Louisville City FC's Niall McCabe looks to elude a One Knoxville SC opponent during Saturday's preseason contest between the clubs. | Photo courtesy Em-Dash Photography / Louisville City FC
Louisville City FC was held to a 2-2 draw by One Knoxville SC on Saturday afternoon in a preseason contest at Thurman-Hutchins Park which saw the expansion USL League One club rally to earn a result after LouCity had scored twice in the early stages.
“The ideas and executing the game plan were really good in the first half – the first 35 minutes,” said LouCity Head Coach Danny Cruz. “But you can’t leave teams open to get an opportunity, and they took it. When they did that, the momentum changed.
“We’ve talked a lot about that – when the momentum changes, making sure we understand that and continue pushing forward at the level we expect.”
LouCity struck twice off set pieces, with the opening goal coming in the seventh minute when Wilson Harris flicked in a Niall McCabe free kick from the right. The hosts doubled their lead in the 20th minute after being awarded an indirect free kick inside the One Knox penalty area. Harris had his blast from an indirect free kick blocked before Enoch Mushagalusa scored on the rebound.
Knoxville pulled a goal back back in the 34th minute after LouCity turned over possession in the defensive third, allowing Matthew Vowinkel to smoothly finish the visitors’ only shot of the opening half. Derek Waldeck then claimed a 90th-minute equalizer to earn the visitors a result.
“I certainly wasn’t happy with the response after halftime, and I’m not happy with the second goal,” Cruz said. “We’ll review it, and we got some answers today which is good for us.”