LOUISVILLE – Paco Craig tallied his first goal of the season in the final five minutes as Louisville City FC played to a 1-1 draw with the defending USL champion Rochester Rhinos 1-0 on Saturday in front of a crowd of 6,373 at Slugger Field. Craig’s header in the 85th minute offset a first-half tally from Rochester’s Christian Volesky, who scored in a second straight game. Louisville moves to 13-3-8 (47 points) to pull even in points atop the Eastern Conference with the New York Red Bulls II. City FC is now 4-2-6 at home. Rochester moves to 9-5-9 (36 points) overall and 2-3-6 on the road. The Rhinos have now drawn in five consecutive road matches. In the only other meeting of the season, Louisville defeated Rochester 1-0 on June 18 at Rhinos Stadium, ending Rochester’s 24-game home unbeaten streak.

Scoring:
13’ – ROC – Christian Volesky (Steevan Dos Santos)
85’ – LOU – Paco Craig (Guy Abend)

Three Things That Mattered:

• 1. For as many chances Louisville had, the host side finally found the break it needed as Paco Craig found the equalizer in the 85th minute. City FC’s Ben Newnam curled a beautiful right-footed kick around Rochester’s four-man wall and hit the right post. The ball caromed across to the left side of the six-yard area where Guy Abend headed it down into the ground, back across to the right side where Craig converged for the game-tying goal. It was Craig’s first tally of the season.

• 2. Rochester took advantage of a midfield giveaway to gain the upper hand on the road. It took all of two touches from the Rhinos’ attack to make Louisville pay as Steevan Dos Santos jumped at the chance with the outside of his right foot to lead Christian Volesky. The ball led Volesky perfectly toward the top of the 18 and he slotted it into the right of the frame for a 1-0 lead. Volesky leads Rochester with eight goals and Dos Santos leads the club with four assists.

• 3. The Rhinos were particular in their times to attack, generally springing forward on the counter as Louisville was clearly the team with the better of the possession. In the early stages of stoppage time, Rochester almost found a second tally from Mike Garzi as he aimed for the left post, but City FC goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh made the diving stop to his right to make sure Louisville’s deficit stayed at one heading into halftime.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:
Guy Abend, Louisville City FC – Abend was active in Louisville’s attack and had the header to set up Paco Craig’s late equalizer.

Upcoming Games:
Louisville City FC at New York Red Bulls II – Aug. 19, 7 p.m. ET, Red Bull Arena
Rochester Rhinos vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds – Aug. 20, 6:05 p.m. ET, Rhinos Stadium