Shorthanded Louisville City holds off U of L

A friendly between the new Louisville City Football Club and University of Louisville soccer team Wednesday included a number of moments that were, simply, not so friendly.

But by the time Louisville City FC started playing 10 vs. 11 in the second half because of an agressive challenge in the 69th minute, the new USL club led and actually tacked on to its advantage for a 3-0 victory at Cardinal Park.

"We know it was a friendly, but we've heard a lot about the University of Louisville and their soccer team and the kind of precedent of soccer in Louisville," said forward Matt Fondy. "We wanted to come out here and show them that there is a professional team, and we've been doing this for a while."

Midfielder Magnuss Rasmussen opened scoring in the 25th minute on a pass from Kadeem Dacres, then assisted Fondy's goal in the 39th. A trial player tacked on to the lead in the 86th minute on a header from Fondy.

All the while, another trialist successfully defended four U of L shots on goal as the Cardinals moved to 0-1 in their spring season.

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"Obviously, they're a good team. They've been at it a bit," said U of L coach Ken Lolla. "They're organized. They're well-coached, and for us, the physical demands -- this being our first game of the spring -- was tough on us."

Rasmussen, though not assigned a red card, didn't finish the game after colliding with U of L midfielder Romilio Hernandez on a slide in the 53rd minute. Players on both sides exchanged shoves, but the hostility didn't escalate beyond that. In the 69th minute, Hernandez made an aggressive attack on a Louisville City FC player and was assigned a warning.

"It's a great challenge for us to play with 10 men, so all in all, we're pleased," said Louisville City FC coach James O'Connor. "Magnuss is a young boy, so he learned from that experience. I apologized to Ken. It's a reckless tactic, but I think that boy is OK."

Cardinal Park, which seats 2,200, was nearly full for Louisville City FC's first game played in its hometown. The California native Fondy, who played last season with Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire, has cemented himself as a player to watch.

After scoring a pair of goals in an exhibition last week at Indiana University, Fondy already has three total ahead of Louisville City FC's March 28 season opener against St. Louis FC. Game time for the matchup at Louisville Slugger Field was announced Wednesday as 3 p.m. so as to not conflict with the NCAA tournament.