Last year, coach John Hackworth is fond of saying, Louisville City FC’s technical staff could have flipped a coin when it came to deciding on a starting goalkeeper and been happy either way.
Ben Lundt won the job, then went on to be named the USL Championship’s Goalkeeper of the Year. With Lundt recalled this season to Major League Soccer’s FC Cincinnati, there’s no longer any need to flip a coin — but still no need to worry about the role.
LouCity appears in solid hands between the posts thanks to Chris Hubbard, who numbered six saves Saturday in the club’s final preseason test, a 2-0 victory over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
“He was fantastic — obviously kept us in the game many times and was Man of the Match for good reason,” said midfielder Corben Bone. “He made incredible saves and had great leadership back there. It was just a great game and momentum for him to build on going into this season.”
Hubbard will continue to compete with backup Simon Lefebvre for playing time. For now, the job appears to belong to the Louisville native, who attended Trinity High School, played for the University of Notre Dame and has spent the balance of his professional career biding his time in purple.
Hubbard trained with LouCity going back to his college days. He was around long before Lynn Family Stadium was built, the club had its new training facility to call home and grew to include a professional women’s side as well as youth academy.
The 26-year-old stood at the microphone Saturday pleased with his patience earning the starting job.
“I’m thrilled, especially in my hometown in this fantastic stadium,” said Hubbard, who numbers 25 USL Championship appearances entering 2021. “It’s something that I never even dreamed was possible, and the fact that I get to live it out is pretty sweet.”
LouCity staked Hubbard to an early lead against Pittsburgh after Oscar Jimenez tapped in a second-minute goal Saturday. But the goalkeeper certainly had to work to keep it.
Just before the half, Hubbard came up with consecutive saves, one of them after the LouCity defense turned over possession in its own half and led to a breakaway chance.
“He was the most important player — played the best for us today — and he had to,” Hackworth said. “He made two great saves at the end of the first half to allow us to go into halftime not giving up a goal there at the end. It really meant that we could go back out and solve some of the problems we had in the first half without making any tactical changes.”
Hubbard’s other major moment came when faced with a penalty kick in the 57th minute. By making a preemptive move to his left, the keeper turned away the Riverhounds’ best scoring chance on the day.
“It feels great,” Hubbard said. “It really does, especially after struggling to keep shutouts or conceding early in the past few preseason games.”
LouCity ran through a gauntlet of MLS competition to open its preseason before finishing against three lower division opponents. The boys in purple had to rally while defeating Chattanooga FC (3-2 score) and Greenville Triumph (4-2) before holding the ‘Hounds scoreless.
“I think we’re capable of grinding one out,” Hackworth said. “(We learned) when we can’t play our free-flowing style for whatever reason, whether it’s the opponent or we’re just not having a great day, that we can still work hard, make sure with the help of Chris that we’re not giving up goals — that’s all collective.”
“Even if we didn’t play our best, we still found a way to get a result and keep a shutout, which is something we struggled with the past few games at the end of preseason,” Hubbard said. “I think that’s a testament to how much we’ve learned this preseason and will serve us well.”
LouCity’s 32-game USL Championship campaign opens with four straight games at Lynn Family Stadium, the first of them set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday when Atlanta United 2 visits.
