Cameron Lancaster netted a penalty kick in the first half, Magnus Rasmussen tacked on a screamer of a goal in the second, and Louisville City FC shut down the Richmond Kickers by a 2-0 score Saturday night at Slugger Field.
With the victory — LouCity’s third straight — the club guaranteed itself a top-four finish in the USL’s Eastern Conference standings and a home opener to the 2016 playoffs. Another win would clinch a No. 2 finish behind only the regular-season champion New York Red Bulls II.
After LouCity’s regular-season finale Sept. 24 against the Charlotte Independence, the club opens the USL playoffs the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Time and date will be announced later.
“Really pleased,” coach James O’Connor said after Saturday’s victory. “I thought it was an excellent performance. I thought that was the best we’ve been in weeks, and I thought defensively that we gave a really strong performance.
“Equally, I thought our movement and our possession tonight was good. And it was a very strong performance, especially against a team that had been doing so well.”
The Kickers entered on a run of 10 straight games unbeaten dating back to early July but managed to record just one shot against LouCity. Even that attempt flew well off the mark.
Meanwhile, Louisville’s attack returned to form. Midfielder Kadeem Dacres absorbed an early foul in the box to set up Lancaster’s goal, a 19th-minute strike into the back right. And LouCity dominated from there, limiting the Kickers to just one shot over 90-plus minutes.
As play opened up in the second half, LouCity’s top returning scorer rocketed his first shot into the back of the next. Rasmussen took a dribble after fellow midfielder Aodhan Quinn found him straightaway from the goal and fired from distance, marking the first Louisville goal in the run of play since an Aug. 5 win over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
“Their back four was dropping deep, so I just pulled the trigger and it went in,” Rasmussen said. “I hit it pretty good.”
“It was a fantastic strike,” O’Connor added.
LouCity placed six of its 18 shots on frame in all and dominated possession. Perhaps the only blemish was defender Kyle Smith’s yellow card assigned with the club up two goals in stoppage time; because it’s his fifth of the season, Smith will have to sit out next weekend’s game against rival Saint Louis FC.
Greg Ranjitsingh returned between the posts Saturday after missing a game on international duty with Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior Men’s Team at World Cup qualifiers. He called it “an unreal experience” as T&T advanced to the next round. Then Ranjitsingh posted LouCity’s third straight shutout, though he largely credited the back four of Smith, Sean Reynolds, Paco Craig and Tarek Morad.
“As you could see tonight, I barely had to do anything,” Ranjitisngh said. “This defensive unit was great.”
Game Summary
Match: Louisville City FC vs. Richmond Kickers
Date: Sept. 10, 2016
Venue: Slugger Field
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Weather: Partly cloudy
Attendance: 7,362
Man of the Match: Magnus Rasmussen
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1, 1, 2)
Richmond Kickers (0, 0, 0)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 28-Tim Dobrowolski, 24-Kyle Smith, 15-Sean Reynolds, 18-Paco Craig, 6-Tarek Morad, 8-Guy Abend, 4-Aodhan Quinn, 7-Kadeem Dacres (88′ 77-Andrew Lubahn), 10-Magnus Rasmussen (80′ 36-Paolo DelPiccolo), 12-Mark-Anthony Kaye (74′ 22-George Davis IV), 9-Cameron Lancaster (74′ 14-Ilija Ilic).
Subs not used: 28-Tim Dobrowolski, 20-Enrique Montano, 31-Kenny Doublette.
Head coach: James O’Connor
Richmond Kickers: 50-Andrew Dykstra, 8-Hugh Roberts, 2-William Yomby, 31-Braeden Troyer, 18-Alex Lee, 14-Yudai Imura (60′ 7-Matthew Delicate), 4-Owusu Sekyere (46′ 32-Scott Thomsen), 10-Sunny Jane (60′ 24-Jackson Eskay), 28-Samuel Asante, 22-Brian Ownby (60′ 12-Romullo Pereita), 9-Anthony Grant (60′ 5-Michael Callahan).
Subs not used: 46-Mark Nankervis.
Head coach: Leigh Cowlishaw
Stats – LouCity / Richmond
Shots: 18 / 1
Saves: 0 / 4
Corner Kicks: 4 / 4
Fouls: 15 / 11
Offside: 1 / 4
Officials
Referee: Brandon Artis
Assistant Referee 1: James Dumstorf
Assistant Referee 2: Johann Pedolzky
4th Official: Tony Crush
