Subs not used: 70-Jake Fenlason, 42-Zach Hayden, 59-Jack McCloskey, 55-Raul Aguilera, 52-William Eyang.
Head coach: Anthony Pulis
Stats Summary: LouCity / Orlando
Shots: 15 / 10
Saves: 5 / 4
Corner Kicks: 8 / 4
Fouls: 14 / 18
Offside: 0 / 1
Officials
Referee: Jon Freemon
Assistant Referee 1: Caleb Riley
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Warner
4th Official: Michael Marx
