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USL Louisville City FC

LouCity Scores 4 After Early Deficit

April 9, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville City FC (2-1-0, 6 points) thundered back against Orlando City B (0-2-1, 1 point), winning 4-1 on Saturday at Louisville Slugger Field after battling back from an early deficit. Goals by Chandler Hoffman, Andrew Lubahn, Man of the Match Kadeem Dacres and Ilija Ilic led LouCity to its first home win of the 2016 campaign.

Despite OCB striker Michael Cox opening the match's scoring with a 5th minute goal, LouCity rallied. Coach James O'Connor's men both anchored down defensively, allowing no goals during the next 85 minutes, and pushed forward with great success, scoring four goals for the match. O'Connor said he was pleased with his team's attacking prowess in the victory.

"We're obviously very pleased. I thought our performance tonight was very good," O'Connor said. "From our point of view, we're very pleased with our performance. I thought we played some very good football."

LouCity controled possession for much of the game and looked threatening throughout. O'Connor, who often preaches "possession with a purpose" was happy with the pressure his team put on Orlando City B.

"I felt as if we had a lot of possession. I thought our interplay in exchanges was good," O'Connor said. "I think when you look at some of our play and some of our movement, I thought it caused problems. It was pleasing to see."

One man who possessed with a purpose was Dacres. Dacres assisted Hoffman's first goal as a Louisville City player in the 26th minute, equalizing the game. Dacres later scored with one of his own in the 65th minute from about 25 yards away. O'Connor said he was impressed with the Modelo Man of the Match's goal, in addition to his teammates' work ethic.

"I thought Kadeem took his goal very well," O'Connor said. "It was a great strike."

Former University of Louisville Cardinal, DelPiccolo, had his first assist as a Louisville City player after firing a free kick to Lubahn, who headed in the go-ahead goal in the 47th minute. DelPiccolo gave credit to Lubahn in finishing the goal.

"I was just trying to put it in a dangerous spot," DelPiccolo said. "To be fair, (Lubahn) did a great job of getting in front of the keeper and getting his head on it. It was a great goal by him."

A fourth goal by Ilic in added time put the icing on the cake for LouCity. O'Connor was pleased with Ilic's goal - and the buildup - after the striker came on in the 78th minute for Lubahn.

"Ilija's goal, wow, I was delighted for Ilija," O'Connor said. "I thought he took his goal very well. But the build up to that goal was excellent."

The 4-1 victory wasn't all about offense, though. LouCity cracked down in their own half after conceding the early goal. Defender Sean Reynolds, who had several key tackles in Saturday's showdown, said the key to shutting down OCB was sticking to the script.

"You always have to tweak things a little bit here and there," Reynolds said. "After that first goal, we jumped on them. We tried to not let them leave their half."

Louisville City will take on FC Cincinnati at FCC's Nippert Stadium on April 16 with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Additional Notes:

Today's match is the first time Louisville City FC and Orlando City B have faced off.

LouCity coach James O'Connor played for Orlando City SC, OCB's parent club, from 2012-14. He also worked as a player coach with the club.

Last season, LouCity played in a friendly against Orlando City SC and defeated the Major League Soccer side by a score of 3-1 at Louisville Slugger Field in 2015.

Orlando City B coach Anthony Pulis is the son of English Premier League manager Tony Pulis.

Orlando midfielder Tony Rocha was suspended for today's match after picking up a red card in OCB's last game against Charleston.

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