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Louisville City FC bowed out of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup after a 4-0 loss to the Chicago Fire in the competition’s Quarterfinals at Toyota Park on Wednesday. The match was the first in which City conceded four goals all season in any competition as the team’s focus shifts back to USL play this weekend.

What Happened?
Playing the host, Chicago tested City early and found their way on the scoresheet thanks to forward Nemanja Nikolic’s headed goal from an Alexander Katai pass in the 16th minute. Turning from provider to scorer, Katai then added the Fire’s second goal from close range following a simple layoff from midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Facing a two-goal deficit at the halftime interval, City came out unchanged and looked to test Fire ‘keeper Richard Sanchez early on. Playing their way into the half, City subs Ilija Ilic, Magnus Rasmussen, and Shaun Francis looked to inject life into the team’s attack, though they would not ultimately beat Sanchez on the evening.

Instead, late red cards were shown to Kyle Smith and Magnus Rasmussen to take City down to nine men approaching stoppage time, and goals from the Fire’s Diego Campos and Elliot Collier proved nails in the coffin as LouCity’s Open Cup run ended in Bridgeview.

City now returns to Louisville to face the Charlotte Independence on Saturday, July 21, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Slugger Field. Tickets are available for as low as $16 by calling (502) 384-8799, option 2, or online at www.loucity.com.

The Key Points:

• Nemanja Nikolic’s headed goal opened the scoring after 16 minutes
• The Fire doubled their advantage via Alexander Katai after the half-hour mark
• Stoppage-time goals from Diego Campos, Elliot Collier sealed City’s fate

Injury Report:
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
OUT – Luke Spencer (knee)

Chicago Fire 4 : 0 Louisville City FC
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Toyota Park | Bridgeview, IL
78 degrees / sunny

Scoring Summary:
CHI – Nemanja Nikolic (Alexander Katai) 16’
CHI – Alexander Katai (Bastian Schweinsteiger) 33’
CHI – Diego Campos 90’
CHI – Elliot Collier (Jorge Corrales) 90+2

Disciplinary Summary:
LOU – Paco Craig 62’
LOU – Paolo DelPiccolo 64’
LOU – Kyle Smith 84’ (R)
CHI – Elliot Collier 86’
LOU – Sean Totsch 89’
LOU – Magnus Rasmussen 90+2 (R)
CHI – Tony Tchani 90+2

Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Greg Ranjitsingh (GK); Oscar Jimenez, Sean Totsch, Paco Craig, Pat McMahon (Shaun Francis 73’); Paolo DelPiccolo; Kyle Smith, Devon “Speedy” Williams, Brian Ownby, George Davis IV (Ilija Ilic 58’); Cameron Lancaster (Magnus Rasmussen 60’)

Bench: Chris Hubbard, Tim Dobrowolski, Shaun Francis, Ilija Ilic, Niall McCabe, Magnus Rasmussen

Louisville City FC has another date with history as they travel to Toyota Park to take on the Chicago Fire in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. This will be the second time this campaign Lou City is faced with an opponent from the MLS.

The “Boys in Purple” have already knocked off New England Revolution 3-2 in the fourth round of the Open Cup, and they’re poised to slay another giant.

When & Where
The match will take place on Wednesday, July 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m.CT at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.

The match will be aired on WMYO Channel 10 as well as streamed on USSoccer.com. Fans can listen to the match on 1080 WKJK. Fans can also follow #CHIvLOU on Twitter & Instagram.

TV: WMYO Channel 10
Radio: 1080 WKJK
Stream: USSoccer.com

DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android

Last Time Out
Lou City fell 2-1 to Charleston Battery last Saturday after a scrappy, hard-fought match. Despite holding 72% of the possession and nearly triple the passes, two early first-half goals from Charleston were too much to overcome.

Louisville City FC knocked off Nashville SC in the fifth round of the U.S. Open Cup on June 20 by a score of 2-1. Goals from Paco Craig and Paolo DelPiccolo sent Lou City through to the quarterfinals and this fateful matchup with the Chicago Fire.                                     

– U.S. Open Cup – Luke Spencer previews City’s Open Cup Test on Wednesday –

Rewind against Chicago Fire
LouCity and the Chicago Fire have met before, on this very stage. In the 2015 U.S. Open Cup fourth round. The match was fast-paced, end-to-end stuff before ending the 90 minutes 0-0. In the 116’, just four minutes before the game was set to be decided on penalties, Quincy Amarikwa slipped through on goal and gave the Fire the 1-0 advantage that sent Lou City home.

This is City’s second chance to best MLS competition this season, as they’ve already defeated New England Revolution 3-2 at Lynn Stadium.

Luke Spencer’s pre-match press conference:
On Chicago:
“Yeah, Chicago has a lot of talent on our team. They have Schweinsteiger, who is world class. They’ve got Katai out wide, he’s been on form recently. So, they have some dangerous pieces that we need to be worried about.”

On Chicago and what it says about where the team is right now:
“Yeah definitely. I think any time you get to go up against an MLS team and compare yourselves against them, it’ll be a good indicator as to what level you’re playing at, what level the guys are capable of playing at.”

On the Chicago game and what this team has achieved:
“Yeah. It’s it’s huge that we’ve been able to make it this far, but at the beginning of the year we set out to make it this far. So, it’s a positive that we can accomplish goals, and to be able to go out on a big stage and compete with Chicago Fire, will definitely be a great opportunity, but it’s one that we hope to win. Then hopefully use it as momentum moving forward.”

On how he feels LouCity matches up against Chicago Fire:
“Yeah, like I said, they have tough pieces. You know another player is Dax McCarty who does work from end to end. He’s relentless in the work that he does. But you know we’re looking at our guys and what we can do. We’re looking to have a strong mentality and strong showing ourselves.”

On how the triumvirate is dealing with the first adversity:
“Yeah I mean the result didn’t our way. So anytime you lose a game you’re going to try and learn as much as you can from it. So that’s what we’ve done. We’ve analyzed it. We’ve talked with the guys about what we can learn from it and move forward and that’s what we’re going to do on Wednesday.”

Team News
OUT – Luke Spencer (knee)
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)

Louisville City FC fell to the Charleston Battery, 2-1, at MUSC Health Stadium on Saturday night in Charleston. The loss leaves City with 29 points through 17 games played and in fourth place after the fulltime whistle.

An Open Cup contest date with the Chicago Fire looms on Wednesday with another home game against the Charlotte Independence set for Saturday, July 21 at Slugger Field.

What Happened?
A fast start for the hosts saw Battery forward Ataulla Guerra put his side in front just five minutes in despite a good initial save from LouCity ‘keeper Greg Ranjitsingh to keep the attacker initially at bay.

Charleston would continue putting City under the cosh with heavy pressure on goal. Despite conceding the opening goal, though, the “Boys in Purple” continued to play their style and forced a pair of saves from the Battery ‘keeper Joe Kuzminsky. 

Forcing City to dig deeper, the Battery scored their second of the night off a corner kick delivered by Gordon Wild. Whipping in an in-swinger, Battery defender Neveal Hackshaw got his head on the end of the ball in and beat Ranjitsingh to double the host’s advantage.

City looked to penetrate quickly after coming out the aggressors from the halftime interval. Three minutes on from the break, defender Pat McMahon nearly scored from six yards out off a pass from Oscar Jimenez, and it was Jimenez who saw an effort of his own over the bar just minutes later.

Ranjitsingh made one of his three saves on the night to keep City in the contest near the hour mark. With the Battery racing in on goal, Ranjitsingh came off his line and got big to prevent a third goal for the hosts.

Eventually, LouCity would break through and find a goal via a late scramble near the Charleston goalmouth. Defender Paco Craig and Paolo DelPiccolo stood right on the goal line as a cross came in. Causing chaos around net, DelPiccolo pushed his head towards a bouncing ball that went off Battery defender Taylor Mueller and into the back of his own net.

City’s push late on was spoiled in part by a red card to defender Oscar Jimenez with less than two minutes of added time left to play for a late challenge in the Battery’s own half. In the end, LouCity fell to the Battery and now looks ahead to another midweek test.

Switching back to Open Cup play, LouCity will travel north to face Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire in the USOC Quarterfinal on Wednesday, July 18, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. CT / 8:00 p.m. ET. City’s next home game is against the Charlotte Independence on Saturday, July 21, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Slugger Field. Tickets for the match—and each remaining USL regular season games—are available for as low as $16 by calling (502) 384-8799, option 2, or online at www.loucity.com.

The Key Points:

• Battery forward Ataulla Guerra gave his side the lead with a rebounded finish inside five minutes
• Battery defender Neveal Hackshaw then doubled his side’s advantage with a headed goal from close range off a corner kick
• Captain Paolo DelPiccolo barreled into the area to nod in off defender Taylor Mueller from point-blank range for City’s goal late on

Luke Spencer’s post-Charleston Battery press comments:

On conceding so quickly:
“Credit to Charleston. They sit in and they make it difficult on us and they prey on our mistakes. Unfortunately, in the first half we made too many mistakes and they were able to capitalize on them. I thought our effort and our intensity lacked throughout the first half and we were able to bring it in the second half, but at that time they were sitting in and it was too late.”

On conceding from the corner:
“For the second goal, it comes down to individual accountability. We’re a team that doesn’t like to give up cheap goals on set pieces like that.”

On feeling if it was possible to find an equalizer:
“Yeah, they were sitting in and making it difficult and it was a case of where we weren’t really going to pass through them. We had to put Paco [Craig] next to Cam [Lancaster] and try to pick up some second balls. That’s where the goal came from. I thought, at times, we needed to do a better job of reading the game and playing more direct into them to find that space for the second ball.”

On Charleston sitting deep and how it prepares them for a deep-lying squad:
“It starts with learning our lessons tonight. Our focus wasn’t right to start the game and we can’t allow teams to score early on us because they make it more difficult and it encourages them to sit in more.”

On Oscar Jimenez’s red card:
“It was a difficult play, Oscar is trying to recover and thought he had position. Obviously, he didn’t. He needs to be a little more disciplined in recovering.”

On preparing for the Open Cup match on Wednesday:
“We have to learn from this and take action to not let it happen again. We’re going to reflect on this game, learn from what we can do better, and move forward to Chicago.”

Injury Report:
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
OUT – Luke Spencer (knee)

Charleston Battery 2 : 1 Louisville City FC
Saturday, July 14, 2018
MUSC Health Stadium | Charleston, SC
85 degrees / sunny
 

Scoring Summary:
CHS – Ataulla Guerra 5’
CHS – Neveal Hackshaw (Gordon Wild) 27’
LOU – Taylor Mueller OG 88’

Disciplinary Summary:
CHS – O’Brian Woodbine 35’ (Y)
CHS – Tah Anunga 69’ (Y)
LOU – Kyle Smith 73’ (Y)
CHS – Joe Kuzminsky 90’
LOU – Oscar Jimenez 90+7’ (R)

Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Greg Ranjitsingh (GK); Oscar Jimenez, Sean Totsch, Paco Craig, Pat McMahon (Shaun Francis 81’); Paolo DelPiccolo; Kyle Smith, Devon “Speedy” Williams, Magnus Rasmussen (Brian Ownby 55’), Niall McCabe (George Davis IV 66’); Cameron Lancaster

Bench: Chris Hubbard, Tim Dobrowolski, Alexis Souahy, Ilija Ilic

LouCity’s post-Charleston Battery press conference
Player-coach Luke Spencer | July 14, 2018

On conceding so quickly:
“Credit to Charleston. They sit in and they make it difficult on us and they prey on our mistakes. Unfortunately, in the first half we made too many mistakes and they were able to capitalize on them. I thought our effort and our intensity lacked throughout the first half and we were able to bring it in the second half, but at that time they were sitting in and it was too late.”

On conceding from the corner:
“For the second goal, it comes down to individual accountability. We’re a team that doesn’t like to give up cheap goals on set pieces like that.”

On feeling if it was possible to find an equalizer:
“Yeah, they were sitting in and making it difficult and it was a case of where we weren’t really going to pass through them. We had to put Paco [Craig] next to Cam [Lancaster] and try to pick up some second balls. That’s where the goal came from. I thought, at times, we needed to do a better job of reading the game and playing more direct into them to find that space for the second ball.”

On Charleston sitting deep and how it prepares them for a deep-lying squad:
“It starts with learning our lessons tonight. Our focus wasn’t right to start the game and we can’t allow teams to score early on us because they make it more difficult and it encourages them to sit in more.”

On Oscar Jimenez’s red card:
“It was a difficult play, Oscar is trying to recover and thought he had position. Obviously, he didn’t. He needs to be a little more disciplined in recovering.”

On preparing for the Open Cup match on Wednesday:
“We have to learn from this and take action to not let it happen again. We’re going to reflect on this game, learn from what we can do better, and move forward to Chicago.”

Louisville City FC travels to Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday for a USL matchup against Eastern Conference foes Charleston Battery. It is the first time the two clubs meet in the USL this season, and 3rd place in the league is on the line. Both teams sit at 29 points, also level on goal differential.

The match will be the second in a run of three away matches, culminating in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal matchup with Chicago Fire in Chicago.

When & Where
The match will take place on Saturday, July 14 at 7:00 p.m. at MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.

The match will be aired on WBNA TV21 as well as streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the match on 840 WHAS. Fans can also follow #CHSvLOU on Twitter & Instagram.

TV: WBNA TV21
RADIO: 840 WHAS
STREAM: ESPN+

DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android

Last Time Out
Louisville City FC got back to its winning ways with a 2-1 victory on the road at Tampa Bay Rowdies. Kyle Smith opened the scoring for the boys in purple thanks to a crisp pass from Niall McCabe in the 22nd minute. Lou City went into the half with a 1-0 lead.

In the 71st minute, however, Rowdies’ attacker Junior Flemmings leveled the scoring from close range, marking the 4th consecutive match in which Lou City has conceded an equalizing or go-ahead goal in the last 20 minutes of a match.

Not to be discounted, the resilient visitors took home all three points thanks to an inch-perfect free-kick from Cameron Lancaster just five minutes later. The win marked City’s first in the USL since May.

– Coaching City: Triumvirate settles into new roles –

Rewind against Charleston Battery
This is the first time these two teams will meet in the 2018 USL campaign. Charleston will visit Louisville Slugger Field on August 31 for the reverse fixture

KY Lottery Kees to the Game
Level on 29 points, LouCity’s only trip to Charleston this season has significant implications on the current Eastern Conference standings. As City looks for its second straight win on the road, a few Kees to the Game presented by KY Lottery:

1. Trust your process
2. Dominate possession
3. Keep it clean

City has just one loss in the regular season since May 13 and has totaled up five clean sheets on the season as a whole with three of those coming away from home. Adding a sixth clean sheet against a team like the Battery, who is coming in off a midweek win over Indy Eleven, would guarantee at least another point heading into a packed week. 

Luke Spencer’s pre-match press conference:
On team selection with a tough stretch coming up:
“Right now, it’s about Charleston. We’re focused on one game at a time. We’ll worry about Charleston and then we’ll move on from there.”

On the three of George Davis IV, Paolo DelPiccolo, and his message to the team after the game:
“There were a lot of passages of play that we can be really pleased with. We try to be really analytical of the performance and I thought overall it was good. When you play against a team like Tampa and get three points away from home, you have a lot of positives to come away with.”

On what he’s seen from Charleston so far:
“They have a lot of good players. They’re a really strong, tight unit. Every time we played them in the past, it’s always been a really good battle. If I can recall the last game when it was 4-4, it was a battle all the way until the end so I’m really looking forward to it.”

On what has been the biggest surprise so far:
“The surprise is the tough challenges of being a player and a coach. Obviously, we have to put a lot of time in on the coaching side of things but you have to put a lot of time in on the playing side of things. For me personally, I’ve been putting a lot of time in rehabbing so I can get back on the field.”

Team News
OUT – Luke Spencer (knee)
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)

On June 29, when Luke Spencer, Paolo DelPiccolo, and George Davis IV were named joint-interim head coaches, the triumvirate ushered in a new era for Louisville City Football Club. For the first time in the club’s history, someone not named James O’Connor would be calling the shots from the sideline.

Moreover, the three players would be tasked with all the responsibilities of a professional coaching staff on top of their already demanding roles as players.

“We all kind of dived into things together,” Davis IV said. “But as time goes on we’re starting to understand where we can maybe overlap some of our duties, so we’re not all doing the same thing.”

The dynamic has been a new experience for everyone involved, but a welcome one.

“First and foremost, it’s an honor,” Davis IV said. “I’m extremely grateful that I’ve been given the opportunity to be put in this position, and that not only the club but the players have the respect for me to allow me to be in this position.”

Spencer, who is recovering from knee surgery, has been watching from the sidelines for the past few weeks while also juggling rehab. On Saturday, he took his place on the bench for the first time.

“For me, it was an honor,” Spencer said. “When I look at the quality of the guys and the relationships that I have, it was a special moment for me to be on the sideline [as a coach].”

Spencer continued, saying that after a week together, the three have a pretty good idea of how the process works, and how to carry on with the success the club expects to achieve.

For his performance against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in City’s 2-1 win on Saturday night, goalscorer Kyle Smith has earned a place in the USL Team of the Week for Week 17! The honor is Smith’s second of the season after making the USL Team of the Week back in Week 5 after his goal from the spot in City’s 2-1 win over the Richmond Kickers.

Meanwhile, Reno 1868 FC forward Brian Brown has been voted the USL Player of the Week for Week 17 of the 2018 season. Brown recorded three goals across a pair of 1868 FC victories during the week, including a pair of goals in Reno’s 3-0 victory against Western Conference-leader Real Monarchs SLC last Tuesday night.

Brown received 53 percent of the poll conducted by a national panel of independent media representing every USL market. Fresno FC’s Juan Pablo Caffa finished in second place with 26 percent.

USL Team of the Week
GK – Brian Sylvestre, LA Galaxy II: Sylvestre recorded a six-save shutout, as the Galaxy II took a 3-0 victory against Orange County SC despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half.

D – Joe Greenspan, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: Greenspan won 19 of 25 duels, recorded 15 clearances and made seven interceptions across two shutouts, as Riverhounds SC picked up a pair of victories.

D – Nicolas Samayoa, Las Vegas Lights FC: Samayoa won 22 of 29 duels overall, recorded four tackles and two interceptions and provided the assist on Las Vegas’ goal in a 1-0 victory against Saint Louis.

D – Thomas Janjigian, Reno 1868 FC: Janjigian completed 102 of 110 passes, won six of eight duels and recorded nine clearances, as Reno claimed a pair of victories, including a 3-0 win against Real Monarchs SLC. 

M – Adrian Vera, LA Galaxy II: Vera provided the assists on Los Dos’ opening two goals in a 3-0 victory against Orange County SC, while also recording two tackles, one interception, and four clearances.

M – Amando Moreno, New York Red Bulls II: Moreno recorded a goal and assist, notched five key passes and won seven of 11 duels in the Red Bulls II’s 6-1 victory against ATL UTD 2.

M – Felipe Hernandez, Swope Park Rangers: Hernandez scored an outstanding opening goal while also completing 34 of 41 passes and recording four tackles in Swope Park’s 2-0 road victory against Seattle.

M – Kyle Smith, Louisville City FC: Smith scored the opening goal, recorded two key passes and completed 44 of 57 passes overall, as Louisville took a 2-1 victory on the road against Tampa Bay.

F – Juan Pablo Caffa, Fresno FC: Caffa recorded two goals and an assist, as the Foxes took a 4-2 victory on the road against the Portland Timbers 2 on Sunday to boost their playoff hopes.

F – Brian Brown, Reno 1868 FC: Brown scored three goals across two games, as 1868 FC recorded a pair of victories to run its undefeated streak to 15 games and move into third place in the Western Conference.

F – Lucky Mkosana, Penn FC: Mkosana recorded a goal and assist and recorded five key passes, as Penn claimed a 3-2 victory against Bethlehem Steel FC to move into the playoff positions in the Eastern Conference.

Bench: Jake Leeker (SLC), Ayoze (IND), Georgi Hristov (TBR), Jose Barril (OKC), Christiano Francois (PGH), Fabian Herbers (BST), Matt LaGrassa (NSH)