ORLANDO — After held scoreless in an otherwise dominating performance to start the season, Louisville City FC kicked its offense into high gear Thursday, downing Orlando City B by a 3-1 score to spoil the Lions’ opening night at the new Orlando City Stadium.
Cameron Lancaster delivered a pretty ball from distance in the first half to give LouCity its initial lead. George Davis IV and Luke Spencer added on goals in the second. Each scoring chance was assisted on a night LouCity distributed well and limited Orlando’s attack.
“I thought we had some really good chances, and I thought we showed tremendous character,” said LouCity coach James O’Connor. “With the chances we had first half, when we didn’t take them, we were very unfortunate to go in at 1-1 at halftime. I thought the guys showed a lot of character in the second half, and we played some good football tonight.”
• HIGHLIGHTS | See the goals from Thursday’s game
LouCity was on the offensive from the start, going on to out-shoot Orlando 17-11. The Lions didn’t see their first try on goal until the 61st minute, when Tim Dobrowolski preserved what was then a 2-1 lead by saving a header.
There was just one change in LouCity’s Starting XI from last Saturday a 0-0 draw with Saint Louis FC. Dobrowolski made his second career start in goal with Greg Ranjitsingh out due to injury. Aside from an apparent miscommunication in the 42nd minute, leading to a LouCity own goal, the back line was solid.
That allowed for a consistent LouCity press. Early on, Paolo DelPiccolo turned over Orlando in the 11th minute. He immediately played it to Davis IV, whose through ball found Lancaster for the club’s first goal of the year.
Rookie Richard Ballard led up to LouCity’s second goal of the night by dribbling past a defender on the right side, then finding Davis IV in the box in the 57th minute. Davis IV’s shot went through the legs of the Orlando’s keeper, same as Spencer’s first United Soccer League goal 19 minutes later.
• WATCH | Postgame interviews with Davis IV, Spencer
Spencer said “work ethic and our pressure” made the difference for LouCity.
“In that game against Saint Louis, we were able to dominate the game,” he said. “But we needed to take advantage of our chances. So I think coming into today, we had that mentality, and we were able to do that.”
LouCity has a habit of high-scoring games against Orlando City, where O’Connor finished out his playing career before accepting his first head coaching job. Last year, the boys in purple took two of three from the Lions, putting at least four shots in the back of the net twice.
They’ll ride another productive offensive performance into next weekend’s game against the Richmond Kickers in Virginia.
For now, LouCity sits atop the USL standings with four points.
Game Summary
Match: Orlando City B vs. Louisville City FC
Date: March 30, 2016
Venue: Orlando City Stadium
Kickoff: 7:35 p.m.
Weather: 83 degrees, mostly sunny
Man of the Match: George Davis IV
Scoring
Orlando City B (1, 0, 1)
Louisville City FC (1, 2, 3)
Goals
Orlando City B: 42’ Tarek Morad – own goal.
Louisville City FC: 11’ Cameron Lancaster – left footed, shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by George Davis IV. 57’ George Davis IV – right footed, shot from the right side of the box to the center of the goal. Assisted by Richard Ballard. 76’ Luke Spencer – right footed, shot from the center of the box to the center of the goal. Assisted by Niall McCabe with a through ball.
Lineups
Orlando City B: 36- Earl Edwards Jr., 12- Kevin Alston, 95- Léonardo Pereira, 22- Conor Donovan, 71- Zach Carroll, 77- Austin Martz (81’ 30- Danny Deakin), 80- Ryley Kraft, 24- Lewis Neal, 98- Pierre Da Silva, 99- Michael Cox (81’ 96- Joe Gallardo), 45- Ben Polk (45’ 90- Dikwa Albert)
Subs not used: 70- Jake Fenlason, 42- Zach Ellis-Hayden, 63- Scott Thomsen, 46- Paul Clowes
Head coach: Anthony Pulis
Louisville City FC: 28- Tim Dobrowolski, 24- Kyle Smith, 19- Oscar Jimenez, 4- Sean Totsch, 6- Tarek Morad, 36- Paolo DelPiccolo, 23- Richard Ballard (64’ 11- Niall McCabe), 80- Devon “Speedy” Williams, 22- George Davis IV, 10- Brian Ownby (70’ 8- Guy Abend), 9- Cameron Lancaster (28’ 12- Luke Spencer)
Subs not used: 13- Micah Beldsoe, 18- Paco Craig, 3- Sean Russell
Head coach: James O’Connor
Discipline
Orlando City B: 58’ Michael Cox – yellow card. 90’ Léonardo Pereira – yellow card.
Officials
Referee: Marcos de Oliveira
Assistant Referee 1: Kermit Quisenberry
Assistant Referee 2: Jonathan Quinter
4th Official: Natalie Simon
