September 21, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release
Louisville City FC Forward Ray Serrano
(Louisville City FC, Source: Drew Hill)
Louisville City FC, coming off its best season in club history, will return to ESPN2 viewers on Sunday when they travel to Detroit City FC at 3 p.m. ET.
LouCity has won eight of its last nine games, and with another win, the boys in purple will have won nine of their last 10 games, matching their 2020 and 2022 seasons.
City (20-5-2, 62 points) continues to play for the bigger picture of history, starting this weekend six points behind the Charleston Battery, the top-ranked team in the USL Championship.
By remaining in first place, LouCity will capture its first Players’ Shield, the only trophy the league has missed out on. It also means the No. 1 playoff seed and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
The boys in purple must play seven regular season games before the playoffs begin the weekend of November 1-3.
Detroit City (11-8-9, 42 points) will look for revenge this Sunday at Keyes Stadium. On May 29, LouCity handed Detroit its biggest lopsided result of the season, beating them 5-1 at Lynn Family Stadium. Back in the 2023 playoffs, City also eliminated Detroit with a 4-0 win.
Detroit has focused on defense to maintain fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, and has scored multiple goals in just one of its last 14 games. LouCity boasts one of the league’s best offenses, but has also dominated its opponents in its most recent wins, winning both games 1-0.
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– The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN Louisville’s AM 680/FM 105.7.
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Player Availability Report
Jorge Gonzalez (out)
Aiden McFadden (out, concussion protocol)
Brian Ownby (out)
Adrian Perez (out, illness)
Story line…
Playoff Situation: In addition to a six-point lead over Charleston, LouCity is two games ahead of the Battery. The boys in purple are already in the top four, meaning they will host the playoff opener, and a win on Sunday would guarantee them at least second place in the Eastern Conference. Then the race for first place officially begins.
Players Shield Race: Looks like it’s going to be a drop down to the East. LouCity (62 points in 27 games) and Charleston (56 points in 29 games) are keeping a distance from Western Conference leader New Mexico United (51 points in 27 games). Charleston lost last time out at Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, while New Mexico also had a rough start, losing 1-0 away at Detroit.
Record-breaking pace: LouCity continues to compete for the best record in USL Championship history (both set by Phoenix Rising FC’s 2019 team) in points and goals in a single season. Phoenix has earned 78 points (2.29 per game) and scored 89 goals (2.62 per game). In contrast, City has averaged 2.29 points per game, scored 68 goals, and scored 2.55 goals per game.
Club records: LouCity’s three best records will affect this season: single season wins (22 in 2022), points (72 in 2022) and goals scored (71 in 2018). City currently have 20 wins, 62 points and 69 goals, and there is plenty of time to break the previous records in each category.
IMPORTANT WIN: LouCity achieved 20 wins in a season for the second time in 2022 with its win over FC Tulsa on Saturday. The City team is the 13th to reach 20 wins in a single season, joining Phoenix (2019, 2021) and Tampa Bay Rowdies (2021, 2022) as the only club to do so in multiple seasons. The boys in purple are four wins shy of the league single-season record of 24, held by Phoenix (2019) and San Antonio FC (2022).
Breakthrough rookie: Elizabethtown, Kentucky native Janson Wilson has had a flying start in the Purple. He scored the winner in Lucity’s 1-0 win over FC Tulsa on Saturday, giving him nine goals this season and seven in his last seven games in all competitions. The increase in production coincides with Wilson’s transition from wing-back to a three-man attack.
Lockdown: LouCity is at the top of the standings on offense. It’s their defense that keeps them there. The purple-clad players have not allowed a shot on target in back-to-back games for the first time in club history. Overall, that’s a record of 194 minutes since their 6-4 upset win over North Carolina FC on August 31.
Goal Finding: LouCity has scored in nine consecutive games, the joint-longest stretch of the season, and has done so in 25 of their 27 games. Eight players have scored at least four goals, something only two teams have done before in the USL Championship. Portland Timbers 2 have nine players who have scored four goals, while Reno 1868 have eight, both in 2019.
GETTING HEALTHY: Coach Danny Cruz often stresses the importance of creating competition for game time in training. He is in a better position now, as the club’s availability report is as short as it has been this year. Jorge Gonzalez and Brian Ownby are still out with long-term leg injuries, while Aiden McFadden will miss Sunday’s game after coming off as a first-half concussion substitute in the FC Tulsa win.
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