Louisville City FC and Memphis 901 FC stayed true to form on tired legs Saturday night, exchanging goals in a 1-1 draw at AutoZone Park.
LouCity’s Sean Totsch headed in a ninth-minute corner kick for an early lead before Luiz Fernando equalized for the hosts in the 52nd minute, knocking in a rebounding chance at the face of goal.
Both clubs made the result four straight USL Championship games unbeaten while playing for the third time in eight days. Midweek, 901 FC scored an upset win over Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United in the U.S. Open Cup, with LouCity a narrow loser at FC Cincinnati.
“We weren’t good from a second ball standpoint tonight. We were excellent on Wednesday in that phase of the game,” said coach Danny Cruz. “But I think the thing that was most poor on the night that caused us a lot of issues was that when we won the ball and looked to play forward, we immediately turned it over again. There was a ton of space to exploit, but we didn’t do that.
“There’s clear areas where we know we need to be better…and perspective — we’re in a good spot on the table. We have some home games coming up, fortunately, and we’ll look to keep building from there. We’re still in a good spot.”
LouCity (4-2-2, 14 points) sits second in the Eastern Conference near the season’s quarter mark, improving its record thanks to Saturday’s opener. Ray Serrano serviced a corner to Totsch, who’s coming off a career-high nine-goal campaign in 2022. But outside of that scoring sequence, the boys in purple largely lacked quality looks on goal.
Rather, LouCity spent most of the evening absorbing pressure as Memphis claimed an overwhelming majority of possession. Just 4 of 901 FC’s 17 shots landed on target, but City combined to number 19 clearances.
“Looking back at it,” Serrano said. “I think we just needed to secure the ball and win those second balls. We lost a lot of those and turned the ball over a lot. That was key tonight.”
In that respect, Memphis’ goal was coming. But the boys in purple nearly cleared that chance, too. A ball through to Fernando resulted in a blocked shot by LouCity’s Josh Wynder. The try caromed back to Fernando, and Wynder’s diving attempt at stopping it couldn’t quite keep the ball out of the net.
Prior to the equalizer, City’s best chance at a second came in the 42nd minute. Serrano settled a ball in the box and crossed to Paolo DelPiccolo, whose shot was chested off the line by a Memphis defender.
“I feel like I created a couple of chances,” Serrano said. “I’m just glad to be back, to be honest. It’s been a rough four or five weeks for me. I’m happy to be back and contribute for the team.”
Active in the attack, Serrano represented one of only two lineup changes from last week’s league game, a draw with the first-place Charleston Battery. Jorge Gonzalez also returned from injury to take up a spot in the front three.
Rookie goalkeeper Oliver Semmle conceded for the first time in his five games played but prevented a defeat by saving Memphis’ three other shots on target.
Scoring continues to be sparing for the boys in purple, who have netted multiple goals once this season, their 3-1 opening day victory March 11 at Orange County SC. Proficiency in the final third will be a point of improvement as LouCity enters a week off, pausing to coincide with the Kentucky Derby.
Next out, City hosts Miami FC on Saturday, May 13, at Lynn Family Stadium.
Game Summary: Memphis 901 FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: April 29, 2023
Venue: AutoZone Park
Kickoff: 8 p.m.
Weather: 62 degrees, cloudy
Scoring
Memphis 901 FC (0, 1, 1)
Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)
Goals
Memphis 901 FC:
52’ Luiz Fernando
Louisville City FC:
9’ Sean Totsch (Ray Serrano)
Lineups
Memphis 901 FC: 21 — Bill Hamid, 14 — Akeem O’Connor-Ward, 3 — Carson Vom Steeg, 16 — Graham Smith, 19 — Rece Buckmaster, 11 — Laurent Kissiedou (83’ 77 — Dylan Borczak), 18 — Jeremy Kelly, 6 — Aaron Molloy, 9 — Luiz Fernando, 7 — Bruno Lapa (90’+ 20 — Nighte Pickering), 10 — Phillip Goodrum
Subs not used: 1— Drew Romig, 8 — Lucas Turci, 24 — Rashawn Dally, 27 — Jelani Peters, 35 — Nicholas Dye
Head coach: Stephen Glass
Louisville City FC: 28 — Oliver Semmle, 13 — Amadou Dia, 66 — Josh Wynder, 4 — Sean Totsch, 15 — Manny Perez (80’ 19 — Oscar Jimenez), 12 — Tyler Gibson, 36 — Paolo DelPiccolo (61’ 22 — Dylan Mares), 5 — Rasmus Thellufsen (69’ 8 — Carlos Moguel Jr.), 9 — Jorge Gonzalez (61’ 10 — Brian Ownby), 7 — Ray Serrano (61’ 6 — Wes Charpie), 14 — Wilson Harris
Subs not used: 1 — Kyle Morton, 77 — Enoch Mushagalusa
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: Memphis 901 FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 17 / 9
Shots on Goal: 4 / 5
Possession: 61.2% / 38.8%
Fouls: 12 / 12
Offside: 6 / 5
Corner Kicks: 6 / 6
Discipline Summary
Memphis 901 FC:
No cautions
Louisville City FC:
No cautions
Referee: Matt Thompson
