It was likened to a playoff game by Louisville City FC coach John Hackworth before kickoff, and Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Indy Eleven turned out to be a very even, if not somewhat sterile contest most of the way. It only took a moment of brilliance in the form of Antoine Hoppenot linking up with captain Paolo DelPiccolo in the 62nd minute to make the difference.
Here’s what we learned from a third straight win by the boys in purple…
The Good
Adapt to isolate the right matchups
When forward Luke Spencer assumed Cameron Lancaster’s regular starting role, it figured that Hackworth was looking for Spencer to play with his back to goal and involve teammates in the attack. While Spencer played a good game, the 56th-minute decision to swap Spencer for Brian Ownby worked to perfection. Hoppenot, who offers plenty of pace, moved from the left wing to the center of the field, and LouCity was able to seize a moment of indecision by the Indy back line to earn the game’s only goal.
Shortly after the hour mark, by quickly resetting the play, LouCity moved from simply possessing to attacking with a single pass. Most of the praise will go to Hoppenot for drawing out the defender and delivering a great pass to DelPiccolo, but Napo Matsoso deserves credit for the entry ball to Hoppenot. He bypassed nearly the entire opposition with a single ball. Overall, that kind of goal is symptomatic of a team singing from the same hymn sheet.
Just like the first game against Indy earlier this month, Hackworth tweaked the lineup and gave Indy a surprise. It was Matsoso that moved to a forward position that meeting, and it was Spencer playing up top this time. Hackworth continues to give himself options with the roster he has built.
A strong month continues
Entering August, LouCity was scraping the bottom of the USL Championship’s Group E. From the onset, a 1-1 draw with Indy Eleven proved the boys in purple hadn’t forgotten how to play good soccer. Going on to concede just one in the next three games, the club has continued to improve game by game. LouCity has beaten everyone in the group but Saint Louis FC — who they travel to play Saturday — and have a game in hand on first-place Indy. That being said, it is not an easy task to better a single team multiple times a season, and the next two games against the top team in the group are away from Lynn Family Stadium.
Shut down Pasher
You cannot mention Indy Eleven this season without bring up the play of forward Tyler Pasher. After scoring Indy’s goal the first time these clubs met, the most notable player on the team for coach Martin Rennie was muted in the second iteration — and on multiple levels. Not only did LouCity defender Sean Totsch continue in his run of locking down impact players, but when Pasher dropped back in order to get some more touches on the ball, he was met there, too. In fact, every Indy Eleven threat was neutralized, with only a single shot on target the entire game, a credit to the entire team in general, and the defense in particular.
While Pasher, who entered with eight goals in nine games, did miss a couple of chances that he might have converted on a different day, a combination of an off night and a prepared LouCIty back line limited Pasher to a rare scoreless game.
The Bad
Shot selection
When teams get frustrated, players tend to force the issue. That popped up a couple times with unusual suspects Totsch and outside back Oscar Jimenez both pulling tries from distance that were more likely to trouble a spectator than the Indy Eleven goalkeeper. Teams only get as many chances as you can create in a game, and to waste a developing passage of play on an ill-advised shot erases the effort spent on creating opportunities. Ownby also forced a shot from inside the box prematurely a few minutes after he came on. Rather than looking for the spectacular shot, a pass may be available to work it farther into the box. Shot selection has been a much larger issue before, however, and LouCity does not look in danger of returning to those earlier woes.
Better in one-on-one situations
On the opposite end of the spectrum, when you do get a chance to tuck away opportunities like Bone and Hoppenot both had in the second half, you have to convert. This should also be qualified with the fact that Indy Eleven’s Evan Newton is one of the better goalkeepers in the league, and not all chances are of the same quality. The best look of the game was the one that DelPiccolo scored on, and LouCity did its job to make sure that was all that was needed.
In Conclusion
Nothing in Group E is decided yet, but as we get closer to the playoffs one thing is clear: Games will continue to be tight against Indy. The trajectory the two teams are on seem to differ, though. Where Hackworth has tactically left himself with places to go and his team continues to improve in multiple ways, Pasher’s talents may send his career beyond the USL if the rumors are true.
Although it looks as if LouCity and Indy are poised to separate themselves from the pack, Saint Louis FC could still play a part in the group, and even Sporting Kansas City II has shown the ability to knock off top teams as a possible spoiler.
