Pending Louisville City FC’s results the rest of this season, the last 30 days could be considered the springboard to something bigger.
The boys in purple finished an unbeaten August on Saturday by playing Kings’ Cup rival Saint Louis FC to a 1-1 draw at West Community Stadium in Fenton, Mo.
That marks five games with points earned — a 3-0-2 record — that has LouCity one win away from topping the table. The run is in stark contrast to the 1-3 record by the club in July when the USL Championship restarted play amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The biggest takeaway is that there’s no easy teams in our group.” said LouCity coach John Hackworth. “Saint Louis — I give them a ton of credit not only for being a good team but also fighting and competing for everything tonight. I know several of their guys and have a lot of respect for their coaching staff. They made it very difficult for us. Talking to them, they felt the same way about us.”
A 30th-minute header representing defender Sean Totsch’s first goal of the season moved the visitors ahead in the first half before Mour Samb equalized for Saint Louis FC on a 64th-minute howler to the top corner of the net.
LouCity’s go-ahead goal, at the time, was a bit of a surprise. The hosts opened play by controlling 85% of possession and had limited the boys in purple to just one shot in 20 minutes: a Cameron Lancaster volley that landed on target but was well controlled by goalkeeper Kyle Morton.
“Saint Louis was excellent in making it hard — really put us under pressure right from the start,” Hackworth said. “I thought we were a little tentative, and that’s not a great way to handle that situation. I give us credit for responding and finding our press — finding our composure — and we get a goal off kind of a second set piece. That’s so important in a hard-fought game.
Morton had little chance of stopping Totsch, who redirected a deep cross from Brian Ownby right on frame.
“A big motto of ours is our defense starts our attack, especially our outside backs,” said Totsch’s fellow defender, Jonathan Gomez. “We like to get forward, and our center backs are always looking for long balls to initiate the attack as well.”
LouCity keeper Ben Lundt had little chance of preventing Saint Louis FC’s goal. Wal Fall played a ball through to Samb, who got behind the defense and a few dribbles later fired his shot into the upper-right.
LouCity’s main two chances to answer happened quickly. Ownby, dashing up to press Morton in the 66th minutes, was body checked by him inside the box. He appealed for a penalty but to no avail.
Then in the 72nd minute, Totsch got his head on another cross, this one the result of a corner kick. The attempt landed a bit wide.
LouCity wound up losing the possession battle, with Saint Louis FC controlling the ball for 57.3% of the going. The opposition also became the first side this season to out-shoot LouCity, with the margin 11-9.
Saturday’s game began with LouCity and Saint Louis FC showing a united front against racial inequality and police brutality. For seven minutes — in recognition Jacob Blake being shot seven times last Sunday by officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin — both teams kneeled around the center circle. Then the whistle blew again, and they were underway.
Next out, LouCity (5-3-2, 17 points) has an opportunity to take over first place, traveling to play Indy Eleven on Sept. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium. The top-two clubs in the group advance to the playoffs after a 16-game regular season, with Saint Louis FC (4-3-3, 15 points) in third place.
Game Summary: Saint Louis FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: August 29, 2020
Venue: West Community Stadium
Kickoff: 8 p.m.
Weather: 77 degrees, partly cloudy
Man of the Match: Sean Totsch
Scoring
Saint Louis FC: (0, 1, 1)
Louisville City FC: (1, 0, 1)
Goals
Saint Louis FC: 64’-Mour Samb right footed shot from the center of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Wal Fall with a through ball following a fast break.
Louisville City FC: 30’-Sean Totsch header from the center of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Brian Ownby following a corner.
Lineups
Saint Louis FC: 1-Kyle Morton, 28-Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (84’ 23-Richard Bryan), 2-Paris Gee, 3-Phanuel Kavita, 4-Sam Fink, 17-Oscar Umar, 9-Russell Cicerone (73’ 13-Kadeem Dacres), 5-Wal Fall, 7-Todd Wharton, 10-Mour Samb (85’ 14-Tyler Blackwood), 22-Kyle Greig
Subs not used: 21-Tobi Adewole, 18-John Berner, 8-Guy Abend, 11-Joaquin Rivas
Head Coach: Steve Trittschuh
Louisville City FC: 39-Ben Lundt, 8-Akil Watts, 3-Alexis Souahy, 42-Jonathan Gomez, 4-Sean Totsch (83’ 5-Jimmy Ockford), 80-Devon Williams, 36-Paolo DelPiccolo (69’ 27-Napo Matsoso), 13-Corben Bone, 29-Antoine Hoppenot (83’ 14-Abdou Mbacke Thiam), 10-Brian Ownby, 17-Cameron Lancaster (83’ 9-Luke Spencer)
Subs not used: 1-Chris Hubbard, 6-Wes Charpie, 19-Oscar Jimenez
Head Coach: John Hackworth
Discipline
Saint Louis FC: 74’-Todd Wharton yellow card, 93’-Oscar Umar yellow card
Louisville City FC: 54’-Sean Totsch yellow card, 97’-Jimmy Ockford yellow card
Stats Summary: Saint Louis FC/Louisville City FC
Shots: 11/9
Shots on Goal: 3/5
Saves: 4/2
Corner Kicks: 3/7
Fouls: 10/14
Offside: 1/1
Possession: 57.3%/42.7%
