Phoenix Rising FC falls short in USL Cup final
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Phoenix Rising FC’s bid for its first United Soccer League championship came up just short.
Louisville City FC forward Luke Spencer’s 62nd-minute goal was the difference in Thursday’s USL Cup final. With the 1-0 victory, Louisville City became the first team in league history to win back-to-back USL Cups.
“I’ll always be able to remember watching them raise their Cup. That’s a moment I won’t ever forget. It’s burned in my memory,” said Phoenix head coach Rick Schantz. “It’s going to be drive and desire and passion to get back here and lift that cup ourselves.”
On a frigid night at Lynn Stadium on the University of Louisville campus, 7,025 fans braved the cold to watch what was a tightly contested match the entire way.
After heading to the half scoreless, Louisville broke the tie on Spencer’s score. Defender Oscar Jimenez served the ball into the far 18-yard box on a corner kick. The ball bounced around and landed at the feet of Spencer, a forward, who blasted into the bottom left corner.
“It came out to me and I got a toe on it, but I think I could have done better,” said Louisville City midfielder and captain Paolo DelPiccolo said. “It set up really nicely for Luke and he took it very, very well.”
Spencer started in place of forward Cameron Lancaster, the team’s leading scorer, who missed the game after suffering a hamstring injury in last week’s Eastern Conference final.
Phoenix was also playing without its leading scorer, forward Chris Cortez, who reportedly also suffered a hamstring injury, this one during practice.
Phoenix had a number of chances to tie toward the end, including a near-bicycle kick by captain Didier Drogba in the 89th minute. The former Chelsea F.C. star, possibly playing in his final game, whiffed on his attempt off a dangerous cross.
The team had additional opportunities to score throughout the match, including a few from Drogba. His best chance came in the first half, when he put a free kick on net from 10 yards in front of the half-way line.
After the game, Schantz addressed the future of his star, who is also a partowner of his team.
“We haven’t that had much of a discussion yet. The only thing we said after the game is I apologized for not giving him the cup,” Schantz said. “In true Didier Drogba fashion, he said, ‘Well done, Coach. Keep your head up.’ “
Louisville almost scored again in the 67th minute on an incredible individual play by Brian Ownby. The midfielder took the ball at his own end and dodged several defenders before the ball was knocked away for a corner kick in the opposing 18-yard box.
The team’s head coach, John Hackworth, said the teams were very even, except his squad “moved the ball better than they did.”
“I thought that we were able to unbalance them with our ball movement and also our movement off the ball,” Hackworth said. “Once you move a team that much, there’s going to be gaps. We always talk about that — when we create space, we attack it. That’s exactly what we tried to do.”