A new trend has emerged for Louisville City FC over the last four games; second-half goals. In the final two matches of the regular season and the first two in the United Soccer League Cup Playoffs, Louisville City has scored seven of its 10 goals in that span in the second half.
The trend continued on Saturday as substitute Brian Ownby latched on to right wing back Kyle Smith’s through ball and chipped Rochester Rhinos goalkeeper Tomas Gomez to give LouCity a 1-0 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. It marked the fourth goal of the seven second-half goals scored by a substitute, and you can make an argument that Kyle Smith’s re-directed game-winner against the Charlotte Independence was created by Ownby.
Ownby and fellow midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye came on at halftime against Rochester and immediately injected a new energy and sense of urgency into the game, resulting in a goal. Ownby was second on the team with three goal-scoring chances created and both he and Kaye had two shots on target.
It shows that LouCity and coach James O’Connor are making the right adjustments at halftime.
“Half time becomes a really important time for us,” O’Connor noted Saturday.
Midfielder George Davis and Smith, via Ownby, scored in the second half to secure a victory over the Independence followed by a pair of goals off the bench in the final 10 minutes of the match by Cameron Lancaster and a beautiful individual effort from Kaye to comfortably win over the Richmond Kickers in the season finale.
In the first round of the USL Cup playoffs, Tarek Morad’s brace put LouCity up 2-0 at the break but it wasn’t until second half strikes from Luke Spencer and Ownby truly put the game out of reach. And last Saturday, it was the inclusion of Ownby and Kaye after the halftime break that made the difference, leading to another return to the USL Eastern Conference final.
Even more than talking at halftime, O’Connor has trusted his bench players to be watching the game carefully during the first half, picking up on what the opposition is doing and how to exploit it should they get on the pitch.
“When the guys who aren’t starting – obviously everyone wants to play and we have the talent on the team, but James (O’Connor) always pulls us to the side,” Ownby said. “The guys who aren’t playing, (he tells us to) keep an eye on the players and what they’re doing in your position while you’re on the bench. I tried keeping that in mind tonight and I saw the space was out wide and in behind their backs, and I think that’s where we got a lot of our success in the second half.”
It’s a good sign for Louisville City this late in the season that even if the starters for a particular game are wearing down, the players coming off the bench can make the needed impact to secure a victory. With the boys in purple now just one game away from potentially hosting a USL Cup, they’ll hope that this trend can continue.
“With this group, the way the season’s gone, we always know we’re going to have that chance (to score),” Ownby said. “Even if it’s one or twenty (on the roster). I think as the season’s gone on, we’ve matured a lot as a group, and we have each other’s back and we know there’s always going to be a chance. Regardless if it’s zero-zero or we’re down one, we’ve just got to keep fighting and we know we’ll get that opportunity and we’ve just got to put it on frame.”
Opinions expressed in this piece were not subject to club approval. For more insights on LouCity, follow former Courier-Journal reporter Dan Karell on Twitter: @DanKarellPreps.
