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LouCity post-Charlotte Independence press conference
Coach John Hackworth | Wednesday, August 22, 2018

On what the result means for his side moving forward:
“I think it hopefully builds a little confidence in how we’re trying to play and some of the ideas and concepts that we’ve been working on in training for the last week and a half. I’m really proud of this group. Their mentality was great before I got here but it’s not easy for them to deal with some of the changes they’ve gone through. I’m really proud of the way they’ve accepted some points from me and how we’ve collectively worked together to solve some problems and I think you saw that tonight in a pretty comprehensive win.”

On if the team is adjusting to his style:
“Yeah, I think we’re getting there. I thought we were excellent in our build-up play, I thought our possession really wore Charlotte down in both halves and that opened up a lot of space. I think the players are adapting a little bit and I think that’s great to see. I still think we can get better at it in moments. We made some mistakes that allowed their team a chance, but at the same time I’m proud of the way we performed and the willingness of the guys to go do it. To come on the road is never easy. They had a decent crowd here tonight so to get a road victory and to do it with a shutout is something I’m really proud of.”

On what forward Cameron Lancaster brings to the team:
“Anytime you have a forward like Cam… he’s vital. That first goal allowed us to really start dominating the play, but he earned that. The second one was fantastic. I thought Kyle did a really good job, specifically with what we were working on in practice. It happened in that play. Charlotte made some good adjustments out of the locker room and we had to absorb some pressure there in the second half but I thought, again, we did a good job of making some adjustments and then going and getting that third goal.”

On Luke Spencer’s return:
“I don’t know when the last time he scored was… I know I wasn’t here. Long time coming. I’m happy for him. Anytime a guy is coming back and now is contributing and hitting the back of the net, that’s fantastic.”

On his reaction to the win:
“I don’t have that many emotions. I’ve been in enough soccer games to realize that if you do things the right way and have the kind of team that we have here, the success and the wins take care of themselves. We just have to keep constantly looking for little ways to improve. I’m happy, don’t get me wrong. I’m really happy for these guys. It allows us that first chance to move forward in a positive way.”

On the key to a quick turnaround with Richmond on Saturday:
“The key is that all the guys in the locker room and our training staff do the best job possible of trying to recover and re-gen from this result to be ready for another tough road game after another day of travel. Those are all cumulative factors. So, we need the guys who were on the bench tonight to be ready. The guys that didn’t play tonight might have an opportunity and I expressed that in the locker room so we’ll hopefully get these guys rested and see what we can do about going out and doing the same thing again.”

LouCity post-Charlotte Independence press conference
Forward Cameron Lancaster | Wednesday, August 22, 2018

On the road win:
“It means a lot. It means a lot because it’s been a quick transition getting the new gaffer in and trying to play his style and I think we did that really well tonight. It gives us confidence going into the next game in Richmond.”

On playing Hack’s style:
“Yeah, and that’s promising. There were some things we did well tonight and there are some things we can improve on but we got the win and that’s what matters really.”

On what it means to lead the Golden Boot race:
“Not a lot! I mean, I’m just glad we got the win and I’m glad that I could help the team. It is a personal goal of me to get the Golden Boot but we still have a lot more games to go and we’ll see what happens.”

On facing Richmond:
“Every game is going to be tough but we just have to focus on ourselves and how we play. Like we said before, there’s a lot more to improve and that’s promising so we’ll try and do that in Richmond.”

On picking up a knock:
“It’s just tightness. I didn’t really want to risk it knowing that we have so many games in such a short space of time coming up.”

On his potential third:
“I thought it was in, honestly. But it just wasn’t there for me so hopefully next game.” 

On the penalty:
“No goal is easy but I’m glad I could get the penalty off the ref and knock it in.”

Louisville City FC defeated the Charlotte Independence, 0-3, following a resounding performance that saw forward Cameron Lancaster bag a brace with fellow attacker Luke Spencer finding the back of the net in just his second appearance since recovering from injury.

What Happened?
No more than two minutes into Wednesday’s match between Louisville City and the Charlotte Independence, a trio of Cameron Lancaster, George Davis IV and Niall McCabe created disruptions for the hosts’ backline with a combination of quality passing and sly runs behind the defenders.

Twelve minutes in, persistence paid off as City drew a penalty on ‘keeper Andrew Dykstra. Stepping up to the spot, Cameron Lancaster made no mistake despite Dykstra’s correct guess and the visitors held an early advantage, 0-1. The goal was Lancaster’s 14th in league play, elevating him to T-1 in the USL Golden Boot race.

Independence midfielder Jake Areman’s 28th minute free kick presented his club’s first shot on target. The attempt would be snuffed short by City goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh whose height would prove useful on the crossbar-level strike.

Just one minute later as the “Boys in Purple” developed a counter attack, Lancaster struck another beautiful ball with a shot far-post around Charlotte’s Owundi and out of the reach of Dykstra. His brace makes him the league’s leading goal scorer heading into the weekend.

Looking for yet another hat trick, Lancaster saw a chance to record the night’s third goal in the 53rd minute off a through-ball from George Davis IV. Having created space on his run, Lancaster floated one over the head of Dykstra only to be denied by the cross bar. A left-footed follow up shot from team captain Paolo DelPiccolo would sail over the net and ending the opportunity for the visitors.

Following several attempts from a depleted Independence side, one of City’s latest signs in James Sands recorded his first assist with his new club as veteran Luke Spencer scored his first goal since returning from knee surgery and giving the visitors the 3-0 lead. 

Neither side would add to the scoring sheet the rest of the evening as Ranjitsingh recorded his eighth clean sheet on the year.

Louisville City FC face a quick turnaround with a weekend trip to Richmond to take on the Kickers at City Stadium on Saturday night. Returning to Louisville, Los Morados face Toronto FC II on Tuesday, August 28 as part of Kids Night at Slugger Field. Tickets for that contest and all remaining 5+ are available for as low as $16 by calling (502) 384-8799, option 2, or online at www.loucity.com.

The Key Points:

• Cameron Lancaster’s 29th minute strike makes him the USL’s sole leader in goals scored heading into Saturday’s match against the Richmond Kickers.
• Newcomer James Sands recorded his first assist as a member of the Louisville City roster with a 65th minute pass to Luke Spencer who scored his first goal since his return from knee surgery.
• Head coach John Hackworth noted his first win as coach of the “Boys in Purple” (43 points), who are tied for third in the Eastern Conference with the Charleston Battery entering the weekend.

Injury Report:
OUT – Brian Ownby
OUT – Magnus Rasmussen

Charlotte Independence 0 : 3 Louisville City FC
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Sportsplex at Matthews | Charlotte, NC
80 degrees / sunny

Scoring Summary:
LOU – Cameron Lancaster (p) 13’
LOU – Cameron Lancaster (Kyle Smith) 29’
LOU – Luke Spencer (James Sands) 65’

Disciplinary Summary:
LOU – Cameron Lancaster 42’
CLT – Mutaya Mwape 90’

Starting XI (4-3-3): Greg Ranjitsingh (GK); Kyle Smith, Paco Craig, Sean Totsch, Oscar Jimenez; James Sands, Paolo DelPiccolo (c), Devon “Speedy” Williams; Niall McCabe (Shaun Francis 72’), Cameron Lancaster (Luke Spencer 62’), George Davis IV (Pat McMahon 81’)

Bench: Tim Dobrowolski, Alexis Souahy, Richard Ballard, Ilija Ilic

Louisville City FC faces the Charlotte Independence in midweek action for the second of two meetings between the pair in the 2018 regular season. There is little room for maneuver for City, who are comfortably in fourth place in the Eastern Conference but must maintain their form should they look to catch leaders FC Cincinnati. Meanwhile, for Charlotte, sitting in 11th place in the conference means a win could bolster their hopes of tightening an already close race for the eight playoff spaces.

When & Where
The match will take place on Wednesday, August 22 at Sportsplex at Mathews in Charlotte, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.

The match will be aired on WMYO as well as streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the match on 1080 WKJK. Fans can also follow #CLTvLOU on Twitter & Instagram.

TV: WMYO
RADIO: 1080 WKJK
STREAM: ESPN+

DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android

Where They Stand
Louisville City FC:
11-4-7, 40 points – 4th in EC

Charlotte Independence:
7-9-8, 29 points – 11th in EC

Last Time Out
Louisville City FC earned a point from a grudging defensive battle against Nashville SC, drawing 0-0 with the Music City club in front of nearly 10,000 fans at Slugger Field.

A physical first half saw the hosts pressing one of the USL’s stingiest backlines in Nashville SC with the “Boys in Purple” having difficulty coming within striking distance early in the match. The best of the first half opportunities came in the 44th minute from midfielder Devon “Speedy” Williams, whose shot far post nearly snuck past the Nashville back line and into the back of the net.

Both clubs were held scoreless headed into the break.

Just minutes into the second 45, Pickens spilled another shot from “Speedy” Williams just inside the penalty box, opening another opportunity for George Davis IV who was unable to finish.

The visitors nearly opened the scoring sheet in the 57th minute after Nashville forward Tucker Hume snuck past defender Sean Totsch, a move which led to SC’s Brandon Allen shot just wide of City goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh.

After a back-and-forth second half of empty opportunities, both sides left Slugger Field with a point after a scoreless draw.

WATCH: Hackworth examines #CLTvLOU

Rewind against Charlotte Independence
Louisville City FC and the Charlotte Independence last met on Saturday, July 21 when City dominated the visitors, 4-1, in an explosive performance at Slugger Field. 

Niall McCabe opened the scoring for City in the first half and they held that advantage until the 72nd minute when Ilija Ilic would double the lead from the penalty spot. Goals from Cameron Lancaster and George Davis IV more than offset Charlotte’s late-minute consolation as City charged their way to another convincing victory.

KY Lottery Kees to the Game
Louisville City FC faces its only trip to Charlotte to face the  Independence this season with plenty on the line…

Here are the KY Lottery Kees to the Game for #CLTvLOU:

1. Don’t let Herrera off your hip
2. Build off last two road performances
3. Stay patient in the attacking third

Coach John Hackworth’s pre-match press conference:
On taking the field for the first time as head coach:
“It was fantastic. I walked along the back line here, and I guess I walked in front of the Coopers, they went ridiculously mad and you know, I stopped and kind of looked at them and gave them a little applause myself because they were just- it was fantastic. It was a lot of fun.”

On facing Charlotte:
“Yeah, I’ve tried to watch some film. I watched the entire game that Louisville played against them earlier. We have an idea, and the players certainly are familiar with them. They’re a good team, Mike Jeffries does a good job with them so they’re well coached, so it’ll be a challenge to go there on a midweek and get a result, but that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”

On players returning from injury:
“Well, it doesn’t look as positive as I thought it was going to be, but yes, we’ll have a few more bodies for sure. We may be adding a player later on this afternoon, so that would be another help. So yes, we’ll have some more bodies one way or another. I was hopeful that maybe Ilija (Ilic) would be feeling a little bit better today than he was on Saturday, and maybe Brian Ownby, but both of those guys are still questionable at this point.”

On whether attacking is easier with a bigger bench:
“Absolutely. And specifically, you look a Brian Ownby and how important he’s been to this team going forward. And you look at Ilija [Ilic], he’s been as important. So, we have a couple guys that we’re really missing right now, and hopefully- to get them back on track would be fantastic. It’s great that we had Luke [Spencer] back and he was able to start and really be important for us on Saturday night, but we need, and would love, to have the full complement to choose from. That would be a nice problem to have as a coach.”

Team News
QUESTIONABLE – Ilija Ilic (Groin)
OUT – Magnus Rasmussen (Knee Sprain)
OUT – Richard Ballard (Stress Fracture)

Louisville City FC inks midfielder Jose Carranza

Louisville City FC is thrilled to announce the signing of USA youth international Jose Carranza for the remainder of the 2018 season, pending league and federation clearance. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed, per club policy.

The attacking playmaker comes aboard having recently spent time with fellow USL side ATL UTD 2 and joins as the second signing of head coach John Hackworth’s tenure, following the loan signing of James Sands from NYCFC last week.

“Jose is a technical, creative midfielder. He’ll give us an opportunity to have a young player with international experience that, if we can develop him properly to bring him along, will add even more versatility to our group. Not only can he support our team but he’s a player that has a very bright future,” said Hackworth.

“I’ve known him as a youth international player. He’s comfortable on the ball in tight spaces and he’s creative in the way he plays. He has the potential to be another solid option for us moving forward.”

The 19-year-old midfielder officially joins the club as a free agent having spent part of the 2018 USL season with ATL UTD 2. Carranza made 13 appearances including seven starts for coach Scott Donnelly’s side, registering one assist in just over 700 minutes played. 

“I’m very, very excited to be joining such a great group of guys, and especially the defending champions of the USL. They’ve all been very nice and welcoming and I’m just excited to get started,” said Carranza.

“Coach Hackworth and I knew who each other were in the national team programs and he’s a really good coach. I’m grateful for the opportunity he has given me here and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish as a unit.”

A U.S. youth international player, Carranza began his professional career with North Carolina FC in 2017 after four years in the D.C. United Academy system. In total, Carranza made nine total appearances with NCFC and has featured in the U.S. Soccer residency program, where he has worked with both the U-17s and U-18s since 2014.

Carranza joins effective immediately with the midfielder eligible to face the Charlotte Independence on Wednesday night. He will sport the No.17 for LouCity.

PLAYER INFORMATION
Name:             Jose Carranza
Position:         Midfielder
Hometown:     Manassas, Virginia
Born:               1/18/1999
Height:            5’6
Weight:           154 lbs
Prev. Club:      ATL UTD 2

Louisville City FC Permanent Roster as of Monday, August 20:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Tim Dobrolowski, Chris Hubbard, Greg Ranjitsingh

DEFENDERS (6): Paco Craig, Pat McMahon, Alexis Souahy, Oscar Jimenez, Sean Totsch, Shaun Francis

MIDFIELDERS (9): Richard Ballard, Jose Carranza, George Davis IV, Paolo DelPiccolo, Niall McCabe, Brian Ownby, Magnus Rasmussen, Kyle Smith, Devon “Speedy” Williams

FORWARDS (3): Ilija Ilic, Cameron Lancaster, Luke Spencer

– LouisvilleCityFC.com | Follow Louisville City FC on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram–

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About Louisville City FC
Louisville City FC is the defending champion of the United Soccer League (USL), a professional league based in the United States and Canada. Since its inaugural season in 2014, LouCity has been committed to serving the community of Louisville and Commonwealth of Kentucky as the lone professional soccer team in the state. Ground was broken this summer in Butchertown near downtown Louisville for a $65-million soccer-specific stadium, which will be complete in 2020 with a seating capacity of 11,300. Get the latest news on LouCity at LouisvilleCityFC.com and via the club’s channels on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.