Louisville City’s last performance may have lacked the excitement and flair of the other matches they have played in during this young season, but they secured the all-important three points. With the mission accomplished in northern Virginia, the boys in purple returned home to host the Hartford Athletic. Hartford has spent their first few seasons of existence serving as the punching bag of the east, however, a refined roster has them as a bit more of a threat than previous meetings (although they did earn a draw in their last trip to Louisville).
Full-Time Thoughts
Fatality. Louisville City wins. There are many descriptors that you could use for this match and none of them are pretty for the Athletic. With their head coach serving a suspension, the last thing they needed was an early goal. Louisville’s own, Elijah Wynder kick-started HFD’s bad night. Adrien Perez was finally able to open up his account with LouCity at 12’. As did Aiden McFadden, who joined in the fun at 32’. The onslaught continued with Jorge Gonzalez at 67’, Ray Serrano at 83’, and Tola Showunmi at 90’+3 (also his first with the club).
It was the width of Louisville’s formation that decimated Hartford. Defensive pressure applied to one side and LouCity would seamlessly switch fields. They did so in an efficient fashion meanwhile Hartford's whole shape was left scrambling to readjust. In a game that is essentially 90’ of running, it’s not exactly a sustainable approach. Couple that with the intensity of Jake Morris and Aiden McFadden in the outside back roles and it’s not hard to see how things spiraled out of control. Morris and McFadden were phenomenal. Those two roles are arguably the most critical for LouCity’s tactical vision and they fulfilled their obligations to near perfection. From their passing to their 110% hustle, they were a big factor for the home side’s ability to exploit the Hartford Athletic.
Although it felt like LOU was on the attack the entire match, their defensive efforts deserve praise. Hartford could only muster roughly two potential scoring opportunities. One was a bit of a Louisville flub with Daimen Las wayyy off his line and the other was a difficult shot taken from outside of the box. Besides those moments, the visitors hardly had anything to show for their efforts. “That the zero is just as important as the six,” Coach Danny Cruz declared after the match, making it a point to commend his team’s D. And this performance came with the club’s big offseason signing, Arturo Ordonez, out of action. Wes Charpie backfilled him and did an outstanding job. Goes to show how tight some of those position battles must be in practice. “To step up tonight the way he did and to start, he has a lot to be proud of,” Coach Cruz said of Charpie’s efforts. In terms of expected goals (xG), Louisville amassed a total of 2.7 meanwhile Hartford did not even hit 0.2.
Before zooming back out to the big picture, I’d be remiss to not mention Niall McCabe. Mr. LouCity entered the match late, marking his 200th appearance for the club. He is only the 4th player in league history to hit that milestone with one club. To echo the sentiment of many; built the statue.
Louisville City is riding high in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference. They are, however, not in possession of first place. The Charleston Battery are having themselves a bit of an outstanding season, too. It’s worth noting that their 21 points in 9 matches (2.33 Pts/G) is an inferior pace to LouCity’s 2.57 Pts/G. There is still a lot of soccer left to play, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where it doesn’t come down to a second straight ECF meeting between the two. Certainly, a storyline to keep an eye on.
Parting Thoughts
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