April 9, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release
Charleston Battery’s Nick Markanich and Louisville City FC’s Kyle Adams in action
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Charleston Battery)
Louisville City FC saw its perfect start to the 2024 season end Tuesday night – but only after inspired attempts to rally from a multi-goal deficit against the Charleston Battery.
LouCity fell by a 3-2 score at Patriots Point in South Carolina, where the clubs met for a rematch of last year’s USL Championship Eastern Conference Final.
City opened on the front foot, netting the opener in the ninth minute before the Battery responded with a barrage of three first half goals. Coach Danny Cruz ordered a trio of substitutes at the break, and his side played its way back into contention. An equalizer wasn’t to be, however, as the boys in purple dropped to 4-1 on the young season.
“I thought we were completely out-performed in the first half – nowhere near good enough,” Cruz said. “I thought we made really good adjustments at halftime, got into the players a little bit and had an excellent response in the second half. I thought it was a tale of two halves. I thought we were the better team in the second half, and they certainly were the better team in the first half.”
Having won its first four games, LouCity matched the club’s 2018 squad for best-ever start. That season, the boys in purple made it back-to-back USL Championship titles. This group is out to repeat the cycle after going toe to toe with unbeaten Charleston, which ranks alongside City as one of the East’s favorites.
After ceding 61.4% of first half possession, LouCity controlled 61.5% of the ball over the final 45 minutes. Momentum officially swung City’s way in the 52nd minute when Arturo Ordóñez flicked a corner kick back to Taylor Davila, who scored to trim the lead to a goal.
A series of shots by the visitors landed off frame after that, and the boys in purple couldn’t maximize on an 84th-minute penalty save by goalkeeper Damian Las that kept them in range to level.
“We knew when we came in at halftime it wasn’t good enough,” Davila said. “From an energy standpoint and from a technical standpoint, we just weren’t doing the little things we needed to do. At halftime we made changes, and we just really had energy. We looked confident. We were playing through them and dangerous.
“I definitely feel like we could have tied the game up or even won. That’s how well we played in the…
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