SAN ANTONIO — Louisville City FC ended its season Sunday having lifted a trophy this year — but not the trophy the boys in purple set out to raise. The Eastern Conference champions fell 3-1 in the USL Championship Final against San Antonio FC, falling short of adding a third star above the purple crest.

Brian Ownby’s 78th-minute goal was the only answer to the hosts’ relentless counter-attacking style.

A dominant side during a record-breaking regular season, LouCity faced a number of injury obstacles down the stretch. Golden Glove winner Kyle Morton was unavailable for the playoffs, and City got less than 90 minutes in the final from a trio of its top offensive threats: Ownby, Wilson Harris and Cameron Lancaster.

Still, Louisville managed to defeat Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in the conference semifinal and the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the conference final. The club now holds two league crowns (2017-2018) and four Eastern Conference titles (2017-2019, 2022).

"Congratulations to San Antonio. They do what they do very, very well," said LouCity coach Danny Cruz. "We had a lot of guys struggling physically, which dictated a little bit of our shape on the night."

The outlook was bleak for LouCity from the start. In just the second minute, San Antonio earned a penalty try when goalkeeper Danny Faundez tripped up Santiago Patiño at the edge of the box.

In a stroke of good luck for LouCity, Mitchell Taintor pulled the ensuing penalty wide. However, fortunes turned seconds before the halftime whistle when a header in the box glanced off Wes Charpie’s hand and let to another penalty kick. This time, Patiño converted, giving San Antonio a lead it held for good.

Samuel Adeniran skied for a headed goal in the 64th minute, and Patiño converted again in the 70th minute on a rampant San Antonio counter. Ownby — brought on for the second half — caught the opposing keeper off his line to cut into the deficit late, but the comeback ended there.

Established in 2016, San Antonio made this both its first USL Championship Final appearance and victory. The club is operated by the same ownership group as the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. A capacity crowd of more than 8,000 attempted Sunday’s game.

"There's a ton of disappointment over here with us," said LouCity team captain Paolo DelPiccolo. "I said before the game we'd have to impose our style a little bit to win the game, and I don't feel like we did that at all. We played their style of soccer and not ours. When that happens, that's what they're going to do. They're going to come out on top."