News

A flash of a free kick and a double-deflected effort helped Louisville City FC collect three points in Saturday night’s Dirty River Derby win at FC Cincinnati. City piled on two goals—one in the first half, one in the second—to match their output against Atlanta United FC 2 last weekend while keeping their fourth clean sheet of the year at Nippert Stadium.

What Happened?

In front of a packed house at Nippert Stadium, City’s quest to continue their run of form continued following their 1-0 win over Saint Louis FC in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday.

Leading the line, forward Cameron Lancaster was heavily involved in City’s early attacking presence as threats Ilija Ilic and Magnus Rasmussen swam like sharks around the Cincy defense. Just under a quarter of an hour in, Lancaster earned a free kick from an excellent position just outside Cincy’s penalty area. With the wall in the middle of the goal, Lancaster opted to go through the wall to the left to beat FCC ‘keeper Evan Newton and put City in front. The goal was almost in perfect step with time to last April’s 0-1 win over Cincinnati when he scored in the 13th minute to go in front.

Cincinnati continued to pester City’s goal and created a couple of chances for Konig and Ledesma, including one for the latter off a free kick that rifled off the far post, but City ‘netminder Greg Ranjitsingh and his defense were equal to everything thrown their way.

An early change for City saw Lancaster exit in the 30th minute after picking up a knock with Luke Spencer on as his replacement. Working diligently throughout the rest of the half, City maintained a 0-1 lead heading into the half.

Never dropping a beat, City approached the second half with the same tempo and intensity as the first and managed to continue shutting the hosts down at each time of asking. Approaching a quarter of an hour to play, the visitors found their second of the night with a bit of fortune. Eyeing a chance on goal from just outside the box, George Davis IV angled an effort that took two deflections of FCC players on the way into the back of the net. The goal provided a cushion to City’s advantage and ultimately saw them through to the end, picking up another three points in a 0-2 win.

City will gather some much-needed rest this coming weekend for the club’s lone off week of the USL season. Major League opposition will be City’s next test with the New England Revolution coming to Louisville on Tuesday, June 5. Tickets for the 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Lynn Stadium are available at louisvillecityfc.com/opencup.

The Key Points:

• Forward Cameron Lancaster scored his sixth goal of the season off a free kick just outside the FC Cincinnati penalty area to gift his side the lead
• Substitute George Davis IV’s ricocheted effort secured City’s second goal of the match well inside the second half
• Goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh and the City defense kept their fourth clean sheet of the year—second straight in Cincinnati

Coach James O’Connor’s press comments:

On his initial reaction from the 0-2 win:
“I’m really proud. When you look at the amount of games that our guys have had and then look at the level of our performance, I’m not exaggerating, that is a fantastic performance. When you look at our good our guys were tonight versus Cincy practically changing their whole XI from their midweek game. For us to be able to go and dominate the game like that and play with such quality, it takes my breath away. I can’t give the lads enough credit for their performance tonight.”

On what he enjoyed most:
“I felt as if we had a really strong grip on the game, which again, considering the amount of games, you’re always a little unsure. I thought the players were, really, absolutely fantastic. The quality when they had the ball, their understanding of where space was, their understanding of when to press and when to drop, attacking and defensive principles, etc.… The guys deserve enormous credit for their performance tonight.”

On approaching a rest period:
“It’s badly needed. It’s a well-timed rest that the guys badly needed. They need to make sure that they get some rest and recover. It gives us a chance to assess where some of the others are because we’ve had a run of games and a load of players have stepped up and been immense. We now need to make sure they get a little more time to recharge their batteries.”

On the team’s grit and determination:
“The players deserve enormous credit. When you look at their mentality, it’s really strong. I can’t praise the players and [assistants] Daniel [Byrd] and Thabane [Sutu] as well. When you have a load of games the workload increases for the coaching staff. When you look at the work that both of those have been able to do, they deserve it, and [athletic trainer] Scott Ritter and [operations staff] Ben [Hulsman] and Brandon [Morris]… there’s too many people for us to say how appreciative we are of all their hard work. It’s a real team effort from top to bottom and we’re immensely proud of the team tonight.”

On his message to the fans tonight:
“Our supporters tonight… It’s great to hear our supporters tonight singing away. I’m absolutely thrilled for everyone who has made the effort to come up and travel to support us. It was fantastic to see so many there. A massive thank you from myself, the players, and the coaches to all of the supporters who have come up tonight and everyone back home watching.”

Injury Report:
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
OUT – Shaun Francis (hamstring)

FC Cincinnati 0 : 2 Louisville City FC
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, OH
79 degrees / sunny

Scoring Summary:
LOU – Cameron Lancaster 15’
LOU – George Davis IV (Oscar Jimenez) 73’

Disciplinary Summary:
CIN – Paddy Barrett 29’
CIN – Richie Ryan 33’
LOU – Paco Craig 55’

Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Tim Dobrowolski (GK); Oscar Jimenez, Sean Totsch, Paco Craig, Pat McMahon; Paolo DelPiccolo; Kyle Smith, Devon “Speedy” Williams, Magnus Rasmussen (George Davis IV 66’), Ilija Ilic (Brian Ownby 61’); Cameron Lancaster (Luke Spencer 30’)

Bench: Chris Hubbard, Tim Dobrowolski, Alexis Souahy, Niall McCabe 

Louisville City FC faces FC Cincinnati in the second edition of the 2018 Dirty River Derby series on Saturday night in the Queen City. LouCity’s first trip resulted in a 0-1 win at Nippert Stadium back in April, and this will be the second of three meetings against FCC with the final matchup in September at Louisville Slugger Field.

City is riding the high of a 1-0 win against Saint Louis FC in the Third Round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup but is aware of the strength of Saturday’s opposition, who also advanced to the next round of the competition after a win against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.

When & Where

City makes the trip to Nippert Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday night. The match is City’s last in Cincinnati for the year before the final meeting between the pair in September at Slugger Field.

WBKI carries the match on your screen while 840 WHAS will broadcast the match live over the airwaves. Fans can also follow #CINvLOU on Twitter & Instagram.

TV: WBKI
RADIO: 840 WHAS
STREAM: ESPN+

DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android

Last Time Out

Louisville City FC advanced to the Fourth Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a controlled, disciplined 1-0 win over fellow USL foe Saint Louis FC on Wednesday night.

A screamer from defender Sean Totsch in the 68th minute separated the two sides as over 2,000 LouCity and STLFC faithful packed Lynn Stadium for midweek cup action. The goal was Totsch’s first of the year in all competitions and helps set a date with MLS club New England Revolution in the Fourth Round.

– U.S. OPEN CUP: LouCity hosts MLS side New England Revolution Fourth Round –

Rewind against FC CINCINNATI

Louisville City FC defeated FC Cincinnati, 0-1, in front of a crowd of over 25,000 during FCC’s home opener at Nippert Stadium on Saturday, April 7. 

After a little persistence in the attacking third, the “Boys in Purple” broke the deadlock just 13 minutes in. As FCC failed to clear a loose ball in their penalty area, forward Cameron Lancaster came sweeping in to fire home from close range with his left foot. At the break, LouCity led 0-1.

FCC came out the more aggressive side to start the second half, but the LouCity defense held tight. In the 53rd minute, Emmanuel Ledesma nearly opened the scoring for the hosts, but instead fired over the bar from close range. 

In the end, another steadfast performance from LouCity saw them earn all three points in the Dirty River Derby. Behind the 1-0 win, goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh earned his third consecutive clean sheet.

KY Lottery Kees to the Game

For the team’s second run to Cincinnati, here are a few Kees to the Game presented by Kentucky Lottery:
1. Let the atmosphere fuel you
2. Trackback in transition
3. Take your space

James O’Connor’s pre-match press conference:

On how to prepare for Cincinnati:
“Rest. I think the lads need to rest as much as possible. I think we really need to get as much recovery as we can into the guys, massive game now against Cincinnati on Saturday, so we need to focus on that.”

On the team’s performance against Saint Louis FC:
“They’re a very good team. You look at Anthony [Pulis], I mean for me he’s someone who’s very organized, very detail-oriented. Defensively they had really good positioning, and they’ve got players who can counter and cause problems. But I think if you look at the couple of chances, [Kyle] Greig’s header, and obviously Corey [Hertzog] had that one as well. So I think, when you look at how he sets them out, we always knew they were going to be very organized and it’s going to be difficult to break them down. For us, it was great that we were able to play on the bigger field at U of L so massive thank you again to everybody at U of L for the hospitality and allowing us to play there because it’s been great.”

On Sean Totsch’s wunderstrike against STLFC:
“Pleased. Very Pleased. I think it was fantastic technique. In training sometimes, a couple of times, I think it was preseason he’s hit one from there. He’s got a very good strike on him. He’s very technical. I thought we’d been unlucky with some of the other chances and some half-chances the ‘keeper made a couple of good saves on. Perhaps we need to make a little bit more of the opportunities. I thought Luke led the line very well as well; I thought his work rate was excellent. He set the tone for the team tonight which was very good, very impressive for us.”

On the focus heading into Cincinnati:
“They’re on a fantastic run themselves. They beat Carolina and then Pittsburgh [in the Open Cup]. They’re in good form, we’re in good form, so it makes for a really exciting game. They are games that both clubs enjoy and both sets of supporters, and it’s one we’re looking forward to.”

On the role the 0-1 win in Cincy in April plays this weekend:
“I think they are playing in a different formation to what they played early on in the season. I think in any type of rivalry game, I don’t know if either they or us take confidence from the run they’re on or we’re on. It’s very much a case of what happens on the day. So, we’ll try to do the things we want to do and get the strong performances that we have had of late. We want to maintain that on Saturday.”

On playing on the road vs. playing at home:
“Our approach is always the same. Our process is always the same whether we’re home or we’re away. Our intentions are always the same.”

Team News

QUESTIONABLE – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
QUESTIONABLE – Shaun Francis (hamstring)

Louisville City Football Club has learned its fate for the next stage of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after a live draw via U.S. Soccer took place on Wednesday morning from U.S. Soccer headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.

City will host MLS club New England Revolution on Tuesday, June 5, with kickoff at 7:00 p.m. at Lynn Stadium. in the Fourth Round of the historic competition, marking just the second time in club history that City will face first division opposition. In addition, the occasion will mark the first time LouCity will host MLS opposition in the U.S. Open Cup. 

More details surrounding ticket information, streaming, and all other match-related information will follow in the coming days.

One of the nation’s oldest tournaments in any sport, the U.S. Open Cup also holds a place as one of the world’s longest continuously-running soccer competitions dating back to the inaugural run in 1914. Updates on the tournament—including live scores and the competition’s bracket—can be found on the tournament’s official Twitter (@OpenCup) and unofficial tracker (@USOpenCup)as well as on USSoccer.comand thecup.us.

Prizes for this year’s tournament include increases of $300,000 for the champion (previously $250,000); $100,000 for the runner-up (previously $60,000) and $25,000 for the team from each lower division that advances the furthest (previously $15,000), including PDL & NPSL sides. Besides lifting the historic Dewar Trophy as tournament winner in September, the champions will also earn a spot in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League, the regional club championship tournament for teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

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

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About Louisville City FC
Since its launch in 2014, Louisville City FC has been committed to serving the community of Louisville and state of Kentucky as the lone professional soccer team.  The 2017 season marked the third year of play for LouCity in the United Soccer League (USL), a professional soccer league based in the United States and Canada. On October 26, the Louisville Metro Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new soccer-specific stadium in the Butchertown neighborhood with a projected opening slated for March 2020.

Finishing in the top five in average attendance in the USL at Slugger Field since 2015, LouCity’s remarkable 2017 campaign included winning the USL Cup in the club’s first appearance in the final. Get the latest news on LouCity FC at LouisvilleCityFC.com and via the club’s  channels on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.­­

Louisville City FC advanced to the Fourth Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a controlled, disciplined 1-0 win over fellow USL foe Saint Louis FC on Wednesday night.

A screamer from defender Sean Totsch in the 68th minute separated the two sides as over 2,000 LouCity and STLFC faithful packed Lynn Stadium for midweek cup action. The goal was Totsch’s first of the year in all competitions and helps set a date with a potential MLS club in the next round.

What Happened?

A controlled encounter through the first 60 minutes, neither side created numerous looks on goal in the first hour. The visitors came closest on a bullet header from close range was met well by City ‘keeper Tim Dobrowolski to keep the score level. For the hosts, chances on goal from Brian Ownby, Luke Spencer, and a well-struck free kick by Oscar Jimenez were all repelled by Saint Louis ‘netminder Tomas Gomez as the chess game continued.

Looking to create more moving forward, defender Sean Totsch took a pass through midfield and into the attacking third while eyeing his options. After breaking past a pair of STLFC defenders, Totsch picked his head up and unleashed an unstoppable rocket that piped into the upper-left hand corner of the net to put LouCity one to the good. 

As City looked to lock down the match, a pair of chances for STLFC fell through but were ultimately blocked by the home defense to preserve a second-straight clean sheet in Open Cup action.

Totsch’s goal would prove enough as the team owns their place in the Fourth Round of the cup competition. City finds out its next opponent tomorrow (Thursday) at 11a via a stream on USSoccer.com and on the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup’s official Facebook page.

City now looks ahead to the second installment of the 2018 Dirty River Derby series, with a Saturday night clash in Cincinnati against FCC kicking off at 7:30 p.m. at Nippert Stadium.

The Key Points:

• Defender Sean Totsch’s bomber in the 68th minute gave LouCity the game’s only goal
• Goalkeeper Tim Dobrowolski and the LouCity defense kept a second-straight clean sheet in Open Cup competition

Injury Report:
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
OUT – Shaun Francis (hamstring)

Louisville City FC 1 : 0 Saint Louis FC
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Lynn Stadium | Louisville, KY
80 degrees / sunny
Attendance: 2008

Scoring Summary:
LOU – Sean Totsch 68′

Disciplinary Summary:
STL – Kyle Greig 80′

Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Tim Dobrowolski (GK); Oscar Jimenez, Sean Tostch, Alexis Souahy, Paco Craig; Paolo DelPiccolo; Brian Ownby (George Davis IV 71′),  Devon “Speedy” Williams, Kyle Smith, Niall McCabe (Cameron Lancaster 79′); Luke Spencer

Bench: Chris Hubbard (GK), Pat McMahon

Louisville City FC is seeking to advance to the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday when it takes on Saint Louis FC. Lou City dispatched Long Island Rough Riders 5-0 last Wednesday, thanks to goals from five different players in purple.

Lou City has been advanced to the fourth round only once before, in 2015, where they were halted in extra time by MLS’ Chicago Fire. Though looking to make a deeper run this year,  City has bowed out in the third round in each of the past two seasons.

When & Where

City will host Saint Louis FC at the University of Louisville’s Lynn Stadium at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

The public can stream tonight’s match live on WAVE3.com (mobile and web), and fans can also stay updated on #LOUvSTL via Twitter & Instagram.

STREAM (Web): bit.ly/1dwbq7w
STREAM (Mobile): bit.ly/21gkG4u

DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android

Last Time Out

Louisville City FC confidently handled Premier Development League side Long Island Rough Riders 5-0 in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup last Wednesday at Lynn Stadium.

Kyle Smith and Ilija Ilic notched first-half goals while Luke Spencer, Brian Ownby, and Cameron Lancaster netted goals in the second to seal a convincing victory which put Lou City through to the next round.

U.S. OPEN CUP: LouCity hosts Saint Louis FC in Third Round clash

Rewind against SAINT LOUIS FC

The last time these two rivals met was in a preseason friendly in Evansville, Indiana. Despite conceding an own goal early in the match, Lou City managed to grab one back thanks to Niall McCabe. The friendly would end 1-1 in Lou City’s final tune-up match before the USL season began.

This rivalry has been dubbed the “King’s Cup,” and it goes back to Lou City’s first ever professional match, where it defeated Saint Louis FC 2-0.

James O’Connor’s pre-match press conference:

On the injury situation:
“Yeah, I mean we’ll have to see. Wednesday may be a little bit soon for a couple of them, certainly Francis, Richard, obviously Brian has been struggling. He came on last week and he got another knock so, he obviously wasn’t involved Saturday. We’re just going to have to wait and see as to can we risk them or are we going to have to be extra safe?”

On if the 5-0 Open Cup win was a confidence booster:
“I mean I suppose people maybe would consider that. I don’t necessarily think we needed a confidence booster. I think we’re in a great position in the league and a strong performance again Wednesday night, so for us confidence isn’t really a problem. I think it’s more the outside. Maybe people look at it and think ‘okay where are they mentally?’

But I think when you’ve got such a great group of players that have such a strong mentality, I think the biggest thing for us is making sure that we get the rest and recovery in between games. I mean that’s the biggest factor we’re dealing with. I think when we play Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday, it’s really tough. We’ve got all these games in amongst the heat and the humidity that’s cranked itself up so for us, it’s trying to manage the squad and that’s where we’ve had to really be.

We’ll be mindful of the internationals because of the Open Cup rules–you’re limited to five internationals–you throw into the mix then, you’ve got guys that are carrying injuries and knocks … We need to be really strategic in how we go about trying to put a team out that we think can win games.”

On the Saint Louis rivalry:
“I think obviously from Sean Reynolds and Kadeem [Dacres], the two lads will obviously be desperate to come and beat us and give a good account for themselves. Obviously, I’ve known [Saint Louis FC coach] Anthony [Pulis] for many years. We played together, and I think the fact that it’s a regional rivalry as well, I think there will be some desperation from both teams to try to win the game. I think obviously the opportunity to get into the next round of the Open Cup, for both clubs, will be a big prize so I would expect both teams to really go at it on Wednesday night.”

On being at the level we want to be:
“I think there have been glimpses [of the level we want to attain]. I think for me, we’ve had, even at the start of the year when we won all the games, you know, consecutively, there are always games where I’ll come away from them and there’ll be something I want us to be better at. I think if you get the perfect game, you may as well just retire. I think you’re not looking hard enough. There are always areas for growth. So, for us, we’ve always been intentional about finding that growth and giving the guidance to the players to say, ‘Look these are areas we want to get better at and these are areas we can improve upon.’”

On the current league standings:
“I think we are where we’d hoped we’d be, I think it’s so early in the league, you start looking at the league table in October, not early in May because you can be top of the league in May and it’s irrelevant. We need to be top of the league when it counts, which is at the end of the season. For us, again, it’s the process. We’re fully focused on Saint Louis—a massive game. They’ve played some really good football, Anthony [Pulis] is very organized. They obviously have the bite, with Sean [Reynolds] and Kadeem [Dacres], and the fact that it’s a cup game, there’ll be desperation for them to want to go on and have a cup run so we have to make sure we’re prepped and we’re ready to go.”

Team News

QUESTIONABLE – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
QUESTIONABLE – Shaun Francis (hamstring)

LouCity defender Oscar Jimenez has been named to the USL Team of the Week in Week 10 for his performance in City’s 2-1 win over Atlanta United FC 2!

USL Team of the Week
GK – Josh Cohen, Sacramento Republic FC: Cohen recorded seven saves to lead Republic FC to a 3-1 road victory against Phoenix Rising FC that included a penalty-kick save on Didier Drogba.

D – Mikey Ambrose, ATL UTD 2: Ambrose pulled out two perfectly-placed free kicks to help Atlanta claim victory against Toronto last Wednesday night in a nine-goal thriller at Coolray Field.

D – Oscar Jimenez, Louisville City FC: Jimenez recorded eight key passes and played a role in the opening goal of the game, as Louisville edged out ATL UTD 2 at Slugger Field.

D – Onua Obasi, Ottawa Fury FC: Obasi recorded 10 tackles, four interceptions and four clearances as Ottawa recorded its fourth consecutive shutout in a 0-0 draw on the road against the Charleston Battery.

M – Josh Heard, Real Monarchs SLC: Heard recorded his first goal for the Monarchs and also had an assist as the visitors took a 2-0 victory against Las Vegas Lights FC at Cashman Field.

M – Emmanuel Ledesma, FC Cincinnati: Ledesma had a hand in all four goals for FCC, recording one goal and three assists – a 2018 single-game high – to lead the hosts to a 4-1 victory against North Carolina FC.

M – Fabian Herbers, Bethlehem Steel FC: Herbers had a goal and assist as Bethlehem took back-to-back victories over the week against the New York Red Bulls II and Indy Eleven.

M – Efrain Alvarez, LA Galaxy II– Alvarez scored another pair of goals, both from outside the penalty area, in a losing effort for Los Dos as they fell on the road to the Portland Timbers 2.

M – Nazmi Albadawi, FC Cincinnati– Albadawi recorded the opening two goals as FCC took a 4-1 victory against the midfielder’s former club, North Carolina FC, at Nippert Stadium on Saturday night.

F – Foster Langsdorf, Portland Timbers 2: Langsdorf recorded the first hat trick in T2’s history to lead the side to victory against the LA Galaxy II on Friday afternoon, its third win in the past four games.

F – Romeo Parkes, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: Parkes played a role in both the Hounds’ goals, including scoring the second, as Pittsburgh remained undefeated in earning a 2-2 draw on the road against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Bench: Maxime Crepeau (OTT), Mutaya Mwape (CLT), Villyan Bijev (SAC), Callum Ross (OKC), Joaquin Rivas (TUL), Luca Uccello (TOR), Adam Najem (BST)