WILMINGTON, N.C. — After four straight games at home, each of them contributing to Louisville City FC’s 16-match unbeaten streak, the first-place club returned to the road this weekend.
Game time with Wilmington Hammerheads FC is 6 p.m. Sunday at 6,000-seat Legion Stadium.
Team Records
LouCity: 11-1-6 (39 points) in 18 matches; 1st in the USL’s Eastern Conference standings.
Wilmington Hammerheads: 6-6-5 (23 points) in 17 matches; 10th in the USL’s East.
Follow Along
Sunday’s game will air, as with other regular-season LouCity matches, live on Youtube.
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 starting at the 75th minute of Sunday’s game on Twitter.
Links
- LouCity turns up the heat before playing Wilmington
- Video: LouCity’s O’Connor expects ‘a very tough game’
- Know the foe: Wilmington Hammerheads FC
- Q&A: Get to know LouCity striker Chandler Hoffman
- LouCity ‘played better than to get a tie’ last time out
Notes
Top of the table: Three-fifths of the way through its season, LouCity carried into the weekend a four-point edge in the Eastern Conference standings over New York Red Bulls II. But New York has two games in hand and could pull closer Saturday whiel playing at the Charlotte Independence. Next week will be a big one for the championship picture. The Red Bulls play Wednesday against third-place FC Cincinnati before LouCity plays at Cincy on Saturday.
The unbeaten streak: While at 16 straight games without a loss in USL play, LouCity has a ways to go before setting a new league record. The Richmond Kickers opened the 2013 season by going undefeated for 22 matches before knocked off by the Battery. Louisville’s last defeat — and only one this season — came by a 2-0 score in its April 2 home opener against New York. LouCity’s longest unbeaten streak last season was six games.
Watch party: Louisville City FC fans will gather Sunday evening at the Great Flood Brewing Company, an official pub partner of the club, for the Wilmington game. Great Flood, at 2120 Bardstown Road, will discount its Unified Pale Ale by $1 during the watch party while playing the live stream on its projection screen. Additionally, LouCity will give away a T-shirt, scarf and tickets to an upcoming home game. Great Flood has for fans a T-shirt, glasses and the brewery’s stickers.
The goal: LouCity is reeling this week from a Charleston Battery 84th-minute equalizer last time out, July 9, at Louisville Slugger Field. When LouCity goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh appeared to have hold of the ball in both hands following a Charleston free kick, a Battery attacker dislodged it. Chris Tsonis then finished the visitors’ only shot on goal in a 1-1 draw at Louisville Slugger Field. Coach James O’Connor labeled it “a really poor call.”
Super subs: At halftime of the Battery draw, Cameron Lancaster came on for Niall McCabe and Kadeem Dacres for Andrew Lubahn. Their impact was immediate. Dacres controlled the right side, while Lancaster, playing just underneath Hoffman, assisted the 62nd-minute goal that moved LouCity ahead at home. It was the latest showing for O’Connor’s club’s depth, as the only starters continually locked in are the goalkeeper Ranjitsingh, defender Smith, captain Aodhan Quinn and Hoffman.
Midseason nods: Louisville City FC claimed two-thirds of the United Soccer League’s midseason awards announced Monday, as fans overwhelmingly voted Chandler Hoffman the USL’s Midseason Most Valuable Player and Kyle Smith the Midseason Rookie of the Year for their contributions. The striker Hoffman is second in the league in goals with 12 and right back Smith second in assists with 5.
Spreading the scoring: With 14 LouCity players having netted a goal so far this season, the club has already passed last year’s total. Behind Hoffman, both Lubahn and George Davis IV have three apiece; Guy Abend, Lancaster and McCabe have two apiece; and eight other players have finished at least one chance. Behind Smith in the assists column is also McCabe, with 4, tied for the third-highest total in the league.
More awards: Presented by ESPN Louisville — found at AM 680 and FM 105.7 — local ESPY results were announced this week. LouCity swept all three categories for which it was nominated: Best Team, Best Coach (James O’Connor) and Best Male Athlete (Matt Fondy). Fondy, named league MVP last year after scoring 22 goals in 28 games, now plays for the Carolina RailHawks of the North American Soccer League.
A new name: With Scott Goodwin off to Harvard Medical School, his replacement on the roster, Tim Dobrowolski, is expected to from now on appear on the lineup card as the backup to Ranjitsingh. The backup to Greg Ranjitsingh is a Loyola University of Chicago product twice named Missouri Valley Conference Goalkeeper of the Year.
