Wednesday’s Louisville City FC game marked the first at home in 40 days for the boys in purple. But for the one who wears yellow, it had been more than two months.
LouCity goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh last saw the pitch at Slugger Field during the club’s March 25 season opener, which he left halfway through with a hip flexor injury that forced a lengthy rehab.
“I love this game, and obviously just being injured, watching from the side, watching from the stream during away games, it was tough,” Ranjitsingh said. “But I’m happy to be back into the game.”
The Canadian was cleared to train in early May, returned to the starting lineup in a U.S. Open Cup game at FC Cincinnati, and held the spot for a third straight game Wednesday night.
He managed to shake off the rust quickly, playing a crucial role in a 1-0 win over the Charlotte Independence. Despite seeing little action for a majority of the game — LouCity held 59.8 percent of the possession — Ranjitsingh preserved the shutout late.
“I think always as a goalkeeper, you’ve got to be ready,” he said. “You could be standing for 90 minutes and then you get a shot at the very end in injury time. You’ve always got to stay focused, just concentrate on the game, and if a save comes your way, you’ve got to make it.”
That’s exactly what he did against Charlotte. Ranjitsingh fielded three consecutive chances on goal — a save, punch out and another save — in the 85th minute. The game was still far from over, however, as officials added five minutes of stoppage time.
Ranjitsingh cleared another pair of crosses just before the full time whistle.
“I think until probably the last 12 minutes he didn’t have a whole lot to do,” said LouCity coach James O’Connor. “But then all of sudden there was the last little bit there coming in there raining balls in our box.”
An international goalkeeper called last year to play for his father’s nation, Trinidad and Tobago, Ranjitsingh was up to the challenge. He’s only one of LouCity’s capable goalkeepers.
In Ranjitsingh’s absence, LouCity relied on Tim Dobrowolski to fill the role. In eight games, Dobrowolski conceded just five goals from 24 shots on frame, good for a save success rate of 79.2 percent.
Dobrowolski buys the team bagels after a shutout, something that happened three times from his 90-minute performances. The University of Loyola-Chicago product also received USL Save of the Week honors twice.
“Really pleased for Greg, but also, you have say, give Tim a mention,” O’Connor said. “I’m disappointed for Tim because it’s so difficult — because Tim has come in and played really well. I mean Greg is someone we’ve got great belief in and I think we’ve also got great belief in Tim.
“It’s really hard — a really tough decision to make — but we’ve got, for me, we’ve got the two best goalkeepers in the USL. I think both of those boys — my hope is for both of the keepers is in the next two years both of them will have left and gone on to play in the MLS, because I think both of them are that good.”
