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 of the best six games ever played on a combination of grass and green carpet laid over dirt with a retractable pitchers’ mound. Enjoy!

Slugger’s Greatest Hits, #6

Louisville City 2, Charleston Battery 0, a.e.t.

Eastern Conference Semifinal, October 3, 2015

On October 3, 2015, a then-record crowd of 8,517 fans were on hand to witness the first playoff game in Louisville City history. The team had not played a home game for a month prior to their first-round match against Charleston, and the crowd was chomping at the bit to see a goal from the Boys in Purple. The team had surpassed all reasonable expectations for what it could achieve, both on the field and in the stands, during the brief six months since it first took the pitch. The season could already be considered a success, and a home playoff victory would be but icing on the cake.  

City finished their inaugural season with the second best record in the entire USL, securing the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Charleston had also put together a stellar season, finishing just two points behind LCFC in the standings, and securing the #3 seed in the East. The teams had split the season series, but Charleston had delivered a 2-0 defeat to City just three weeks prior, and victory for the home side was by no means a given.

Louisville City always looked the more dangerous side, forcing 8 saves from Charleston, and Aodhan Quinn rattled the crossbar in the second half. Through 90 minutes, though, the Battery lived up their name, as their fortifications could not be breached. After a scoreless first half of extra time, the crowd grew anxious, as it appeared that the game could be headed for penalty kicks, where fan favorite goalkeeper Scotty Goodwin would be called upon to rescue LouCity’s playoff hopes. 

Louisville’s 2015 campaign may well be best remembered for the dominance of star striker Matt Fondy, who lit up the USL for 22 goals in 28 games. It was fitting, then, that Fondy was the one who came to the rescue. His header off a Quinn corner kick in the 107th minute sent the faithful into rapture, and his follow up goal off a Magnus Rasmussen shot in the 117th minute sealed the deal, and gave LouCity their first ever playoff victory.

With his dramatic extra time brace, Matt Fondy cemented himself as an all-time Louisville City legend. What no one knew at the time, however, was that they were to be his final goals ever for the club. Fondy left LouCity in heartbreaking fashion prior to the 2016 season, and was never again to regain the form that he captured in his one brilliant season in Louisville.

Following the Charleston victory, Louisville City advanced to face a Rochester Rhinos club who was arguably the most dominant in USL history. The Rhinos had completed the 2015 USL season with only one defeat, and had surrendered a paltry 15 goals through 28 games, which is as dominant a defensive season as one is likely to ever encounter.

Louisville City put up a brave fight in Rochester, only to fall 1-0 to the eventual champions. It was Louisville City’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, a game to which they’ve never since failed to advance. In 2015, however, LCFC fans were simply happy to have a club at all. The heights to which that club would climb in the years to come were but a figment of the imagination for even the most starry-eyed supporter.