USL Louisville City FC

LouCity Advances on Penalties to Host Next-Round Playoff Game

Published on October 21, 2023 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC celebrates win
Louisville City FC celebrates win
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Memphis 901 FC)

Louisville City FC prevailed in a penalty kick shootout Saturday to advance in the USL Championship Playoffs - and next, the boys in purple are headed home.

Oscar Jimenez drilled No. 5 seed LouCity's fifth penalty try at AutoZone Park before No. 4 Memphis 901 FC's Aidan McFadden answered by missing off the post, sending City through to the Eastern Conference Semifinal round with a 1(5)-1(4) win.

Next Saturday's game will kick off against Detroit City FC at 7:30 p.m. inside Lynn Family Stadium, with tickets on sale now at LouCity.com/playoffs.

The matchup is a result of a wild night on the East's side of the single-elimination bracket that saw the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 seeds each upset. The No. 3-seeded Charleston Battery are yet to play Sunday and could further add to the parity.

"My hope is that the players take from this whether we're up a goal or whether we're down a goal, we have an ability to stay in the game," said coach Danny Cruz. "I can't speak highly enough of the group - the fight. There's been a lot of ups. There's been a lot of downs.

"But we're in it, and we are coming back home to host a game in front of our amazing fans, and I cannot wait."

To advance to penalties, LouCity had to crawl out of an early hole. City conceded only 38 seconds into Saturday's game when Bruno Lapa chested in a cross at the back post.

Cameron Lancaster delivered the answer 17 minutes later, capitalizing on Carlos Moguel Jr.'s low-driven corner. Lancaster needed just one touch at the center of the box to level the score.

That, however, went down as LouCity's only shot on target the rest of the way on a night Memphis controlled 62% of possession. City leaned on goalkeeper Oliver Semmle to keep the score even, seeing him deflect a shot off woodwork in the 101st minute and then tip a headed corner over the bar in the 102nd.

"While I don't think anyone would say that was our best attacking performance - we didn't create as we'd like - after the first 70 seconds or whatever, we defended," said LouCity's Sean Totsch. "We threw our bodies on the line - made it difficult. Ollie made two or three big saves, and that's what we ask of him.

"We knew no matter what's happening, we were going to advance. That's the belief we had the whole night."

City and Memphis headed to the supporter end of AutoZone Park for their penalty kick shootout, where Totsch, Wilson Harris, Dylan Mares, Niall McCabe and Jimenez scored in succession for the boys in purple.

Semmle guessed correctly on Memphis' third try, but Graham Smith still scored as his shot deflected off the visiting keeper and in. Up fifth for 901 FC, McFadden missed to end the game.

"We've been here many times before," McCabe said. "We've seen almost everything, you know? Big teams go - the first hurdle - you don't want to be that team. You want to grind it out and stay in it. It sounds simple, but you don't want to make mistakes, especially at this point in the season.

"It's about winning, and that's what we did tonight."

This marked LouCity's first year opening the playoffs away from home following a rocky season in which the boys in purple went 14-12-8, compiling 50 points.

With a victory net weekend against Detroit, though, the club would continue one of American soccer's most unlikely of streaks. City has advanced at least as far as the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round in each of its eight prior seasons.

Game Summary: Memphis 901 FC vs. Louisville City FC

Date: Oct. 21, 2023

Venue: AutoZone Park

Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. ET

Weather: 82 degrees, mostly cloudy

Scoring

Memphis 901 FC (1, 0, 1)

Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)

Goals

Memphis 901 FC:

1' Bruno Lapa

Louisville City FC:

18' Cameron Lancaster (Carlos Moguel Jr.)

Lineups

Memphis 901 FC: 32 - Richard Sanchez, 14 - Akeem Ward (115' 27 - Jelani Peters), 8 - Lucas Turci, 16 - Graham Smith, 37 - Aiden McFadden, 23 - Leston Paul (82' 5 - Samuel Careaga), 6 - Aaron Molloy, 11 - Laurent Kissiedou, 7 - Bruno Lapa (97' 4 - Emerson Hyndman), 18 - Jeremy Kelly, 20 - Nighte Pickering (97' 77 - Dylan Borczak)

Subs not used: 1 - Drew Romig, 3 - Carson Vom Steeg, 19 - Rece Buckmaster

Head coach: Stephen Glass

Louisville City FC: 28 - Oliver Semmle, 6 - Wes Charpie, 32 - Kyle Adams, 4 - Sean Totsch, 15 - Manny Perez, 12 - Tyler Gibson, 8 - Carlos Moguel Jr. (74' 22 - Dylan Mares), 36 - Paolo DelPiccolo (74' 11 - Niall McCabe), 5 - Rasmus Thellufsen (62' 9 - Jorge Gonzalez, 102' 19 - Oscar Jimenez), 10 - Brian Ownby (102' 90 - Maarten Pouwels), 17 - Cameron Lancaster (90+2' 14 - Wilson Harris)

Subs not used: 18 - Danny Faundez

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Stats Summary: Memphis 901 FC / Louisville City FC

Shots: 16 / 10

Shots on Goal: 4 / 1

Possession: 62.4% / 37.6%

Fouls: 16 / 13

Offside: 4 / 3

Corner Kicks: 6 / 8

Discipline Summary

Memphis 901 FC:

24' Leston Paul (yellow)

62' Akeem Ward (yellow)

73' Laurent Kissiedou (yellow)

118' Samuel Careaga (yellow)

Louisville City FC:

24' Oliver Semmle (yellow)

90+4' Manny Perez (yellow)

116' Niall McCabe (yellow)

Referee: Elton Garcia

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics

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Images from this story

Louisville City FC celebrates win
Louisville City FC celebrates win
(Memphis 901 FC)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 21, 2023


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