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USL Louisville City FC

LouCity Battles Adversity in Loss at Hartford Athletic

August 24, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC's five-game winning streak came to an abrupt end Saturday night at Trinity Health Stadium in Connecticut. Despite taking an early lead while playing shorthanded, LouCity fell 2-1 to Hartford Athletic, undone by forward Mamadou Dieng's second half brace.

City played down a man after Adrien Perez was dismissed in the 29th minute, making for a jarring transition from an apparent missed penalty call seconds prior that could have gone in favor of the boys in purple.

Still, LouCity opened scoring through Taylor Davila's impressive long-range goal in the 37th minute before Hartford's Dieng struck back.

Hartford, which lost 6-0 at Lynn Family Stadium back in April, entered the weekend 11th of 12 in the USL Championship's Eastern Conference standings. The club defeated first-place City for the first time.

A rare defeat dropped LouCity 17-5-2 on the campaign, with its 53 points still one clear of Charleston Battery atop the East. City also holds two games in hand on the Battery.

"I was extremely proud of the mentality of the group - the work rate," said coach Danny Cruz. "It's never easy to be down a man for 60 minutes. Obviously I felt certainly that the level tonight from the referee crew was below the level of expectation at the professional level."

"... I did feel that my group left everything they could on the field and they were hard done by tonight."

Seeking to secure a sixth straight triumph, Louisville began the match on the front foot, tallying six shots in the first 14 minutes.

Midway through the first half, Wilson Harris found himself on the receiving end of a careless challenge from a Hartford defender within the penalty area. However, referee John C. Griggs opted not to award a spot kick.

The situation worsened for City shortly after. In a turn of events, Perez was shown a red card, leaving his team at a numerical disadvantage for the remainder of the match.

This didn't dampen the spirit of the boys in purple, who broke the deadlock thanks to Davila. After shrugging off a challenge from a Hartford attacker, he surged toward the defensive line. With a quick change of direction, the midfielder shifted the ball onto his left foot before expertly placing his shot inside the near post, leaving the goalkeeper no chance.

"They responded really well," Cruz said. "Davi was fantastic in the middle of the field tonight, not just because of his goal."

The home side came out with a new sense of purpose in the second half, knowing the opportunity that was in front of it against the league leaders.

The link up between Emmanuel Samadia and Dieng leveled the match in the 48th minute, with the right winger finding the forward unmarked in the box.

In the 66th minute, Cruz was sent off, receiving his second yellow of the match from the sidelines.

Dieng then won it for Hartford in the 84th minute with his sixth goal of the season.

"The reality is when you go down to 10 men you know it's going to be extra work. It's going to be extra battling," Davila said. "For a lot of the game, we were really good. I think for two moments, we shut off, me included and we gave up two goals that cost us."

"People are good enough to punish you, and I think that's what happened. It's a good learning moment. We learn from it and we move on and respond next week."

Unbeaten following losses this season, the boys in purple travel to face Eastern Conference rival North Carolina FC next Saturday in a match set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET.

"The messaging is we need to respond like we have all season," Cruz said. "We need to make sure that we keep a good mindset. I think we'll be better off having gone through this moment. I do hope and feel that this will make our group stronger and better."

Game Summary: Hartford Athletic vs. Louisville City FC

Date: August 24, 2024

Venue: Trinity Health Stadium

Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET

Weather: 81 degrees, sunny

Scoring

Hartford Athletic (0, 2, 2)

Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)

Goals

Hartford Athletic:

48' Mamadou Dieng (Emmanuel Samadia)

84' Mamadou Dieng (Kyle Edwards)

Louisville City FC:

37' Taylor Davila (Amadou Dia)

Lineups

Hartford Athletic: 40 - Renan Ribeiro, 5 - Triston Hodge, 4 - Jordan Scarlett (C), 29 - Emmanuel Samadia, 15 - Joseph Farrell, 6 - Beverly Makangila, 94 - Marlon Hairston (90'+3 23 - Thomas Vancaeyezeele), 11 - Michee Ngalina, 10 - Danny Barrera (68' 17 - Kyle Edwards), 7 - Marcus Epps, 33 - Mamadou Dieng

Subs not used: 1 - Greg Monroe, 24 - Michael DeShields, 27 - Pele Ousmanou, 37 - Dantouma Toure, 44 - Justin DiCarlo

Head coach: Brendan Burke

Louisville City FC: 18 - Damian Las, 13 - Amadou Dia, 32 - Kyle Adams (C), 5 - Arturo Ordóñez, 2 - Aiden McFadden (86' 27 - Evan Davila), 25 - Jansen Wilson (59' 6 - Wesley Charpie), 17 - Taylor Davila, 23 - Elijah Wynder (81' 11 - Niall McCabe), 7 - Ray Serrano (81' 22 - Dylan Mares), 14 - Wilson Harris (59' 9 - Phillip Goodrum), 16 - Adrien Perez

Subs not used: 30 - Ryan Troutman, 80 - Hayden Stamps

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Stats Summary: Hartford Athletic / Louisville City FC

Shots: 10 / 11

Shots on Goal: 4 / 4

Possession: 66.5% / 33.5%

Fouls: 8 / 10

Offside: 0 / 0

Corner Kicks: 8 / 6

Discipline Summary

Hartford Athletic:

45'+10 Brendan Burke (yellow)

69' Joseph Farrell (yellow)

90'+2 Marlon Hairston (yellow)

Louisville City FC:

25' Danny Cruz (yellow)

29' Adrien Perez (red)

66' Danny Cruz (second yellow)

Referee: John C. Griggs

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics

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