Louisville City FC coach James O’Connor considered Brian Ownby “unfortunate” to have not scored a goal of his own Saturday. But the veteran midfielder created enough for his teammates to help the club to a 1-0, bounce back win over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Highmark Stadium.
Ownby’s seventh-minute cross to Luke Spencer in the box led to the only goal of the night, though he created numerous other chances during a dominant first half. His impact was by design.
“They came out and were pushing high with their outside backs, said Ownby, who joined LouCity this season after playing for his hometown Richmond Kickers. “I knew if we could break that first line of pressure, we could use our speed to go at the center backs. It was nice to be out on the wing, open it up and help the team go forward.”
LouCity rebounded from its only loss so far this season — a 2-0 defeat last weekend to the Tampa Bay Rowdies — and returned to the No. 3 spot in the USL Eastern Conference standings. Both teams ahead of the boys in purple have played more games, and the race to the top of the table will remain that way for a while with LouCity off next week.
Here’s more of what we learned from LouCity at Pittsburgh…
• LouCity had its first sending off of the season in the 87th minute after Paolo DelPiccolo tackled Romeo Parkes near midfield. The slide did not appear malicious but resulted in a straight red. O’Connor declined to comment on the card. The call can be appealed.
• Goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh returned to the lineup card for the first time since LouCity’s season opener, now cleared to play after a hip injury sidelined him. He’ll be hard-pressed to beat out Tim Dobrowolski for the starting job. Dobrowolski came up with three saves Saturday to preserve a lead and earn Man of the Match honors for a second straight game.
• Oscar Jimenez is due for a goal. After placing all three of his shots on frame in a scoreless draw with Toronto FC II last month, the left back tried from distance Saturday in the 31st minute and nearly caught Pittsburgh’s keeper off guard.
• A slightly different back four started Saturday for LouCity with Tarek Morad re-joining the lineup next to Paco Craig in the center. Jimenez and Kyle Smith were, as usual, the outside backs. A starter other than in Saturday’s game this season. Sean Totsch came on in the 84th minute to help preserve the clean sheet.
