Luke Spencer’s seventh-minute tap in Saturday night proved enough to get Louisville City FC back in the win column with a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
Playing at Highmark Stadium for a second time this week, LouCity moved ahead for good after Brian Ownby delivered a cross to Spencer, who nudged in the go-ahead shot. It was just one attempt among a flurry of them in the first half but stood until the end as goalkeeper Tim Dobrowolski posted the clean sheet.
LouCity also on Wednesday defeated Tartan Devils Oak Avalon in a Second Round U.S. Open Cup game. A win over the Riverhounds completed the Pittsburgh sweep and an extended stay in the Steel City.
“Fantastic three points,” said coach James O’Connor. “I thought in the first half, our play was excellent. We should have come in (to the locker room) more than a goal up.”
Dobrowolski earned his second straight Man of the Match honor by registering the bulk of his three saves in the second half. The effort ensured one goal was enough.
The boys in purple earned their first full three points in United Soccer League play since defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies back on April 15. A win also served as a rebound effort following a loss in the return game to the Rowdies a week ago.
In turn, the Riverhounds saw a three-game winning streak end despite late efforts to equalize. LouCity played down a man after the 87th minute following a straight red card issued to captain Paolo DelPiccolo for a tackle on Pittsburgh’s Romeo Parkes.
“It’s been a difficult trip because the level of competition we played Wednesday wasn’t very good, and then you have to go up against a team that has been playing very well like Pittsburgh,” said defender Oscar Jimenez. “They’ve won a few in a row and were ahead of us on the table. In the hotel, we were just speaking about how big this game was for us.”
Making his second start of the season on the left wing, Mark-Anthony Kaye drilled a shot off the post in the 46th minute that could have doubled the lead out of the half. The Riverhounds’ Kevin Kerr rattled a shot of his own off the woodwork in the 49th minute.
Only Spencer’s early tap-in made it past a goalkeeper Saturday. Much of the credit belongs to Ownby, who made a run up the right side to create the scoring chance.
“We’ve been working on those movements in practice,” Ownby said. “I saw the defender kind of cheating, and I knew Luke was going to run straight across the goal line. I just put a hard ball on the ground, hoped it would make it over that turf, and it did.”
A win improved LouCity’s record to 4-1-3 in eight games. The club’s 15 points are good for third in the USL Eastern Conference standings, and LouCity holds a pair of games in hand on teams ahead. Next is a weekend off before U.S. Open Cup play resumes May 31 at FC Cincinnati.
Game Summary
Match: Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs. Louisville City FC
Date: May 20, 2017
Venue: Highmark Stadium
Kickoff: 7:05 p.m.
Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy
Man of the Match: Tim Dobrowolski
Scoring
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (0,0,0)
Louisville City FC (1,0,1)
Goals
Louisville City FC: 7’ Luke Spencer right footed to bottom left corner, assisted by Brian Ownby.
Lineups
Pittsburgh Riverhounds: 30- Trey Mitchell, 4- Taylor Washington, 37- Connor Maloney (61’ 21- Ben Fitzpatrick), 28- Lalas Abubakar, 29- Joseph Greenspan, 7- Stephen Okai, 25- Marshall Hollingsworth, 5- Victor Souto, 3- Jack Thompson (63’ 36- Romeo Parkes), 11- Corey Hertzog, 10- Kevin Kerr
Subs not used: 1- Keasel Broome, 8- Mike Green, 20- Jamal Jack, 14- Nick Thompson, 6- Abuchi Obinwa
Head coach: Dave Brandt
Louisville City FC: 28- Tim Dobrowolski, 24- Kyle Smith, 19- Oscar Jimenez, 6- Tarek Morad, 18- Paco Craig, 36- Paolo DelPiccolo, 22- George Davis IV (84’ 4- Sean Totsch), 8- Guy Abend, 10- Brian Ownby (82’ 11- Niall McCabe), 7- Mark-Anthony Kaye (71’ 23- Richard Ballard), 12- Luke Spencer
Subs not used: 1- Greg Ranjitsingh, 80- Speedy Williams, 14- Ilija Ilic, 9- Cameron Lancaster
Head coach: James O’Connor
Discipline
Pittsburgh Riverhounds: 41’ Stephen Okai shown yellow card.
Louisville City FC: 45’ Mark-Anthony Kaye shown yellow card. 75’ Paco Craig shown yellow card. 87’ Paolo DelPiccolo shown red card.
Officials
Referee: Jonathan Weiner
Assistant Referee 1: Alfonso Fajardo
Assistant Referee 2: Justin Frear
4th Official: Paul Deverse
