LOUISVILLE, KY --- FC Cincinnati yielded a single-game high five goals in a shutout loss to Louisville City FC Sat. night at Louisville Slugger Field. With the loss, LouCity wins the River Cities Cup and FCC falls to 8-8-7.
“That was a very disappointing evening. We are incredibly grateful to our FCC fans for their support in Louisville and back home," said Head Coach Alan Koch. "Quite simply tonight was not good enough and we need to bounce back. We have an almighty challenge ahead of us on Tuesday, but will do everything we can to be ready for another Cup battle.”
FCC found themselves on the defensive early as LCFC mounted a strong attack in the first 10 minutes of the match, forcing Mitch Hildebrandt to make four saves. The pressure proved to be too much as Niall McCabe put LouCity on the board in the 16th minute. Sean Totsch, who had a shot on target earlier in the match, served the ball in from the right side and found McCabe, who directed the ball into the net with a header.
The uphill battle continued for FCC in the 36th minute as defender Sem de Wit was issued a red card for tripping Luke Spencer, who was on a break-away with no defenders in front. Playing with a man advantage, Louisville capitalized, peppering the FCC goal with 11 shots in the first half, including nine on target while holding FCC to without a shot.
Just before the half, Spencer struck against his former team. Oscar Jimenez, taking the corner kick from the right side, found Spencer, who drove the ball past Hildebrandt with a header for the two-goal lead. Spencer would go on to assist on two additional goals to aid the LouCity effort.
The pressure continued in the second with Louisville taking 19 shots in the period. Mark-Anthony Kaye threatened the FCC goal in the 56th minute but was denied by Hildebrandt, who dove to his right to stop the left-footed attempt. However, the reprieve would be short-lived as a minute late, Kaye was on the receiving end of a give-and-go with Spencer and this time was able to put the ball past Hildebrandt.
Richard Ballard and Sean Reynolds would complete the scoring, with goals in the 72nd and 83rd minutes, respectively.
FCC breaks from USL action Tues. as the Orange and Blue hosts New York Red Bulls at Nippert Stadium in the semifinal of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at 8:00 p.m.
Goal Summary
16th: Niall McCabe (Sean Totsch)
45th + 2: Luke Spencer (Oscar Jimenez)
57th: Mark-Anthony Kaye (Luke Spencer)
72nd: Richard Ballard (Luke Spencer)
83rd: Sean Reynolds (Paco Craig)
Starting Lineups:
FCC: Mitch Hildebrandt, Austin Berry, Sem De Wit, Harrison Delbridge, Kevin Schindler, Kenney Walker, Corben Bone, Josu, Andrew Wiedeman, Kyle Greig, Djiby
LOU: Gregory Ranjitsingh, Sean Reynolds, Paco Craig, Sean Totsch, Oscar Jimenez, Guy Abend, Speedy Williams, Kyle Smith, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Luke Spencer, Niall McCabe
