Cameron Lancaster scored on both sides of the halftime whistle Saturday as Louisville City FC exacted a bit of revenge.
The boys in purple — unbeaten now in 12 of their last 13 games — paid back the only club to defeat them over that span with a 2-1 victory over FC Tulsa.
Much to the delight of 10,675 fans at Lynn Family Stadium, LouCity upped its record to 12-3-3, with the 39 points best in the USL Championship pending later Western Conference results this weekend.
“Unbelievable atmosphere,” said head coach Danny Cruz. “I know I feel like I’m saying it every week, but it really is. This is a special place. We’re happy about obviously getting three points.
“But it can’t go unsaid: It’s a late goal again. Unacceptable — spoke to the guys individually and collectively we know that, and we know as we keep progressing here toward the end of the season, we know it’s gonna be important that we make sure that these mistakes and these late goals fix.
“With that being said, it’s another three points at home against a good team and I’m proud of the group for that.
Lancaster opened by getting on the end of a looping, 10th-minute Niall McCabe cross from wide left. The deflected shot hit the back of the net.
In the 66th minute, a scramble in the box and half clearance led to Lancaster gaining possession again. He finished up the chance cleanly to double the lead.
“I don’t think you could teach being in the right place at the right time,” McCabe said of Lancaster. “It’s just an instinct. He kind of just smells out opportunities, and thankfully he’s on our side and long may he continue and keep scoring.”
The brace raised Lancaster’s season total to 11 goals, ranking third-best in the league.
FC Tulsa managed a concerning late answer to the 2-0 deficit. In stoppage time, a Lebo Moloto corner landed freely to the head of Bradley Bourgeois. It marked the fourth time in five games the boys in purple have conceded after the 85th minute and dashed hopes of a fifth clean sheet on the season.
“I think it’s just little mental errors here and there,” said forward Brian Ownby. “We had a very good game. I think they only had really one chance…If we can just fix those little errors where the ball’s going out of bounds and we don’t need to make fouls, that will help us in the long run.”
Still, it was three points earned for the fourth straight game ahead of an important end-of-season stretch for the club, which will play primarily away from home beginning Aug. 22 at OKC Energy FC.
LouCity got the better of a rival Saturday that had given it troubles twice previously, both on the more narrow ONEOK field in Tulsa, Okla. On June 19, it was a 3-2 victory for the boys in purple. On July 10, FC Tulsa posted a 3-2 win of its own.
Tulsa managed four shots on target in the rubber match as LouCity goalkeeper Parker Siegfried twice came up huge, in the 33rd minute preventing a goal after the boys in purple were turned over in their own half before coming off his line to thwart a counter in the 48th.
Aside from its goals, LouCity threatened, particularly in the first half. Ownby — amid a season that has already seen him rack up a career-high six assists — nearly had a seventh in the eighth minute. He hustled to win possession deep in Tulsa’s half, and the ensuing cross to Paolo DelPiccolo led to a one-touch shot off the post.
In all, LouCity out-shot Tulsa 16-12, with 14 of the home tries taken from inside the box. The clubs were even in other areas of the stat sheet, setting up an intriguing final meeting between them back at Lynn Family Stadium on Sept. 3.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. FC Tulsa
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy
Man of the Match: Cameron Lancaster
Attendance: 10,675
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1, 1, 2)
FC Tulsa (0, 1, 1)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
10’ Lancaster (McCabe)
66’ Lancaster
FC Tulsa
90’+ Bourgeois (Moloto)
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / FC Tulsa
Shots: 16 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Fouls: 15 / 14
Offside: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 6 / 4
Saves: 3 / 3
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 24 – Parker Siegfried, 15 – Pat McMahon, 6 – Wes Charpie (90’ 66 — Josh Wynder), 4 – Sean Totsch, 42 – Jonathan Gomez, 12 – Tyler Gibson, 36 – Paolo DelPiccolo (75’ 7 – Napo Matsoso), 11 – Niall McCabe, 9 – Jorge Gonzalez (82’ 20 – Jimmy McLaughlin), 10 – Brian Ownby (82’ 29 – Antoine Hoppenot), 17 – Cameron Lancaster (75’ 21 — Kyle Greig)
Subs not used: 1 – Chris Hubbard, 8 – Akil Watts
FC Tulsa: 1 — Sean Lewis, 4 — Jadama Modou, 13 — Matthew Sheldon (79’ 6 — Johnny Fenwick), 26 — Jorge Corrales (79’ 18 — Solomon Krampe), 22 — Bradley Bourgeois, 16 — Rodrigo da Costa, 11 — Joaquin Rivas, 10 — Marlon, 30 — Lebo Moloto, 44 — Eric Bird, 14 — Jason Johnson (79’ 21 — Kembo Kibato)
Subs not used: 31 — Austin Wormwell, 99 — Raphael Ayagwa, 92 Dario Suarez, 2 — Kevin Garcia
Discipline Summary
LouCity: 66’ McMahon (yellow)
Tulsa: 72’ Sheldon (yellow)
Tulsa: 81’ Moloto (yellow)
LouCity: 85’ Gomez (yellow)
Tulsa: 90’+ Bird (yellow)
Referee: Malik Badawi
Assistant Referees: Ben Pilgrim and John Krill
Fourth Official: Chris Schurfranz
