Unbeaten in eight games this year, Louisville City FC will look to continue its march Wednesday in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup’s Third Round.
The boys in purple host St. Louis CITY SC 2 — another club that hasn’t lost so far in 2022 — for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Lynn Family Stadium.
LouCity improved to 6-0-2 across all competitions over the weekend with a USL Championship win over Western Conference-leading San Diego Loyal. The victory made Louisville the final undefeated club in the league.
St. Louis, meanwhile, is 3-0 in MLS Next Pro, the new Division III development circuit for Major League Soccer.
Wednesday’s game will stream live via ESPN+ and air on ESPN Louisville’s 680/105.7. For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram.
Here’s what to know ahead of the opening whistle…
Open Cup history: LouCity won at least one Open Cup game in each of its previous five tries, advancing as far as the quarterfinals in 2018 thanks to a Fourth Round victory over MLS’ New England Revolution. The tournament — a knockout competition that serves as U.S. Soccer’s national championship — paused in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last out: LouCity defeated USL League One’s Chattanooga Red Wolves SC by a 1-0 score on April 6 to advance from the Open Cup’s Second Round, when professional clubs joined surviving amateur sides. St. Louis upset the USL Championship’s Indy Eleven, 2-0, a day prior in its Open Cup debut.
The Third Round: Most MLS clubs enter at this stage, which will whittle the competition significantly with games played Tuesday and Wednesday. Those that advance will move on to a Round of 32 draw scheduled for Friday. Eight higher-seeded MLS are introduced for the next round to be played May 10-11. The Open Cup runs through to the final on Sept. 6, 7, 13 or 14.
Familiar faces: St. Louis CITY SC is coached by former LouCity manager John Hackworth, and Akil Watts has starred for the club, which will launch an MLS franchise in 2023. The outside back Watts has started all three of St. Louis’ games thus far, scoring a pair of goals after spending the prior two and a half seasons with LouCity.
Wilson wows: LouCity newcomer Wilson Harris, tied for third in the league Golden Boot race with four goals in seven games, also scored the winner when the boys in purple defeated Chattanooga in their prior Open Cup match. The USL Championship’s 2020 Young Player of the Year moved to Louisville this past offseason from Sporting KC and has come up huge in the wake of a preseason injury to Cameron Lancaster, LouCity’s top scorer in 2021.
Kings Cup revival: LouCity launched back in March of 2015 against Saint Louis FC and knocked that former rival out of the 2020 playoffs in its final game. St. Louis CITY emerged as a replacement on an MLS trajectory and maintains ownership ties to the former USL Championship club. Supporters have decided to coin Wednesday’s matchup an official Kings’ Cup game, putting the original trophy in the hands of the winning side.
