That. Was satisfying. It wasn’t the prettiest soccer; finals usually aren’t. Hell, the goal wasn’t pretty, either. But what was awesome was that Luke Spencer scored it. Luke, who was sidelined for a knee injury back in June. Luke, who stepped up to be a player-coach when James O’Connor left later that month. Luke, who sat back while Cam Lancaster won the Golden Boot and broke the USL single season scoring record. Luke, who did that after being the starter in 2017, only to be subbed off and let Cam play hero against Swope Park in last year’s final. There are a lot of guys on this team that have wrapped themselves in the LouCity ethos, but you probably can’t find a better example of what Louisville City’s about than Luke Spencer. Shunned by New England, shelved by Cincinnati, leader and hero in Louisville. You couldn’t write a better story, I don’t think.
I’m in this video behind the goal. I’m in it with my dad and my two sons. It’s moments like this that help our club dig that much deeper into the fabric and fiber of our city’s culture and history. People will say “I was there when” about this game and this night for years if not decades. Our kids, if they were there, will tell their kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids, ad nauseam. That’s how much something like this means for soccer, for Louisville, and for Louisville City FC.
This is a team that was built on razor-thin margins for error, looked to have been knocked off that edge a couple times with injuries and two coaching changes, and that still persevered. Very few gave them a chance to repeat at any point this season. The headlines in the Courier-Journal going into this game were about Didier Drogba, not Paco Craig or Cam or Paolo or Oscar or anyone else. These guys took all of that and put it where it belonged, the memory waste-bin, and then picked up the Cup at the end. Again.
I’ve been around this club since before it even existed, and I can’t tell you how proud I am of the way our players, coaches, front office and owners have handled this season. I’m happy to just have a team, the rest of this stuff is icing on the cake for me. But hot damn it’s the best icing I’ve ever tasted. Hats off to everyone, thanks x infinity to Tom Farmer and the Board for all the hard work they put in all season and especially yesterday to make this season and that final the absolute blast that it was. You all deserve it.
So let’s do it again next year.
VAMOS MORADOS
