LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a 1-1 draw between the Charlotte Independence and New York Red Bulls II opened the door for Louisville City FC to clinch a playoff spot early Saturday night, the defending USL Cup champion ensured a chance to defend its title as the side cruised to a 4-0 home victory over Ottawa Fury FC at Slugger Field.

The visitors didn’t do themselves any favors in their own bid to make the postseason as Fury FC finished the match with just nine men. Nana Attakora was sent off by referee Matthew Franz just before halftime for foul and abusive language and Kevin Oliveira also made an early exit after receiving a red card for violent conduct in the 58th minute.

“When you’re up two guys like that, it’s your game,” said Louisville midfielder George Davis IV. “And I thought we had the run of play before they had men sent off so when they went a man down and then two men down, it was up to us to be smart. I was on a yellow card so I had to not get into anything or get myself sent off and just move the ball, rotate the ball and we knew more chances would come.”

Louisville hadn’t been able to open the scoring before Attakora’s sending off but made the most of its numerical advantage and set piece opportunities shortly thereafter as the home side picked up three pivotal points in its chase for the second spot in the Eastern Conference. Two minutes after Davis IV gave LouCity the lead in first-half stoppage time, Cameron Lancaster headed home his 20th goal of the season from Oscar Jimenez’s free kick to give his side a comfortable lead at the break.

Jimenez played provider from a set piece again 20 minutes after Oliveira’s red card, delivering an in-swinging corner kick for Alexis Souahy to nod past Fury FC goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau for the hosts’ third goal of the evening. Louisville Head Coach John Hackworth was pleased with his side’s execution from dead ball opportunities as it scored from a set piece for the third consecutive contest.

“It’s just stuff that you work on on the training pitch,” Hackworth said. “And we have good delivery, we have good runs. We have guys that are playing the ball and executing. So I always think that's an important thing that we emphasize it and we’ve executed it.”

SATURDAY NIGHT BIKE: Tucker Hume’s overhead kick got Nashville SC off to a picture-perfect start against the Charleston Battery on Saturday night at a rainy First Tennessee Park, but the hosts couldn’t hold onto the three points they needed to climb into the Eastern Conference playoff places as the two sides settled for a 1-1 draw.

The ball bounced kindly for Hume in the penalty area in the eighth minute and the forward decided to attempt an ambitious strike, which squirmed through the hands of Charleston goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper into the back of the net.

“I thought I should just kick it up behind me and then maybe the goalie won’t expect it and you know he didn’t expect it to come, because he let it slip through his arms,” Hume said. “It was a cool feeling scoring a bicycle goal, I’m not going to lie.”

Unfortunately for Hume and Nashville, the goal didn’t stand to be the winner as the Battery battled back to equalize through Tah Anunga in the 24th minute and held strong after going down a man in the 60th minute when Patrick Okonkwo was sent off for violent conduct. NSC Head Coach Gary Smith went for the win with two attacking substitutions late in the second half, but his side – as it has throughout the season – was unable to turn its dominance in possession into goals as it registered just a single shot on target in the match.

“We found ourselves trying to win the game in one half of the field, and although we were a man up, lots of credit to them and the way they defended,” Smith said. “I’m not sure I could have gotten many more attackers on the field to try and get the job done.”

Smith felt that the elements didn’t help his side when it came to producing quality combination play in the final third and hopes his side can be more clinical on Wednesday when Nashville plays its game in hand against ATL UTD 2 at Coolray Field.

“We’d like to take advantage of that and put ourselves back in a very good spot,” Smith said.

IT'S NOT ALWAYS PRETTY: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC battled for a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Indy Eleven at Highmark Stadium on Saturday, which kept the side in control of its destiny for a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference with five games to go.

Pittsburgh scored twice in a three-minute span just after halftime to take control of the game as Ben Zemanski reacted first to fire home a deflected cross from the middle of the penalty area before Neco Brett pounced on a rebound after a short goalmouth scramble.

“I think we were a little bit more aggressive,” Zemanski said. “We were getting to loose balls. We were making aggressive forward runs. We put them under a lot of pressure and we were rewarded for it.”

Kenardo Forbes rounded out the scoring for the hosts with a stoppage time penalty, sandwiched between both Indy goals, to give his side a gritty win. After the match, Riverhounds SC Head Coach Bob Lilley was pleased with all aspects of the result, even the ugly nature of his team’s offensive output.

“I like getting garbage goals,” Lilley said. “Getting guys in the box to score off of loose balls. We got two tonight. We seldom get any.”

DEFENSE SHINES LIKE STEEL: Bethlehem Steel FC sent out the youngest lineup in club history and reaped dividends with a 4-0 victory over Toronto FC II on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Stadium.

The result moved Bethlehem into fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings as the side maintained a four-point gap above the chasing pack with just three games remaining. Steel FC also managed to keep an attacking-minded TFC II outfit – which had scored nine times in the prior three games – off the scoresheet.

“[Keeping a clean sheet] is what we talked about all week,” said Bethlehem Head Coach Brendan Burke. “We wanted to make sure that we shut down a team that’s been one of the hottest in the league in terms of producing goals and I think we accomplished that. We could have limited their chances a little bit more but that would be nitpicking.”

Steel FC will try to take that momentum into Sunday’s contest at Ottawa Fury FC and hope that the sides with games in hand behind it – like Nashville SC and North Carolina FC – drop points during the week.