LEXINGTON, KY — Louisville City had numerous chances, but couldn’t find the back of the net until the final few minutes of a 1-1 draw vs. the University of Kentucky Sunday in Lexington.
Louisville City coach John Hackworth noted that the preseason is about learning, and his team learned a lesson Sunday.
“It’s a perfect game,” Hackworth explained. “Full credit to UK because it’s exactly what we wanted in terms of playing a team that’s organized and fighting. This means a lot to them. It presents us with a lot of problems both from a technical standpoint, but just from a mentality standpoint. We feel like we’re a team that’s tough and can deal with all these things, but really we’ve got a little bit of work to do.”
The chances came early and often for Louisville City. Brian Ownby and Luke Spencer seemed to be causing issues for Kentucky’s back line and City held possession for long stretches of the first half, but Kentucky converted its one chance into a goal by Cole Guidon.
“Really strange, to be fair,” Hackworth said. “I thought we started really well for the first 35 minutes. I was pleased with every part of it, just didn’t execute. Hit the cross bar three times I think. Created numerous opportunities. Other than that, we got a little frustrated the last 10 minutes and gave up a really poor goal. “
City ended the first half with four corner kicks, two shots on goal, two more shots that hit the crossbar and another that hit a post.
“The first 20 minutes of the second half, I thought, was not indicative of the way that group usually responds to adversity so really disappointed from that end,” Hackworth said.
LouCity’s starting 11 stayed in the game until around the 68th minute when wholesale substitution brought in a new crew of 10 players with Paco Craig staying on the field.
The Boys in Purple finally found paydirt on a great team goal off a throw in. Paco Craig served a nifty pass to Sunny Jane for the equalizer in the 87th minute.
“Happy for the guys that came on and played the last 20,” Hackworth said. “Kind of had to throw the kitchen sink at them to get back but credit to those guys. They got the equalizer and the result is the result. Not an overall performance that we can feel proud about. It’s something we have to change and learn from and go back to the drawing board and fix it.”
Louisville City will play its final preseason match of the season Saturday vs. the University of Louisville at Lynn Stadium. The match is dubbed the 502 Derby and will begin at 5:02 p.m.
