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Louisville City FC

LouCity's Nine-Game Unbeaten Streak Snapped in 0-1 Loss to Riverhounds SC

June 27, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC hosted Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Wednesday night, dropping their first contest at Slugger Field in the USL Regular Season in a 0-1 loss. Riverhounds SC midfielder Kenardo Forbes scored the lone goal on the night in the 79th minute to hand his side the win.

The match was the team's fourth in 11 days in all competitions.

What Happened? The opening 15 minutes saw both sides work their way into the match with chances few and far between.

Riverhounds SC were first to test the opposition "keeper with a breakaway chance in the 23rd minute for midfielder Christiano Francois. Getting past the City defense, Francois closed down on goal only for goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh to make a crucial double save to keep the score level.

Just over ten minutes later, Ranjitsingh was at it again with his heroics. A half chance fell for Riverhounds SC's Thomas Vancayezeele and the midfielder produced a sweet strike that seemed destined for the back of the net, only for Ranjitsingh to meet the effort and save the score line once more.

At the halftime interval, City was locked up at zero with no goals for either side.

The second was a cagey affair as City pushed for the first goal of the match. Reinforcements in the form of Brian Ownby, Pat McMahon, and Cameron Lancaster were brought on for Shaun Francis, Oscar Jimenez, and Ilija Ilic, but City could not break through.

Instead, Pittsburgh hit first on the counter in the 79th minute off a goal by Kenardo Forbes. As a cross come into the box, Forbes was first to the ball and put a shot on frame from inside the box. Deflecting off a defender on the way, the shot somehow snuck through a pile of bodies to give the visitors the lead.

LouCity tried it all from left, right, and central positions but Riverhounds SC would only bend, not break, and at the full-time whistle, their 0-1 advantage would be enough to take three points from Louisville.

Next up, LouCity stays home at Slugger Field when the team hosts New York Red Bulls II on Saturday, June 30 with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. in Louisville. The match marks the end of a run of five games in 14 days for the "Boys in Purple," who are also still alive in the 2018 U.S. Open Cup. Tickets for Saturday's contest start at just $16 and are available by calling (502) 384-8799, option 2, or online at LouCity.com.

The Key Points:

* Midfielder Kenardo Forbes scored the game's only goal in the 79th minute

Injury Report: OUT - Richard Ballard (stress fracture) OUT - Luke Spencer (knee)

Louisville City FC 0 : 1 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Wednesday, June 27, 2018 Slugger Field | Louisville, KY 84 degrees / sunny Attendance: 7,126

Scoring Summary: PGH - Kenardo Forbes 79'

Disciplinary Summary: PGH - Mo Dabo 75' LOU - Paco Craig 85'

Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Greg Ranjitsingh (GK); Oscar Jimenez (Pat McMahon 74'), Sean Totsch, Paco Craig, Kyle Smith; Paolo DelPiccolo; Shaun Francis (Brian Ownby 63'), Devon "Speedy" Williams, George Davis IV, Magnus Rasmussen; Ilija Ilic (Cameron Lancaster 78')

Bench: Chris Hubbard, Tim Dobrowolski, Alexis Souahy, Niall McCabe

Louisville City FC post-Riverhounds SC press conference

Defender Sean Totsch | Wednesday, June 27, 2018

On the mood in the locker room afterwards:

"We're disappointed in ourselves because we know the work we put in. We know what we're capable of. To see us give up points like that, especially at home in front of our fans, is not what we want to see. We try to make Slugger [Field] our fortress and that was key to our success last year and that's what we need to do to finish out the year strong."

On pushing through heat and humidity tonight:

"We expected it the whole way. It's not like - well one, it's a seven o'clock game. It's not the dead of the day. We're not making excuses because it was the same for them. They played under the same conditions so we just have to go out there and battle. There's a target on our back. Everyone wants to come here and get points off of us. Especially us being the defending champs. But we have to come out and be stronger and get results no matter what."

On having a target on your back:

"Yeah, I mean we definitely feel that. We get teams' best games. They come and they're really trying to get points off us more than any other game. That's what we want, because if they come out and we're playing high-level games all season, that makes us ready for the end of the season."

On if a USL win will erase these negative feelings:

"We just see it next game. Even last game in North Carolina, that was out of our minds today. We try to keep the mentality that it's next game. So really, we're going to go out against Red Bulls next Saturday and go for the win and really put our effort out there. For us, no matter what the result is on Saturday, the train is not going to derail. We're a unit. We know what our goal is and we've got a lot of veterans. We know what it takes and you go through phases where the ball doesn't bounce your way or you don't score your chances. We just have to grind through it and we know that through our work and our effort and our skill we have on the team, we'll get results."

On keeping the rest of the team on the same page:

"The thing is, I'd say almost everyone has been around so it's not like we really have anyone that needs to be spoken to. But for us, it's just that constant message that no matter what, we've done well over the past games that if we concede early to come back and fight back and get goals. It was good that we didn't concede early, but now we have to score our chances and being a defender, we have to keep clean sheets, especially at home."

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