Louisville City FC coach James O’Connor drew a focus this week in training on scoring a set piece goal. Saturday night, the boys in purple got two of them while toppling the defending United Soccer League champions by a 2-1 score.
Paco Craig finished a first half free kick before Luke Spencer headed in a corner in the second as 10,017 fans at Slugger Field — the club’s third-largest crowd ever — saw LouCity beat the New York Red Bulls II.
A victory pulled LouCity to within two points of the Eastern Conference lead. It also marked a season sweep over the Red Bulls II, a team that entered 2017 with wins in all five meetings against the boys in purple.
“They’ve worked really hard this week on not just set pieces on a number of things,” said coach James O’Connor. “That’s the most pleasing thing for me as the coach when you’ve got such a great group of young men that are desperate to get better and are hungry to get better.
“You need to make sure that you’re responsible and that you teach correctly and you give as much back to them as you can — because they’re giving everything they can for me and the coaching staff and for us as a club.”
O’Connor acknowledged his side could have played a better game after completing 62 percent of its passes and splitting possession even with New York. But LouCity capitalized on its chances, a sticking point in losses this season.
The 39th-minute connection between defender Oscar Jimenez and Craig came a week after they paired for an equalizing goal in LouCity’s win at Saint Louis FC. Captain Paolo DelPiccolo registered his fourth assist of the season on a 70th-minute ball into Spencer, who scored less than a minute after brought on as a substitution.
“You know, I’m a bigger guy,” said Spencer, who stands at 6-foot-2. “I like to think I’m good on set pieces, so when we had a set piece opportunity I wanted to get in and show what I can do.”
New York equalized for a time in the second half after goalkeeper Tim Dobrowolski stopped one shot, but had the follow up by Stefano Bonomo sneak pas in the 58th minute. LouCity delivered an answer, however, on a night it out-shot the Red Bulls II by a 15-14 margin — but doubled shots on goal at 8-4.
The victory was continued revenge after going without a point against New York in 2015 and 2016. The string of defeats included last year’s Eastern Conference Final, which LouCity followed up by beating the Red Bulls 3-0 last month on their field.
“I think it speaks volumes for us because like I said before, in the course of a long season, you’re going to have your ups and downs and you’re going to have times when things aren’t as pretty,” Craig said. “So when we’re able to still come through on top, that’s the sign of a winner.”
LouCity travels next weekend to play arguably the hottest team in the USL. The Charlotte Independence, second in the Eastern Conference standings, haven’t lost since a June 7 matchup with LouCity, going on a string of 10 games unbeaten.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 5 with WBNA TV-21 and NewsRadio 840 WHAS set to broadcast locally.
Game Summary
Match: Louisville City FC vs. New York Red Bulls II
Date: July 29, 2017
Venue: Louisville Slugger Field
Kickoff: 7:35 p.m.
Weather: 81 degrees, sunny
Man of the Match: Paco Craig
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1,1,2)
New York Red Bulls II (0,1,1)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
39’ Paco Craig connected off a free kick from Oscar Jimenez
70’ Luke Spencer scored off the corner from Paolo DelPiccolo
New York Red Bulls II:
58’ Stefano Bonomo struck it through traffic into the bottom left corner of the net
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 28- Tim Dobrowolski, 4- Sean Totsch, 18- Paco Craig, 6- Tarek Morad, 24- Kyle Smith, 8-Guy Abend, 36- Paolo DelPiccolo, 19- Oscar Jimenez, 10- Brian Ownby (86’ 7- Mark Anthony-Kaye), 9- Cameron Lancaster (70’ 12- Luke Spencer), 11- Niall McCabe (64’ 23- Richard Ballard)
Subs not used: 28- 1- Greg Ranjitsingh, ,14- Ilija Ilic, 15- Sean Reynolds, 80- Devon “Speedy” Williams
Head coach: James O’Connor
New York Red Bulls II: 24- Louro, 92- Ethan Kutler, 66- Noah Powder, 47- Hassan Ndam, 35- Jordan Scarlett, 37- David Najem (90’ 39- Tim Schmoll), 70- Junior Flemmings, 36- Andrew Tinari (85’ 53- Kazu Shigenobu), 22- Florian Valot, 12- Zeiko Lewis, 29- Stefano Bonomo (69’ 80- Zaire Bartley)
Subs: 40- Rafael Diaz, 54- Jordan Bailon, 44- Andrew Lombard, 91- Douglas Martinez
Head coach: Jon Wolyniec
Discipline
New York Red Bulls II:
26’ Florian Volt – Yellow Card
29’ Andrew Tinari – Yellow Card
45’ Noah Powder – Yellow Card
94’ Tim Schmoll – Yellow Card
Officials
Referee: Lukas Szpala
Assistant Referee 1: Jeffery Swartzel
Assistant Referee 2: Steve Whalen
4th Official: Joshua Brooks
