Saturday night’s Prinx Tires USL Cup opener at Lynn Family Stadium provided early intrigue but ultimately ended in a comfortable victory for Louisville City FC.
Fort Wayne FC, the visitors from USL League One, took an early lead, only for LouCity to open the throttle late in the second half en route to a 3-1 win before 8,876 fans in Butchertown in the first group stage game of the inter-league tournament.
The win is LouCity’s third straight across all competitions — dating to last week’s U.S. Open Cup win over Austin FC of Major League Soccer — and it puts LouCity on the front foot in the tournament, albeit in second place.
With Lexington defeating Forward Madison SC 4-2, Louisville’s in-state rivals will leave the tournament’s first weekend in first place in Group Four, with total goals scored serving as the first tiebreaker in the competition.
“I thought we were strong in the second half and deserved the win,” LouCity interim head coach Simon Bird said. “(I’m) really disappointed in the first half, disappointed in the start. We conceded a really poor goal.”
Frenchman Lilian Ricol scored Fort Wayne’s opener in the fifth minute, creating a nervous stir among the purple-clad faithful. The former UCF Knight raced past the LouCity defense to get on the end of a long ball, lifting it over a rushing Danny Faundez in the Louisville goal.
LouCity midfielder Zach Duncan responded almost instantly, however, when he picked off a pass in the Fort Wayne end, then finished with power past German goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann in the eighth minute.
With six changes to the lineup from last week’s 1-0 win over Sporting JAX, Bird lamented the team’s first-half performance, but applauded his team’s output in the second period.
“I didn’t think we had the right intensity, the right energy, weren’t winning duels,” Bird said of the difference between halves in the game. “I thought second half we came out better, and as a coach, you just want response, and I thought they responded pretty well.”
The deadlock remained into the second half, when LouCity’s depth turned the tide.
Substitutes Ray Serrano and Manny Perez combined in the 76th minute, as Serrano tapped in Perez’s cross from point-blank range to give LouCity the lead. It was Serrano’s second goal of the season and Perez’s third assist.
“We knew there was going to be rotation coming into this game, so I just kept my head down and kept working and I knew I was going to get my shot eventually in the game,” Serrano said. He called his point-blank finish, “right place, right time.”
Then, just five minutes later in the 81st minute, another substitute, Jansen Wilson, contributed by delivering a free kick to the near post, where LouCity captain Kyle Adams flicked it over the line.
“I think the the subs definitely made an impact in the game,” Adams said.
LouCity will need to move on quickly, with another cup match awaiting on Wednesday. Louisville will travel to Texas to take on the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 at 8 p.m. ET.
“We can’t go down a goal in the first five minutes of a game like that,” Adams said. “(If) we perform like that against Houston, it’s going to be a long night for us.”
A playoff rematch follows next weekend, with a trip to Detroit City FC on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
LouCity will return home on May 9 to face the defending champion Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Fittingly with the ‘Hounds in town, it will be Pups at the Pitch night. For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/pups.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Fort Wayne FC
Date: April 25, 2026
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 74 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 8,876
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1, 2, 3)
Fort Wayne FC (1, 0, 1)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
8′ Zach Duncan
76′ Ray Serrano (Manny Perez)
81′ Kyle Adams (Jansen Wilson)
Fort Wayne FC:
5′ Lilian Ricol (Javier Armas)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 12 – Danny Faundez, 13 – Amadou Dia, 32 – Kyle Adams (c) (86′ 28 – Cameron Duke), 5 – Brandon Dayes, 16 – Carlos Moguel Jr., 23 – Sam Gleadle (45′ 15 – Manny Perez), 19 – Babacar Niang, 6 – Zach Duncan (45′ 8 – Taylor Davila), 21 – Quenzi Huerman (45′ 25 – Jansen Wilson), 47 – Mukwelle Akale (76′ 7 – Ray Serrano), 9 – Chris Donovan
Subs not used: 30 – Ryan Troutman; 14 – Tola Showunmi, 27 – Evan Davila, 97 – Thomas Weinrich
Interim Head Coach: Simon Bird
Fort Wayne FC: 1 – Bernd Schipmann; 30 – Ian Abbey (70′ 2 – Jayden Smith), 86 – Javier Armas, 8 – Jeremy Garay (86′ 22 – Anthony Hernandez), 11 – Taig Healy (70′ 9 – Daniel Oyetunde), 6 – JP Jordan, 13 – Michael Rempel, 7 – Lilian Ricol, 4 – Tiago Dias (c), 19 – Juan Solis (78′ 5 – Reid Sproat), 23 – Jack Thomas (86′ 34 – Trace Terry)
Subs not used: 12 – Kabiru Gafar, 27 – Alex Grow
Head Coach: Mike Avery
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Fort Wayne FC
Shots: 17 / 7
Shots on Goal: 5 / 3
Expected goals: 1.89 / 0.4
Possession: 49.5% / 50.5%
Fouls: 10 / 14
Offside: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 6 / 2
Discipline Summary:
Louisville City FC:
28′ Quenzi Huerman (yellow)
50′ Amadou Dia (yellow)
Fort Wayne FC:
29′ Michael Rempel (yellow)
80′ JP Jordan (yellow)
90′ Tiago Dias (yellow)
Referee: Thomas Snyder
