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USL Louisville City FC

LouCity Suffers Season's Lone Scoreless Defeat to Oakland Roots SC

July 7, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano and Oakland Roots' Napo Matsoso in action
Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano and Oakland Roots' Napo Matsoso in action
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Jack Kenny)

Louisville City FC fell by a 1-0 score Saturday night at Oakland Roots SC, marking just the second time this season the boys in purple have been held scoreless in a game.

LouCity failed to capitalize on a number of first half chances before conceding in the 62nd minute at Pioneer Stadium, which they visited for the first time.

The result dropped City to 12-4-2 on the season with its 38 points still two clear of the Charleston Battery atop the USL Championship's Eastern Conference. Oakland improved to 9-8-2, jumping to second in the Western Conference having won five of its last six games.

"Oakland's on a good run, and they have a lot of energy here at home," said coach Danny Cruz. "I think the field was helpful for them, but it was a game where if we play the second half the way we did the first half, we win."

Oakland broke through on a sequence deserving of a goal, seeing Johnny Rodriguez tap in after Miche-Naider Chery fed a ball through to Lindo Mfeka, who created the chance. It marked Rodriguez's third goal in as many games - and followed a first half when the host Roots created next to nothing.

LouCity held Oakland to 0.09 xG at the break, according to Stats Perform. The Roots didn't attempt a shot after the 12th minute. So, what changed?

"It was nowhere near good enough from the group," Cruz said. "I thought out quality on the ball was poor. I thought our urgency when we went down a goal was poor. All in all, nowhere near the standard of level we expect from ourselves."

The coach pointed out LouCity's list of injuries, adding to it Jorge Gonzalez, who was out for the first time on Saturday with a recently suffered leg injury.

"We need to get some guys healthy," Cruz said. "A big part of how we push the group is that they understand there is competition behind them. It brings out the best in the group when that is the case. At the moment we are missing a few pieces, and those pieces help push the group to be at its best so complacency doesn't set in."

LouCity had first half shots at the face of goal blocked when Aiden McFadden fired in the 17th minute and later when McFadden set up Ray Serrano in the 35th. McFadden was hopeful again a minute into stoppage time, but he wound up making more contact with Oakland goalkeeper Paul Blanchette than the ball on a dangerous cross into the penalty area.

Chances for the boys in purple were harder to come by out of the break, when they went more than a half hour between shots. Their best look late came in the 86th minute as Jansen Wilson forced a save on a header at the back post.

LouCity's only other game without a goal scored this season came in a 0-0 draw May 25 at Rhode Island FC.

"We had chances in the first half and should have put it away - could have had two or three easy goals," said midfielder Elijah Wynder. "In the second half, they came out and wanted it more. It showed. It's disappointing from us.

"We definitely want to get back out there. We don't have a league game next week, but we're going to come back stronger and better than the way we ended this."

LouCity will break from the regular season to host Mexican champions Cancún FC next Saturday. It's an anticipated matchup of high-level clubs and showcase of authentic Mexican culture at Lynn Family Stadium with tickets available at LouCity.com/Cancun.

Game Summary: Oakland Roots SC vs. Louisville City FC

Date: July 6, 2024

Venue: Pioneer Stadium

Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET

Weather: 71 degrees, clear

Scoring

Oakland Roots SC (0, 1, 1)

Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0)

Goals

Oakland Roots SC:

62' Johnny Rodriguez (Lindo Mfeka)

Lineups

Oakland Roots SC: 20 - Paul Blanchette, 14 - Justin Rasmussen (45' 21 - Bryan Tamacas), 15 - Neveal Hackshaw, 5 - Camden Riley, 23 - Memo Diaz, 7 - Napo Matsoso (74' 8 - Irakoze Donasiyano), 6 - Daniel Gomez, 2 - Baboucarr Njie (66' 11 - Trayvone Reid), 10 - Lindo Mfeka, 17 - Johnny Rodriguez (83' 9 - Dom Dwyer), 27 - Miche-Naider Chery (74' 22 - Jeciel Cedeno)

Subs not used: 3 - Niall Logue, 60 - Timothy Syrel

Head coach: Gavin Glinton

Louisville City FC: 18 - Damian Las, 3 - Jake Morris (66' 13 - Amadou Dia), 5 - Arturo Ordóñez (81' 27 - Evan Davila), 6 - Wes Charpie, 4 - Sean Totsch (75' 8 - Carlos Moguel Jr.), 2 - Aiden McFadden (66' 25 - Jansen Wilson), 17 - Taylor Davila, 23 - Elijah Wynder, 20 - Sam Gleadle (66' 24 - Tola Showunmi), 14 - Wilson Harris, 7 - Ray Serrano (66' 22 - Dylan Mares)

Subs not used: 30 - Ryan Troutman

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Stats Summary: Oakland Roots SC / Louisville City FC

Shots: 8 / 10

Shots on Goal: 2 / 3

Possession: 50.9% / 49.1%

Fouls: 11 / 17

Offside: 3 / 4

Corner Kicks: 1 / 4

Discipline Summary

Oakland Roots SC:

23' Napo Matsoso (yellow)

70' Miche-Naider Chery (yellow)

88' Jeciel Cedeno (yellow)

90'+3 Dom Dwyer (yellow)

Louisville City FC:

60' Sean Totsch (yellow)

68' Taylor Davila (yellow)

90'+1 Carlos Moguel Jr. (yellow)

Referee: Calin Radoslav

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano and Oakland Roots' Napo Matsoso in action
Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano and Oakland Roots' Napo Matsoso in action
(Jack Kenny)		   

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