LOUISVILLE CITY FC 2, NORTH CAROLINA FC 1
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Regular goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh returned from injury, Paolo Del Piccolo was missing due to yellow card accumulation and a curious team selection coupled Jose Carranza and Niall McCabe (celebrating his 100th USL appearance in a Louisville uniform) in the deeper mid roles, leaving Speedy Williams on the bench – the only intention you could imagine, to preserve him possibly (along with Shaun Francis) for his Jamaica call-up in the weekend.
The match itself will not be remembered as a classic, save for a pair of classic goals by Cameron Lancaster, particularly the 1st of the 2 which smashed the existing USL season record of Matt Fondy’s 22 goals, set 3 years ago, also in the purple of Louisville City FC.
Speaking of colors, it was “Pink-out Night” at Slugger Field in recognition of cancer survivors and fighting the disease, and from the predominant pink scarves, to the trim of the Louisville players’ jerseys and their shoes, through a pair of goal nets, to the smoke bomb fired off by The Coopers in the aftermath of that record-breaking goal, the sometimes hallowed, (and oftentimes not) home park was awash in soft and electric pink to honor the event.
In keeping, the match was at times soft and at others electric, and as soon the 2nd minute it was nearly the latter as Cameron was provided by Alexis Souahy with an instant chance for the historical rewrite but he elevated the ball soundly over Alex Tambakis’ crossbar.
North Carolina FC, urgently needing all 3 points to keep their playoff hopes realistically alive, pushed back and won a pair of corners, but no clear chances were created by either side until after 15 minutes when City forged a very hopeful opening.
Brian Ownby, playing chiefly in the wide left channel, showed up on right wing and received a pass from a deeper lying George Davis lV. He made ground up the right and crossed back to Ilija Ilić in a handy position 15 yards out in front of goal. Had he met the ball cleanly it he would likely have had the opener, but he scuffed and was blocked by center-back Wuilito Fernandes. Cameron was following up and a desperate Fernandes delayed him also, but the hungry ex Hotspur persisted and propelled for goal only to be barred by still more desperate contortions by keeper Tabadis. The ball popped back over Ilija and he turned and played back to Niall at the edge of the area who succeeded only in driving high over the bar. At least one of these 3 successive opportunities ought to have been converted.
Chivas de Guadalajara loanee Daniel Rios, already a 17 goal scorer this season, threatened to break through at the other end but was superbly stopped by a timely Paco Craig tackle.
In the 22nd, delightful, quick touch combination play involving Niall, Ilija, Brian and Oscar led to the latter feeding Cameron who fired forcefully but his left side angle was favorable to Tambakis who swallowed up the attempt.
A minute later, more clever work by Niall, Ilija and Cameron set up George lV, checking in from the right, but he could not direct his attempt and the bell was scrambled clear.
Paco, ably taking over PDP’s captain’s duties on the night, picked up his team leading 8th yellow card of the season, grabbing Rios as he threatened to wriggle away toward goal from wide right of the Louisville area. Referee Tim Ford reciprocated on Rios 4 minutes later, apparently for a retaliatory foul against Paco.
In-between times, standout NCFC midfielder Kyle Bekker thumped a free kick on goal for Greg, gratefully looking none the worse for his brief period in the infirmary, to glove away and an Oscar corner was headed over by Brian.
City had limited Rios and co. to very little action in and around the penalty area, however in the 38th minute a critical breakdown undid all their hitherto good work and superiority.
Niall had been stepping forward to link with the offense, and Jose Carranza had performed a very creditable task as the orthodox midfield anchor, but Steven Miller got the better of him and took off down the Louisville left, still with cover ahead of him. But a crucial error was committed when Oscar went to ground and missed his tackle causing Paco to be drawn out from the middle. With the winger now within shooting range, Greg was obliged to hold his post and Miller’s accurate cross bypassed him to where Kyle Smith, though pinching in hard, was unable to prevent a streaking Rios getting in ahead and netting his 18th goal of the year, including 3 versus Louisville.
Cameron has scored in all types of ways, from all sorts of ranges and his consistently most reliable cohort has been Ilija, and he took a pass from No. 14, turned and fired on goal. Tambakis, though, was in good position to save.
In 1st half stoppage time, Ilija received from ASAY deep in the area and there was an avenue to cut back for goal, but the predisposition to work to his trusted right caused him to be shifted wide and miss his opportunity.
Going in after with an even scoreline after a dominant 1st half would have been seen as a quite satisfactory, but going behind was clearly unsettling for John Hackworth and new assistant Danny Cruz, and an obviously disappointed Jose found himself proactively sacrificed, with Devon Williams taking the field in his place at the resumption.
Jose had by no means looked out of place in holding midfield, and had he been paired with Speedy to begin the match, – and without some perhaps wasteful finishing from Cameron, Ilija and George lV – he would likely have survived till deeper into the game. However, on this club his playing style, age and experience level lends him to being employed as a utility player for the foreseeable time and Jose should be encouraged knowing he has plenty of time and scope for development on his side.
Whether the change on its own had immediate tangible effect is up for discussion, but within a minute-and-a-half of the whistle to restart City were level, and it was that man Lancaster, the Tottenham Torpedo, destroying Fondy’s 22 goal fortress and doing so in classic “Goal of the Week” fashion with, as Paco would put it later, a “wonder strike” of a 30 yarder.
In fact, the goal was created when the deputizing captain astutely stepped up into midfield to dispossess Graham Smith and knock a short ball to Cameron, posting up with his back to goal. Innately, the netbusting No. 9 received, wheeled away from the defense and hooked the ball high into Tabakis’ goal with a right foot belter from 30 yards.
Every purple (w/pink) clad field player joined in to celebrate Cam’s fantastic, Fondy defying feat. All in a day’s work for the titanic target man.
After George IV cut left at the edge of the area and saw his shot saved low down by Tabakis, Cameron had a golden opportunity to add to the total and put City ahead when Ilija received a left wing throw and fed inside to Niall who spotted his No. 9 in the area and threaded it beautifully through the defense. However, with the ‘keeper completely exposed and the net behind gaping, he hit his 15 yarder too close to Tabakis who adeptly dived to his right to push it wide of the post.
2 minutes on and, as he has a habit of doing, Cameron won a free kick right in ”Lancaster Land”, just outside the area and to the left. His nice effort zipped over the wall but didn’t dip soon enough, flying just the wrong side of the crossbar.
Now, with the scoring record safely in hand, he was becoming a constant thorn (or harpoon) for the Whales, and with the help of Brian he crafted another chance from 10 yards which was blocked.
Right away NCFC countered, forcing Paco into a rare giveaway but Oscar, going some way to making up for his miss on the 1st half goal, made a terrific and crucial covering play.
In the 71st, Paco restored his good name with another superb tackle as Rios was breaking into the danger zone.
Oscar collected his 4th caution of the season for a foul on substitute Zach Steinberger which may or may not have been in delayed retribution for Steinberger’s rugged display while visiting Slugger with his parent club Indy Eleven just 2 months previously.
Jonathan Lewis, with 5 days of his loan period from NYCFC remaining, entered for George lV who, like Jonathan in the last game, had seen a dearth of ball as the game progressed, with most offense directed through the center and left side.
In his 17 minutes plus of playing time, the ball now began to be channeled more Jonathan’s way and once again he showed signs of his pace and talent. At times he was unable to find the quality in his final delivery, or pick the precise moment to shoot before his window closed, although he still managed to terrify the NCFC defense on several occasions. It’s just a matter of applying consistency to his game for the promising 21-year-old.
As legs tired, a handful of half-chances were exchanged by loose marking at the back, with Steinberger and Brian searching for the tiebreaker, and City could have considered themselves a little fortunate to see the trouble pass without consequence.
Despite having the only goal of the 1st half the Carolinians had enjoyed more of the game in the 2nd and they still had a chance of taking home a valuable point or better with which to keep their heads above water in the playoff race, however their hopes were cruelly dashed with a little over 6 minutes left.
Jonathan, coming in from the right, rolled to Niall who had been involved in much of The Purples’ (‘n Pink) more incisive activity on the night. The 100-game Dubliner, moved the ball and switched it back to Ilija, waiting at the high corner of the area and he drove back over low and hard. His cross may have been intended for Jonathan, now making a bee-line for goal and attracting Tambakis’ attention, but the ball skipped by the two of them and Fernandes for Cameron to race in and smack it home from close range for a surely match-winning, and certainly not undeserved 2-1 lead.
To cement the slim margin, Hack prudently brought Sean Totsch on for Brian and his team would see out the closing minutes securely, though they almost added to their advantage and got a deserved assist for Jonathan.
In stoppage time, he took on left-back Aaron Guillen, committed him, pulled back and dropped an ideal ball in for Speedy who was descending toward the penalty mark, but there would be no reprise of his speed-walking celly as his left-foot power drive was brilliantly tipped over by Tambakis.
Top performers for Los Morados were, of course, Cameron for his goals, Niall due to his excellent link work and creative play, and Captain(-for-a-day) Paco Craig, leading with an important assist play and another demonstration of solidity in defense.
For North Carolina, Rios, Bekker and without doubt Tabakis were particularly impressive.
The locker room afterward sounded pleased for the win but far from satisfied with the performance, especially in the 1st half, which is a good thing since they will have to be improved in several aspects – finishing goal opportunities, for one – when the 1st round of playoffs hits a week after the Indy Eleven game.
With 2nd place in Group ‘A’ assured and Indy’s qualification locked up, expect Cameron and several regulars to be rested for Saturday night’s 3rd edition of the now notorious ”LIPAFC” derby.
~~~~~ Fun Footnotes ~~~~~
* Louisville’s “Jammin’ Jamaicans” Shaun “Franco” Francis (14 caps) and Devon “Speedy” Williams (3 caps) will rejoin their national squad for Sunday’s CONCACAF Nation’s Cup away meeting vs Bonaire, a team entirely consisting of domestically based players.
* Bonaire will host the game on the neighboring island of Curaçao, Sunday at 6 PM
* Bonaire is a 5-year member of CONCACAF, though their FIFA application is still in its early process
* For anybody else who has never heard of Bonaire, research reports it to be a tiny island paradise of 20,000 residents, located just off the coast of Venezuela, with administrative ties to the Netherlands. It was formerly one of 5 islands constituting Netherlands Antilles until the dissolution of that nation in 2010.
