Daniel Karell | The Courier-Journal

Courtesy of Louisville City FC

Louisville City FC head coach James O'Connor has had enough with what he believes is the poor state of officiating in the United Soccer League.

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For the second consecutive home match, LouCity were on the end of controversial refereeing decisions that turned what looked to be two wins into a draw and a defeat. Speaking after LouCity's stunning 2-1 defeat to Orlando City B at home on Saturday night, O'Connor lashed out at referee Jon Freeman and his decision to award OCB a penalty kick in the 90th minute.

"For that to happen, for a penalty to be given like that, and to say it's soft...I mean if he's going to give a penalty for that, he should have given 10 penalties," O'Connor said in an emotional address to reporters. "And then literally, one minute later, the goalkeeper comes out and wipes Cameron Lancaster out of the game, and there's no penalty. Now, I'd never come out here and moan about the referees, but when you look at the Charleston game where the game is decided by the referee, and you have another game that is decided by the referee and now you go and ask can you speak to the officials to actually go through and explain their thinking, you're told you can't actually speak to them.

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"So when you get a situation like this, to say it's infuriating, it's beyond that. It's just not right, and it's not good enough that games get dictated by the referee, especially so late in the game. You speak about consistency, you speak about how guys work, you speak about all these things, and you get that."

OCB's Tyler Turner slotted home the penalty kick in second-half stoppage time low to his left past LouCity goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh to tie the score at 1-1, and a minute later, as O'Connor alluded to, LouCity attempted to retake the lead by chipping a floated ball into the box. An OCB defender headed the ball out of danger, but in the process, OCB goalkeeper Mark Ridgers dove to punch the ball away. Ridgers missed and took out his own defender as well as Lancaster. Freeman decided to play on.

Seconds later, on a counter attack, Keegan Smith put the dagger in LouCity hearts after his scuffed shot bounced over Ranjitsingh and in the net for a late winner.

O'Connor referenced LouCity's 1-1 draw with the Charleston Battery on July 9, their last home match, when LouCity conceded a goal in the 84th minute that led to a 1-1 draw. On the play, Charleston's Chris Tsonis appeared to knock the ball out of Ranjitsingh's hands while the Canadian goalkeeper was in possession, but a foul was not whistled by referee Michael Lavergne and Tsonis finished into an open net.

The LouCity coach called on the USL to provide answers as to why the referee wasn't available after the game and why there have been no reviews of controversial decisions.

"Hopefully somebody from the league will come on and actually start giving us some answers. Because when that happens (versus) Charleston no one actually speaks about it, it gets pushed under the carpet. And then we have it again tonight....you're asked to just accept it, just accept it. Well we accepted the one against Charleston where they called (a penalty) and it's a blatant foul on the goalkeeper where they knocked it out of his hands, and that's called and that's accepted. So at what point do we turn around and say that's not acceptable."

The Professional Referee Organization, the group that assigns referees to USL matches, was contacted but did not respond at the time of publication.

"I understand the frustration from our coaches and players," LouCity president Amanda Duffy said in a statement. "The league is reviewing the game and all events that occurred following the the game, and we will proceed as necessary and appropriate upon the completion of that review."