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USL Louisville City FC

Morad strikes twice in LouCity's emphatic 4-0 playoff victory over Bethlehem Steel

October 21, 2017 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City opened their third USL Cup Playoff appearance with a 4-0 win over the Bethlehem Steel Friday night at Slugger Field. Tarek Morad's first-half brace sealed the game for LouCity.

"Obviously, winning four-nil is very pleasing. I think we could play better. I really do," commented coach James O'Connor on his team's performance. "The pleasing thing for me is that we won 4-0 and the guys sat there (in the locker room after the match) and go, 'yeah, we need to be a little bit better.' It's a fantastic sign, it really is."

After a recent drought of scoring in early minutes, LouCity broke the habit, scoring first in the 14th minute. Paco Craig sent a header Tarek Morad's way, and after a bounce, Morad was able to sail it past Bethlehem's keeper to give LouCity the lead.

Morad decided that one goal in the first half wasn't enough, so when a shot by Sean Totsch sent the goalie out of the box, Morad found the rebound to send it over the line to not only get a brace in the game, but put LouCity up 2-0, 31 minutes in. This was his third goal in two games.

Louisville's strong defense was on display once again in the first half, with the back line giving LouCity the 12-2 shot advantage in first half. Louisville was also able to keep the ball for a majority of the half, 55.5% to 44.5%.

After a few close chances in the opening minutes of the second half, Luke Spencer was the first to get the result. Spencer was able to draw the keeper out of the box and slip the pass from Oscar Jimenez over the line to increase the LouCity lead to three in the 70th minute.

Not 10 minutes later, Luke Spencer sailed a pass into the box to let Brian Ownby connect for the header on the right side and score the final goal of the night for LouCity. The four goals scored are the most scored by LouCity in a playoff game.

Louisville will face the winner of Rochester vs. Charlotte match to be played Saturday, in the USL Eastern Conference semi-finals at Slugger Field on October 28th at 7:30 p.m.

Match: Louisville City FC vs Bethlehem Steel FC

Date: October 20, 2017

Venue: Louisville Slugger Field | Louisville, KY

Kickoff: 7:35 pm

Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy

Man of the Match: Tarek Morad

Scoring

Louisville City FC (2,2,4)

Bethlehem Steel FC (0,0,0)

Goals

Louisville City:

14' - Tarek Morad tallies first goal of the game on a headed assist from Paco Craig (assist to Paco Craig)

31' - Tarek Morad adds another after a shot deflects off the cross bar and puts it in the back of the net

70' - Luke Spencer adds on to the lead after an assist from Oscar Jimenez lead Spencer past Bethlehem defenders and eventually a goal

79' - Brian Ownby slips the final goal of the night past the Bethlehem goalkeeper on an assist from Luke Spencer

Lineups

Louisville City starting lineup: 1 Greg Ranjitsingh, 24 Kyle Smith, 4 Sean Totsch, 18 Paco Craig, 6 Tarek Morad, 19 Oscar Jimenez, 36 Paolo DelPiccolo, 80 Devon Williams, 12 Luke Spencer (14 Ilija Ilic - 86'), 22 George Davis IV (23 Richard Ballard - 73'), 7 Mark-Anthony Kaye (10 Brian Ownby - 55')

Louisville City subs: 28 Tim Dobrowolski, 15 Sean Reynolds, 8 Guy Abend, 11 Niall McCabe

Head coach: James O'Connor

Bethlehem Steel starting lineup: 29 Jake McGuire, 19 Aaron Jones, 42 Hugh Roberts, 26 Auston Trusty, 47 Matt Real, 45 James Chambers, 21 Derrick Jones, 24 Adam Najem (63 Brenden Aaronson - 79'), 37 Chris Nanco (49 Yosef Samuel - 66'), 41 Cory Burke (40 Josh Heard - 73'), 36 Seku Conneh

Bethlehem Steel subs: 64 Tomas Romero, 44 Charlie Reymann, 48 Matt Mahoney, 68 Michael Pellegrino

Head coach: Brendan Burke

Discipline

Bethlehem Steel:

57' - Matt Real, yellow

64' - Cory Burke, yellow

75' - Seku Conneh, yellow

88' - Derrick Jones, yellow

Stats

Louisville City FC/Bethlehem Steel FC

Shots: 18/10

Shots on target: 11/1

Possession (%): 51.3/48.7

Passes: 419/393

Corners: 6/4

Fouls: 9/17

Officials

Referee: MARCOS DEOLIVEIRA

Assistant Referee 1: Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein

Assistant Referee 2: Jeffrey Swartzel

4th official: Aaron Hernandez

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 21, 2017


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