April 29, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Louisville City FC News Release
Louisville City FC’s Joshua Wynder in action
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Mempehis 901 FC)
Louisville City FC and Memphis 901 FC stayed true to form on tired legs Saturday night, exchanging goals in a 1-1 draw at AutoZone Park.
LouCity’s Sean Totsch headed in a ninth-minute corner kick for an early lead before Luiz Fernando equalized for the hosts in the 52nd minute, knocking in a rebounding chance at the face of goal.
Both clubs made the result four straight USL Championship games unbeaten while playing for the third time in eight days. Midweek, 901 FC scored an upset win over Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United in the U.S. Open Cup, with LouCity a narrow loser at FC Cincinnati.
“We weren’t good from a second ball standpoint tonight. We were excellent on Wednesday in that phase of the game,” said coach Danny Cruz. “But I think the thing that was most poor on the night that caused us a lot of issues was that when we won the ball and looked to play forward, we immediately turned it over again. There was a ton of space to exploit, but we didn’t do that.
“There’s clear areas where we know we need to be better…and perspective – we’re in a good spot on the table. We have some home games coming up, fortunately, and we’ll look to keep building from there. We’re still in a good spot.”
LouCity (4-2-2, 14 points) sits second in the Eastern Conference near the season’s quarter mark, improving its record thanks to Saturday’s opener. Ray Serrano serviced a corner to Totsch, who’s coming off a career-high nine-goal campaign in 2022. But outside of that scoring sequence, the boys in purple largely lacked quality looks on goal.
Rather, LouCity spent most of the evening absorbing pressure as Memphis claimed an overwhelming majority of possession. Just 4 of 901 FC’s 17 shots landed on target, but City combined to number 19 clearances.
“Looking back at it,” Serrano said. “I think we just needed to secure the ball and win those second balls. We lost a lot of those and turned the ball over a lot. That was key tonight.”
In that respect, Memphis’ goal was coming. But the boys in purple nearly cleared that chance, too. A ball through to Fernando resulted in a blocked shot by LouCity’s Josh Wynder. The try caromed back to Fernando, and Wynder’s diving attempt at stopping it couldn’t quite keep the ball out of the net.
Prior to the equalizer, City’s best chance at a second came in the 42nd…