It took 200 games, but Kevon Lambert now has a professional brace.
Behind Lambert’s first career two-goal performance, coming in his 200th career USL Championship appearance, Louisville City FC took a 2-1 win over Birmingham Legion FC on Wednesday at Lynn Family Stadium.
For the 29-year-old Lambert, the performance was a long time coming — and not just because of the milestone.
A knee injury sidelined the Jamaican international for four months this season, forcing him to miss action both with his club and his national team — Jamaica failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after falling in an intercontinental playoff in March, a window that Lambert missed with his injury.
“I’m up there (in the attack) for every set piece, and I try to offer something on the attacking side of the set pieces,” Lambert said of his goals, which both came on set plays. “We’ve been working on them pretty hard and a lot, so it was just a matter of time before I got on the end of one — or two tonight — which was a pretty good feeling.”
Filling in at center back Wednesday, Lambert looked like a striker. His first goal came in just the sixth minute, as the 6-foot-4 Lambert headed in an Aiden McFadden cross from inside the six-yard box.
It was Lambert’s first goal since Sept. 13, 2025, and McFadden’s first assist since Aug. 9, 2025. Wednesday also marked a return to the field for McFadden, who had not played since June 20 due to injury.
“It’s nice to have Kev in there,” McFadden said of set piece play. “He’s pretty good in the air, if you guys haven’t gathered.”
On the positional switch, Lambert noted he had played in the center back role before.
“As a player, sometimes you’ve just got to adapt,” Lambert said. “If the coaches want you to play in a different role or something and they see you helping the team in whatever way, it’s good to be open to it and go in there and just go do your best.”
Added Bird: “We trust him wherever we play him, that he’ll do a job. He did a job tonight at center back.”
After Birmingham tied the score late in the first half, Lambert provided the winning goal in the 74th minute, again using his size and aerial threat to his advantage. He scored from a Taylor Davila corner kick, putting a powerful header on target despite drifting away from the goal in a crowd of Legion defenders.
The assist was the 30th league assist in Davila’s USL Championship career.
The goals punctuated an impressive offensive showing for Louisville. The boys in purple racked up 29 shots in the game — the most by any team in a USL Championship contest this season. That included 13 attempts on target, many of which were threatening — LouCity finished with 2.75 expected goals, per Opta.
“We dominated the game for probably 75 minutes, other than the 15 at the end of the first half,” Bird said. “The data shows that it was 29 shots at the end of the night. We’ve got to certainly capitalize a bit more on those.”
For LouCity (8-6-3, 27 points), the win comes at a crucial time in the season. The next seven games all come against teams currently in the playoff picture, including the league’s top three teams — Tampa Bay, San Antonio FC and Orange County SC — over the next three games.
Taking care of 11th-place Birmingham could prove a crucial three points for a Louisville team in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
The first of the gauntlet comes on Saturday. Louisville will travel to Florida to face the league-leading Rowdies in the resumption of one of the USL Championship’s most competitive rivalries.
The 8 p.m. Saturday kickoff will air nationally on ESPN2.
After that, LouCity will return home for one of the marquee events of Louisville summer, Fill the Fam, set for Saturday, Aug. 8.
LouCity averages 13,764 fans in the annual promotion, with this season’s game serving as a 2022 USL Championship Final rematch against San Antonio FC.
Promotions include a T-shirt giveaway to the first 2,500 fans, pregame and postgame fireworks, a flyover from Bowman Field-based Smoke on Aviation, a postgame autograph session with LouCity players and more.
For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/fillthefam.
“All the lads are excited about this week and the next, the rest of the season,” Bird said. “We’re ready. We’re looking forward to a good game.”
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Birmingham Legion FC
Date: July 29, 2026
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium — Louisville, Ky.
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 84 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 8,258
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1, 1, 2)
Birmingham Legion FC (1, 0, 1)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
6′ Kevon Lambert (Aiden McFadden)
74′ Kevon Lambert (Taylor Davila)
Birmingham Legion FC:
42′ Samuel Shashoua (Gevork Diarbian)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 1 – Hugo Fauroux, 3 – Jake Morris (87′ 13 – Amadou Dia), 32 – Kyle Adams (c), 31 – Kevon Lambert, 4 – Sean Totsch, 2 – Aiden McFadden (58′ 15 – Manny Perez), 8 – Taylor Davila, 6 – Zach Duncan (45′ 27 – Evan Davila), 25 – Jansen Wilson (74′ 7 – Ray Serrano), 47 – Mukwelle Akale, 9 – Chris Donovan (74′ 14 – Tola Showunmi)
Unused substitutes: 12 – Danny Faundez; 28 – Cameron Duke, 99 – Cooper Conley
Interim head coach: Simon Bird
Birmingham Legion FC: 1 – Jassem Koleilat, 11 – Dawson McCartney (80′ 7 – Sebastián Saucedo), 27 – Bryce Washington, 3 – Phanuel Kavita (c), 77 – Nico Brown, 10 – Samuel Shashoua, 18 – Seth Antwi, 19 – Gevork Diarbian (88′ 81 – Serge Ngoma), 16 – Peter-Lee Vassell (61′ 6 – Samuel McIllhatton), 21 – Sebastian Tregarthen, 9 – Ronaldo Damus (61′ 17 – Romario Williams)
Unused substitutes: 12 – Trevor McMullen; 8 – Kadeem Cole, 26 – Amir Daley
Head coach: Jay Heaps
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Birmingham Legion FC
Shots: 29 / 10
Shots on Goal: 13 / 2
Expected goals: 2.75 / 0.84
Possession: 53.8% / 46.2%
Fouls: 14 / 7
Offside: 0 / 0
Corner Kicks: 10 / 1
Discipline Summary:
Louisville City FC:
17′ Zach Duncan (yellow card)
54′ Aiden McFadden (yellow card)
88′ Ray Serrano (yellow card)
Birmingham Legion FC:
32′ Peter-Lee Vassell (yellow card)
34′ Seth Antwi (yellow card)
55′ Gevork Diarbian (yellow card)
90′ Sebastián Saucedo (yellow card)
Referee: Jeremy Scheer
