As the name of the club implies, El Paso Locomotive FC is a steam train rolling down the track right now.
That train rumbles into Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday, as Louisville City FC hosts El Paso at 7 p.m.
El Paso has won six straight games and is surging up the standings. After the club’s last loss, on August 1 at Orange County SC, El Paso was in eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
Since then, El Paso has knocked off Monterey Bay FC, Oakland Roots SC, San Antonio FC, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and Loudoun United, most recently. In that run, El Paso has scored 12 goals and conceded just two.
And the club has rapidly risen up the standings, up to second, tied on points for first place.
In his pre-game media availability, LouCity interim head coach Simon Bird noted that El Paso “play an attractive style of football,” and that, “there’s such a vast variation in playing styles across our league.”
El Paso will visit a Louisville team that is riding high after Tuesday’s penalty shootout victory over San Antonio FC in the Prinx Tires USL Cup, which moved the club to its fifth-ever final.
It is also a LouCity squad growing in defensive resolve. Louisville has the 20th-best defensive record in the USL Championship, having conceded 37 goals in league play, but that defense has tightened of late, conceding just six goals in the last seven games across all competitions.
Despite Louisville’s defense being uncharitable recently, Saturday’s game is Nonprofit Night, a recognition of organizations driving positive change in our community.
For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/nonprofit.
Follow Along
• The game will air locally on MyTV 58, with local radio coverage on ESPN Louisville’s 680 AM and 105.7 FM.
• To watch streaming coverage of the game, log on to ESPN+ or WDRB+WAVE.
• For starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter. Also, find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram and Louisville City FC on Facebook.
Storylines…
Totsch from the spot: In last week’s 1-1 draw with Rhode Island FC, defender Sean Totsch scored a penalty kick. It was the 14th converted penalty, out of 14 tries, in his career in the USL Championship regular season. That ties the league record for most penalties without a miss, per Nicholas Murray of USLChampionship.com. Overall, Totsch has scored 16 of 17 penalty kicks in his career across all competitions, all with LouCity. Including penalty kick shootouts, his mark is 20 for 23.
40 for 4: Totsch’s goal was the 40th goal contribution for Louisville City in league play (29 goals, 11 assists). That makes him the sixth player to have recorded at least 40 regular-season goal contributions in LouCity history, again per Murray.
Road winners: Saturday will be just the fourth meeting between Louisville City and El Paso. LouCity leads the series 2-1-0. In all three meetings, the away team has won. El Paso knocked off Louisville at Lynn Family Stadium on March 25, 2023.
Schewe says no way: Ryan Schewe could make his home debut Saturday. The Sporting Kansas City loanee made his first LouCity start in Tuesday’s USL Cup semifinal, making three saves in the penalty shootout.
M-V-P, M-V-P: El Paso’s Rubio Rubín is putting together a season worthy of the USL Championship Player of the Year award. The former United States Men’s National Team player is tied for the league lead with 13 goals this season, including a hat trick last time out against Loudoun. He is also tied for the El Paso team lead with four assists, just three off the league lead.
