Louisville City Update: LCFC Wins Again, Experiences Ownership Drama

ESPN soccer analyst Taylor Twellman likes to say that strikers on the highest level have to take their chances when they get them because chances — at least according to Twellman — are few and far between in the upper echelon of the game. While no one is saying that Louisville City striker Matt Fondy is one of the best strikers in the world, he would have made Twellman proud on Saturday when he scored with one of the first chances of the match in Louisville’s 3-1 win over the Charleston Battery at Louisville Slugger Field.

After 45 defensive minutes between second-place Louisville and third-place Charleston, which saw a clash of heads between LCFC players Juan Guzman and Conor Shanosky — resulting in a broken nose for the latter — and very few chances for either team, the Californian with the lavish locks found the back of the net to give the home side the lead heading into the halftime break.

"At that time in the game we were kinda struggling to get things going," Fondy said. "That gave us a little momentum to go into halftime and then come out stronger in the second."

The header came on an assist from ex-Orlando City player Bryan Burke. It was Burke’s eighth assist of the season — good for second in the USL.

The second half saw Louisville come out the more aggressive side, which resulted in a goal from Magnus Rasmussen and a second for Fondy.

However, Head Coach James O'Connor came out of a winning locker room in a foul mood as a result of what he called an "annoying" ending to the match, when Louisville allowed a Charleston goal int he 85th minute.

"I'm pretty annoyed with the last 15 minutes," he said. "I thought we should've kept a clean sheet. That part is disappointing. But overall, obviously, fantastic to win. [We] go nine points clear [of Charleston] with a game in hand. It's a huge achievement."

The Royals remain five points behind first-place Rochester which recorded a weekend victory. Louisville will continue a busy week when they take on Orlando City in a friendly tonight, before another home match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday.

Highlights from the win:

Plaque-gate and the Relationship Between LCFC and the Louisville Bats

Louisville City's vocal and prominent co-owner, Wayne Estopinal, poked the proverbial bear this week with this tweet, sparking a minor controversy between Louisville City and the AAA International League Louisville Bats, who are the main tenants of Louisville Slugger Field.

The plaque in question was to be hung in a very public area at Slugger Field, which displeased the Bats. In response, the Bats asked that the plaque be hung in a space that was approximately eight feet away, per the Courier Journal's Jonathan Lintner.

Estopinal also stepped into controversy this week when he mentioned to a local reporter that another another city is "courting" the franchise.

Estopinal likely did this to pour fuel on stadium talks, which have apparently begun. Per Estopinal's Twitter account, city officials met with Louisville City to discuss the possibility of a stadium, and the team has been working fervently to increase the public discourse on the subject overall.

Rivera Sits Out Again

Orlando City USL loanee Sidney Rivera again sat out for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds this week. The Old Dominion alum has yet to make his debut for Pittsburgh, his second loan stint with a USL club this season.