Since its inception, Louisville City FC has established itself as a club intent on adding hardware to a trophy case. It has won more than half the games it has played in the USL regular season, and advanced to the USL Eastern Conference Final in consecutive seasons. This year, LouCity continued to raise the bar, earning more wins and more points than in 2015.
But despite that success, there has been one team City hasn’t taken points from: the 2016 USL Regular Season champion New York Red Bulls II.
Now one win away from the 2016 USL Cup Final, the East’s No. 2 seed must find a way to defeat a side which holds a 4-0-0 record against if it wants to continue its run toward the title.
“We’re clearly the underdogs going into the game,” LouCity coach James O’Connor said this week. “That’s pretty obvious to everyone who is a fan of the game, but that is everyone else. We have faith in ourselves. I think in a game like that, a one-off game, anything can happen.”
Both New York’s previous record against LouCity and its incredible regular-season run set the Red Bulls II up as the favorite. They set USL records in total wins, road wins, goals and points.
That’s not to say New York ran away with the games the two played. Prior meetings have been hotly contested, including this year’s games.
In the first this year, New York traveled to Slugger Fieldand won 2-0 on April 2 as Junior Flemmings and Brandon Allen found the net. The second game at Red Bull Arena in August proved even tighter, as on Aug. 19 the Red Bulls II took a 1-0 win after Allen struck again on a 74th minute penalty kick – a call reviewed and confirmed by the Video Assistant Referee in use during the contest. It marked the last defeat LouCity suffered in the regular season.
All of that means little come Sunday. While there is added motivation given New York’s success in the series, LouCity’s players are focused squarely on what’s ahead.
“It’s a big game,” said defender Tarek Morad. “Obviously, it does provide a little bit of motivation knowing that we haven’t been able to get a good result against them the past two years, but anything that has happened in the past is the past. We’re just focusing on getting a good result on Sunday, and we are looking at it like we have a clean slate. Anything that happened in the league has no effect on what happens now, because it is win or go home.”
“To get to the Eastern Conference Final is a big achievement, so big credit to the players,” added O’Connor. “Red Bulls have obviously had a fantastic season themselves. It is going to be a very, very tough game for us for sure.
“For us, we need to approach the game in the right manner and make sure that we get after the game. We put in a good performance last time we were there away. I think we were unlucky in the game, so we will certainly be approaching the game with a lot of respect, but equally we want to go there a get a good result.”
Getting to the Eastern Conference Final is indeed a big achievement, and doing it in consecutive seasons more so. In order to get to this point, Louisville had to get through postseason stalwarts Richmond and Charleston, and did so in part thanks to a pair of shutouts by goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh and the solid back line in front of him. The two playoffs victories gave LouCity six wins in its last seven games, with the club having conceded only two goals over that span.
In contrast, the Red Bulls II have leaned upon their potent, league-leading offense throughout the playoffs. New York easily dispatched Orlando City B 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, and then faced the brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Rochester Rhinos last weekend.
But trailing late in the second period of overtime, Allen’s 119th minute penalty kick saved New York’s season and pushed the game into a penalty shootout. New York ending up edging the defending champions 5-4 from the spot to advance.
The Red Bulls II’s victory marked the first time they had defeated the Rhinos, a marked difference to its record against City. With Louisville making a return trip to the Eastern Conference Final, however, the visitors are hoping their experience from a season ago and preparation this week will see the side through.
“It does help that we’ve been there before, and we’ve had guys that have been in the league or have played in big games,” Morad said. “For the most part, we all feel like we are ready for the big challenge this weekend.
“We know they’ve got some good skillful guys on their team. We know that they have multiple threats, and guys that can come on and make a difference for them, but for the most-part we know what they’re going to bring so we’re really focused on what we have to do to be able to give them a tough game and allow us to hopefully win.”
