A year and 11 days after opening its own Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville City FC will get a look Friday night at the USL Championship’s newest soccer-specific venue.
The boys in purple are set to travel to Weidner Field and take on Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, with kickoff at 9 p.m. ET.
An 8,000-seat stadium, Weidner Field debuted earlier this year in downtown Colorado Springs as part of the town’s larger move to make the “City of Champions” a health destination and fitness hub.
LouCity enters this rare cross-divisional game on a tear, sporting the best record in the Eastern Conference and, within that, the Central Division. The boys in purple are unbeaten in all but one of their last eight games, most recently tallying six points in victories over OKC Energy FC and Atlanta United 2.
The Switchbacks are on a different run of form, losing their last two and three of five overall. Their latest defeat came in 3-2 fashion to San Antonio FC as part of the league’s ESPN Game of the Week.
Friday’s trip marks LouCity’s second cross-divisional game of the season. The boys in purple previously defeated San Diego Loyal and still are yet to play at Hartford Athletic on Sept. 7 before hosting New Mexico United on Oct. 3.
Most clubs’ games in 2021 are played within divisions — the Atlantic, Pacific, Colorado Springs’ Mountain and LouCity’s Central — with the top four in each advancing to the playoffs.
Here’s what to watch for…
Follow along…
• For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find us at louisvillecityfc on Instagram. Live stats can be found at www.loucity.com/match-center, plus don’t forget to download our official app.
• And for ESPN 680/105.7 on the radio: Jeff Greer and Casey Whitfield.
Notes to know
Sitting pretty: A six-point week for the boys the purple propelled them to 8-2-3, with their 26 points more than any other team in the Eastern Conference (Atlantic, Central divisions). Only Phoenix Rising, at 8-2-2 with one fewer game played in the Western Conference, can match LouCity on points near the midway point of the season. Also aiding the club is a +12 goal differential, a key tiebreaker also best in the East.
About the hosts: Only a handful of clubs have kept pace with LouCity’s explosive offense this season — the Switchbacks being one of them. Another with a high-pressing attack, Colorado ranks third in the league for goals scored with 23 on the season. The Switchbacks are led by the USL Championship Player of the Month for June, Hadji Berry, who’s registered a USL Championship-leading 13 goals on the season for his side.
In the stands: A month into 100% capacity games, Lynn Family Stadium saw an attendance record reached last week when 10,032 attended the OKC Energy win, a record for a weeknight regular season league game. Combining Saturday’s victory over Atlanta United 2, some 21,137 fans saw their first-place club in action before the Colorado Springs road trip commenced. Lynn Family Stadium sports a 15,304 capacity, just enough to one day eclipse the overall club record 14,456 to have attended the 2017 league final.
Counting on Cam: Speaking of club records, star striker Cameron Lancaster’s streak of five goals in as many appearances set a new club mark previously set by the man himself back in his 2018 Golden Boot campaign. Lancaster has been in and out of the lineup due to injury and saw his run come to an end Saturday against Atlanta when he made an exit just before halftime after absorbing a blow to the head. His status is questionable going into this weekend.
Sharing the wealth: Should LouCity go without Lancaster on Friday, that hasn’t slowed the club down much. The boys in purple have scored 22 goals in their last eight games, with those coming from 10 different players. Lancaster accounted for five, while forward Kyle Greig has tallied three and defenders Wes Charpie and Jonathan Gomez got in on the offense with two goals apiece.
Bagel on the board: LouCity made a habit of conceding first half goals amid a five-game unbeaten streak, but seeing three of them hit the back of the net in a 3-2 loss July 10 at FC Tulsa seems to have sparked change. OKC Energy managed just one goal in the midweek follow up, and the boys in purple shut out Atlanta United 2 on Saturday for their first clean sheet since June 16. That was mostly a tribute to a back line that didn’t see a single shot on goal taken against it.
Just Joshin’: Days after subbing on to make his professional debut OKC Energy FC, 16-year-old academy product Josh Wynder made his first start in Saturday night’s win over Atlanta United 2. The Oldham County native featured as center back beside veteran Sean Totsch as he recorded three interceptions, won a critical foul and played a smart lob up top to Lancaster that unfortunately ended in an unlucky offsides call.
Now a LouCity man: At the forefront of the former LouCity-FC Cincinnati rivalry, forward Jimmy McLaughlin traded out orange and blue for purple this past offseason and has seen his role expand as of late in Louisville. McLaughlin, making his third start of the season against Atlanta, rocketed in a 63rd-minute goal for his first with the club, with a shot banged off the cross bar up for the USL Championship’s best of the week.
A warm welcome: On loan in Louisville from Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers, forward Jorge Gonzalez has seen little playing time thus far, the result of a groin injury suffered in the spring that required surgery. Gonzalez subbed on for his club debut June 19 at FC Tulsa, then made his first home appearance in the Atlanta win, signaling his return — hopefully for good. The versatile attacker wears No. 9 and will be capable of filling in any role at the top of the formation moving forward.
Milestone watch
- Cameron Lancaster is two goals away from 60 USL Championship goals.
- Antoine Hoppenot is one USL Championship appearance away from 150.
Injury report
- Oscar Jimenez (out)
- Adbou Thiam (out)
- Elijah Wynder (out)
