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Louisville City FC Pep Rally for the Playoffs

Who:              Louisville City Football Club players, coaches, and fans
What:            Pep rally for playoffs
Where:          Copper and Kings Distillery, 1121 E. Washington St
When:           Thursday, October 18 | 6-8 p.m.
Why:              Because the “Boys in Purple” are defending their championship

This weekend, LouCity FC begins the quest for a second straight championship as the USL playoffs begin. But first, it’s time to get fired up. A pep rally will be held Thursday evening at Copper and Kings in Butchertown and the public is invited. Copper & Kings will be serving from a cash bar with fellow friends of LouCity, Hometown Pizza, making slices available for purchase.

Players and coaches will mingle with the crowd. LouCity PA announcer Lance McGarvey will emcee the event. Everyone is encouraged to wear purple and cheer on the USL defending champions, whose match at Slugger Field is Saturday at 7:30 against I-65 rival Indy Eleven, a team LouCity beat this past weekend 1-0. Tickets for the match will be on sale at the pep rally.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

On ending the season with a win: 
“That’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to end the season on a positive note. Continue to try to keep a little bit of the momentum going. And honestly, we wanted to improve on our last performance. A little bit of a strange game but I’m happy with the team and the results and the way we try to play. A little bit of an odd game but can’t complain about three points. The crowd tonight was fantastic so looking forward to next game.” 

On his thoughts on the game’s aggression from both sides: 
“Yeah, but it’s a rivalry too so these games end up being a little more chippy, a little more physical. And credit to the players. I don’t think the players lost their head. There were some interesting decisions that went both ways or both teams. Really hard though, for players and coaches, to try to figure out what is going to happen next. I’m being a little cagey and I’ll leave it at that.” 

On Brian Ownby and if coach needed to see his performance before the playoffs: 
“It’s not that I needed to see it, but I wanted to get him to a position where he was one hundred percent, where he is comfortable, where he is dangerous. So I think from a fitness standpoint, he is there one hundred percent. I guess when he scores the first goal in the playoffs or when he gets that first assist, then we can say he’s back all the way. But really happy for him.” 

On if the whole performance was what he wanted to see: 
“Yeah, absolutely. We get a shutout. We get a victory. We certainly created a ton of chances and felt like we should’ve scored a couple more to be fair. But, it was a great performance and any time you can play a rival like that – and they’re a very good team – keep them off the scoreboard and do what you have to do to get a victory. It’s what we needed.” 

On not knowing at the moment who the club will host in the first round of the playoffs: 
“I don’t think so. This is now a win or go home. So we’re just trying to win every game. It’s not about style, it’s not about how we play. It’s strictly to just win. And those guys in the locker room know that better than anybody in this league. They’re defending champions and they’re playing like it. So hopefully any team coming here will have to understand that and deal with us.” 

On if having a healthy roster gives the club momentum heading into the playoffs: 
“Yeah, it makes my job hard a little bit. Our staff has some tough decisions to make going forward because we have literally everybody healthy and ready. I hope Speedy [Devon Williams] and Frano [Shaun Francis] come back from international duty and are ready to go. But in that locker room right now, everyone is one hundred percent healthy.” 

On getting Magnus Rasmussen back in the lineup: 
“Yeah, it’s so important. Like Brian [Ownby], I don’t think he’s likely at his best but just getting him minutes was so important before we go into that critical phase of the playoffs. And hopefully we can get him stronger and more prepared and if we call upon him, he’s ready to do it. I was joking with him all week that I’d never seen him play live. And probably not true because I did see him play live when I was just a fan a couple years ago. The reality is I’d seen him in training a lot and looking forward to seeing him on the field and in that purple.” 

On the reaction to Magnus Rasmussen nearly scoring: 
“Our whole bench was pretty excited when that happened so I think it would’ve erupted if that had gone in.” 

On the last time he had coached a team and was one hundred percent healthy heading into the playoffs: 
“To get to the end of the season, I would credit our medical staff and our staff in general. We’ve managed guys that were hurt and brought them back at the appropriate pace. Guys have stayed healthy through a tough stretch – a really tough stretch. So full credit to the medical staff. They’ve done a wonderful job and now we have the privilege of having 23 guys ready to go.”

On wrapping up the season and looking ahead to the playoffs:
“It feels good. Going into the game, we knew we were going to be the two-seed. For us, we have the mentality that there’s not a game that doesn’t mean anything. Every game is important and for us, we went out there and did what we could to win tonight.” 

On what the new points and win record this year say about the team compared to previous teams:
“That might be a bit misleading, I think we’ve had more games this season. The points per game, no, we’re a good group. We’re just really committed group and you saw it last year, this year, we’re just here every week to play as hard as we can show it all year.” 

On whether the team talks about repeating as USL Cup Champions:
“We don’t talk about it too much. I mean again for us it’s just we know what we have to do. We had to worry about Indy, and now we’ll see how the table plays out. It might be Indy again next week. We’re just preparing for the next game. You think about in your head and just try not to talk about it.” 

On having a full week of preparation before the playoffs start:
“It’s been a long season and we’ve played a lot of midweek games this year. So for us to- I mean for me personally, I got the whole week off. For us as a team, we have a whole week off. The guys need it. It’s the time of the year to play so many games back to back to back. It’s good to have a full week of preparation.

Louisville City FC finished off the 2018 regular season with a clean sheet and fantastic showing against Indy Eleven as they now look ahead to the USL Playoffs next Saturday, October 20 at Slugger Field.

What Happened?
A chilly night in Louisville saw Louisville City FC host fellow playoff team Indy Eleven in front of a packed house of just over 10,500 fans at Slugger Field.

With captain Paolo DelPiccolo back in the line-up after missing out on Tuesday’s match due to yellow card accumulation, coach John Hackworth made no other changes to his starting XI.

Indy was closest to opening the scoring from a set-piece in the 17th minute, but City midfielder Niall McCabe was alert to the threat and produced a spectacular goal line clearance to preserve the clean sheet at that point. 

The match turned in City’s favor when, in the 33rd minute, forward Ilija Ilic was clipped in the box and the hosts were awarded a penalty. Stepping up to take, forward Cameron Lancaster—who had just broken the all-time USL single-season goalscoring record on Tuesday—buried the effort to put City ahead.

That would be the lone action of the rest of the first half as LouCity took a narrow advantage into the break, up 1-0.

Into the second half, Hack opted to replace Cameron Lancaster and Ilija Ilic with Luke Spencer and Magnus Rasmussen, who made his return to the pitch for the first time since August 10 against New York Red Bulls II.

An almost instant impact, Rasmussen took just one minute to test Indy ‘keeper Owain Fon Williams, who produced an impressive save to keep the Dane off the scoresheet.

Pushing Indy until the end, LouCity wrapped up the 2018 regular season with another home win to move to 66 points, again beating their best total in its four-year history!

Louisville City FC now heads into the 2018 USL Eastern Conference Playoffs as the two-seed and will wait until Sunday night to figure out their opposition in the First Round. The First Round will commence on Saturday, October 20, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at Slugger Field. For more information on ticket availability and City’s run to the 2018 USL Cup, visit LouisvilleCityFC.com.

The Key Points:

• Forward Cameron Lancaster scored his 25th goal of the regular season, further adding to his record-breaking tally in USL play

Injury Report:
QUESTIONABLE – Magnus Rasmussen (Knee sprain)

Louisville City FC 1 : 0 Indy Eleven
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Slugger Field | Louisville, KY
49 degrees / sunny
Attendance: 10,686

Scoring Summary:
LOU – Cameron Lancaster (p) 34’

Disciplinary Summary:
LOU – Paolo DelPiccolo (caution) 26’
LOU – Alexis Souahy (caution) 31’
IND – Karl Ouimette (caution) 50’
IND – Seth Moses (caution) 79’
IND – Dylan Mares (caution) 82’

Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Greg Ranjitsingh (GK); Kyle Smith, Alexis Souahy (Sean Totsch 81’), Paco Craig, Oscar Jimenez; Paolo DelPiccolo, Niall McCabe; Brian Ownby, Ilija Ilic (Magnus Rasmussen 66’), George Davis IV; Cameron Lancaster (Luke Spencer 63’)

Bench: Tim Dobrowolski, Pat McMahon, Jose Carranza, Richard Ballard

Louisville City FC returns home for the first of seven matches in the month of August as they host Indy Eleven. It’s a grudge match for LouCity, as they suffered a defeat at the hands of their regional foes back in May.

When & Where
The match will take place on Sunday, August 5 at 5:00 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Field.

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 #LOUvIND 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 made it two wins in a row, knocking off Ottawa Fury FC, 0-3. Captain Paolo DelPiccolo opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a phenomenal diving header off of an Oscar Jimenez corner kick

Coming out of halftime with a 1-0 lead, Oscar whipped in another ball, this time from a free kick near midfield, and Paco Craig stopped it on a dime 10 yards out and slotted it past Máxime Crépeau, doubling the lead for LouCity.

Just ten minutes later, in the 56th minute, Speedy Williams got ahold of a rebound shot, put in in the back of the net, and secured all three points on the road.

– ICYMI – LOUISVILLE CITY FC APPOINTS JOHN HACKWORTH AS HEAD COACH –

Rewind against Indy Eleven
Louisville City FC traveled to Indy Eleven on May 5 but fell 1-0 courtesy of a 79th-minute penalty kick by Indy Eleven’s Ayoze.

KY Lottery Kees to the Game
Louisville City FC will once again be tasked with shutting down Indy Eleven when the pair meet on Sunday evening in Louisville… Our KY Lottery Kees to the Game:

1. Cut off service to McInerney
2. Protect the middle of the park
3. Use your speed out wide

Luke Spencer’s pre-match press conference:
On the win over Ottawa:
“It was a good performance. Credit to Ottawa—they made it difficult. They’ve got a lot of athletic players and they play pretty direct at times so we knew it was going to be a difficult game, one that we would have to meet the challenge for.”

On winning without a coaching staff:
“It’s a resilient group, but we’ve really just taken it game by game. After you take it game by game you can look back and say ‘oh yeah, we’ve done pretty well’ through this coaching change. But, for us, it’s just about that next game mentality.”

On the regional rivalry against Indy:
“We’re excited for it. Any regional rivalry will be a good game. Indy is a good team and they’re certainly organized—they play good soccer—so we’ll have to be prepared for that.”

On using the reverse fixture to prepare for #LOUvIND:
“We played them at their place—it was a good battle, back and forth—and they got the late penalty there. We’ll remember that and try to get a result this weekend.”

On feeling more relaxed with wins:
“That’s the danger about winning. Sometimes when you win a few you can forget about what got you there and got you that win, so we try to really focus on those things and stay disciplined to make sure that unselfish work is promoted.”

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

“Mental Health Day… It’s something that should be more than one day. I think the stats say that one in five people will suffer from some sort of mental illness and the stigma is too negative towards it. It should be changed. Instead of being stigmatized and frowned upon, these people should be celebrated. To battle with yourself every day is probably the hardest battle you can have.

I think it’s good that when people find something that gets themselves out of a tough zone, even for a short amount of time–painting, or playing an instrument, or playing soccer, for example—it can help people relieve some of that trouble and that’s the power that activity has. I hope people can find their relief.

More needs to be done to help combat mental illness because it’s deadly. A lot of people can get overwhelmed by it and end up doing things that hurt themselves. Don’t be afraid to talk to people. They are always willing to listen.”

Louisville City FC will wrap up the regular season at home on Saturday as they host Indy Eleven for the third time this season. Louisville is coming off a record-breaking night at Slugger Field after a 2-1 Tuesday night win over North Carolina FC.

Last Time Against Indy Eleven
LouCity and Indy have met twice over the course of the 2018 season. A May matchup in Indianapolis saw the Eleven take all three points on a 1-0 win, while an August match at Slugger Field saw each team take a point in a 2-2 draw. In a back-and-forth scoring affair, Louisville found the equalizers to both of Indy’s goals but could not manage to find a go-ahead. 

Scouting Indy
After clinching a playoff spot on Tuesday night thanks in large part to City’s win over North Carolina FC, Indy Eleven sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference heading into Saturday. Indy Eleven comes in with only one win in their last five matches. Goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams has 11 clean sheets on the season to sit in 6thin the USL. Jack McInerney leads Eleven’s offensive efforts with 10 goals on the season.

A Night of Breaking Records
Tuesday’s win saw Louisville City FC break two records and record a new milestone. Cameron Lancaster scored twice to set a new club and USL record for single-season goals scored. LouCity also set a new club record for most points earned in a single season, currently at 63 with a chance to be increased with one game remaining. The previous high was 62 points, set in 2017. Louisville City also gained its first Centurion on Tuesday night, when Niall McCabe became the first player to reach 100 appearances for the club.