After eight days between matches, a rested Louisville City FC will carry its 14-match unbeaten streak and first-place standing into a meeting with FC Montreal, situated last in the USL’s Eastern Conference standings.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Field. Tickets remain available for the July 4 matchup, with a fireworks show to follow.
Team Records
LouCity: 10-1-5 (35 points) in 16 matches; 1st in the USL’s Eastern Conference standings.
FC Montreal: 2-12-1 (7 points) in 15 matches; 14th in the USL’s East.
Follow Live
Monday’s game will air, as with other regular-season LouCity matches, live on Youtube. Jim Wombwell (play by play) and Bob Valvano (color commentary) have the call.
For Starting XI and 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.
Notes
Standings tighten up: New York Red Bulls II have a game in hand, but a 0-0 draw Saturday left LouCity solidly in first place, a full three points up on the only club to beat Louisville since April 2. A 14-match unbeaten streak has LouCity atop the USL’s Eastern Conference standings with 35 points, though other clubs have closed in, including third-place FC Cincinnati (31 points) and the fourth-place Charleston Battery (30 points).
Goodwin’s final game: Monday’s game against FC Montreal will be the last for LouCity goalkeeper Scott Goodwin before he departs to attend Harvard Medical School, an acceptance he announced in May and recently called “a dream come true.” Goodwin last logged minutes in a United Soccer League match in April. But going back to 2015, his goals-against average ranked second-best in the USL, and he started 30 games across all competitions, including the U.S. Open Cup.
Fourth of July celebration: The first 500 fans at LouCity’s pregame el Jimador Tequila Pitch Party will receive a collectors cup provided by Cooper’s Craft, a new Brown-Forman bourbon. Courtesy of WLKY and Window World, the first 7,500 fans in the stadium will receive Goodwin posters. Additionally, the first 1,000 children and families by the playground down the right field line can pick up soccer ball drawstring backpacks provided by WLKY. Fireworks follow the game.
Attendance milestone: Midway through LouCity’s second season, the franchise reached a record mark while playing in front of 10,062 on June 25 against FC Cincinnati. Now, team president Amanda Duffy said, there’s a new goal: to sell out Slugger for a soccer match. Listed capacity for Slugger Field is 13,131. Through seven USL games this season, LouCity has averaged attendance of 7,331.
A rare scoreless match: FC Cincinnati was just the fourth team this season to post a clean sheet against LouCity, with the others New York Red Bulls II (0-2 loss April 2), Bethlehem Steel (0-0 draw May 1) and Richmond Kickers (0-0 draw May 21). The scoreless tie was the first such result for LouCity in franchise history at Louisville Slugger Field. The club’s 30 goals remain a USL-best, and its +15 goal differential is tied with New York.
Starting XI parity: Only coach James O’Connor’s first two lineups of the season have been the same match to match in 2016, with a larger roster than last year key in helping with the club’s depth. While Greg Ranjitsingh is a regular in goal, Kyle Smith along the back line, Aodhan Quinn in the midfield and Chandler Hoffman up top, other spots have featured a steady rotation, with more of that expected against FC Montreal.
Dacres shines on right: In his return to the starting lineup for the first time since May 14, midfielder Kadeem Dacres fired a team-high three shots against FC Cincinnati and was voted Man of the Match by LouCity fans. While minutes have been sparse lately, Dacres’ performance left hope there are goals ahead for the New York native and former Major League Soccer SuperDraft pick.
Abend to Team of the Week: After scoring his first goals in a Louisville City FC uniform — and recording his first multi-goal game as a professional — Guy Abend earned a spot Tuesday on the United Soccer League’s Team of the Week. The LouCity midfielder netted shots in the 11th and 24th minutes of his club’s 4-1 win last week of Toronto FC II at Louisville Slugger Field. Abend also started and logged 66 minutes against FC Cincinnati.
