FENTON, Mo. — A wild six minutes on the road reversed Louisville City FC’s fortunes Saturday night, leading to a win that clinched the club a No. 2 seed in the upcoming USL playoffs.
Near the end of the first half, midfielder Kadeem Dacres ended his goal scoring drought before forward Cameron Lancaster buried a penalty kick for the second consecutive game. The scores jump-started LouCity’s 5-1, comeback victory over Kings’ Cup rival Saint Lous FC.
Both goals quickly followed a straight red card assigned in the 35th minute that left the host club a man down and reeling. From there, LouCity poured it on in front of a record World Wide Technology Soccer Park crowd of 6,004.
“I thought the response was exactly what we want,” said coach James O’Connor, “but I thought our play even before their goal — before the red card — I thought our play was really good, very encouraging.”
Entering Saturday, LouCity had already cemented at least a top-four finish in the USL’s Eastern Conference and a home playoff game set for Oct. 2 at Slugger Field. But with the win, it further ensured a second place and a potential Eastern Conference semifinal. The game would be played at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at Slugger.
Dacres, who works along the right wing, rocketed his share of shots on goal throughout the summer. He finally converted shortly after tackled by Saint Louis’ James Musa, who earned the red card. The goal marked Dacres’ first since LouCity’s May 14 win over Saint Louis.
After Dacres’ heroics, Lancaster stepped up, rocketing a penalty to the goalkeeper’s left. In the second half, midfielder Magnus Rasmussen added a brace on under-manned Saint Louis before Ilija Ilic, a 72nd-minute sub, rounded out the scoring.
An offensive outburst continued LouCity’s recent hot streak — the club is 5-1-2 since the beginning of August — and more than offset a 17th-minute Saint Louis FC goal by Jordan Roberts that moved the guys in green ahead early.
“There’s a good mood,” Lancaster said of the locker room. “We feel confidence after the last couple games — I think it’s three or four unbeaten. So we’re on a good high right now. It’s a good time to be on a high — going into the playoffs.”
In all, LouCity out-shot Saint Louis 20-8, claiming the two-game Kings’ Cup rivalry series in the process. Louisville won 2-0 in their other meeting this year.
“I thought our attitude tonight was excellent, and I thought our play at times was really, really good,” O’Connor said. “It’s exciting to see the guys play like that.”
Game Summary
Match: Saint Louis FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: Sept. 17, 2016
Venue: World Wide Technology Soccer Park
Kickoff: 8:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear, 78 degrees
Attendance: 6,004
Man of the Match: Magnus Rasmussen
Saint Louis FC (1, 0, 1)
Louisville City FC (2, 3, 5)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 13-Greg Ranjitsingh, 2-Ben Newnam, 15-Sean Reynolds, 18-Paco Craig, 6-Tarek Morad, 8-Guy Abend, 4-Aodhan Quinn (62′ 36-Paolo DelPiccolo), 7-Kadeem Dacres (67′ 77-Andrew Lubahn), 10-Magnus Rasmussen (72′ 14-Ilija Ilic), 12-Mark-Anthony Kaye (52′ 22-George Davis IV), 9-Cameron Lancaster (62′ 17-Chandler Hoffman).
Subs not used: 28-Tim Dobrowolski, 20-Enrique Montano, .
Head coach: James O’Connor
Saint Louis FC: 1-Mark Pais, 2-Richard Dixon, 4-AJ Cochran, 5-Mitch Lurie (64′ 27-Colin Fernandez), 22-Patrick Doody, 14-James Musa (35′ red card), 8-Chad Bond, 28-Jason Plumhoff, 23-Jordan Roberts (64′ 15-Mike Ambersly), 32-Shilo Tshuma (42′ 3-Sam Fink), 19-Irving Herrera.
Subs not used: 13-Ryan Thompson, 20-Vince Cicciarelli, 12-Tyler Davis, 17-Jacob Bushue.
Head coach: Tim Leonard
Stats – Saint Louis FC / LouCity
Shots: 8 / 20
Saves: 5 / 1
Corner Kicks: 4 / 3
Offside: 5 / 2
Officials
Referee: Andrew Musashe
Assistant Referee 1: Steve Eordogh
Assistant Referee 2: Thomas McCulloh
4th Official: Christopher Slane
