FENTON, Mo. — As Louisville City FC locked up a No. 2 USL playoff seed Saturday night with its 5-1 win at Saint Louis FC, Eastern Conference clubs vying closer to the cutoff line seemingly sorted themselves out.
The Rochester Rhinos and Charleston Battery both posted victories, the latter in a meaningful game against the Richmond Kickers. Each of those clubs went into the weekend with 45 points and now, with a game to go in the regular season, the Kickers are still stuck there, in line for the No. 7 seed.
Should the standings hold, LouCity would host Richmond — a club it beat 2-0 last weekend — at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, at Louisville Slugger Field in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Tickets are now on sale. With a win, Louisville stays at home for a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, against the winner of meeting between the 3 and 6 seeds.
River Cities Cup rival FC Cincinnati for now has the No. 3 spot. Last time that club came to town, LouCity set an attendance record of 10,062 as it played Cincinnati to a scoreless draw on June 25.
Louisville closes its regular season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against the Charlotte Independence, the current No. 4 team clinging to a home playoff spot.
Eight teams from both the Eastern and Western conferences make it into the postseason. The USL’s championship game is set for Sunday, Oct. 23, and will air on ESPNU.
Dacres ends his drought: Midfielder Kadeem Dacres brought high energy to the right wing throughout the summer, often threatening opposing defenses. Until Saturday night, he didn’t have the numbers to show for it.
Dacres, minutes after going down on a tackle that landed Saint Louis FC a straight red card, came back on to score an equalizing goal — his first since May 14, the last time LouCity played Saint Louis.
“Obviously the guys have been pushing me. Coach has been pushing me as well,” Dacres said. “Just seeing the ball hit the back of the net was a huge relief, because I’ve been working so hard these last few weeks — especially on my finishing.”
Dacres also hit the turf Saturday on a Saint Louis FC tackle that resulted in a yellow card, often the target of the game’s most physical plays. The red card was assigned in the 35th minute, and by the 38th, the New York native returned to rocket a left-footed shot by the keeper.
At the time, the goal knotted the score at 1-1 after Saint Louis FC — a team that had to win to keep its playoff hopes alive — opened scoring early.
“Our response was obviously really, really good,” Dacres said. “We have a fantastic group, so we knew our work ethic would definitely come through.”
Lancaster steps up again: Forward Cameron Lancaster netted LouCity’s go-ahead goal for the second consecutive game Saturday, again scoring on a penalty kick. This one — taken in the 41st minute — came because of a simple mindset.
“Just pick your spot and make sure you score, basically,” said Lancaster, who also drilled a penalty versus Richmond a week ago. “I was confident from the last one I scored. I knew I was going to score.”
The native of England attempted five shots against Saint Louis to lead all players, working with midfielder Magnus Rasmussen to sync up opportunities. Rasmussen registered a brace, also scoring for the second straight game.
“We train together every day, so there’s always going to be good chemistry there,” Lancaster said. “Magnus has a good footballing brain. He has an eye for the pass, so that always helps. We both come from good footballing backgrounds, so we know where each other is going to be.”
