After suffering a 1-4 loss at the feet of Toronto FC II on Tuesday, Louisville City FC looks to rebound strong against the Charleston Battery on Friday as part of College Night at Slugger Field.
STUDENTS: Get in the door for just $5 when you purchase your ticket at the ticket window at Slugger Field!
When & Where
The match will take place on Friday, August 31 at Slugger Field with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
The match will be aired on WMYO as well as streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the match on 840 WHAS. Fans can also follow #LOUvCHS on Twitter & Instagram.
TV: WMYO
RADIO: 840 WHAS
STREAM: ESPN+
DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android
Where They Stand
Louisville City FC:
13-5-7, 46 points – 2nd in EC
Charleston Battery:
11-4-11, 44 points – 4th in EC
Last Time Out
Coming off an impressive 0-6 road win over the Richmond Kickers, the “Boys in Purple” were back in action as they hosted a struggling Toronto FC II side which entered Tuesday night with just two wins in league play.
12 minutes into the action, Louisville City found itself in the midst of a scoring opportunity when an Ilija Ilic pass lead Kyle Smith into the penalty box with ample room for a shot. Smith, who eventually netted the ball, was ruled offside and the goal was called off.
Little would develop for either side until the 28th minute when TFC II midfielder Tsabasa Endoh found himself in stride during an open-space run behind the Louisville City backline. The Japan native slipped one past City ‘keeper Greg Ranjitsingh to give the visitors the 1-0 lead.
Nine minutes later, it was Louisville City’s turn to join the scoring sheet when a ball from forward Cameron Lancaster found Ilija Ilic whose 10th goal of the season tied the match at one goal apiece.
Both sides headed into the half knotted at one.
After a pressing start to the second half, both TFCII and Louisville City settled in for the next 20 minutes of back-and-forth time of possession.
That would all change in the 64th minute when the Reds’ forward Shaan Hundal yet again found Endoh in transition for his second of the night. Just six minutes later, TFCII added to their lead with a strike from Malik Johnson as the midfielder rocketed a ball past Ranjitsingh.
Heading into stoppage time, TFCII would find the back of the net for their fourth and final goal of the night when Donte Campbell finished a brilliant run and snuck another past a diving Ranjitsingh.
Rewind against Charleston Battery
A fast start for the hosts saw Battery forward Ataulla Guerra put his side in front just five minutes in despite a good initial save from LouCity ‘keeper Greg Ranjitsingh to keep the attacker initially at bay.
Charleston would continue putting City under the cosh with heavy pressure on goal. Despite conceding the opening goal, though, the “Boys in Purple” continued to play their style and forced a pair of saves from the Battery ‘keeper Joe Kuzminsky.
Forcing City to dig deeper, the Battery scored their second of the night off a corner kick delivered by Gordon Wild. Whipping in an in-swinger, Battery defender Neveal Hackshaw got his head on the end of the ball in and beat Ranjitsingh to double the host’s advantage.
City looked to penetrate quickly after coming out the aggressors from the halftime interval. Three minutes on from the break, defender Pat McMahon nearly scored from six yards out off a pass from Oscar Jimenez, and it was Jimenez who saw an effort of his own over the bar just minutes later.
Ranjitsingh made one of his three saves on the night to keep City in the contest near the hour mark. With the Battery racing in on goal, Ranjitsingh came off his line and got big to prevent a third goal for the hosts.
Eventually, LouCity would break through and find a goal via a late scramble near the Charleston goalmouth. Defender Paco Craig and Paolo DelPiccolo stood right on the goal line as a cross came in. Causing chaos around net, DelPiccolo pushed his head towards a bouncing ball that went off Battery defender Taylor Mueller and into the back of his own net.
City’s push late on was spoiled in part by a red card to defender Oscar Jimenez with less than two minutes of added time left to play for a late challenge in the Battery’s own half. In the end, LouCity fell to the Battery, 2-1, but will have a shot at redemption on Friday.
Coach John Hackworth’s pre-match comments
On the Charleston test ahead:
“Well mostly, I want a positive response from Tuesday’s match. That was not the performance we wanted so now we have another wonderful opportunity to go out and show ourselves and our fans and the community what we’re really about.”
On the difficult stretch of five games in 14 days:
“You can’t even relate it to people how hard this has been and, in particular, this last stretch of four games [with Friday] being the final one. The demands both physically and mentally on this group of players is unprecedented.”
On his group’s performances and resiliency:
“To be fair, I need to adjust to our own home field and our style has to take into account the space that we have and how we use that a little better.”
On a full week of preparation coming:
“It will be wonderful to have proper time to prepare and recover because right now, as I said, you’re not able to truly do that in all of the right ways.”
On what he has seen from Charleston:
“I’ve watched as much as I possibly could, late into the night until I fall asleep so I think I know them pretty well. I think they are really well coached, they’re super organized and they’re a good side. I think we’ll have some similar tactical problems as to what we had against Toronto. It’s going to be an interesting game and we’ll have to do a better job of managing it on both sides of the ball.”
On his message to supporters for Friday:
“Your voice and your energy and your enthusiasm was fantastic on Tuesday and we’d love to see more people. Your support will really help us get through this difficult time.”
On injury availability:
“Brian [Ownby] is still out at the moment but he is the only one [outside Magnus Rasmussen]. Everyone else is healthy and ready to go.”
KY Lottery Kees to the Game
Here are the KY Lottery Kees to the Game for #LOUvCHS:
- Don’t let Guerra off your hip
- Squeeze in behind the defense
- Play into space with confidence
Team News
OUT – Magnus Rasmussen (Knee Sprain)
OUT – Brian Ownby (Concussion)
