Louisville City FC, which can stake a claim as the United States’ top second division club since starting play in 2015, has also risen to the occasion when Major League Soccer competition comes to town.
In 2015, the boys in purple defeated Orlando City SC in a friendly at Louisville Slugger Field. And in 2018, they knocked the New England Revolution out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
On Wednesday, LouCity will look to keep that perfect home record against MLS foes in tact, this time hosting a top-tier team at Lynn Family Stadium for the first time. Nashville SC is set to trek up Interstate 65 for a 7 p.m. kickoff in the Open Cup’s Round of 16.
City won three Open Cup competitions to get to this point, while Nashville entered in the most recent Round of 32, defeating Atlanta United in extra time.
With one more Open Cup victory this year, the boys in purple would match their best-ever run to the 2018 quarterfinals in U.S. Soccer’s knockout national championship tournament. The winner of LouCity-Nashville will travel to meet either Orlando City SC or Inter Miami FC when just eight teams remain.
Two other non-MLS clubs made the Round of 16 with LouCity: the USL Championship’s Sacramento Republic FC and USL League One’s Union Omaha. The tournament concludes with the Quarterfinals (June 21-22), Semifinals (July 26-27) and Final (tentatively Sept. 7).
Tickets remain on sale by visiting LouCity.com/OpenCup or calling (502) LOU-CITY. ESPN+ is the tournament’s official live streaming home, while Wednesday’s game can also be heard locally on ESPN Louisville’s 680/106.7.
Here’s more of what to watch for…
How we got here: LouCity began its Open Cup run in April as part of the Second Round, defeating USL League One’s Chattanooga Red Wolves by a 1-0 score. After advancing past MLS Next Pro’s St. Louis CITY SC in a Third Round penalty kick shootout, it took penalties again for the boys in purple to beat the USL Championship’s Detroit City FC in the Round of 32.
A formidable foe: At 5-4-4 through 13 games played, Nashville SC holds a spot on the top half of MLS’ Western Conference table, currently in a playoff spot. The club features U.S. Men’s National Team defender Walker Zimmerman, while designated player Hand Mukhtar has registered 3 league goals and scored in the club’s prior Open Cup victory.
Dip in form: LouCity was 2022’s final professional club in the U.S. without a defeat — making it 13 games across all competitions — before dropping consecutive USL Championship games May 13 at LA Galaxy II and more recently on Saturday to Monterey Bay FC. The boys in purple are 10-2-3 across league and Open Cup play.
Series history: Nashville SC began play in 2018 in the USL Championship, facing off against LouCity in its first-ever game. The boys in purple won that day as well as in an Open Cup meeting between the sides on June 20, 2018, that made City the only non-MLS side in that year’s quarterfinals.
The Lancaster link: Off a record-setting 2018 season in which he scored 25 goals, forward Cameron Lancaster moved from LouCity to Nashville SC, playing one more USL Championship season there in anticipation of Nashville’s move to MLS. Lancaster wound up back in Louisville on loan in 2020 and has since signed a longterm deal with City.
Chasing the Cup: All eight Round of 16 games will be played Wednesday night. With the quarterfinal draws already set, that round of the competition will be scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, or Wednesday, June 22. The semifinals are then set for July 26-27 with the final tentatively scheduled for Sept. 7.
