Here’s what to know ahead of kickoff between Louisville City FC and San Diego Loyal at 10 p.m. Saturday at Torero Stadium.
Follow along: For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find us at louisvillecityfc on Instagram. Saturday’s game will air on MyTV and stream via ESPN+ and the WDRB Now app. Listen to live radio coverage from Jeff Milby and Casey Whitfield on ESPN 680/105.7 or at ESPNLouisville.com.
Battle of the best: Saturday won’t just mark a tilt between the two sides atop the Eastern and Western conference standings. It’s also a meeting of the league’s hottest attack, San Diego, and its most potent defense in LouCity. San Diego — which has five wins, a draw and a loss — leads the USL Championship with 16 regular-season goals while City’s one goal conceded is the fewest in the league.
Locking down: Speaking of LouCity’s defense, it’s hard to concede goals when you’re allowing the opposition so few quality shots. While goalkeeper Kyle Morton has come up big, he hasn’t had to do so very often. Through six league games, a LouCity back line largely led by Amadou Dia, Wes Charpie, Josh Wynder and Manny Perez has only allowed 12 shots on target. The club’s five clean sheets lead the USL Championship.
Strike first: LouCity head coach Danny Cruz often says he expects his team to start with the right mentality and maintain that energy for all 90 minutes. That was certainly the case on Sunday afternoon, when City scored in the fourth minute at Loudoun United FC, with Wilson Harris netting LouCity’s earliest goal of the season. LouCity’s defense didn’t allow the hosts a shot in the first 45 minutes, either.
Fear the beard: Attacker Brian Ownby’s impressive run of form to start the season continued last Sunday when he netted a 53rd-minute goal – his second of the season – to secure City’s 2-0 win at Loudoun. Ownby broke through the hosts’ back line to gather a well-placed pass from Charpie and chipped the goalkeeper from well outside the box. The 31-year-old earned back-to-back Man of the Match performances on the road, previously claiming the honor in the 0-0 draw at Birmingham Legion FC.
Up for the Cup: Both LouCity and San Diego will face quick turnarounds from Saturday’s game to go back into Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play. Loyal travels to play Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy on Tuesday, while the boys in purple host MLS Next Pro’s St. Louis CITY SC in a Third Round game on Wednesday. LouCity advanced out of the Second Round — its first game in the national championship knockout competition — with an April 6 win over USL League One’s Chattanooga Red Wolves SC.
Cam’s way back: While there is still no timeline for the return of LouCity star striker Cameron Lancaster, Cruz said recently that the Englishman returned to training with the team in a limited capacity. The boys in purple have been without their 2021 leading scorer since he suffered a hamstring injury in the final minutes of the team’s last preseason game. In the time Lancaster has missed, the 22-year-old Harris has proved to be up to the challenge, scoring four goals across all competitions.
A mainstay returns: Niall McCabe made his season debut for LouCity in its Open Cup victory over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC last Wednesday and followed that up with a late substitution at Loudoun on Sunday. McCabe, who now boasts 176 league games played for City, is the only member of the inaugural team in 2015 to stay with the club through all eight campaigns. The Irishman missed the start of the season while recovering from a non-COVID-19-related illness.
