There was a bit of a break in the action for Louisville City following their road loss to the Oakland Roots. Midway through the season (check out this piece for a more expansive review of the team thus far), the grid has begun to wear on the roster as injuries have slowly piled up. The gap between games was needed. On the other side of the break awaited Colorado Springs. Last season was a thrilling encounter in Colorado and this year also delivered on the excitement factor.
“We didn’t start the game the way we expect,” Coach Danny Cruz said, “especially here at home.” There looked to be a little rust on the boys in purple. They were not bad, but they also were not the killers we have seen often this season. The Switchbacks looked hotter out of the gate and found the first goal of the match within the first 20’. Thankfully, things did improve for City. Elijah Wynder, who has been having a season catching league-wide attention, scored his 4th goal of the year within the following 15 minutes. Officiating in this one was below average, to put it tactfully. It was egregious enough that Coach Cruz felt the need to call it out as a factor for both teams. Amadou Dia got the worst of it. In the later stages of the first half, he had a goal waved off and was called for a foul in the box. Both are debatable decisions. Louisville would have been in an unfortunate position if the PK had found the net, but thanks to a shot into the post, they held the 1-1 draw into halftime.
The second half was more what we have come to expect this year. Morados took control of the match and aggressively searched for an opportunity to break the stalemate. They found twice as many shots in the second half as they did in the first and eight more corners (to COS’s zero for the whole match). It was beginning to look dire as the threat of a draw loomed. But the team’s incessant pushing led to a late breakthrough. It was none other than Sean Totsch who found the late game-winner. Convenient timing as his re-signing was announced only days later. “At this club, we’re going to fight until the end,” Totsch said. “With the guys we have, we’re going to do big things. To really have to grind out a result at the end there, everyone did it, so that’s big for us.” It was not the prettiest, but winners find a way to get all three points regardless of how they come about. “We left everything on the field,” said Coach Cruz. “Tonight is pretty powerful for the group to be able to continue to create opportunities — to limit chances in the second half. It’s certainly a performance the guys can be proud of.”
The last few matches up until this one were shaky. Three losses in five matches doesn’t sound great, but it was factually accurate. Now having had a little time off and securing a motivating home win, the boys of Butchertown appear set to build momentum on the back half of the season. Looking ahead, matches against NM, Sac Republic, and the Charleston Battery are not far off. Momentum could be just the thing the team needs to see them triumph over these foes who appear to be locks for the post-season. That stretch alone could tell us a lot about how hopeful we could be about potentially securing the elusive regular-season title. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. One game at a time. Bring on Monterrey Bay!
Parting Thoughts
Want more reading on LouCity? Check out the following:
How’s It Going? Part 2 - An Assessment Of Louisville City’s 2024 Season-To-Date
Meet Elijah Wynder: Louisville City FC’s Trailblazing Young Star
Be sure to check out the Vamos Morados Podcast featuring myself, Benton, and Zach Allen-Kelly. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Audible, and Spotify. Everything you need to listen can be found on the Podcast page. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
The podcast is now also available in video format! Make sure to subscribe to The State of Louisville YouTube channel to catch the latest episodes along with a number of other quality shows!
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