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No Lancaster, No Problem for Louisville

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 09/20/18, 8:49AM EDT

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While Golden Boot leader got night off, defending USL Cup champion returned to win column

HARRIBURG, Pa. – On a night when USL Golden Boot leader Cameron Lancaster was given the night off in the middle leg of Louisville City FC’s stretch of three games in eight days, it fell to others to provide the attack for the defending USL Cup champion as it visited Penn FC on Wednesday at FNB Field.

With the club having already topped 50 goals for the regular season so far, though, LouCity didn’t have to look far. Two goals in four minutes by veterans Paolo DelPiccolo and Niall McCabe paved the way to a 3-0 victory against the Eastern Conference playoff contender which moved Louisville into second place in the conference standings and on the verge of clinching a fourth consecutive trip to the USL Cup Playoffs.

“I’m proud of the boys,” said Louisville Head Coach John Hackworth. “They played well, they did what they had to do to come into a difficult place to play and get three points, three goals, and a shutout. On this difficult road trip, I told them after the game that I thought we were growing, learning, and we got some points to boot.”

It wasn’t quite a textbook display, Penn recorded three of the first four shots in the contest as the hosts opened the brighter of the two sides and it tested Greg Ranjitsingh regularly with Louisville shot-stopper having to record four key saves either side of halftime to keep the side’s two-goal advantage. Unlike its previous four outings, though, Louisville’s defense bent but didn’t break to record its 10th shutout of the season.

“I’ve been really impressed with him,” said Hackworth of Ranjitsingh. “I thought he was excellent in all phases of the game and managed it well. Clearly, he made big saves, but he also came out and collected numerous different services into the box. It’s always an advantage when you have a goalkeeper who can come out and collect those and win some 1v1 duels.” 


Louisville City FC goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh recorded his 10th shutout of the season in the side's 3-0 win against Penn FC. | Photo courtesy Penn FC

Once Paolo DelPiccolo’s opening goal from a floated free kick by Shaun Francis found the net in the 25th minute, however, the visitors kept their foot on the gas and quickly scored a second, a perfectly-struck half-volley by Niall McCabe that picked out the top-left corner to take control of the game. McCabe’s goal arrived off a cross by New York City FC loanee Jonathan Lewis, who got his name in the box score in his debut for the club.

Arrivals like that of Lewis allowed for Lancaster to take a place on the bench, where he got to enjoy the show rather than be part of it for a night. The 21-year-old Lewis certainly seemed to fit in as well as another recent loanee from NYCFC, James Sands, as he was tidy in possession, created two chances including the finish by McCabe and recorded four interceptions as Louisville absorbed pressure regularly, with Penn holding 61 percent of possession and an 18-11 shots advantage.

“We brought [Jonathan] in because we needed to rest guys and rotate our roster,” said Hackworth. “Jonathan coming in and being here on only his fourth day, it was really an impressive performance by him because he contributed and did a lot of work and was successful in the end.”

With the Charleston Battery held to a 1-1 draw by the Charlotte Independence, the night was a positive one for Louisville elsewhere in the Eastern Conference as it looks to lock down a fourth consecutive top-two finish in the conference standings. Third-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC will have something to say about that as it now holds a game in hand while sitting a point back of LouCity, but Louisville is expecting to return home for its clash with Ottawa Fury FC – another side fighting for its playoff life – on Saturday night and reestablish itself at Slugger Field after going five games without a win on home turf dating back to July.

“We know that we have to get better at Slugger Field and we’ve all been disappointed in the lack of us getting points there even though we’ve felt like we’ve played some good games there,” said Hackworth. “Our focus is on making sure that we control everything we can on our end and learn from our past experiences to put on another good performance on Saturday night.” 

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