LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville City FC advanced to the Fourth Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the first time since the 2015 season as Sean Totsch’s goal earned a 1-0 victory against fellow USL foe Saint Louis FC on Wednesday night at Lynn Stadium.

Chances were few in the first half as Louisville’s Oscar Jimenez forced a save by Saint Louis goalkeeper Tomas Gomez 10 minutes before halftime, but action picked up in the second half as the visitors almost took the lead in the 50th minute when Kyle Greig’s close-range header was denied by Louisville goalkeeper Tim Dowbrowolski.

Totsch decided the contest in the 68th minute, however, as he powered forward from midfield and had space open up for a powerful finish from 25 yards into the top-left corner of the net. Saint Louis had a chance to level five minutes later through Corey Hertzog, who was played in behind the Louisville defense only to volley his finish over the crossbar, and that was the best chance the visitors would have to level as Louisville saw out the victory. 

“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.”