MONTCLAIR, N.J. — Finally.
In its sixth game against the New York Red Bulls II, Louisville City FC on Sunday finally walked away a winner, with a 3-0 victory a swing in the opposite direction for a rivalry between top USL Eastern Conference clubs.
Defender Kyle Smith scored his first goal of the year, Brian Ownby tapped in his third, and Richard Ballard added his second in as many games in stoppage time of a decisive effort at MSU Soccer Park, the Red Bulls II’s new home at Montclair State University.
“Just obviously really, really pleased with our performance and the mental toughness that the guys showed to push through the heat,” said coach James O’Connor. “Fantastic. Honestly, I’ve said this a number of times: incredibly proud of the guys’ effort and their quality today. It was an exceptional performance.”
A lopsided result won’t erase the past, including last year’s Eastern Conference Final loss to New York in a penalty shootout. Still, LouCity managed to earn not just its first victory, but its first point, against the defending USL champions.
The outcome never seemed in doubt after Smith started the scoring on a nice run into the box. Ownby tapped a pass to him, and Smith slotted a shot to the goalkeeper’s right in the 25th minute.
“We hadn’t beaten New York yet, so we really needed this, and then to get the three goals was even more icing on the cake,” Smith said. “I think we could’ve even had more goals. But, yeah, I mean obviously we wanted that championship last year, but a little revenge is nice.”
It was the rare game in which LouCity didn’t out-possess an opponent — New York held the ball 58.8 percent of the game — and shots were 13-8 in favor of the host Red Bulls II. But LouCity coasted behind another big effort from goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh.
Facing a 1-on-1 challenge from reigning USL MVP Brandon Allen, Ranjitsingh stood tall on a 19th-minute shot. He dove right to deter another Red Bulls II shot in the 51st minute as well, just seconds after Ownby had doubled the lead.
The midfielder Ownby — who with a goal and assist was voted Man of the Match — found space behind the New York defense and slipped in a shot on an easy touch. That gave LouCity a secure advantage before the Louisville native Ballard delivered the final blow off the bench with a nice strike in stoppage time.
“I mean it’s always nice to get three (goals),” Ownby said. “We could’ve easily had this year 30-plus goals at this time with our chances. But it’s nice to put a couple in the back of the net, and hopefully this will just bring us throughout the rest of the season. Because especially with the team we’re playing against — New York’s a good squad — so hopefully from here on out we just keeping banging in some of them.”
LouCity collected six points this week, with Sunday’s victory added on to a 1-0 Wednesday home win over the Charlotte Independence. The boys in purple now sit third in the USL Eastern Conference standings at 6-1-4, their 22 points not far behind the No. 1 Charleston Battery’s 27 points. The Battery have played two more games than LouCity.
Next for O’Connor’s side is a 7:30 p.m. Saturday homecoming against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, a club LouCity defeated 1-0 back on May 20.
Game Summary
Match: New York Red Bulls II vs. Louisville City FC
Date: June 11, 2017
Venue: MSU Soccer Park
Kickoff: 4:05 p.m.
Weather: 89 degrees, sunny
Man of the Match: Brian Ownby
Scoring
New York Red Bulls II (0,0,0)
Louisville City FC (1,2,3)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
25’ Kyle Smith strikes it in from inside the box; assist to Brian Ownby
55’ Brian Ownby catches up with a long send to slide it in pass the goalkeeper from a couple yards out; assist to Paolo DelPiccolo
93’ Richard Ballard sends a left-footed strike in to the left corner of the goal; assist to Kyle Smith
Lineups
New York Red Bulls II: 24- Louro, 37- David Najem, 46’- Kevin O’Toole (69’ 92- Ethan Kutler), 47- Hassan Ndam, 20- Justin Bilyeu, 6- Dan Metzger, 22- Florian Valot (69’ 91- Douglas Martinez), 17- Arun Basuljevic, 88- Vincent Bezecourt, 12- Zeiko Lewis, 21- Brandon Allen (62’ 70- Junior Flemmings)
Subs: 50- David Abidor, 35- Jordan Scarlett, 36- Andrew Tinari
Head coach: Jon Wolyniec
Louisville City FC: 1- Greg Ranjitsingh 24- Kyle Smith, 19- Oscar Jimenez, 6- Tarek Morad, 18- Paco Craig (63’ 15- Sean Reynolds), 4- Sean Totsch, 10- Brian Ownby (80’ 23- Richard Ballard), 8-Guy Abend, 36- Paolo DelPiccolo, 22- George Davis IV (63’ 80- Devon “Speedy” Williams), 9- Cameron Lancaster
Subs not used: 28- Tim Dobrowolski, 11- Niall McCabe,14- Ilija Ilic, 12- Luke Spencer
Head coach: James O’Connor
Discipline
New York Red Bulls II: 66’ David Najem – Yellow Card
Louisville City FC: 90’+ Cameron Lancaster — Yellow Card
Officials
Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.
Assistant Referee 1: Tom Felice
Assistant Referee 2: Zeno Cho
4th Official: Spencer Scopel
