LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville City FC President Amanda Duffy led the praise of the club’s fans and the local community on Saturday night after the club set a new single-game attendance record at Slugger Field with 10,062 in attendance for the River Cities Cup clash with FC Cincinnati.  

“Tonight was special,” Duffy said. “We hit a benchmark attendance figure we’re been working toward since last season, and this shows we continue to make great strides in this city. The Louisville fans and the Louisville community stepped up in a big way to show their support of this team and organization.”

Broadcast on ESPN3 as the USL Game of the Week, and also on local television in both cities, the atmosphere in the new rivalry shone through as the second meeting of the season between the two Eastern Conference contenders finished in a tense 0-0 draw.

Louisville’s previous record attendance came last season when it welcomed Orlando City SC to Slugger Field for an exhibition, with 9,343 on hand at that contest. With two of the top three teams in the USL’s Eastern Conference meeting on Saturday night, and a good contingent of fans making their way from Cincinnati for the game, the passion in the stands was evident to those on the field and the sidelines.

• RELATED: Louisville Record Crowd of 10,062 Sees River Cities Cup End Even

“For me, we’ve got the best supporters in the league,” said Louisville Coach James O’Connor. “I’ve said this many times, I think when you look at the passion that they show, the numbers that they showed tonight, I think that even when we went up to Cincinnati, they travel in numbers. They traveled to St. Louis. The passion that they bring to games makes it a really enjoyable experience for us as a coaching staff and players.”

The regional rivalry aspect of the game played a part in the attendance, as it had when almost 8,000 fans were on hand for the visit of King’s Cup rival Saint Louis FC visited Slugger Field in May for the renewal of that rivalry. With more than 30,000 fans now having attended this season’s River Cities Cup contests, and one more to come on July 23 at Nippert Stadium that will now decide who takes home the trophy, the emphasis placed on strong regional rivalries by the USL in building the league came to the fore again on Saturday.

“For us to have a record-breaking crowd, for them to have a record-breaking crowd, that’s what the league’s wanted,” said O’Connor. “I think, for us, it’s great that we have that and the games we certainly look forward to.”

With the crowd behind them, Louisville held the upper hand for much of the first half, with the combination of Kadeem Dacres and Kyle Smith down the right side in particular posing questions of Cincinnati’s defense. After the visitors were able to get to the halftime break without conceding, with a big save by FCC goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt on Paco Craig and two last-gasp clearances by Pat McMahon on Smith and Chandler Hoffman key to that, the visitors were able to regain their footing for what proved a much more even second half.

“I felt in the first half we played excellently,” said midfielder Niall McCabe. “We limited their chances to zero, really. Played all the game in their half, created chance after chance – it wasn’t half-chances either, it was pretty clear-cut chances. We can be really disappointed that we didn’t go in at the half, maybe two-three goals up. They’re a really good team though, defended well.”

With Saturday night’s game the first of the second half of the season for Louisville, and eight games of their final 14 on home turf, Dacres was hopeful the same levels of support would continue to populate Slugger Field as the side pushes to claim the USL Regular Season Championship.

“Really, really happy with all the fans that turned out,” McCabe said. “Been saying all year that they’ve been great and it just goes to show that the support that we have for this team in the city. I really hope they all enjoyed themselves and it’s a shame we didn’t get the win for them, but hopefully they come out and support us again in the next game.”