Louisville City FC finished their regular season in style with a 3-1 win Saturday night over the Richmond Kickers in front of 9,103 at Slugger Field. Tarek Morad scored his first goal of the season for LouCity while Cameron Lancaster and Mark-Anthony Kaye struck decisively late in the game to secure the victory for the boys in purple. As a result, all 17 of Louisville’s field players have scored for the club this season.
Following the match, the club celebrated winning the Eastern Conference regular season on 62 points with their supporters in a party atmosphere on the pitch. Louisville ends the 2017 USL regular season with the most points in its history, and the club also finished first in the Eastern Conference for the first time.
Ranked No. 1 overall in the East, Louisville will have to wait and see if Bethlehem Steel FC can win on Sunday. Should Steel secure three points against Saint Louis FC, Louisville would host the New York Red Bulls II in the quarterfinals, while a loss or a tie in that match would mean Bethlehem would travel to play the No. 1 seed.
Following the match, LouCity coach James O’Connor, said: “I’m delighted we were able to win the game, but Richmond certainly caused us problems all game.”
In the 32nd minute, LouCity got their break when they were awarded a penalty kick after Brian Ownby was brought down in the penalty box. Tarek Morad stepped up to take the kick for LouCity, but Richmond keeper Marcel DeBellis parried the strike only to watch Morad net the rebound for Louisville’s first score of the night.
Right on the 45th minute, Mallan Roberts of the Kickers found a pass from Matt Bolduc and was able to sneak it pass Greg Ranjitsingh for the equalizer just before the halftime whistle blew.
Opportunity knocked for Louisville after the re-start when Luiz Fernando of Richmond was shown a red card, knocking Richmond’s field players to 10 for the remainder of the match.
After a back-and-forth rally following the sending off, Louisville re-took the momentum in the 84th minute when Richard Ballard sent the ball to Lancaster who shot it over the goal line for LouCity.
Two minutes later, victory was secured when Kaye dribbled through the Kicker’s defense and rocketed a shot past DeBellis for a goal in the 86th minute.
“Mark-Anthony’s goal was excellent, and Cameron showed good feet and got a touch. They both impacted the game in a really good way,” said coach O’Connor on their second-half goals. “I thought the guys that came on impacted the game really well.”
LouCity, the Eastern Conference Champions, will host an opening round match of the USL Playoffs Friday, October 20th at Slugger Field.
Game Recap
Match: Louisville City FC vs Richmond Kickers
Date: October 14, 2017
Venue: Louisville Slugger Field | Louisville, KY
Kickoff: 7:35 pm
Weather: 77 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 9,104
Man of the Match: Tarek Morad
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1,2,3)
Richmond Kickers (1,0,1)
Goals
Louisville City:
33’ – Tarek Morad records the first goal of the match after his follow-up from a denied penalty kick found the back of the net
84’ – Cameron Lancaster took the late lead on a deflection after Richard Ballard rifled a shot from outside the box
86’ – Mark-Anthony Kaye ripped a shot after a breakaway off a Richmond turnover
Richmond Kickers:
45’+1 – Mallan Roberts slips a goal past LouCity goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh on an assist from Matt Bolduc
Lineups
Louisville City starting lineup: 1 Greg Ranjitsingh, 24 Kyle Smith, 4 Sean Totsch, 15 Sean Reynolds, 6 Tarek Morad, 19 Oscar Jimenez, 80 Devon Williams, 36 Paolo DelPiccolo, 10 Brian Ownby (23 Richard Ballard – 59’), 12 Luke Spencer (9 Cameron Lancaster – 67’), 22 George Davis IV (7 Mark-Anthony Kaye, 45’)
Louisville City subs: 28 Tim Dobrowolski, 13 Micah Bledsoe, 14 Ilija Ilic, 8 Guy Abend
Head coach: James O’Connor
Richmond starting lineup: 1 Marcel DeBellis, 27 Raul Gonzalez, 31 Braeden Troyer, 2 William Yomby (8 Evan Lee – 54’), 15 Mallan Roberts, 18 Alex Lee, 17 Oscar Umar, 24 Jackson Eskay (14 Yudai Imura – 67’), 71 Luiz Fernando, 32 Matt Bolduc (16 Paddy McCann – 77’), 20 Mikey Minutillo
Richmond subs: 22 Alex Wimmer, 5 Conor Shanosky
Head coach: Leigh Cowlishaw
Discipline
Louisville City FC:
38’ – George Davis IV, yellow
Richmond Kickers:
34’ – Mikey Minutillo, yellow
40’ – Oscar Umar, yellow
68’ – Luiz Fernando, red
Stats
Louisville City FC/Richmond Kickers
Shots: 17/8
Shots on target: 12/1
Possession (%): 63.7/36.3
Passes: 535/302
Corners: 7/2
Fouls: 10/9
Officials
Referee: JOSHUA BROOKS
Assistant referee 1: Brooke Mayo
Assistant referee 2: Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein
4th official: Hagan Curd
