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USL Louisville City FC

Wynder Wins It for LouCity in Open Cup Penalty Shootout

April 21, 2022 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC celebrates their shootout win in the U.S. Open Cup
Louisville City FC celebrates their shootout win in the U.S. Open Cup
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Connor Cunningham)

Josh Wynder's game-winning penalty kick helped Louisville City FC advance in the U.S. Open Cup, lifting the boys in purple past St. Louis CITY SC 2 on Wednesday night in a thrilling 9-8 shootout win at Lynn Family Stadium.

Because it's a win-or-go-home competition, Open Cup games have to be settled the day they're played. The teams played 30 minutes of extra time after the scoreless draw through 90 minutes, but the occasion finally had to be settled via penalties.

LouCity's victory - keeping the club unbeaten through nine games across all competitions in 2022 - also ensured a place in the U.S. Open Cup's Round of 32. Its opponent will be announced during a draw starting at noon Thursday.

"Tonight felt like a playoff game," said coach Danny Cruz. "Us doing the penalties, and you see all the crowd over there with everybody loud and screaming - it certainly feels like that and those moments are beneficial for the growth of the group. We had a lot of young guys take penalties in those moments tonight, and I walked away very impressed, and that is not easy. Someone else said it: We are winning in different ways.

"We are looking forward to the draw tomorrow and seeing how it plays out."

LouCity goalkeeper Kyle Morton saved the first penalty of the shootout, showing a strong palm with his left hand while diving to his right to block St. Louis CITY midfielder Max Schneider's effort. Later, with the shootout locked at 8-8, Morton saved Dida Armstrong's penalty with his legs when diving to his right.

That's when Wynder, the 16-year-old Louisville native, stepped up and buried the winner, calmly tucking his right-footed shot in the low left corner.

"I've always been taught to walk up and pick your spot and hit it, so that's what I did," Wynder said. "...It was definitely a great moment. If I missed, I don't know how I would be, but I wasn't trying to think about that. I went up there and scored and won the game, and that's all that matters."

The result didn't come without its challenges with LouCity facing its former manager, John Hackworth, now coaching St. Louis CITY.

"There are still a lot of relationships and guys in that locker room that I care about," Hackworth said. "I'm happy to see them doing well and being a good group. So I take away those sentiments. It was great to be back here in Louisville. Louisville has a special place in my heart. At the same time, I'm really proud of my team. I don't know if you guys know - there were a lot of teenagers on the field. To come into this stadium against that quality of players it says a lot about where they are. They are young and got there in a shot amount of time."

LouCity dominated the match, pelting St. Louis CITY with 15 shots, 36 crosses and eight corners and controlling 58.7% of possession. The teams spent most of the match in St. Louis CITY's defensive half. Despite the furious knocking, City couldn't break down St. Louis CITY's doors.

Jorge Gonzalez came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 75th minute. After Manny Perez beat two defenders and delivered a drag-back pass to Gonzalez at the top of the box, Gonzalez took one touch to his right and rifled a low shot through traffic that required a high-level, last-ditch save from St. Louis CITY goalkeeper Michael Creek.

City's Brian Ownby had a close-range shot midway through the first half parried by Creek, too.

But with the bench emptied - both teams used all six substitutions - City dug deep to win its first penalty shootout since the 2017 USL Championship Eastern Conference final against New York Red Bulls II.

What do those two penalty shootouts have in common? They were both won by Louisvillians - Richard Ballard scored the game-winner in 2017, and Wynder matched his effort five years later in front of the hometown crowd.

Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. St. Louis CITY SC

Date: April 20, 2022

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.

Weather: 67 degrees, partly cloudy

Man of the Match: Niall McCabe

Attendance: 5,243

Scoring

Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0, 9 penalties)

St. Louis CITY SC 2 (0, 0, 0, 8 penalties)

Lineups

Louisville City FC: 1 - Kyle Morton; 15 - Manny Perez (105' 32 - Ian Soler), 66 - Josh Wynder, 4 - Sean Totsch, 3 - Amadou Dia (96' 30 - Jan-Erik Leinhos); 11 - Niall McCabe (96' 8 - Carlos Moguel, Jr.), 12 - Tyler Gibson, 36 - Paolo DelPiccolo (c) (61' 9 - Jorge Gonzalez); 10 - Brian Ownby (72' 21 - Ray Serrano), 77 - Enoch Mushagalusa (61' 7 - Napo Matsoso), 14 - Wilson Harris

Subs not used: 24 - Parker Siegfried

Head Coach: Danny Cruz

St. Louis CITY SC 2: 18 - Michael Creek; 8 - Akil Watts (82' 22 - Kwame Awuah), 15 - Joshua Yaro, 21 - Kyle Hiebert, 25 - Ben DiRosa; 11 - Celio Martins (60' 3 - Ezra Armstrong), 6 - Alex Palazzolo (60' 19 - Sergio Rivas), 23 - Max Schneider, 10 - Vitor Dias (82' 32 - Aaron Heard), 7 - Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal (111' 4 - Fritz Volmar); 9 - Josh Dolling (101' 12 - Dida Armstrong)

Subs not used: 30 - Alexander Langer

Head Coach: John Hackworth

Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / St. Louis CITY SC 2

Shots: 15 / 3

Shots on Goal: 5 / 1

Possession: 58.7% / 41.3%

Fouls: 14 / 15

Offside: 2 / 8

Corner Kicks: 8 / 0

Discipline Summary

St. Louis CITY SC 2: 12' Kyle Hiebert (yellow)

Louisville City: 30' Brian Ownby (yellow)

Louisville City: 52' Tyler Gibson (yellow)

St. Louis CITY SC 2: 58' Max Schneider (yellow)

Referee: Kyle Johnston

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC celebrates their shootout win in the U.S. Open Cup
Louisville City FC celebrates their shootout win in the U.S. Open Cup
(Connor Cunningham)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from April 21, 2022


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