CINCINNATI – Louisville City FC Coach James O’Connor was aware of the challenge his side would face against FC Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon, as the two sides met for the third time this season.

Despite a big effort, which saw the side hit the woodwork twice after falling behind to their hosts, the Eastern Conference leaders saw their 17-game undefeated streak come to an end in a 2-0 defeat in front of 20,151 fans at Nippert Stadium.

Despite the defeat, O’Connor said following the game he was proud of the effort his side had put forward in another memorable clash between the teams.

“I think the fight they've shown, the quality they've shown, for them to play the way they have, I can be really, really proud,” O’Connor said. “Even today – we weren't our best today – but we still had 15, 16 shots. We still had opportunities to go and score. I think our guys deserve a lot of credit.”

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The victory allowed Cincinnati to claim the inaugural edition of the River Cities Cup on goal differential, as their 4-3 edge over the three-game regular-season series that ended 1-1-1 provided the tiebreaker between the teams. After goals by Andrew Wiedeman and Sean Okoli either side of halftime had given Cincinnati a two-goal lead, Louisville almost got back into the game twice, only for the breaks to not fall its way.

The first came on a shot from distance by Magnus Rasmussen in the 57th minute, as the substitute rang his effort off the post. The second arrived with 15 minutes to go as fellow substitute almost made an immediate impact with a shot that clipped the crossbar.

If there was a silver lining, however, it was the news that the Eastern Conference’s other long-standing undefeated streak had also come to an end. The Charleston Battery’s thrilling 3-2 win against the New York Red Bulls II allowed Louisville to remain a point ahead at the top of the standings at the end of the day, a place the side is now focused on retaining with 10 games to go in the regular season.

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“The only thing we're looking forward to is the game at the end of the week, and after that, it's where we're going to be on the table at the end of the year,” said Louisville defender Sean Reynolds. “Those are the only two things – no matter where you play – that you should concentrate on.”

With a return home to face Orlando City B next Saturday next on the agenda, Louisville will take aim at closing the season out strongly, with the goal of holding onto top spot as the playoffs approach,  and putting this defeat behind them.

“It happens,” O’Connor said. “You get games where you don’t do the things that you’d hoped, but when I look at the bigger picture and the road that we’ve been on, and the quality of the players that we have, and how they’ve performed, I’m certainly going to stand here and I’m going to back them 100 percent because I have tremendous belief in them, and I’m really, really proud of them.”