April 16, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release
Louisville City FC exchanges congratulations following a goal
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Connor Cunningham)
Louisville City FC’s attack continued humming Tuesday to the tune of a 3-1 victory over Greenville Triumph SC, advancing the boys in purple out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup’s Third Round.
Sean Totsch headed in a second-minute corner, Wilson Harris tapped in another goal in the 60th minute, and Jorge Gonzalez added some stoppage-time insurance at Lynn Family Stadium.
LouCity also avoided some hairy moments late, once Greenville trimmed the deficit to a goal despite an otherwise dominant performance by the home side. Coach Danny Cruz huddled his squad on the field after the final whistle to offer a reminder about closing strong.
“I thought we created a ton of chances, but this is football,” Cruz said. “You leave a team in it, they get an opportunity, they finish it, and now you’re trying to make sure we finish the game out. I thought it was about being better in the final third and more clinical.
“…This is a historic tournament. It’s about making sure you’re doing everything you can to advance.”
LouCity, from the second-division USL Championship, held on to prevail over third-division Greenville from USL League One. Next up, the Open Cup’s Round of 32 will see Major League Soccer clubs enter the competition with the draw to be live streamed on watch.usopencup.com at 1 p.m. Thursday.
City has now won five games and lost only one across all competitions to open 2024. Tuesday’s victory marked a bounce back from that lone defeat – and a much more comprehensive performance. The boys in purple racked up 3.13 expected goals, tried 15 of their 18 shots from inside the box and numbered six big chances, according to Stats Perform.
“We’ve seen the quality already this season when we’re on, so when we do fall short in this times, we have professional pride,” said Niall McCabe, who assisted Totsch’s opener on an early corner. “It’s not what we expect. We expect 98 minutes of great effort, great football and hard work.”
Harris tapped in a 49th-minute cross from Jansen Wilson, and Gonzalez knocked in a powerful shot seven minutes into stoppage time to seal the win. Between those strikes, Greenville scored its loan goal when Hayden Anderson got a piece of Ben Zakowski’s 93rd-minute free kick from distance.
It could have been tied without some heroics from Ryan Troutman, called on in…