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USL Louisville City FC

Fondy Lifts Louisville City 2-0 in Extra Time

October 3, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC vs. Charleston Battery
Louisville City FC vs. Charleston Battery
(Louisville City FC)

Louisville, KY (October 3, 2015) -- Louisville, KY- A truly climactic playoff match occurred in Louisville Saturday night between Louisville City FC and the Charleston Battery that saw the game decided by an extra time period and two Matt Fondy goals in the second period of extra time in front of a record crowd of 8,517 for a USL game in Louisville.

The first half saw a back and forth possession battle between the second and third seeded teams in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket respectively. The half was highlighted by line drive left-footed efforts from each team that came tantalizingly close to opening the scoring.

Louisville City's Aodhan Quinn stepped up to a free kick in the fifth minute from just outside the box and forced Charleston's keeper Odisnel Cooper to make a diving save. The ensuing corner would eventually bounce back out to Quinn, whose cross found the head of Sean Reynolds, but the defender's attempt unfortunately went just wide.

Charleston would answer with a close call of their own in the 26th minute when Dane Kelly got free in the box and his rocket effort was saved over the top by City's Scott Goodwin.

The two sides were deadlocked at 0-0 entering the break.

The second half was punctuated by a flurry of Louisville City chances. City started the half on the front foot and kept the pressure up throughout the half, but a series of Louisville City shots would not be able to find the back of the net.

The first chance came in the 66th minute when Aodhan Quinn made a run into the box but his sliding attempt at a ball went just over the bar.

A similar situation occurred in the 72nd minute when Kadeem Dacres found space at the top of the box, but his effort went just sizzling past the top corner.

Louisville City would force a pair of saves in the 79th minute when Niall McCabe's effort from the top right of the box forced a diving save by Charleston's Cooper. The ensuing corner found Tarek Morad, but his header was claimed by another Cooper save.

Charleston would make some noise in the second half when Dane Kelly got loose at the top of the box in the 75th minute. His laser-like attempt soared just past the upper 90 corner of the net, which was the Battery's best attempt of the half, and the second USL Eastern Conference semifinal of the day would head to overtime.

The theme of missed chances continued into overtime as both teams exchanged close opportunities.

Aodhan Quinn was the point man for Louisville City's attack as he saw a curled free kick go just wide of the near post in the 95th minute. He also provided the closest scoring chance of the night to that point when his top of the box effort banged off the crossbar in the 104th minute, resulting in a series of groans throughout the stadium.

Charleston's Kelly would once again light some fear into the Louisville defense when he rounded the backline and had a one on one breakaway with Goodwin, but his shot near-post went wide.

The second period of extra time would be the Matt Fondy show as the City captain put in two goals that swung the tide of the match once and for all in Louisville's favor.

The striker scored the game's opening goal in the 106th minute when he an Aodhan Quinn corner kick past Cooper and sent the Louisville City supporters' section directly behind the goal into a frenzy.

Fondy was not done though, as he scored an opportunistic, hard-working goal in the 117th. Sub Nate Polak made a run down the center and his pass into the box found Magnus Rasmussen, whose shot from the corner of the box was pushed wide by Cooper. Unfortunately for the Charleston keeper, Fondy was lurking in the box and pounced on the rebound, putting Louisville City up 2-0 in what would be the final scoreline.

Charleston put together some near scoring chances as sub Forest Lasso sent two attempts over Scott Goodwin's goal, but ultimately they could not find an answer for Louisville City's extra time efforts. Louisville City clinched a berth in the next round, 2-0.

Louisville City will travel to Rochester to compete for the Eastern Conference title next weekend, a game you can catch on youtube under the Rochester Rhino's youtube channel.

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Louisville City FC vs. Charleston Battery
Louisville City FC vs. Charleston Battery
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 3, 2015


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