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Louisville City FC reaches USL Championship Final with extra-time win

brooks holton, louisville courier journal
·2 min read

Turns out, the third time was the charm for Louisville City FC.

After losing to Tampa Bay in back-to-back Eastern Conference finals, the boys in purple are headed to the USL Championship Final with a 1-0 win over the Rowdies in extra time Saturday night at Lynn Family Stadium.

Midfielder Elijah Wynder broke a 0-0 tie in the 107th minute with a goal off a corner kick from Oscar Jimenez. The ball ricocheted off several players in the box before the former Collegiate star gained control and sent it into the back of the net.

Louisville City FC:How the boys in purple pulled off improbable comeback to reach 8th straight conference final

After pulling off an improbable come-from-behind victory to reach its eighth consecutive Eastern Conference final, LouCity dealt with more adversity Saturday night. Midfielder Corben Bone was sent off with a red card in the 83rd minute, forcing the club to play a man down for the final 37 minutes.

“You never want to go down a man in a game like that, but with that group, I believed. I absolutely believed,” LouCity coach Danny Cruz said. “I asked them to believe before the game, and they did that. … We had guys who were fatigued. We had guys who worked their butts all night. But again, in this environment, with this fan base, it’s very difficult to lose a game in Lynn Family Stadium.”

Backup goalie Danny Faundez also came up big with a clean sheet in his second consecutive playoff start in relief of USL Gold Glove winner Kyle Morton.

The USL Championship Final will be held at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13. LouCity will play the winner of Sunday's Western Conference championship between San Antonio FC and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.

If San Antonio wins, the league final will be played in the Lone Star State. If Colorado wins, Lynn Family stadium will host.

Reach recruiting and trending sports reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville City FC reaches USL Championship Final with extra-time win