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Louisville City FC defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies, 1-0, thanks to a goal from Oscar Jimenez in the 69th minute.

The win–LouCity’s second in as many games–gives them six points heading into next Saturday’s River City Derby at F.C. Cincinnati.

What Happened?

The first action of the night came by way of Luke Spencer after eight minutes. Played in on goal, Spencer took his chance on goal only for Rowdies’ ‘keeper Cody Mizell to corral the early effort. In the 15th minute, Spencer nearly found the back of the net again, testing Mizell after a perfectly-weighted pass from eventual goalscorer Oscar Jimenez.

In a half of relatively few chances, LouCity ‘netminder Greg Ranjitsingh and the backline in front did well to keep the Rowdies attack at bay.  LouCity and Tampa Bay went scoreless into the break.

To start the second half, Ranjitsingh produced a massive save on Rowdies forward Sebastian Guenzatti. Sneaking in behind, Ranjitsingh shuffled across the face of goal and denied the attacker at a crucial moment. 

Nearly ten minutes later, it was LouCity’s turn to worry the opposition. Following a corner, the ball eventually bounced the way of midfielder Magnus Rasmussen. Though he produced a near-perfect first touch, the Dane saw his volley fly just wide of the post and out.

The Next Level Game Changing Play of the Match came in the 69th minute. As captain Paolo DelPiccolo rolled a ball across the 18-yard box, Jimenez was in perfect position to curl an effort past Mizell and put LouCity in front. The goal was just LouCity’s third in 2018–Jimenez’s first–as Spencer and McCabe scored in the season opener against Nashville SC. The assist was also PdP’s first on the year. 

At the death, the Rowdies earned a series of corners that would test the team’s solidity, though all were repelled. In the end, a one-goal advantage would be enough and LouCity earned all three points.

The Key Points:

• Forward Luke Spencer nearly opened the scoring in the 15th minute, only for Rowdies ‘keeper Cody Mizell to produce a fantastic save
• Goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh came up big in the 52nd minute to prevent Rowdies forward Sebastian Guenzatti from opening the scoring
• Midfielder Oscar Jimenez scored in the 69th minute to give LouCity its advantage

O’Connor’s Takeaways:

On playing after having last week postponed:
“I think it was great to get back out there. I have huge respect for Stuart (Campbell) and Tampa, and obviously it was a very hard fought game, and just really pleased that we were able to go on and win.”

On keeping Tampa Bay scoreless:
“Yeah, Tampa’s an excellent team. Stuart (Campbell) is a very good coach. Great credit to them. They had a couple chances in the second half, but I think with the balance of play we had some good chances. I think Oscar took his goal really well. Just really pleased. I think our players deserve enormous credit and I still think they don’t get the credit they deserve. When I look at the quality that our guys have and the way they play, they deserve enormous credit for the win.”

On who the team needs credit from:
“I would say not necessarily myself. I think in general when people sort of look at the champions- last year I think people praised them, but I think there’s certainly a lot more respect our players can be given on a national level. I think certainly, from our point of view, when I look at what they’ve achieved and for me probably because I see how good they are on a daily basis and I see their performances, I think there’s multiple players that we have that are capable of playing in the MLS, they just need to be given an opportunity. And my hope is that they get that opportunity. We have multiple guys that can go and play in the MLS.”

On Oscar’s goal:
“Fantastic finish, great composure. I think we wanted to try just tweaking a couple things and managed to get him in there. The beauty with Oscar is his attitude, his ability to keep going, and keep going and his quality. He put in some fantastic balls from set pieces and he wasn’t lucky in the first half. And finally in the second half he was able to break through and get the goal. “

Injury Report:
NONE

LouCity 1 : 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Slugger Field – Louisville, KY
62 degrees / sunny

Scoring Summary:
LOU – Oscar Jimenez (Paolo DelPiccolo) 69′

Disciplinary Summary:
LOU – Pat McMahon 26′
TBR – Neill Collins 69′

Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Greg Ranjitsingh (GK); Kyle Smith, Sean Totsch, Paco Craig, Pat McMahon; Oscar Jimenez, Paolo DelPiccolo (c), Shaun Francis (Devon “Speedy” Williams 67′), Magnus Rasmussen, George Davis VI (Niall McCabe 86′); Luke Spencer (Ilija Ilic 80′)

Bench: Chris Hubbard, Tim Dobrowolski, Alexis Souahy, Brian Ownby

Louisville City FC hosts the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday afternoon. A major clash between Eastern Conference foes, the match falls at the end of a three-game home stretch. 

Postponing the North Carolina FC match last weekend, LouCity is chomping at the bit to hit the pitch. Meanwhile, the Rowdies come in off the back of two straight wins over NCFC and Bethlehem Steel FC. 

When & Where

LouCity hosts Tampa Bay for a 3:00 P.M. kickoff at Slugger Field. Winning their first match of the year, the ability to host a second-straight contest in Louisville excites the “Boys in Purple”. 

Local station WBNA 21 will air this weekend’s match on your screen while 840 WHAS AM carries the action over the airwaves. Fans can also follow the match live on Twitter & Instagram.

TV: WBNA 21
RADIO: 840 WHAS AM

DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android
READ: Slugger Field A-to-Z

Last Time Out

LouCity earned its first three points of the 2018 campaign on Saturday, March 17, against Nashville SC. Goals from Luke Spencer and Niall McCabe sealed the 2-0 win, while ‘keeper Greg Ranjitsingh kept his first clean sheet.

The first opportunity of the night nine minutes in as forward Luke Spencer tested Nashville ‘keeper Matt Pickens. The monstrous netminder would deny the no. 9, though, holding tight on his line. Spencer and co. would test Nashville a few times in the opening half but the visitors would not relent and the teams sat scoreless at the break.

After 56 minutes, the hosts broke the deadlock. After a cross from midfielder Niall McCabe, who earned Man of the Match, Spencer buried the header to put LouCity one-up. Ten minutes later, the “Boys in Purple” doubled their tally in the 66th minute. McCabe was again involved, tapping home a rolled cross from defender Oscar Jimenez.

Nashville’s attack tested LouCity ‘keeper Greg Ranjitsingh twice through the 90 minutes. Keeping Nashville away, Ranjitsingh produced saves against Lebo Meloto and substitute Tucker Hume.

READ: #LOUvTBR – Talking Points

Visionworks’ What to Look For

#LOUvTBR is quickly approaching on Saturday. A few items to keep an eye on ahead of a big one:
1. Play to the conditions
2. Keep things consistent
3. Serve up Spencer

From the Gaffer

On going again this week:
“Obviously it wasn’t ideal at the weekend, but player safety has to be paramount. I thought the referee made the right decision, so for us, we’ll reassess and now we’re looking forward to a massive game against Tampa Bay on Saturday.”

On the Rowdies:
“We beat them at home and they beat us away. Tampa is one of the strong favorites to go on this year. When you look at the investment that they have there and the depth of their squad and the quality of some of their players, it’ll be a massive test for us this weekend. We’re really looking forward to it. We love the challenge and we’re hoping to get as many supporters as we can into Slugger this Saturday.”

On what he has liked/disliked so far:
“It’s hard to say [what I’ve liked and disliked so far]. Literally, we’ve had one game. It’s now a case of us focusing on Tampa and what they are strong at, what are the areas that we want to be good at and be strong ourselves and be aware of what they’re trying to do to be able to get the level of performance that we’re looking for.”

On the mix of vets/new faces:
“We’ve been really pleased with our players. Even today [Monday] the attitude in training was fantastic–really, really great. We’ve been very pleased with our players, for sure.”

The goal this week:
“For us, it’s trying to manage minutes. Normally for us, Monday’s session isn’t what it normally would’ve been but with the game called off, your week changes and your training load needs to change. We’re mindful of that. Also, we had to do our homework on Tampa and then make sure our players are in the right frame of mind. The challenge again will be the weather. With the training ground out and more rain this week, we’re managing the players on a different surface.”

On the long homestand:
“For us, we love playing at home. The passion our supporters brought at the Nashville game was excellent. We’re very hopeful that we’ll get a big crowd against Tampa on Saturday and get the supporters right behind us because we’ll definitely need it.”

On shutting down the Rowdies:
“We’ll see [how we can stop the Rowdies]. I don’t like to pre-empt things. For us, we try to do our talking on the field. When you look at the caliber of player, I would think at this stage they’re probably the only team that has two players that have played in the Champions League and were two full internationals for England and Germany, which are two huge nations. So again, when you look at the caliber of their players, they’re probably slightly different to most teams in the league.”

On injury concerns:
“We’ve been really pleased with the guys so far; hopefully, we can maintain it. Hopefully, Mother Nature is a bit more kind this week and we don’t get as much rain so we can get out on grass again this week.”

Team News

No injury report

#LOUVtbr: TALKING POINTS

1) RaINED OUT

After Saturday’s match against North Carolina FC was postponed due to field conditions, the “Boys in Purple” are set to go again when the Tampa Bay Rowdies come to town. Though head coach James O’Connor was understanding of the decision to postpone, he noted that his side’s workload would not change but rather see a tweak in plans moving forward this week.

“For us, the biggest thing now is figuring out training and adjusting from there,” he said. “We had so much rain and that was our biggest challenge. This week, having had more rain, the workload we’ll be the same but we’ll have to adjust slightly to the conditions again.”

2) ROWDY ATTACK

The Rowdies come into the match coming off back-to-back victories over North Carolina FC and Bethlehem Steel FC. Scoring five goals in their two matches, Georgi Hristov and Leo Fernandes were on the scoresheet twice in two weeks, while midfielder Jack Blake has also tallied one on the year.

The Rowdies sit second in the Eastern Conference, and O’Connor was quick to recognize the threat his side faces against the opposition attack.

“When you look at Tampa, the caliber of player that they’ve got—they’ve got two players that have competed in the Champions League and were full internationals for big soccer nations in England and in Germany,” said O’Connor. “So, when you look at the caliber of Tampa’s players, their definitely different than the majority of USL teams. We will see on Saturday.”

– Click HERE for Single Game Tickets vs. TAMPA BAY ROWDIES –

3) MARCH HOMESTAND COMES TO A CLOSE

What was supposed to be their third straight home contest to kick off the season, LouCity will instead close their two-match homestand against the Rowdies on Saturday.

O’Connor’s men opened the year with a 2-0 win over Nashville SC but sit fourth in the current Eastern Conference standings with a game in-hand. However, with the USL recently placing LouCity #1 in their league power rankings, Saturday’s match is sure to help settle who will rise as an early favorite in the conference.

4) INJURY FREE?

Only midfielder Brian Ownby (illness) is still recovering, meaning O’Connor should have few selection issues this weekend should this week’s training sessions yield no further issues.

Defender Alexis Souahy and attacker Ilija Ilic had previously been held out as a precaution but should be available without issue, leaving another selection headache for the gaffer ahead of an early, tough test for LouCity.

Saturday’s match against North Carolina FC, originally scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Slugger Field, has been postponed. The match will be rescheduled at a later date.

Both clubs will confirm that date in the coming days and information on that match will be available first on www.loucity.com.

For more information on our postponement policy, click here.

Louisville City Football Club and Falls City Brewing Co. are proud to introduce the Louisville City Golden Ale. The brew stems from an exclusive collaboration with the hometown craft beer experts.

This light, easy drinking golden ale brewed with rye malt and citrus hops, will be available for fans all season long, beginning at this weekend’s LouCity match against North Carolina FC. Fans can find it inside Slugger Field when the match kicks off at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Beginning next week, the beer will be available in 6 packs at local grocery stores and liquor stores, as well as, select bars and restaurants in Louisville and surrounding areas.

Designed with LouCity in mind, the purple and gold can features text sprawling the side that reads:
“When the Boys in Purple are storming down the pitch, give them a yell of support and raise a can of this refreshing golden ale with citrus hops and rye malt to let them know you’re all in For the City!”

The team is excited to celebrate the beer’s release and partnership with Falls City, who will host a celebration event at their new taproom and brewery, located at 901 E. Liberty Street in the NuLu neighborhood, on Wednesday, April 11. More details to follow.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this collaboration and continued partnership with Louisville City,” added Brian U’Sellis, Marketing Manager at Falls City Beer Co. “It’s been incredible watching the team grow over the past few years and now getting to provide the fans with an official beer is something we are extremely proud of.”

For more information, visit www.loucity.com and FallsCityBeer.com.

Life in Louisville is something LouCity midfielder Oscar Jimenez is getting used to.

Jimenez joined the “Boys in Purple” on February 15, 2017, and excelled under head coach James O’Connor. In total, he led the team in assists (6) and creating more chances (76) than any other player in the USL. Through the opening weekend across the league, Jimenez is at it again. He already leads the list in chances created (4) with an assist to add, but for him, this is only the beginning.

His offseason work started with scanning match after match, picking up on little things here or there that could tweak his game.

“I watched our team and the players that were coming back to watch for what their tendencies are, what they like to do, and things like that,” said Jimenez. “If someone is going down the line, do they usually go to the far post or do they run near? Things like that I marked so I can have a better understanding of what my teammates want or what they look for in the game.”

One of the first things that stand out about Jimenez’s game is his work rate—and that extends off the pitch. Putting in hours to study his team’s play and note what works well, and often more important, what doesn’t, the playmaker is always in the heat of the action. Jimenez also nearly had a second assist off a set-piece, another facet of his game he’s looking to take up a notch. For all that, he thanks his teammates.

“They tend to put me in good spots on the field where I can play that last ball for an assist or for an opportunity, like this weekend,” he said. “I saw there was space in behind and I ran there. I try to be in good parts of the field and dangerous parts of the field to make things happen. This weekend, the things that I’ve noticed helped me to read the game better.”

TICKETS: LouCity vs. North Carolina FC | Saturday, March 24

With a head coach who values team chemistry more than anything, what attracts Jimenez most to this project is his teammates. The bond they share off the pitch leads to the success on it, and he noted his eagerness to see it carry over from last year’s group.

“What I enjoyed the most from last year was the team. I had never been on a team where everyone was friends with everyone and got along well. It was a great group of guys so it made it that much easier to be happy and enjoy what we were doing,” he noted.

“James has told us from the beginning—even before I signed with the team—about his philosophy and how he likes to recruit players that are not only good soccer players but are also good people outside the sport. With that said, it’s easier to come into a team and to, say, not play, because you have these guys that you spent preseason with and training sessions with that are always there for you for support if you need it.”

So far, so good. But, O’Connor was quick to note this past Monday that although the first victory was sweet, their work was far from finished. Jimenez agrees there, emphasizing that their toughest tests had yet to come.

“Last year, we did very well all season and won, but there were a few moments in the season where we had a string of bad games,” said the midfielder. “I want to see what this team can do this year and what we can do from a leadership standpoint. I’m interested in and excited to see how we react to difficult situations when they most likely come, which they will.”

Whether in a good moment or bad, Jimenez is looking forward to the challenge with a smile.

“I love this game. When I’m out there–whether it’s training or anything that involves soccer–I’m so grateful to be there and to be enjoying this,” he expressed. “I’m thankful and grateful for the chance to be doing this on the daily and my why has always been because I love the game. Helping my team succeed and win is another thing that motivates me. I want to help everyone else achieve their goals as well.”

Louisville City FC welcomes North Carolina FC at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday afternoon at Slugger Field. Tickets for their second straight home contest start as low as $16 and can be purchased at www.loucity.com.