Louisville City FC has another date with history as they travel to Toyota Park to take on the Chicago Fire in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. This will be the second time this campaign Lou City is faced with an opponent from the MLS.
The “Boys in Purple” have already knocked off New England Revolution 3-2 in the fourth round of the Open Cup, and they’re poised to slay another giant.
When & Where
The match will take place on Wednesday, July 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m.CT at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.
The match will be aired on WMYO Channel 10 as well as streamed on USSoccer.com. Fans can listen to the match on 1080 WKJK. Fans can also follow #CHIvLOU on Twitter & Instagram.
TV: WMYO Channel 10
Radio: 1080 WKJK
Stream: USSoccer.com
DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android
Last Time Out
Lou City fell 2-1 to Charleston Battery last Saturday after a scrappy, hard-fought match. Despite holding 72% of the possession and nearly triple the passes, two early first-half goals from Charleston were too much to overcome.
Louisville City FC knocked off Nashville SC in the fifth round of the U.S. Open Cup on June 20 by a score of 2-1. Goals from Paco Craig and Paolo DelPiccolo sent Lou City through to the quarterfinals and this fateful matchup with the Chicago Fire.
– U.S. Open Cup – Luke Spencer previews City’s Open Cup Test on Wednesday –
Rewind against Chicago Fire
LouCity and the Chicago Fire have met before, on this very stage. In the 2015 U.S. Open Cup fourth round. The match was fast-paced, end-to-end stuff before ending the 90 minutes 0-0. In the 116’, just four minutes before the game was set to be decided on penalties, Quincy Amarikwa slipped through on goal and gave the Fire the 1-0 advantage that sent Lou City home.
This is City’s second chance to best MLS competition this season, as they’ve already defeated New England Revolution 3-2 at Lynn Stadium.
Luke Spencer’s pre-match press conference:
On Chicago:
“Yeah, Chicago has a lot of talent on our team. They have Schweinsteiger, who is world class. They’ve got Katai out wide, he’s been on form recently. So, they have some dangerous pieces that we need to be worried about.”
On Chicago and what it says about where the team is right now:
“Yeah definitely. I think any time you get to go up against an MLS team and compare yourselves against them, it’ll be a good indicator as to what level you’re playing at, what level the guys are capable of playing at.”
On the Chicago game and what this team has achieved:
“Yeah. It’s it’s huge that we’ve been able to make it this far, but at the beginning of the year we set out to make it this far. So, it’s a positive that we can accomplish goals, and to be able to go out on a big stage and compete with Chicago Fire, will definitely be a great opportunity, but it’s one that we hope to win. Then hopefully use it as momentum moving forward.”
On how he feels LouCity matches up against Chicago Fire:
“Yeah, like I said, they have tough pieces. You know another player is Dax McCarty who does work from end to end. He’s relentless in the work that he does. But you know we’re looking at our guys and what we can do. We’re looking to have a strong mentality and strong showing ourselves.”
On how the triumvirate is dealing with the first adversity:
“Yeah I mean the result didn’t our way. So anytime you lose a game you’re going to try and learn as much as you can from it. So that’s what we’ve done. We’ve analyzed it. We’ve talked with the guys about what we can learn from it and move forward and that’s what we’re going to do on Wednesday.”
Team News
OUT – Luke Spencer (knee)
OUT – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
