Louisville City FC defender Sean Totsch described Saturday night’s first half against Saint Louis FC as “exactly what we were looking for, minus a goal.”
The boys in purple peppered 10 shots on their Kings’ Cup rival and didn’t allow Saint Louis FC a single look on frame.
“We were getting after them and breaking them down and building out of the back — all of the things that we pride ourselves on,” Totsch said.
So how did that start wind up, in coach John Hackworth’s words, a “crushing defeat” at Lynn Family Stadium?
“You can’t put a team on the ropes the way we just did and then let off,” Hackworth said.
Just minutes into the second half, Saint Louis FC took advantage of an awkward volley over the LouCity back line. Stemming from a corner, the cross landed on the head of midfielder Guy Abend, who guided to forward Tyler Blackwood in the center of the box.
Blackwood’s tap-in goal made the difference in a 1-0 game that started and stopped often down the stretch with cramps common in the summer heat.
“A guy loses his man on a really difficult ball that you think — meaning the serve of that ball is in the air for a long time,” Hackworth said. “Several people should deal with that, and that turns out to be the game winner.”
The first-half performance showed a more confident back line, however, with Totsch one of three new names in the back four from last weekend’s 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at the USL Championship’s restart.
In all, LouCity wound up out-shooting Saint Louis FC 19-7. Possession also skewed sharply in favor of the boys in purple, who were on the ball nearly 59% of the game. The attack generated nine corners and forced, according to Opta statistics, Saint Louis FC to make 36 clearances to LouCity’s five.
“I really felt like we made a lot of chances and had a lot of attempts on goal,” Hackworth said. “We have a lot of things to fix, but the performance overall was much better. This game will hurt you so much sometimes. Credit to Saint Louis.”
As a result, Saint Louis FC, which was previously 0-3-3 in games in Louisville, earned its first away victory in the all-time series. This was a meaningful result in the season-long picture, too, shifting the visitors to second in the USL’s Group E standings.
“It’s hard to really be encouraged right now,” Hackworth said. “Yes, I’m pleased with the way that we approached it and what we were able to create. We had a lot of easy passes that we missed in the final third that could have created even more chances for us. I was pretty frustrated with some of those missed opportunities in the first half. It comes down to details.”
While LouCity hosts winless Sporting KC II next Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium, Saint Louis FC will look to pick up points on Group E leader Indy Eleven.
The boys in purple will face each of Saint Louis FC, Indy Eleven and Sporting KC II four times while completing a 16-game regular season. The top-two clubs from each USL group advance to the playoffs.
