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Louisville City FC finished off the 2018 regular season with a clean sheet and fantastic showing against Indy Eleven as they now look ahead to the USL Playoffs next Saturday, October 20 at Slugger Field.

What Happened?
A chilly night in Louisville saw Louisville City FC host fellow playoff team Indy Eleven in front of a packed house of just over 10,500 fans at Slugger Field.

With captain Paolo DelPiccolo back in the line-up after missing out on Tuesday’s match due to yellow card accumulation, coach John Hackworth made no other changes to his starting XI.

Indy was closest to opening the scoring from a set-piece in the 17th minute, but City midfielder Niall McCabe was alert to the threat and produced a spectacular goal line clearance to preserve the clean sheet at that point. 

The match turned in City’s favor when, in the 33rd minute, forward Ilija Ilic was clipped in the box and the hosts were awarded a penalty. Stepping up to take, forward Cameron Lancaster—who had just broken the all-time USL single-season goalscoring record on Tuesday—buried the effort to put City ahead.

That would be the lone action of the rest of the first half as LouCity took a narrow advantage into the break, up 1-0.

Into the second half, Hack opted to replace Cameron Lancaster and Ilija Ilic with Luke Spencer and Magnus Rasmussen, who made his return to the pitch for the first time since August 10 against New York Red Bulls II.

An almost instant impact, Rasmussen took just one minute to test Indy ‘keeper Owain Fon Williams, who produced an impressive save to keep the Dane off the scoresheet.

Pushing Indy until the end, LouCity wrapped up the 2018 regular season with another home win to move to 66 points, again beating their best total in its four-year history!

Louisville City FC now heads into the 2018 USL Eastern Conference Playoffs as the two-seed and will wait until Sunday night to figure out their opposition in the First Round. The First Round will commence on Saturday, October 20, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at Slugger Field. For more information on ticket availability and City’s run to the 2018 USL Cup, visit LouisvilleCityFC.com.

The Key Points:

• Forward Cameron Lancaster scored his 25th goal of the regular season, further adding to his record-breaking tally in USL play

Injury Report:
QUESTIONABLE – Magnus Rasmussen (Knee sprain)

Louisville City FC 1 : 0 Indy Eleven
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Slugger Field | Louisville, KY
49 degrees / sunny
Attendance: 10,686

Scoring Summary:
LOU – Cameron Lancaster (p) 34’

Disciplinary Summary:
LOU – Paolo DelPiccolo (caution) 26’
LOU – Alexis Souahy (caution) 31’
IND – Karl Ouimette (caution) 50’
IND – Seth Moses (caution) 79’
IND – Dylan Mares (caution) 82’

Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Greg Ranjitsingh (GK); Kyle Smith, Alexis Souahy (Sean Totsch 81’), Paco Craig, Oscar Jimenez; Paolo DelPiccolo, Niall McCabe; Brian Ownby, Ilija Ilic (Magnus Rasmussen 66’), George Davis IV; Cameron Lancaster (Luke Spencer 63’)

Bench: Tim Dobrowolski, Pat McMahon, Jose Carranza, Richard Ballard

Louisville City FC returns home for the first of seven matches in the month of August as they host Indy Eleven. It’s a grudge match for LouCity, as they suffered a defeat at the hands of their regional foes back in May.

When & Where
The match will take place on Sunday, August 5 at 5:00 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Field.

The match will be aired on WBNA TV21 as well as streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the match on 840 WHAS. Fans can also follow #LOUvIND on Twitter & Instagram.

TV: WBNA TV21
RADIO: 840 WHAS
STREAM: ESPN+

DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android

Last Time Out
Louisville City FC made it two wins in a row, knocking off Ottawa Fury FC, 0-3. Captain Paolo DelPiccolo opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a phenomenal diving header off of an Oscar Jimenez corner kick

Coming out of halftime with a 1-0 lead, Oscar whipped in another ball, this time from a free kick near midfield, and Paco Craig stopped it on a dime 10 yards out and slotted it past Máxime Crépeau, doubling the lead for LouCity.

Just ten minutes later, in the 56th minute, Speedy Williams got ahold of a rebound shot, put in in the back of the net, and secured all three points on the road.

– ICYMI – LOUISVILLE CITY FC APPOINTS JOHN HACKWORTH AS HEAD COACH –

Rewind against Indy Eleven
Louisville City FC traveled to Indy Eleven on May 5 but fell 1-0 courtesy of a 79th-minute penalty kick by Indy Eleven’s Ayoze.

KY Lottery Kees to the Game
Louisville City FC will once again be tasked with shutting down Indy Eleven when the pair meet on Sunday evening in Louisville… Our KY Lottery Kees to the Game:

1. Cut off service to McInerney
2. Protect the middle of the park
3. Use your speed out wide

Luke Spencer’s pre-match press conference:
On the win over Ottawa:
“It was a good performance. Credit to Ottawa—they made it difficult. They’ve got a lot of athletic players and they play pretty direct at times so we knew it was going to be a difficult game, one that we would have to meet the challenge for.”

On winning without a coaching staff:
“It’s a resilient group, but we’ve really just taken it game by game. After you take it game by game you can look back and say ‘oh yeah, we’ve done pretty well’ through this coaching change. But, for us, it’s just about that next game mentality.”

On the regional rivalry against Indy:
“We’re excited for it. Any regional rivalry will be a good game. Indy is a good team and they’re certainly organized—they play good soccer—so we’ll have to be prepared for that.”

On using the reverse fixture to prepare for #LOUvIND:
“We played them at their place—it was a good battle, back and forth—and they got the late penalty there. We’ll remember that and try to get a result this weekend.”

On feeling more relaxed with wins:
“That’s the danger about winning. Sometimes when you win a few you can forget about what got you there and got you that win, so we try to really focus on those things and stay disciplined to make sure that unselfish work is promoted.”

Team News
OUT – Luke Spencer (knee)
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)

“Mental Health Day… It’s something that should be more than one day. I think the stats say that one in five people will suffer from some sort of mental illness and the stigma is too negative towards it. It should be changed. Instead of being stigmatized and frowned upon, these people should be celebrated. To battle with yourself every day is probably the hardest battle you can have.

I think it’s good that when people find something that gets themselves out of a tough zone, even for a short amount of time–painting, or playing an instrument, or playing soccer, for example—it can help people relieve some of that trouble and that’s the power that activity has. I hope people can find their relief.

More needs to be done to help combat mental illness because it’s deadly. A lot of people can get overwhelmed by it and end up doing things that hurt themselves. Don’t be afraid to talk to people. They are always willing to listen.”

Louisville City FC will wrap up the regular season at home on Saturday as they host Indy Eleven for the third time this season. Louisville is coming off a record-breaking night at Slugger Field after a 2-1 Tuesday night win over North Carolina FC.

Last Time Against Indy Eleven
LouCity and Indy have met twice over the course of the 2018 season. A May matchup in Indianapolis saw the Eleven take all three points on a 1-0 win, while an August match at Slugger Field saw each team take a point in a 2-2 draw. In a back-and-forth scoring affair, Louisville found the equalizers to both of Indy’s goals but could not manage to find a go-ahead. 

Scouting Indy
After clinching a playoff spot on Tuesday night thanks in large part to City’s win over North Carolina FC, Indy Eleven sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference heading into Saturday. Indy Eleven comes in with only one win in their last five matches. Goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams has 11 clean sheets on the season to sit in 6thin the USL. Jack McInerney leads Eleven’s offensive efforts with 10 goals on the season.

A Night of Breaking Records
Tuesday’s win saw Louisville City FC break two records and record a new milestone. Cameron Lancaster scored twice to set a new club and USL record for single-season goals scored. LouCity also set a new club record for most points earned in a single season, currently at 63 with a chance to be increased with one game remaining. The previous high was 62 points, set in 2017. Louisville City also gained its first Centurion on Tuesday night, when Niall McCabe became the first player to reach 100 appearances for the club.

On the first goal: 
“I honestly didn’t even have a look. I had a few chances I probably should’ve scored on in the first half and so I just thought I needed to take a pop and test the ‘keeper early. Thankfully it came off.” 

On breaking the record: 
“It means a lot. I’ve had a tough journey to get to here. When I saw [former LouCity forward Matt] Fondy do it, I was in the stands with an ACL injury wishing I could be on the pitch doing exactly what he was doing. To do it three or four years on, it means a lot.” 

On if this means a little more given the circumstance: 
“Of course, it is an individual sort of title so it does mean a lot more to me on an individual level but, at the same time, what matters most is the three points and another good step going into the playoffs.” 

On getting the three points: 
“It means a lot. There’s only one game left but you want to finish it as strong as possible going into the playoffs and hit the playoffs head on, doing as best as we can.” 

On what will stick out the most looking back on tonight: 
“I think that first goal, probably!”