LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saint Louis FC lost 1-0 away to Louisville City FC in the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup in front of 2,008 fans at Lynn Stadium.

Louisville scored the winning and lone goal in the 58th minute as Sean Totsch dribbled up the midfield and took a shot from 25 yards out that found the top corner.  The home side would hold out for the win and progress to the Fourth Round of the U.S. Open Cup with the opponent and venue TBD.

The first half started with Saint Louis FC on the front foot and Joey Calistri took the first shot from distance when he tried to chip the keeper in the 9th minute but his effort went wide.  The next chance for the away side arrived in the 26th minute from a corner kick as Kyle Greig headed down for Phanuel Kavita to take a shot but the follow-up from Calistri went out for a goal kick. Louisville started to control possession for the remainder of the half and earned a free kick on the edge of the penalty area in the 35th minute that was put on frame by Oscar Jimenez but STLFC goalkeeper Tomas Gomez was there to save.  Gomez would make six total saves in the first half to keep the score 0-0 going into the halftime break.

The second half saw Saint Louis FC with the best chance to take the lead in the 50th minute as Greig had a header saved from point-blank range by Louisville goalkeeper Tim Dobrowolski.  Louisville would respond with a goal as Totsch took the space up the middle and unleashed a shot from outside the box that rocketed into the top left corner.  STLFC substitute Corey Hertzog had a great chance to equalize in the 73rd minute as he was played over the top but his left-footed volley went high and Louisville would see out the remainder of the game to earn the win.

“Give credit to Louisville as I thought they were the better team and they performed really well,” said STLFC Head Coach Anthony Pulis. “We showed them too much respect in the first half and second half we made some changes at halftime and performed better, but if we showed a little more belief we could have taken it to extra time. I think we lacked that conviction and belief, but having said that, it took a world class goal to beat us and other than that they did not create many chances. Now we need to recover quickly and focus on the important stuff which is the league on Saturday.”

UPCOMING GAMES:

Saint Louis FC at Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC – Saturday, May 26th at 7:00 p.m. CT at Weidner Field

Louisville City FC at FC Cincinnati – Saturday, May 26th at 6:30 p.m. CT at Nippert Stadium