LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville City FC’s back at home Saturday for its first match at Louisville Slugger Field since a May 14 victory over rival Saint Louis FC. Start time against Wilmington Hammerheads FC is 7:30 p.m.
Team Records:
- LouCity: 8-1-3 (27 points) in 12 matches; tied for first in the United Soccer League’s Eastern Conference standings.
- Wilmington: 4-4-3 (15 points) in 11 matches; eighth in the USL’s East.
Follow Live:
- Tickets remain available here.
- Watch the broadcast with commentary from Jim Wombwell, Bob Valvano and Fred Cowgillon YouTube.
- For more in-game updates, follow @loucityfc and @loucityespanol on Twitter, and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Find us at louisvillecityfc on Instagram and loucityfc on Snapchat.
- Vote for LouCity’s Modelo Man of the Match near the end of Saturday’s game on Twitter.
Last time out: Louisville City FC rallied from a goal down playing with 10 men Sunday night to knock off Orlando City B by a 3-4 score. It was the second LouCity victory this year over OCB, the reserve side of Louisville’s former Major League Soccer affiliate, Orlando City SC.
Top of the table: LouCity is tied for best record in the 29-team USL and Eastern Conference standings. New York Red Bulls II, the only club to defeat Louisville this season, evened up the point totals Thursday with its fourth consecutive 1-0 win, the most-recent one over the Harrisburg City Islanders.
Power poll: LouCity also moved to No. 1 two weeks ago in the USL’s power rankings assembled by Nicholas Murray at the league office. Louisville is undefeated since an April 2 loss to New York, with a 10-match unbeaten streak the longest in the league. Others in the top five: Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, New York, OK Energy FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Honoring Muhammad Ali: During Saturday’s match against Wilmington, LouCity players will don armbands with “Ali” stitched into them (see full release). Before the match kicks off, the club has planned a video tribute to The Greatest on the Louisville Slugger Field video board. Afterward, LouCity will ask for a moment of silence in Ali’s honor.
Giveaway and donation: Club partner ISCO Industries, a local piping solutions provier, will provide 500 “LouCity horns” — vuvuzelas — to fans at Saturday’s match. Additionally, on “Night of Champions” honoring local youth tournament winners, a Louisville native playing in the upcoming World Deaf Football Championship will lead them onto the field at halftime (see full release). A proceed of tickets purchased at LouisvilleCityFC.com with the code “USDMNT16” will go to Frentz’s team.
Man down, no problem: A referee sent off University of Kentucky product George Davis IV in the first half of LouCity’s last match, an eventual victory over Orlando City B. But Louisville had to score its final three goals playing with 10 men on the road en route to a 4-3 win.
Super sub: Midfielder Andrew Lubahn sparked a rally from 2-1 down at Orlando. Brought on in the 56th minute, he assisted a goal by fellow Wake Forest product Ben Newnam in the 62nd minute before scoring one of his own in the 64th. For his efforts, Lubahn earned a spot on the USL Team of the Week.
Also out: In addition to George Davis IV, who will serve a one-game suspension for his red card, the USL this week announced that LouCity defender Ben Newman will miss the club’s next three fixtures following an incident in the Orlando City B match. Though not sent off, the USL determined “it was evident that Newnam struck OCB’s Harrison Heath from behind.”
Drought over: Striker Chandler Hoffman ranks third in the USL in scoring after he netted the first of LouCity’s four in Sunday’s Orlando match. The former Major League Soccer forward finished a cross from Kyle Smith to mark his first goal in league play since April 22. Despite Hoffman’s drought, only LA Galaxy II’s Jack McBean (11) and Vancouver Whitecaps SC 2’s Kyle Greig (9) have scored more in 2016.
Quinn’s heroics return: Midfielder Aodhan Quinn, awarded the USL’s Goal of the Year in 2015, has a candidate for at the very least June’s Goal of the Month coming out of Sunday. Quinn’s 68th-minute free kick zipped over Orlando’s wall of defenders, past the keeper and into the upper right. It was the first goal this year for Quinn, who also scored last year in his LouCity debut before named 2016’s captain by coach James O’Connor.
Ranjitsingh’s form: As the starting keeper role changed from Scott Goodwin to Greg Ranjitsingh, LouCity went the entire month of May without allowing a goal. Orlando City B finally ended that run Sunday, but two of its three scores came with LouCity down a man. Ranjitsingh registered five clean sheets in his first series of professional starts before allowing goals in the Orlando match.
LOUISVILLE CITY FC is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky, competing in the United Soccer League. Louisville City plays its home matches at Louisville Slugger Field. Upon joining the league in 2015, the Club finished second overall in the league and second in the league in average attendance.
