It’s a staple of Louisville City FC coach James O’Connor’s game preparation to think only of the upcoming opponent, and none after that. Defender Sean Reynolds took that to heart last Saturday as LouCity advanced past the Charleston Battery in the USL Cup Playoffs, but he said players had the next task in the back of their minds.
Reynolds is one of a handful of second-year LouCity players who are 0-4 against the New York Red Bulls II over the last two seasons. But the chance for redemption comes Sunday on the biggest stage yet when the clubs kick off at 6:30 p.m. inside Red Bull Arena. A victory in the Eastern Conference Final means a spot in the USL Championship game.
“It’s like a bug. It’s like a chip on the shoulder,” Reynolds said. “You’ve been beaten four times by the same team, and you want some revenge.”
What makes this matchup different is more than the stakes. LouCity also enters with plenty of confidence, having played seven unbeaten since an Aug. 19 defeat to the Red Bulls on the road. Six of those results were wins, and only two goals have been conceded during the run.
“As I said last week, I feel like we’re firing on all cylinders,” said midfielder Kadeem Dacres, whose one-touch goal, on a long ball from Reynolds, made the difference in the Charleston win. “Defensively, we’re strong as a rock, and we’re getting chances offensively to score goals. It’s really good to see.”
Conditions were less than ideal on April 2, when LouCity hosted the Red Bulls at Slugger Field. New York won 2-0 with a wind advisory in effect. Last year, LouCity dropped another home game to the Red Bulls in June while on short rest and dropped another game to them in Sept. 5 amid a slump to finish the regular season.
Then, the boys in purple bounced back to open the playoffs with a victory before downed by the eventual USL champion Rochester Rhinos in the conference final. Now it’s the Red Bulls, who tallied a league record 69 points in 30 games this year, in the way.
“They played good football all season, so you always knew they were going to be up there,” Dacres said. “We’re ready for them. We’re pretty much ready for them. They’re the top team, and they’re doing well. We respect them, but we’ll have something ready.”
Exactly what that is, Dacres didn’t say. LouCity will have four days of training, from Tuesday through Friday, to fine tune before leaving for Harrison, N.J., where the Red Bulls are based.
“I think for us, our focus was obviously on trying to get there,” said coach O’Connor. “I think now that we are there, it’s fantastic. You’ve got the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. It’s great. From our end, we’re certainly looking forward to the game, as I’m sure New York are. Both have a lot of respect for each other, so it should be a great game and we’re excited to go there and play them.”