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Down 1-0 until the 4th minute of stoppage time, LouCity found an equalizer and then scored a pair of goals in extra time to become back-to-back-to-back Eastern Conference Title-Winners.

“I’m just incredibly proud of this team and our club,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “Everybody is a part of it. The fans were amazing. To fight back and to score an equalizer right there at the very end, the last seconds, and then to go on and score two more in overtime? I just can’t enough about the belief that we all have for what we do.”

The equalizer came courtesy of Antoine Hoppenot to send it to extra time just moments before the death. That set off a raucous celebration among the thousand Louisville City fans who had traveled to Indianapolis.

“We have been tested so many times that it is normal for us now,” Hackworth said. “It doesn’t make it any easier, but we should never discount what these guys have done and what they are doing.”

Then just 3:28 into extra time, Abdou Thiam had a brilliant assist to Magnus Rasmussen to put LouCity into the lead, 2-1. But Louisville City wasn’t done. After Brian Ownby drew a penalty in the box, Luke Spencer buried the penalty kick to give LouCity extra insurance. 

Louisville City will host the USL Championship Final next Sunday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium on the University of Louisville campus. 

Tickets for the final will go on sale to the public on Thursday at 10 a.m. To gain access to a pre-sale, fans can become 2020 Season Ticket Members here: 2020 Season Tickets

Local TV: WBKI TV  |     ESPN+: #INDvLOU 

Louisville City will square off against Indy Eleven Saturday in the USL Championship Eastern Conference Finals. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Mike Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI. 

Saturday’s showdown is Louisville City’s fifth-straight appearance in the Eastern Conference Final while Indy is making its first appearance. LouCity, the 2017 and 2018 USL Championship titles, is searching for its third-straight Eastern Conference title. 

“Now we’re at the point where we are playing for trophies,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “And we’re facing a tough Indy team who we know will be a challenge for us.”

Indy and LouCity squared off twice in the regular season with both games ending in a 1-1 tie. In post-season soccer, the teams will play an extra 30 minutes if tied at the end of regulation. And if the match is still tied, the game will be decided by penalty kicks. 

Indy is one of the top defensive teams in the league, having surrendered only 29 goals on the season, the second-fewest in the USL Championship. 

“They are a good team,” LouCity forward Antoine Hoppenot said. “Defensively they work hard and they get a lot of people back in defense. It’ll be a tough team to break down. They don’t give up a lot of goals. And then when they have the ball, they break well, they transition well to their offense.”

Louisville City is the hottest team left in the playoffs. The club started a run in early August that has included 11 wins and just one loss through the final stretch of the season and into the playoffs. 

Knocking off Pittsburgh, the top team in the East, LouCity opened up the possibility of hosting the final if they beat Indianapolis on Saturday. 

“To have the opportunity to bring another championship game back to our city is a huge motivator for us,” goalkeeper Chris Hubbard said. “We know what the atmosphere was like in last year’s USL Cup and we would love to have the chance to do that again.”

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Mike Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI. The game will be televised locally on WBKI and nationally on ESPN+. Internationally, the broadcast is available on YouTube. 

The radio broadcast will be on 1080 WKJK and features Kevin Kernen on play-by-play and John Horlander on color analysis. 

Louisville City FC is back in the Eastern Conference Final for the fifth straight season. It’s a spot that many pundits didn’t see coming, but that LouCity players and coaches felt was always in their plans. 

“Especially in the locker room, there was always that belief even through some difficult periods,” LouCity coach John Hackworth said. “If you reflect back on the middle of summer when there may be some doubters out there, I don’t think there were any doubters in our locker room. So now we have a chance to play for a trophy again.”

Despite winning the USL Championship Titles in 2017 and 2018, Louisville City entered the season picked to finish as a playoff also-ran by several national pundits. Critics pointed to losing the scoring of Cam Lancaster or Ilija Ilic or losing Kyle Smith off the back line or losing Greg Ranjitsingh in goal. 

And when LouCity dropped points early in the season it was easy for critics to say, ‘See, we told you they weren’t going to win it again.’ But Louisville City’s technical staff and locker room kept the faith. 

Through injuries and lineup changes, Louisville City kept plugging away. Hackworth’s crew began a run in August that has carried the club into the postseason as the hottest team in the USL Championship. 

LouCity has only lost one match since the beginning of August, going 11-1-3 during this crucial stretch of the season. On Saturday, the Boys in Purple took down the Eastern Conference’s top team, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, in Pittsburgh’s Highmark Stadium. 

Dropping Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, a feat no other USL club has done this season, sets up a rematch with Indy Eleven this Saturday. LouCity and Indy have battled twice this season, both draws. 

“We’re playing a really good Indy team up in Indianapolis,” Hackworth said. “They play a style of pressing that is similar to ours and they have been on a good run during these playoffs. We know it is going to be a challenge.”

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Mike Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI. The game will be televised locally on WBKI and nationally on ESPN+. 

Louisville City became the first USL Championship team to beat the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Highmark Stadium this season, knocking off the top-seeded ‘Hounds 2-1 on the strength of a game-winning goal by Paolo DelPiccolo.

“It was a good fight to win the ball back in our attacking third, a lot of credit to Brian Ownby for sneaking that ball in and Abdou Thiam getting across the goalkeeper there,” Paolo DelPiccolo said. “It set up nicely for me and I was able to tap it home.”

Louisville City is one of four teams left in the USL Championship Playoffs. LouCity will square off against Indy Eleven in Indianapolis next Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Louisville City is coming home to Slugger for their first playoff match next Saturday, Oct. 26. After beating Memphis 901 FC Saturday night in Memphis, Louisville City moved into the top four in the Eastern Conference which means LouCity will host the Tampa Bay Rowdies Saturday at 7 p.m. at Slugger Field. 

“Our goal was to bring the playoffs back to Slugger Field,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “Even when we weren’t moving up from that sixth spot in the table, I just kept saying ‘Trust us, we will keep grinding and we will move up.’ Lo and behold, we have. We are 9-1-3 in our last 13 games.”

The full USL Championship bracket was released Sunday night. 

Louisville City’s final game of the regular season kicks off Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET in Memphis’ AutoZone Park vs. Memphis 901 FC. 

“This is a business trip for us,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “This is a chance for us to get better and a chance for us to move up in the table.”

Hackworth, whose team has been one of the hottest in the Eastern Conference over the last two months, believes Louisville City still has room to get better. The back-to-back USL Championship Title winners are the team no one wants in their bracket. 

As it stands Saturday morning, Louisville City is the 6-seed and would be slated to play at No. 3 Indy Eleven. But all that could change Saturday night as Louisville City is tied in points with 5th-seeded New York Red Bulls II and is just one point behind 4th-seeded Tampa Bay Rowdies. 

Hartford Athletic hosts Tampa Bay at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night (GameCenter LINK) and then Loudoun United hosts the Red Bulls (GameCenter LINK) starting at 7:30 p.m. p.m. ET. 

“Obviously we’ll be watching other scores around the league pretty close,” Hackworth said. “Our staff will definitely be trying to keep tabs on all the other games we can while understanding that we are on the sideline and can’t really be actually watching those other scores. And really, it comes down to our performance first.”

If LouCity wins, they have a chance to jump both Tampa and New York and move into the 4th spot. The top four spots are key because those teams are will host their first playoff game Saturday, Oct. 26. That would mean Louisville City would get at least one more game at Slugger Field, their home since 2015. 

“We want to continue to improve as we head into the playoffs and hopefully we get some help from other teams as we hope to move up the table,” Hackworth said. “Credit to our guys, we don’t view Saturday as the end of the season. We think of our season running into November.”

As of Saturday morning, Louisville City could either be 4th, 5th or 6th in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The bottom four teams in the Eastern Conference Playoffs will play each other Wednesday night with the winners advancing to face the top six teams next weekend.  

Louisville City is heading to Memphis for the final regular-season match of the season Saturday at AutoZone Park. 

“To be fair, me and the players, we don’t think about the season ending this weekend because we think of the season going until early to mid-November,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “That’s our mindset. We certainly think of the next game we have and we still have work to do.”

Currently sixth in the Eastern Conference table, Louisville City locked up a Playoff berth weeks ago, but Saturday night is all about positioning. 

Louisville City has 57 points. Fourth-place Tampa Bay has 58 points. Fifth-place New York Red Bulls II has 57 points. With a win, Louisville City could pass both Tampa Bay and the Red Bulls. 

That means Louisville City still has a chance at hosting a USL Championship Playoff game as a top-four seed. To be able to host, Louisville City would need to beat Memphis Saturday. Then, Louisville City would need the Tampa Bay Rowdies to draw or lose at Hartford and the New York Red Bulls II to draw or lose at Loudoun United. 

If that happens, Louisville City, as the 4 seed, would host the first round playoff game on Saturday, Oct. 26, vs. the 5-seed, which in that scenario would be Tampa Bay. 

If LouCity wins Saturday and both Tampa Bay and New York win as well, LouCity would remain the six seed and be slated to play at Indianapolis on Oct. 26. Indy locked up the three seed Wednesday night with a win in its final contest of the season.

Memphis, on the other hand, lost its final chance at a playoff spot over the final two weeks of the season. Within striking distance at the end of September, Memphis 901 lost 0-3 to Indy Eleven, lost 1-2 to Charlotte and lost 0-2 to Charleston Battery Wednesday night. 

Despite being out of the USL Championship Playoffs, Memphis still has quality players.

“We know they can play because we saw them in the preseason and then we saw them at the beginning of the season,” Louisville City midfielder Napo Matsoso said. “We will have to concentrate on our game and be ready for this weekend.”

The game will take on special significance for Hackworth as his son, Morgan, plays for Memphis 901 FC. 

“I will have a lot of family members in Memphis and on a personal level that’ll be nice for me to see my son and see family that will be coming to watch both of us,” Hackworth said. “But at the same time, it is a business trip for us, and it’s a chance for us to try to get better.”

Louisville City will travel to Memphis Friday in preparation for Saturday night’s match. And by Saturday night at midnight, the club will know its road for the 2019 USL Championship Playoffs. 

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Eastern. The game will be televised locally on WBKI-TV. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ in America and on YouTube worldwide. The radio broadcast will be on 790 KRD and feature Kevin Kernen (play-by-play).

After its eight-goal outburst vs. Swope Park Saturday, Louisville City saw two of its players named to the USL Championship Team of the Week Tuesday. Midfielders Magnus Rasmussen and Napo Matsoso were both named to the Team of the Week. 

Here is the full list: 

USL Championship Team of the Week

GK – Andrew Putna, Real Monarchs SLC: Putna recorded eight saves and one shutout across two contests as the Monarchs took victory against Orange County SC and Phoenix Rising FC.

D – Forrest Lasso, Nashville SC: Lasso recorded 20 clearances, 10 recoveries, won 16 of 18 duels and 10 of 11 aerials across two outings as Nashville took victories against Louisville and North Carolina.

D – Onua Obasi, Ottawa Fury FC: Obasi recorded 20 recoveries, eight interceptions and won 22 of 33 duels to help Ottawa clinch a place in the playoffs with four points from two outings over the week.

D – George Campbell, ATL UTD 2: Campbell scored the opening goal, completed 64 of 71 passes and won 13 of 14 duels while recording 10 recoveries and four interceptions in Atlanta’s 5-2 victory against Bethlehem.

M – Magnus Rasmussen, Louisville City FC: Rasmussen scored a pair of goals on four shots and had two chances created as LouCity recorded an 8-3 victory against the Swope Park Rangers on Saturday night.

M – Dan Bedoya, Hartford Athletic: Bedoya had one goal and one assist, four chances created and completed 31 of 34 passes as the Athletic took a 4-0 victory on Wednesday night against Birmingham Legion FC.

M – Napo Matsoso, Louisville City FC: Matsoso scored once, won 11 of 13 duels and seven tackles, and completed 42 of 45 passes in Louisville’s 8-3 victory against Swope Park.

M – Lebo Moloto, Nashville SC: Moloto had one goal and one assist, completed 31 of 37 passes and recorded three chances created while winning 5 of 6 duels in Nashville’s 2-0 victory against North Carolina FC.

M – Walter Restrepo, San Antonio FC: Restrepo had two assists and six chances created, won 7 of 12 duels, made nine recoveries and completed 25 of 38 passes in San Antonio’s 4-3 victory against Portland.

F – Ever Guzman, San Antonio FC: Guzman recorded the first hat trick in San Antonio FC’s history to lead it to a 4-3 victory against the Portland Timbers 2 on Friday night that could prove key to its playoff hopes.

F – Alioune Ndour, Loudoun United FC: Ndour scored three goals in two games as Loudoun defeated Saint Louis FC and the Charleston Battery and recorded seven shots across the two victories.

Bench: Cody Cropper (HFD), Maikel Chang (SLC), Kevin Partida (RNO), Niall McCabe (LOU), Lewis Hilton (STL), Cameron Iwasa (SAC), Niki Jackson (CLT)

Louisville City FC scored eight unanswered goals to beat the Swope Park Rangers 8-3 Saturday night in the final regular-season game at Slugger Field. LouCity fell behind by three goals in the first 34’ minutes before an onslaught of goals started with Napo Matsoso in the 36’.

The Boys in Purple had a USL Championship record seven different goal scorers: Alexis Souahy in the 40’, Antoine Hoppenot in the 42’, Brian Ownby in the 54’, Magnus Rasmussen in the 72’ and 78’, Richard Ballard in the 85’ and George Davis IV in the 88’.

“Fantastic result from our team tonight,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “To come back being down, really knowing that that is not who we are at all…  Credit to Swope, I know that they have some excellent players that came out and executed obviously, put us on our heels. The reaction was great by our group.

“We felt like if we could get one back at three-nothing, that probably gave us a solid chance to come back in the second half. The guys just kept going. To go back to the locker room three- three was huge for us. Obviously the second half speaks for itself.”

Louisville City’s eight unanswered goals is its most this season and one of less than a handful of times a team has scored eight goals in USL Championship history. 

“I’m proud of the players because that’s what we had to do. Not maybe to score five in the second half, but we had to have an answer. We had to reaffirm that we are the team that we believe we are,” Hackworth said. “We talked about that at halftime; a couple of mistakes that we made in the first half tactically. It’s just not who we are honestly. It was awesome to see us come out and play with such vigor and such tenacity in that second half.

“We really played some good soccer and found the back of the net five times is pretty amazing. I think to end, to come back on a historic night, in stats but also in front of these fans, the last time we are here in the regular season in this building. What a way to end and cap an unbelievable five year run here. Historic in many ways.”

Louisville City’s 8-3 win notched three more points for the club as it jockeys for position in the final week of the regular season. Louisville City finishes the season at Memphis 901 FC next Saturday. 

After earning three points with a win at Saint Louis Saturday night, Louisville City FC traveled to Nashville Sunday to begin preparing for Tuesday night’s showdown with Nashville SC.

“It is a short turn-around so we have to focus on our regeneration process,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “We have to make sure we are doing everything we can to get our bodies right for Tuesday night.”

LouCity’s prep for Tuesday is far more than rest and regeneration. The club brought extra players on the road to make sure they could have a fresh 18 Tuesday night as well. 

LouCity’s showdown with Nashville in First Tennessee Park is a key matchup for seeding in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Both clubs have already clinched playoff spots, with Nashville currently sitting in third and LouCity in sixth, but both would like to improve their positions in the final three games of the regular season. 

If Nashville can move up to second or first, they’d be assured of more home games in the playoffs. If LouCity can move from sixth to fourth, the club would be able to host a second-round playoff game instead of go on the road. 

Nashville SC has 58 points with three games to play. Louisville City has 54 points with three games to play. The top two teams in the league are Pittsburgh with 62 points and Indy Eleven with 59. Both have just two games left. 

Louisville City is arguably the hottest team in the East. The Boys in Purple haven’t lost since July and have won seven of the 10 games during that stretch.

“It starts with defense,” Louisville City defender Pat McMahon said. “We focused on locking down our defense, particularly early in the game, so that we didn’t give up an early goal.”

Louisville City had a stretch of games during June and July where they gave up the first goal. This put tremendous pressure on the LouCity to come back in game after game. 

But on Aug. 3, Louisville City opened the match in a  more defensive posture. Their typical LouCity pressing style that won back-to-back USL Championship Titles, needed to be altered to fit this year’s team more effectively. 

With McMahon and fellow defender Sean Totsch in the lineup more frequently, LouCity got a win at Charlotte on Aug. 3, then beat Atlanta United 2 5-1 on Aug. 11, beat Charleston Battery 2-1 on Aug. 17, and finished the run with a 1-0 win over North Carolina FC on Aug. 24. 

As for Nashville, the club is 3-1–1 in its last five matches, with the last win coming on Sept. 28 at Loudoun United. 

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Eastern. The game will be televised locally on MyTV-58 with Tyler Terens and Devon Kerr. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ in America and on YouTube worldwide.

The radio broadcast will be on 790 KRD and feature Kevin Kernen (play-by-play) and Howie Lindsey (color analyst).