May 18, 2016: at Louisville City FC

May 18, 2016
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Owsley B. Frazier Stadium, Louisville, KY

Louisville City FC 1, Detroit City FC 1 (3-1 PK)
DCFC Seb Harris (Ali Al-Gashamy) 104′
LCFC Ilija Ilic 115′ (Paolo DelPiccolo) 110′

Attendance: ?

Louisville City FC is in the United Soccer League (USL), a step down from Major League Soccer. They came into the match with six wins, two draws, and a single loss in regular season play. They finished in second place in the Eastern Division, and missed the USL Cup Final by a single penalty kick goal.

Yes. This was going to be difficult.

The game wasn’t played at Lou City’s regular stadium, but hosted on the campus of a Christian college which denounced swearing. This limited the group of twenty or so Northern Guard Supporters’ chanting to some degree, though restriction is the mother of ingenuity.

This was the look of a native when one of the f-bombs inadvertently dropped.

It was a one-sided affair, with Lou City owning the bulk of possession and chances. Le Rouge keeper, Nathan Steinwascher was up to the task. The professionals had been averaging two goals per game, but Le Rouge held them scoreless through ninety minutes. Whether it was because of lack of faith, fear of disappointment, or past their weeknight bed time, the Lou City fans began to leave.

In extra time, Lou City was awarded a penalty kick, the referee falling for a flopping forward in the box. Cameron Lancaster, former Tottenham Hotspur academy player who played for Spurs under Harry Redknapp, went to the spot, and Steinwascher, our keeper from the University of Detroit Mercy responded.

The energy dropped from the Louisville fans after thinking they had it wrapped up, but hope flickered for them as a red card was issued to Billy Stevens for god knows what, followed by Coach Pirmann being sent off the field, giving them a man advantage. That hope was short lived as Sebby Harris headed in a beautiful ball from Ali Al-Gashamy, to give Le Rouge the 1-0 lead at the 104th minute.

All we needed to do was gut it out for the final sixteen minutes of the match. Le Rouge was helped when Conor Shanosky was shown his second yellow card of the match, leveling the field to ten men apiece. Unfortunately, Ilija Ilic evened the score.

This was the third of four DCFC appearances in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup that would be settled on penalty kicks.

Aodhan Quinn (LC) – saved [LC 0, DCFC 0]
Seb Harris (DCFC) – goal [LC 0, DCFC 1]
Paolo DelPiccolo (LC) – goal [LC 1, DCFC 1]
Ali Al-Gashamy (DFCF) – missed [LC 1, DCFC 1]
Magnus Rasmussen (LC) – goal [LC 2, DCFC 1]
Tyler Channel (DCFC) – saved [LC 2, DCFC 1]
Ilija Ilic (LC) – saved [LC 2, DCFC 1]
David Edwardson (DCFC) – missed [LC 2, DCFC 1]
Cameron Lancaster (LC) – goal [LC 3, DCFC 1]

Before I made the commitment to drive down to the game, I weighed whether it was going to be worth the time. Louisville was a USL team. Last year, when the Michigan Bucks blew us out early, I had some concern of making the long drive to witness something similar. Though Louisville had control of the game, Le Rouge stood strong, defended well, and fought to put another Open Cup win in the record book. This was a great performance. It didn’t have the emotional impact that beating the Michigan Bucks the week prior had, however it was as important, showing that this team and its supporters will battle with the best of them. As this organization progresses, it won’t be long before we will be hosting and beating a Major League Soccer team in this competition.