Cameron Lancaster continued his goalscoring streak but Louisville City FC had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home against the Charleston Battery on Wednesday night. 

Lancaster found the net for the third straight game to put LouCity ahead in the 68th minute, tying Hadji Barry for second all-time in the USL Championship with 79 career regular-season goals.

The English striker calmly finished a flick-on from Dylan Mares, showing his poaching instincts inside the box. Lancaster has spearheaded the recent uptick in LouCity’s attacking form.

However, City couldn’t hold on for all three points as Charleston equalized just 12 minutes later through Emilio Ycaza. The Battery attacker got on the end of a Fidel Barajas cross to deny the home side a fourth straight win.

“Once we got the goal, I felt we dropped off a little bit,” said LouCity coach Danny Cruz. “We conceded a little too much possession.”

The match was played in driving rain that drenched the pitch midway through the first half. While the conditions deteriorated, both teams still created numerous chances in an open, end-to-end contest.

The draw leaves LouCity and Charleston in fourth and second place respectively in the tight Eastern Conference standings. For two top playoff contenders, a share of the points seemed a fair result.

Cruz felt his side produced a “pretty good game” overall, generating quality looks through service in wide areas. The first half in particular offered positives to build on.

Injury concerns to Brian Ownby and Amadou Dia took a bit of shine off the performance. However, LouCity will need to shuffle the deck with a quick turnaround before hosting Rio Grande Valley FC on Saturday in a must-win match.

Earning wins against fellow playoff hopefuls is crucial at this stage of the season. The boys in purple will hope to translate their strong overall play into maximum points as they jostle for playoff seeding down the stretch.

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