By Chris Mattingly
Louisville City FC drew 2-2 with One Knoxville SC on Saturday in a home preseason matchup having featured several seasoned veterans along with two new faces. Here are a few takeaways from the game:
Ownby’s still got it
Brian Ownby turns 33 this year, yet his performance Saturday evidenced why the club was ready to sign a new contract with the winger this past offseason.
Minutes after LouCity went up 2-0 in the first half, Ownby was at it again, generating a pair of shots on target that were desperately cleared off the line by Knoxville. Ownby also ripped a shot that grazed top netting in the second half, and he routinely beat much younger defenders down the right side with his regular speedy runs.
“He picks up knocks and he starts feeling things a little bit more, which is normal,” coach Danny Cruz said of Ownby, who’s coming off a career-high 10-goal season. “But it’s my job to make sure we manage him throughout the week. It’s my job to make sure he’s fit as he can be come the weekend.
“…When he’s out there, he’s dangerous for us.”
Thellufsen earns a start
LouCity had little business to do this offseason considering the club returns a USL Championship-record 22 players from last season’s Eastern Conference championship squad. So it’s notable that only one new field player cracked Cruz’s starting lineup Saturday: the Danish addition Rasmus Thellufsen.
“He has done a really good job throughout preseason,” Cruz said of the 6-foot-1 midfielder. “I thought he started the game really, really well. You could see his quality on the ball. We played him at the 10 to start the game and gave him some time out wide as well, which he’s been doing in preseason.
“We’ve been happy with him up to this point. He’s going to take some things from this game — he certainly needs to — and we’ll go from there.”
Who’s between the posts?
If LouCity’s reigning USL Championship Golden Glove winner isn’t available on opening day, Oliver Semmle will be ready. The recent signing out of Marshall University went most of the 90 minutes Saturday, continuing to log most of preseason’s key minutes as Kyle Morton returns from a back injury that sidelined him to end the 2022 campaign.
“They continue to compete every single day,” Cruz said. “Obviously, Kyle is coming back from a really difficult surgery, but he’s progressing well. Over the next week and a half, we’ll look to see who starts on opening day.”
While Semmle has started as of late, Morton continues to work himself back into the fold. He subbed on in the 66th minute Saturday and remained on the pitch following he full time whistle, playing in another brief scrimmage with members of LouCity’s youth academy.
A clear goal
Saturday’s game was played with two weeks to go before LouCity’s March 11 regular season opener at Orange County SC. When City returns to the pitch next weekend, Cruz said the objective will be clear.
“The approach will be to win the game,” he said of LouCity’s final preseason test at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, “and treat it as close as we can to what it’s going to be like on opening day against Orange County.”