August 1, 2015 Toronto FC II--recap of Toronto FC II vs Louisville City FC match (from louisvillecity.com)
Five Things: A perfect road swing on: August 03, 2015 Five things we learned from Lou City’s 3-2 win over Toronto FC II. Written by Joey Cecil (VP Public Relations American Outlaws Louisville) Play to the Whistle This match was full of goals, but also questionable incidents that led to some of those goals. The first instance was Toronto’s opening goal in the 21st minute. TFC II’s Babouli received the ball on the right side of the field, but the side official’s flag went up. At that moment Lou City Right-Back Enrique Montano stopped running, but Babouli realized the head official never blew her whistle and he continued his run. As Louisville City stood there, still reacting to the raised flag, Babouli drove into the box and slammed a shot into the net past Scotty Goodwin, giving TFC II a 1-0 lead and leaving Louisville City stunned. Replay after replay there was no whistle and the only person who seemed to realize it was Babouli. No but seriously, play to the whistle. Questions arose again in the 68th minute with Lou City on the attack. Kevin Cossette sent City’s third straight corner into the box, where both Conor Shanosky and TFC II’s keeper Andre Roberts both went for the ball. Shanosky was able to head the ball down in the box where it found Matt Fondy, whose shot ricocheted off the bar, and ultimately settled with Niall McCabe who slotted the ball home in the right corner of the goal to give Louisville City a 2-1 lead. After his initial unsuccessful attempt at claiming the ball, Roberts began to run out at the ref stating his case for a foul on Shanosky due to contact. The ref never whistled for a foul, and this time it was Lou City who kept playing while TFC II disputed the incident. The Second-half surge I mentioned in my pregame notes that during their winning streak Louisville City had scored 9 of their 15 goals in the second half of games. The game against Toronto proved no different in following that trend as Louisville City poured in 3 second half goals to raise the ratio of goals scored in the second half to 12 out of 18 goals in this current 6-game winning. What is more impressive is that some of these goals have come on the road in difficult scenarios. Lou City was tied 1-1 at halftime against each Pittsburgh and Wilmington and respectively put in 1 second half goal against Pittsburgh and 2 against Wilmington to secure those wins. Against Toronto on Saturday they were even down 1-0 at halftime and proceeded to score 3 second half goals to claim the 3 points on the road. This trend has been more than just about Lou City’s proclivity to score in the second half, but also about the context of doing it on the road and with the game still up for grabs. Different faces leading the way In the past 5 games, Matt Fondy and Magnus Rasmussen had combined to score 11 of Louisville City’s 15 goals. On Saturday both Fondy and Rasmussen were kept off the scoresheet, with Fondy missing an uncharacteristic shot in front of goal. Previously Louisville City had yet to win a game where both Fondy and Rasmussen were held without a goal. Have no fear though, Louisville City had guys waiting to step up and carry this team. Kadeem Dacres opened the scoring with his 5th goal of the season in the 58th minute, but his first since June 27th against Oklahoma City. Both Niall Mccabe and Bryan Burke added crucial goals that were their first for the club respectively. Burke’s was a sweet and deserved one since the Right-Back had been assisting on goals all season and leads the team with 6 assists. On a day when both of Lou City’s main attackers were held off the sheet, it showed great teamwork and skill to not only grab the win on the road but still put in 3 goals. The Bench was Big The bench came up huge against Toronto FC II. Coach O’Connor had to have his eye on the upcoming schedule with Louisville City playing 6 matches in the next 24 days, and his bench usage on Saturday may have reflected that. 5 substitutions were used on Saturday throughout the match with both Kevin Cossette and Niall McCabe putting in a full 45 minutes, Ilija Ilic putting in 32 minutes, Nate Polak 17 minutes, and Sean Reynolds coming on late to help close out the game. All of these players helped a team effort producing 3 goals, but possibly more admirable was their calm in closing out the game. Toronto FC II pulled within 1 after a rough bounce got past Goodwin in the 81st minute, but TFC II never got any closer. Coach O’Connor specifically praised not just their comfort in finishing out the game, but also their mindset that “they were still even looking to go in for a fourth goal.” It is a testament to the preparation and professionalism of this team that they could come in and seal this game, especially with one of the men, Cossette, making his team debut.
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