The penultimate match in Louisville City’s season series against Sporting Kansas City II went the way one would have thought all games against SKCII should have gone before the re-start. LouCity poured in three goals before halftime. Napo did his best Alphonso Davies impression. Antoine Hoppenot showed up. Corben Bone hit the back of the net TWICE! We kinda got to see what could be the fullback pairing of the future late on in the game when Akil Watts and Jonathan Gomez flanked the center backs. It was a fun night!

And man, it’s been a little while since I could say that about a Louisville City game. Sure, beating Loudoun United fairly handily was nice, but that was kind of expected. SKCII has, in spite of their record, turned out to be a really good team, at least in July. August, though, is the purplest month, and Morados nuestros looked like the team we’ve been expecting for the first time all season.

John Hackworth sent out basically the same lineup we saw Saturday against Loudoun except with Oscar starting at left back. I was a little surprised about that given the quick turn around, but I suppose Hack can’t be blamed for sticking with what works. The Speedy-Paolo-Bone midfield really shone last night, with DelPiccolo turning in his best performance probably since the 2018 USL Cup final.

Both teams felt like they had an advantage on the right side of the other’s defense, as Sprouting (seewhatididthere) put some pace in Tyler Freeman and Dillon Serna (stay with me here) up against Pat McMahon and Napo Matsoso. McMahon did a truly superb job not giving up much in return all night. It was a really solid performance. Napo played great, too, but in a different way, and we’ll get to that.

For LouCity, Oscar and whoever was filling the forward space on the left at any given time struck first, though. I’m not sure whether it was by design, or if Lancaster is really good at drawing high lines, but the first goal (and the third, which was almost identical in the build-up) resulted from a long pass from behind the midfield stripe into space on the left. On Saturday, it was Alexis Souahy from just past the 18 yard box to a streaking Lancaster. This time, Oscar sent a low pass into space that Hoppenot was able to run onto and hit a first-time cross on a bead to Lancaster’s chest. Cam let the ball hit the ground, turned, and crushed a left-footed shot past both SKC center backs and the keeper to open the scoring in the 11th minute. It was a four pass sequence.

It was also only the second shot of the game from either team, and it actually went in! A nice change of pace, to be sure. City looked a lot more comfortable in the game after that, but there wasn’t another shot in the match for nearly 20 minutes. The good news is, that one went it, too. The build-up to that goal was eerily similar. Alexis to Oscar, Oscar to a slightly-more-inside Cam Lancaster who back heeled it midair to Corben Bone. A quick duel left Bone in space with no one to beat but the keeper, and beat him he did for his first ever tally for Louisville City in the 29th minute.

KC pulled one back just moments later off a busted set play, where they were frankly dangerous all night. Dillon Serna served in a really nice ball that Sam Raben outjumped Lancaster for, and headed it past Ben Lundt to ruin City’s clean sheet. However, that just fueled Napo Matsoso’s fire, causing him to do this:

and make half the SKC defense question their career choices while racking up another goal for Corben Bone. That play by itself was all anyone needed to give Napo man of the match and possibly their firstborn child.

Brian Ownby came on for Lancaster at half, a smart choice given the score and Cam’s longevity. Napo got a goal of his own not long after the break, though for the life of me I can’t tell you how on earth Gavin Krenecki let it in. It certainly wasn’t pity. After that, LouCity apparently let SKCII have the ball and see if they could do anything with it for the next 40ish minutes.

They couldn’t. Kansas City only had four shots (excluding blocks) all game, and Ben Lundt only faced one on target in the second frame. Not even a very motivated Fredlin Mompremier could put a dent in this night for LouCity, and after lots of substitutions and a shot to Speedy Williams’s groin, the game ended 4-1, good guys.

That scoreline and that performance were refreshing. It felt like watching Louisville City soccer again. If I felt that way, I’m sure the team and technical staff did, too:

“It was the necessary [step forward], and it was exactly what we needed to do. We didn’t really have a choice, so we knew that we needed to come out and get another three points. We thought we could play better in some aspects and certainly did that in the final third. We defended great and didn’t give up many chances at all.”

John Hackworth, 8.19.20 post match press conference

City got some really good performances out of the whole team last night. As a whole, City took nine shots (a season low) but put six on target and scored four, all season highs. Shooting accuracy was 66.7%, where something hovering around the single digits has been the norm. After going up three goals, City were content to watch SKC pass the ball around frantically for a while but didn’t give up too much in return. Their best chance in the second half came off a strong run from Kamden Riley that Lundt had to save, but otherwise most of the challenges were dealt with.

Individually, Sean Totsch and Alexis Souahy were again sterling in the back and appear to have developed a really solid partnership together. Both were beasts 1v1, with Alexis going 8-0 in duels on the night.

McMahon and Oscar were their dependable selves. It’s a little bit of a relief that City aren’t relying on Oscar to create so much from the left touch line so the defense is that much more secure. However, Oscar helped set up the first two goals, and Pat played Napo the ball that led to the third.

As I mentioned earlier, the Speedy-Paolo-Bone midfield has really started to gel and produce. Speedy was calm on the ball and led the team in passing. Paolo was excellent all night, getting involved in plays, creating, and doing a bit of breaking up possession, too. He didn’t get credit for creating any chances in the match, but I still think he’s a key part in City controlling the midfield since his return. Plus, another full 90′. Corben Bone had what was easily his best performance ever for LouCity, and that’s even if you take the goals out of consideration.

Antoine Hoppenot has felt a little anonymous up until these past couple of games, but he was a much more emphatic force on the left on Wednesday night than he had been previously. He created a couple of scoring chances and assisted the first and last goals of the match. Generally, he did a very good job occupying the left channel, drawing attention and defenders so Lancaster could have more touches, and didn’t turn the ball over much.

Napo was amazing, as we’ve already detailed. It’s just his third start at the right wing/forward spot, and he’s gotten better every game. Matsoso has always been a high-energy player, and he demands attention from a defense no matter where he is. Putting him in wide areas in the final third with the ball at his feet opens up more space in front of the goal, which is what City had lacked for the first three or four matches of the re-start. It’s really paid off.

This lineup is probably what we’re going to see when the playoffs come. Speaking of which, City’s finally back in a playoff spot on goal difference, as they’re now even with St. Louis FC on points. All of that can change based on whatever STL and SKC do, but at least City has more control over their playoff destiny than they did a week ago.

No games until next Wednesday. See you then. VAMOS MORADOS!