In Louisville City FC’s first game against a senior national team, a player making his first LouCity start scored his first goal for the club, as Louisville took a 1-0 victory over the Trinidad and Tobago men’s national team at Lynn Family Stadium.
Cameron Duke had played just 38 competitive minutes this season over two substitute appearances, but his goal Saturday punctuated an attack-minded LouCity performance in the unique friendly between a professional club and a national team.
“I haven’t had many opportunities this year to get minutes, but tonight was a great opportunity for me, and I just wanted to make the most of it,” Duke said. “Scoring a goal was incredible.”
With Trinidad and Tobago in town, the game featured a Caribbean flair. The 7,028 fans enjoyed specialty fare from local Afro-Caribbean restaurant Eden & Kissi as well as steel drum music from the Caribbean Melody Makers.
And like that pregame atmosphere, the game itself provided ample entertainment, with plenty of action to chew on — and dance to — for LouCity fans at least.
Louisville pushed forward all night, peppering the Trinidad and Tobago goal with chances. The boys in purple could’ve scored several more goals were it not for an eight-save performance from goalkeeper Jabari Brice.
Brice denied Louisville’s Tola Showunmi most frequently, with the English forward forcing five of those saves. The 29-year-old goalkeeper, who plays for Central FC in the TT Premier Football League, the country’s top division, made six stops in the first half alone.
“We need to finish chances and bury teams off,” LouCity interim head coach Simon Bird said. “When you look at the opportunities we missed throughout the game, we should have had a lot more. And we need more of a killer instinct to finish teams off.”
Jansen Wilson and Zach Duncan each found the back of the net in the first half, only to be denied by the referee’s whistle. Wilson had a deft, dinked finish, while Duncan blasted the ball off the crossbar, though neither counted.
After that bevy of first-half chances, it was Duke that put LouCity on the board. Ray Serrano calmly brought down a Manny Perez cross in the penalty area and turned, passing on his own scoring opportunity to set up Duke, who was wide open at the back post. The 25-year-old put it past Brice swiftly.
“You saw today what he can do when he’s on the pitch. He’s lively, he’s front foot, he runs at players, he makes things happen,” Bird said of Duke. “Defensively, I thought he had a really good game as well.”
Duke credited Serrano, saying, “He’s an unselfish player. He’s going to pass it to me and I just had to finish it.”
The second half saw more action, including a pair of quality saves from Brice, as well as three notable appearances.
LouCity Academy players Thomas Weinrich, Marty Wicinski and Cooper Conley came on late, with Wicinski and Conley making their debuts — Weinrich had played in the preseason. The trio performed well for LouCity’s USL League Two development squad this season, earning the chance to play with the senior team on Saturday.
Conley nearly scored in his senior LouCity debut, missing the far post by inches in the late stages.
The win marks LouCity’s third victory in a showpiece midseason friendly. LouCity is 3-5-0 such games, with the losses coming to the likes German powerhouse Eintracht Frankfurt and Spanish club CD Leganés.
The victory also gets LouCity’s new ‘Lightning’ third kit off to a winning start as the club debuted the new look in Saturday’s game — adding to the night of firsts.
LouCity will quickly return its attention to USL Championship play, with a regular season game on Wednesday against Birmingham Legion FC.
“All in all it was a good evening from that standpoint,” Bird said of his team’s readiness for that game. “Preparation for Wednesday is obviously vital for us, it was a vital part of tonight.”
The game is Fellowship Night — an evening tailor-made for church and spirit groups to gather as a community. For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/fellowship.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Trinidad and Tobago (Friendly)
Date: July 25, 2026
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium — Louisville, Ky.
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Weather: 74 degrees, rainy
Attendance: 7,028
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)
Trinidad and Tobago (0, 0, 0)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
43′ Cameron Duke (Ray Serrano)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 1 – Hugo Fauroux (78′ 30 – Ryan Troutman), 28 – Cameron Duke, 13 – Amadou Dia (64′ 3 – Jake Morris), 4 – Sean Totsch (45′ 31 – Kevon Lambert), 16 – Carlos Moguel Jr. (71′ 98 – Marty Wicinski), 15 – Manny Perez (64′ 23 – Sam Gleadle), 27 – Evan Davila (87′ 97 – Thomas Weinrich), 6 – Zach Duncan (45′ 8 – Taylor Davila), 25 – Jansen Wilson (34′ 7 – Ray Serrano), 21 – Quenzi Huerman, 14 – Tola Showunmi (64′ 47 – Mukwelle Akale)
Unused substitutes: 12 – Danny Faundez; 9 – Chris Donovan
Interim head coach: Simon Bird
Trinidad and Tobago: 1 – Jabari Brice, 23 – Kathon St. Hillaire (82′ 20 – Adasa Richardson), 5 – Samory Powder (70′ 2 – Jesse Williams), 3 – Jamali Garcia, 13 – Reon Moore (82′ 18 – Jariel Arthur), 17 – Justin García (c), 8 – Adriel George (59′ 14 – Caleb Borneo), 11 – Judah García, 19 – Shervohnez Hamilton (70′ 6 – Jaydon Caprietta), 9 – Daniel David (70′ 12 – Josiah Ochoa), 16 – Isaiah Lee (79′ 15 – Jaheim Faustin)
Unused substitutes: 21 – Teshorne Ragoo; 4 – Diego Nanton
Head coach: Derek King
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Trinidad and Tobago
Shots: 23 / 6
Shots on Goal: 10 / 1
Expected goals: 2.15 / 0.32
Possession: 55.1% / 45.9%
Fouls: 15 / 9
Offside: 3 / 0
Corner Kicks: 6 / 3
Discipline Summary:
Louisville City FC:
85′ Evan Davila (yellow card)
90+3′ Thomas Weinrich (yellow)
Trinidad and Tobago:
90+1′ Caleb Borneo (yellow card)
Referee: Deny Kulasinac
