LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For a summary of LouCity FC's 2-1 loss to FC Tulsa on Wednesday before a record weeknight crowd of 11,434 in Lynn Family Stadium, we turn to the wisdom of the late Louisville basketball coach Denny Crum, who was no authority on soccer but knew a thing or two about teams and games and momentum.
One of his favorite sayings: "Stop dinking around!"
On Wednesday, LouCity took a 1-0 lead, but dinked around and let its struggling opponent draw even in the 77th minute when Eric Bird scored on a counterattack. Soon after the visitors took the lead in minute No. 89 when Eric Goodrum, recently obtained via trade with Memphis 901 FC, struck a loose ball in the box into the goal.
FC Tulsa, which had won just once in 11 outings this season, and that just shy of a month ago, walked away with a hard-won victory in one of the USL's toughest road venues, and LouCity — which was unbeaten in its past five matches coming in — was left with only itself to blame.
LouCity FC's Wilson Harris looks for a call after a collision in the first half of a 2-1 loss to FC Tulsa on May 24, 2023.
"You give them a little bit of hope, and they have nothing to lose," defender Sean Totsch said. "Things haven't been going their way. They make some changes to the team, some new guys come in, and they get a little bit of life. We said going into this game, while the results haven't been going their way, they've been getting unlucky. They're a good team. But we should have taken care of that game sooner."
LouCity was dominant in the first half, but had only one goal to show for it, a 29th minute strike by Gorge Gonzalez off a service from Manny Perez.
It could've been more. The Boys in Purple conceded only a pair of first-half shots, but squandered opportunities in their own attacking third. For the game, they outshot Tulsa 19-9.
But that dinking around ...
"In the first half, we held them to two shots in 45 minutes. That's difficult to do," coach Danny Cruz said. "Second half, we came out flat, then we started to fatigue. And then we misseda couple of big chances. You continue to keep an opponent in the game and things like that can happen. So, I thought we got impatient. I thought once they scored the first goal, we got unorganized and we were trying to be desperate to go for the second. You know, I was screaming from the sidelines to the group not to sell out, to try to keep the ball, that the goal will come. But we got desperate. And we weren't good enough in front of goal. Obviously, we created a ton. I think we had 19 chances. And it wasn't good enough."
Playing for just the second time this month and first time since May 13, LouCity had taken advantage of the opportunity to get healthy, and with a quick turnaround at Indy Eleven looming on Saturday, Cruz tried to take advantage by a change in the lineup, with Gonzalez and Perez entering. In the end, Cruz said he wound up subbing both out because of fatigue.
Images from LouCity FC's 2-1 loss to FC Tulsa on May 24, 2023.
"It's a difficult opponent coming up and a difficult place to go," Cruz said of Saturday's game. "This was a difficult result — a performance where I thought we created probably the most chances we have this year, no question about it. But we're missing from two yards out and three yards out. We need to turn around quickly, so the guys will be in tomorrow. We'll try to get our bodies right. We need to make sure we respond on Saturday.
"... Ultimately, you know, I made some decisions tonight that that I think are difficult ones. But some guys didn't take advantage of opportunity. And I'm sure they're going to have that in the back of my head moving forward."
Now, instead of taking advantage of opportunity, the veteran team is left to learn the lesson that even good teams and seasoned players can panic and lose their edge in a moment – regardless of opponent.
"You have to take your chances," Totsch said. "If you leave any team in it, they're going to get something. It'll bounce their way, or a call goes their way and they get that momentum. Keeping that game at 1-0 when we should have been up 2 or 3-0, a lot of guys will say that they should have finished chances."
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