Louisville City FC saw its perfect start to the 2024 season end Tuesday night — but only after inspired attempts to rally from a multi-goal deficit against the Charleston Battery.
LouCity fell by a 3-2 score at Patriots Point in South Carolina, where the clubs met for a rematch of last year’s USL Championship Eastern Conference Final.
City opened on the front foot, netting the opener in the ninth minute before the Battery responded with a barrage of three first half goals. Coach Danny Cruz ordered a trio of substitutes at the break, and his side played its way back into contention. An equalizer wasn’t to be, however, as the boys in purple dropped to 4-1 on the young season.
“I thought we were completely out-performed in the first half — nowhere near good enough,” Cruz said. “I thought we made really good adjustments at halftime, got into the players a little bit and had an excellent response in the second half. I thought it was a tale of two halves. I thought we were the better team in the second half, and they certainly were the better team in the first half.”
Having won its first four games, LouCity matched the club’s 2018 squad for best-ever start. That season, the boys in purple made it back-to-back USL Championship titles. This group is out to repeat the cycle after going toe to toe with unbeaten Charleston, which ranks alongside City as one of the East’s favorites.
After ceding 61.4% of first half possession, LouCity controlled 61.5% of the ball over the final 45 minutes. Momentum officially swung City’s way in the 52nd minute when Arturo Ordóñez flicked a corner kick back to Taylor Davila, who scored to trim the lead to a goal.
A series of shots by the visitors landed off frame after that, and the boys in purple couldn’t maximize on an 84th-minute penalty save by goalkeeper Damian Las that kept them in range to level.
“We knew when we came in at halftime it wasn’t good enough,” Davila said. “From an energy standpoint and from a technical standpoint, we just weren’t doing the little things we needed to do. At halftime we made changes, and we just really had energy. We looked confident. We were playing through them and dangerous.
“I definitely feel like we could have tied the game up or even won. That’s how well we played in the second half. I’m definitely bummed we didn’t come out like that in the first half, but it’s a good learning experience.”
Cruz made five changes on the short turnaround from Saturday’s win over rival Indy Eleven. Two of them — Carlos Moguel Jr. and Jorge Gonzalez — connected on an early corner kick, with Gonzalez heading in the opener at the back post.
Seconds later, the Battery struck back when MD Myers knocked in Chris Allan’s rebounding shot off the post. Nick Markanich converted a 21st-minute penalty to go ahead, and Markanich made it a brace in the 30th minute after settling a long diagonal ball over the top.
These marked the first minutes LouCity trailed in 2024 after tallying 14 goals for and just three against entering Tuesday.
“We talked a ton, and have continued to talk a ton about complacency and making sure it doesn’t set in,” Cruz said. “I thought in the first half, it did. And I thought the response to the adversity from the first half to the second half was excellent.”
LouCity gets a weekend off before returning Tuesday, April 16, for Third Round competition in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. City hosts Greenville Triumph SC from USL League One at 7 p.m. inside Lynn family Stadium. Tickets are available at LouCity.com or by calling (502) LOU-CITY.
Game Summary: Charleston Battery vs. Louisville City FC
Date: April 9, 2024
Venue: Patriots Point
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 70 degrees, partly cloudy
Scoring
Charleston Battery (3, 0, 3)
Louisville City FC (1, 1, 2)
Goals
Charleston Battery:
10’ MC Myers
22’ Nick Markanich
30’ Nick Markanich (Juan Torres)
Louisville City FC:
9’ Jorge Gonzalez (Carlos Moguel Jr.)
52’ Taylor Davila (Arturo Ordóñez)
Lineups
Charleston Battery: 1 — Adam Grinwis, 62 — Nathan Dossantos, 16 — Graham Smith, 5 — Leland Archer, 2 — Mark Segbers, 4 — Chris Allan, 6 — Aaron Molloy, 8 — Emilio Ycaza (90’+2 3 — Josh Drack), 80 — Juan Torres (75’ 7 — Jake LaCava), 9 — MD Myers (90’+2 19 — Robbie Crawford), 13 — Nick Markanich (59’ 11 — Diego Gutierrez)
Subs not used: 23 — Juan Sebastian Palma, 24 — Daniel Kuzemka, 32 — Charlie Dennis, 33 — Matthew Dean, 34 — Beadyn Cobb
Head coach: Ben Pirmann
Louisville City FC: 18 — Damian Las, 13 — Amadou Dia (74’ 3 — Jake Morris), 32 — Kyle Adams, 5 — Arturo Ordóñez, 6 — Wes Charpie, 2 — Aiden McFadden (46’ 16 — Adrien Perez), 17 — Taylor Davila, 8 — Carlos Moguel Jr. (46’ 25 — Jansen Wilson), 7 — Ray Serrano (86’ 24 — Tola Showunmi), 21 — Jorge Gonzalez (46’ 23 — Elijah Wynder), 14 — Wilson Harris
Subs not used: 12 — Danny Faundez, 4 — Sean Totsch
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: Charleston Battery / Louisville City FC
Shots: 22 / 9
Shots on Goal: 9 / 4
Possession: 51.2% / 48.8%
Fouls: 11 / 24
Offside: 2 / 4
Corner Kicks: 6 / 7
Discipline Summary
Charleston Battery:
54’ Juan Torres (yellow)
89’ Mark Segbers (yellow)
Louisville City FC:
45’ Wes Charpie (yellow)
54’ Wilson Harris (yellow)
84’ Damian Las (yellow)
90’+8 Taylor Davila (yellow)
Referee: Alexis Da Silva
