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Louisville City FC

LouCity Drops a Third Straight Game on Late Birmingham Goal

July 22, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC's Manny Perez versus Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez
Louisville City FC's Manny Perez versus Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez
(Louisville City FC, Credit: EM Dash Photography)

Louisville City FC conceded goals from a pair of second half set pieces Saturday en route to its third straight loss, falling by a 2-1 score to Birmingham Legion FC at Lynn Family Stadium.

It was a harsh result for a LouCity team that opened strong, leading at the half thanks to a crafty Dylan Mares goal. Birmingham responded through corner kicks, delivering the game-winner two minutes into stoppage time.

"We're obviously continuing to be in a tough moment - a lot of adversity as a group," said coach Danny Cuz. "You can't concede two goals on set pieces. That was an area that we've been pretty good at this season, and we have to get back to the drawing board.

"We have to look at it, dissect it, and try to do the best job that we can to get back to the form we know we're capable of."

City (8-7-5, 29 points) slipped to sixth on the USL Championship's Eastern Conference table while finding itself in nearly uncharted waters. Only one other time in club history - the final three games of the inaugural 2015 season - have the boys in purple dropped three consecutive league games.

LouCity out-shot Birmingham (9-8-2, 29 points) and doubled the visitors' attempts in the box, eight to four. Yet a share of the points slipped away late when Alex Crognale got a back-heeled touch on Matthew Corcoran's 92nd-minute corner to win it late for Legion FC.

The equalizer arrived in similar fashion, with Juan Agudelo heading in a 55th-minute set piece from Corcoran at the near post.

"Obviously it's a tough stretch here," said midfielder Niall McCabe, who hit 200 club appearances with Saturday's start. "We've played a lot of games here recently, and the results haven't gone our way. I still have full confidence in the lads. I'm out there with them every day, and the quality we have is incredible.

"The goals we're giving away are incredibly cheap. We just have to find a way to stop giving them up. We have to work so hard for our opportunities and our goal, and I feel like we just give away cheap ones."

The game had started brightly for LouCity, with goalkeeper Oliver Semmle saving an early Prosper Kasim shot that marked Birmingham's only real chance of the first half.

City moved ahead in the 34th minute as Brian Ownby looked to play a ball through into the box. A Birmingham defender got a boot to it, deflecting the ball out to Mares. He went with a left-footed shot across the goalkeeper, tucking away his third goal of the season.

The boys in purple went into Saturday 8-1-1 on the season and 5-1-0 in games when they scored first.

"Right now, we're not winning the critical moments, and that's costing us results," Cruz said. "Ultimately, we have to improve in that area. We have to try to do a better job of finishing the chances we do create, and I have to make sure that I'm continuing to try to push the group every single day."

LouCity could get a boost in front of its largest home crowd this season. Next Saturday, the club hosts rival Indy Eleven on "Fill the Fam" night - which last year drew a record 14,673 to Lynn Family Stadium. Visit LouCity.com/FilltheFam for more information.

Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Birmingham Legion FC

Date: July 22, 2023

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET

Weather: 80 degrees, partly cloudy

Attendance: 9,584

Scoring

Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)

Birmingham Legion FC (0, 2, 2)

Goals

Louisville City FC:

34' Dylan Mares

Birmingham Legion FC:

55' Juan Agudelo (Matthew Corcoran)

90'+2 Alex Crognale (Matthew Corcoran)

Lineups

Louisville City FC: 28 - Oliver Semmle, 13 - Amadou Dia, 6 - Wes Charpie, 4 - Sean Totsch, 15 - Manny Perez, 12 - Tyler Gibson, 11 - Niall McCabe (67' 5 - Rasmus Thellufsen), 22 - Dylan Mares (80' 36 - Paolo DelPiccolo), 10 - Brian Ownby, 7 - Ray Serrano, 90 - Maarten Pouwels (67' 17 - Cameron Lancaster)

Subs not used: 18 - Danny Faundez, 19 - Oscar Jimenez, 8 - Carlos Moguel Jr., 23 - Elijah Wynder

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Birmingham Legion FC: 1 - Matt Van Oekel, 3 - Phanuel Kavita, 4 - Collin Smith (67' 13 - Jake Rufe), 16 - Gabriel Alves (80' 33 - Moses Mensah), 21 - Alex Crognale, 6 - Anderson Asiedu, 17 - Matthew Corcoran, 19 - Enzo Martinez, 9 - Juan Agudelo, 10 - Prosper Kasim (80' 7 - Diba Nwegbo), 15 - Tyler Pasher (32' 11 - Neco Brett)

Subs not used: 18 - Travor Spangenberg, 2 - Ben Reveno, 23 - Grayson Dupont

Head coach: Tom Soehn

Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Birmingham Legion FC

Shots: 12 / 10

Shots on Goal: 5 / 5

Possession: 52% / 48%

Fouls: 11 / 8

Offside: 1 / 0

Corner Kicks: 7 / 5

Discipline Summary

Louisville City FC:

57' Niall McCabe (yellow)

67' Brian Ownby (yellow)

70' Dylan Mares (yellow)

77' Jake Rufe (yellow)

Birmingham Legion FC:

14' Collin Smith (yellow)

19' Alex Crognale (yellow)

Referee: Abdou Ndiaye

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC's Manny Perez versus Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez
Louisville City FC's Manny Perez versus Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez
(EM Dash Photography)		   

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