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City FC’s Mental Capacity Put to Test

By CHARLIE CORR - charlie.corr@uslsoccer.com, 04/30/17, 12:45PM EDT

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Louisville has mixed feelings following draw with Toronto


Photo courtesy of Stuart Geiger / Louisville City FC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There was no question which team had the dominating presence Saturday at Slugger Field. Host Louisville City FC led in just about every statistical category against Toronto FC II, knocking at the door of a potential goal to thrill the 8,282 fans on hand.

Ultimately, City FC and TFC II ended in a scoreless draw. The point helps Louisville maintain an unbeaten campaign (3-0-3, 12 points), but the club understandably had mixed feelings after dictating much of the game.

“We had a ton of chances, and I feel like it’s a mental thing,” said defender Oscar Jimenez who put three shots on target and created several other scoring opportunities. “Things aren’t going our way, and people’s heads drop. It’s like, ‘Oh, that shot’s not going to go in, or, ‘I don’t want to shoot this one because it’s not a clean shot,’ or something.”

Toronto goalkeeper Angelo Cavalluzzo put in a stellar performance with 10 saves as TFC II posted its third consecutive scoreless draw. Louisville’s Tim Dobrowolski was called upon to make three saves for Louisville.

“It’s probably the most frustrating game we’ve had,” City FC Head Coach James O’Connor said. “I thought Tim made some great saves. I thought Toronto had some chances as well. But for the first 30 minutes we played some fantastic football – great chances. Had one of those went in, it would have made a big difference.”

The chances continued into the second half, with Luke Spencer generating one of the best opportunities in the 52nd minute, only to see his redirected effort batted away by Cavalluzzo.

“We missed a couple chances early on, and I think that frustration builds up,” Spencer said. “You want to put teams away early, and when you get a lot of chances and don’t do that, it builds up. That kind of gets into your head.”

From O’Connor’s chair, this will serve as a learning moment as the club has two weeks to prepare for its next important match at the Tampa Bay Rowdies on May 13.

“I think watching the first 25, 30 minutes, anyone who had said the game would finish nil-nil, I would have said you’re joking,” O’Connor said. “No one would have believed that would finish nil-nil. It happens. It’s important when you’re unfortunate like that to sit down with some perspective and teaching mechanism and make sure we learn from it.”