CINCINNATI — Louisville City FC extended its unbeaten streak to open the 2017 season to five games on Saturday and took a point in front of 20,437 fans, playing FC Cincinnati to a 1-1 draw on the road.
USL veteran Brian Ownby scored his first goal in a LouCity uniform, moving the visitors ahead in the first half with a nifty shot that banged in off the left post. Former LouCity captain Aodhan Quinn — now featuring for FC Cincinnati — later equalized in the 78th minute of a chippy game.
“I’m pleased to get a point,” said LouCity coach James O’Connor. “I was a little bit disappointed with the way we played.”
On “blackout” night at Nippert Stadium, the boys in gold and white led most of the way. But they were out-possessed by a hair — FC Cincy handled the balled for 50.3 percent of the game — and placed four of 14 shots on target.
Ultimately, LouCity (3-0-2, 11 points) held on to improve its standing.
The referee showed five yellow cards in all before flashing a red to FC Cincy striker Djiby Fall in the 87th minute for a hard tackle into LouCity defender Kyle Smith. As the host club played through five minutes of stoppage time down a man, LouCity had its chances before the final whistle.
“I just thought our passing tonight really was off, and normally our passing is a lot more consistent — a lot sharper,” O’Connor said. “We had a lot of cheap turnovers. I’m disappointed for the lads that we didn’t hang on and get all three points, but it just wasn’t to be.”
The midfielder Ownby, who this season moved to LouCity from the Richmond Kickers, had knocked on the door of scoring heading into Saturday. He was able to finish thanks to an assist from Smith, a Cincinnati native.
Quinn, meanwhile, made the move from LouCity captain to feature for FC Cincinnati in 2017. After teammate Corben Bone recovered a ball in the box, Quinn, finished the chance to draw his new side level.
“It’s tough to give up a goal like that,” Ownby said. “We worked really hard defensively I thought throughout the game, limiting their chances. They had a bunch of crosses, but nothing was there that was super dangerous. But it is what it is. You’ve got to keep playing. I thought our response was fine.”
LouCity saw a streak of three straight wins snapped but maintained second place in the USL Eastern Conference standings, just a point off the leading Charleston Battery.
Two legs remain in the River Cities Cup between LouCity and FC Cincinnati. LouCity — which is 1-1-2 in games against FC Cincinnati — will host its rival twice this year, on July 15 and Aug. 12 at Louisville Slugger Field.
Next up, LouCity welcomes Toronto FC II to Slugger at 7:30 p.m. April 29.
Game Summary
Match: FC Cincinnati vs. Louisville City FC
Date: April 22, 2017
Venue: Nippert Stadium
Kickoff: 7:05 p.m.
Weather: 55 degrees, partly cloudy
Man of the Match: Brian Ownby
Scoring
FC Cincinnati (0, 1, 1)
Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)
Goals
FC Cincinnati: 78’ Aodhan Quinn left footed shot from center to bottom right corner, assisted by Corben Bone.
Louisville City FC: 20’ Brian Ownby left footed shot to bottom left corner, assisted by Kyle Smith.
Lineups
FC Cincinnati: 1- Mitch Hildebrandt, 3- Tyler Polak (60’ 16- Daryl Fordyce), 4- Harrison Delbridge, 22- Austin Berry, 2- Matt Bahner, 6- Kenney Walker, 5- Aodhan Quinn, 19- Corben Bone, 20- Jimmy McLaughlin (76’ 99- Andy Craven), 9- Djiby Fall, 80- Victor Mansaray (60’ 23- Andrew Wiedeman)
Subs not used: 30- Dallas Jaye, 15- Pat McMahon, 8- Paul Nicholson, 14- Omar Cummings
Head coach: Alan Koch
Louisville City FC: 9- Cameron Lancaster (64’ 12- Luke Spencer), 22- George Davis IV (85’ 23- Richard Ballard), 11- Niall McCabe, 10- Brian Ownby (66’ 7- Mark-Anthony Kaye), 36- Paolo DelPiccolo, 8- Guy Abend, 6- Tarek Morad, 18- Paco Craig, 4- Sean Totsch, 24- Kyle Smith, 28- Tim Dobrowolski
Subs not used: 13- Micah Bledsoe, 14- Ilija Ilic, 80- Speedy Williams, 19- Oscar Jimenez
Head coach: James O’Connor
Discipline
FC Cincinnati: 31’ Victor Mansaray shown yellow card; 51’ Austin Berry shown yellow card; 70’ Kenney Walker shown yellow card; 87’ Djiby Fall shown red card.
Louisville City FC: 22’ Sean Totsch shown yellow card.
Officials
Referee: Mark Kadlecik
Assistant Referee 1: Maggie Short
Assistant Referee 2: Jeffrey Swartzel
4th Official: Aaron Mitchell
