Editor’s Note: Louisville City FC’s last-ever (probably) match at Louisville Slugger Field is on Saturday. To celebrate City’s time on the ball diamond, Andrew Oost, author and longtime dedicated LouCity fan, put together this daily countdown ofthe best six games ever played on a combination of grass and green carpet laid over dirt with a retractable pitchers’ mound.

Previously: No. 6 – 2015 Playoffs vs. Charleston Battery

Slugger’s Greatest Hits, #5

Louisville City 5, New York Red Bulls II 1

Eastern Conference Final, November 2, 2018

The 2018 Eastern Conference Final was the third consecutive year that Louisville City would face the New York Red Bulls II for a spot in USL Cup, but it wasn’t supposed to be that way. 

By all accounts, the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals were expected to be played in Nippert Stadium. FC Cincinnati had splashed the cash to assemble one of the best rosters in USL history, and had claimed the USL Supporter’s Shield during the regular season by a fairly significant margin. Effused with the glow of their mid-season MLS anointment,  FCC were riding a 23 game unbeaten streak into the USL playoffs. 

After narrowly escaping #8 seed Nashville SC in the first round of the playoffs via penalty kicks, Cincinnati faced a #5 seeded Baby Bulls squad who were coming off a mediocre season by their standards. It didn’t matter, however, as FC Cincinnati pulled an all-time choke job and lost 0-1 at home in the conference semifinals in their final USL contest. 

The conference finals were not to be one last Dirty River Derby for the ages, but rather another matchup between Louisville City and New York Red Bull II. Always an entertaining affair, the two clubs had combined for a total of 16 goals in their two previous meetings in the regular season, and the game held the promise of some serious fireworks. It did not disappoint. 

Louisville City were finally on a roll, after one of the most tumultuous seasons imaginable. Coach James O’Connor had departed mideason for Orlando City SC in MLS, literally the day after the ground was broken on the new Butchertown stadium. After a nearly six-week stint where the team had been managed by a trio of player-coaches, John Hackworth was brought on in mid-August for the stretch run.

After a few initial hiccups, Hackworth finally got Louisville City rolling by mid-September, and the team was on a six game win streak coming into the playoffs. Easy victories over Indy 11 and Bethlehem Steel, coupled with the elimination of FC Cincinnati, had the Purple Family dreaming a second straight USL Cup Championship.

A crowd of 10,059 gathered at Slugger on a cool fall night in a celebratory mood, but were treated to an auspicious beginning of the game, when Golden Boot winner Cameron Lancaster limped off in the 12th minute due to injury. In a game that was expected to be a shootout, losing their record-setting USL goalscorer was an early blow that tempered expectations in the early going.

The worries were soon allayed, however, as Ilija Ilic converted a penalty in the 23rd minute, and substitute Luke Spencer doubled the lead in the 32nd minute. New York came out strong after the break and halved the lead in the 60th minute. In a move that seemed designed to shore up the defensive side of the ball, Hackworth subbed on Speedy Williams in the 64th minute.

What followed was simply one of the most unexpected and electrifying performances in the history of the club. Rather than sit back and absorb the New York pressure to ride out the one goal victory, Williams and his teammates pushed forward with abandon. In the 73rd minute, off a brilliant through ball from Niall McCabe, Speedy laced a shot past the hapless Red Bulls keeper, making it 3-1. City wasn’t done, however, and just two minutes later Williams received the ball at the top of the box and blasted a shot into the back of the net from 20 yards out, making it 4-1 and sending The Coopers into absolute delirium. 

Brian Ownby would cap off the 5-1 rout with an 81st minute goal, and Louisville City was headed to their second consecutive USL Cup Final, where Didier Drogba and Phoenix Rising FC awaited. While that match was played at Lynn Stadium at U of L, depriving this list of another entry in the pantheon of great matches at Slugger Field, the 5-1 demolition of long-time nemesis New York Red Bulls II was what got LouCity to that point, and it’s a match that will be remembered long after their tenure at Slugger is over.