In its first game back at Slugger Field this season, Louisville City FC picked right back up where it was a year ago — and the previous four years.

The back-to-back United Soccer League champions opened their fifth and final home campaign at the stadium with a 2-1 win against expansion club, Hartford Athletic, on Saturday. They've won two in a row in 2019 after a season-opening blowout loss.

It also pushed their home win streak to seven, dating back to last year's regular season and postseason. They're now 3-1-1 all-time in regular-season home openers.

"I think it's a good win," Louisville City head coach John Hackworth said. "Not a way we necessarily wanted to play in the second half. But the way they were playing, we just had to dig our heels in and fight through some tough moments and defend a lot of direct play. I'm proud of the team for doing that. That was difficult."

In front of 8,561 fans, a new Slugger Field record for a home opener, Louisville City (2-1-0) withstood both an early and late onslaught from Hartford (0-3-0) on Saturday.

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Hartford forward Jonathan Brown put his team on the board in the sixth minute after burying a cross past diving LouCity goalie Ben Lundt. Brown's goal marked just the team's second goal in history, and first that did not come from a penalty kick.

Louisville City struck back just eight minutes later thanks to the left foot of forward Luke Spencer. He blasted a one-touch rocket from the top of the 18-yard box to the far corner off a lay-off pass from midfielder Magnus Rasmussen.

The goal was Spencer's first of the season, and first since last year's USL Cup, a 1-0 win against Phoenix Rising FC. He called the score a "decent bit of play."

"I had to be patient and connected well with it," he said. "That felt good to see the ball go in the back of the net."

Louisville City took the lead for good in the 33rd minute. Midfielder Brian Ownby stole the ball near midfield and streaked toward the goal. His shot-cross was deflected in for an own goal by Hartford Athletic defender Sem de Wit.

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That would be enough for Louisville City, despite a heavy second-half push from Hartford. Hartford coach Jimmy Nielsen said they were the "better team in the second half."

"We bounced back, made a big individual mistake, but I believe we bounced back well," Nielsen said. "But now this is three games, three losses and I don’t want to be the guy who is standing there happy with the performance because at the end of the day we are all getting evaluated by how many points we have."

Louisville City made several changes its starting lineup on Saturday, the result of a combination of injuries, International call-ups, team departures and match-ups.

Three players — Sunny Jane, Shaun Francis, and Speedy Williams — were with their international teams. Captain and midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo missed the game because of an injury. The team is also without midfielder Jose Carranza, who is no longer with the club since last weekend in what was called a "team decision."

Hackworth declined to comment about the departure after the game, only adding that he wishes Carranza the best and hopes "he finds his way."

Two players received their first starts this season — Rasmussen and forward Abdou Mbacke Thiam, while defenders Taylor Peay and Pat McMahon made their season debuts as substitutes.

"I do think it's really important early in the year to get guys minutes, match-minutes specifically," Hackworth said. "I've said it before: I think we're deep and we're going to have to call upon on our roster at times this year, so the more guys you get minutes, it's valuable."

Rasmussen, a Denmark native, was able to get playing time against a number of his fellow countrymen, including Nielsen, the Hartford coach, who he had played against.

He said that part was enjoyable, adding that there was trash talk, "but I'll keep that for myself." But the more enjoyable part was contributing to the team's "winning culture."

"Our team is very competitive in training," he said. "Everybody wants to get involved and everyone wants to win. So for me it doesn't really matter who we put on the field. Everybody is fully prepared and everyone wants to buy in."

Since it began play in 2015, Louisville City now has a record of 36-10-17 in the regular season and 10-0-0 in the postseason at Slugger Field.

Before the game, the team honored the club's late founder, Wayne Estopinal, who died in the offseason in a plane crash, with a moment of silence. The team also wore black armbands that read, "R.W.E."

The announced attendance Saturday broke the previous record for a home-opener crowd of 7,933 fans that was set in a March 17, 2018, win against Nashville SC.

Spencer said the home crowd is important, and was especially on Saturday, as the team withstood one last push from Hartford in the last 10 minutes.

"It really does provide that energy that we need," he said.

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Louisville City will play the rest of its 2019 season home matches at Slugger Field before moving into a soccer-specific season next year in Butchertown. That includes next Saturday, a 7 p.m. matchup against another expansion club, Birmingham Legion FC.

Justin Sayers: 502-582-4252; jsayers@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @_JustinSayers. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/justins.