UPDATED: This game has been postponed to 7:30 p.m. Sunday by the USL Championship. Click here for more information.
ORIGINAL: Louisville City FC travels this weekend with the type of added motivation that normally doesn’t come with a regular-season matchup.
LouCity and the Tampa Bay Rowdies will face off in a rematch of the last two USL Championship Eastern Conference finals when they meet at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Al Lang Stadium.
City is itching to get a win back after falling in both of those high-stakes games – a 2-1 loss at Lynn Family Stadium in 2020 and a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat after extra time last fall in St. Petersburg.
The 2021 loss, a shock after City led 2-0 deep into the match, has been a driving force for the boys in purple this season as LouCity jumped out to a 13-game unbeaten streak to start the club’s 2022 campaign.
“We’ve talked about how the game there to end the season last year is motivation for us,” said coach Danny Cruz. “You look at Tampa Bay — they’re a really good team, an experienced team, and it’s a difficult place to play.
“At the same time, we showed a lot of good things in that game last year, but we also understand where we needed to be better. I think our pressure has been better this year. I think we’re going to make sure that when we get there, we’re not giving them time and space. We need to make sure that we execute our chances.
“The areas we’ve conceded goals this year are areas that that is a strength of theirs. The guys have had a good week of training so far and feel confident about the group going there.”
Cruz and his staff spent the offseason reloading an already-strong roster, with the additions of former two-time USL Championship Goalkeeper of the Year finalist Kyle Morton, standout fullbacks Amadou Dia and Manny Perez and the league’s 2020 Young Player of the Year in striker Wilson Harris. All four have been critical pieces in LouCity’s run to the top of the Eastern Conference standings after three months of league play.
After a short dip in form over the past two weeks, LouCity (8-2-3) enters the weekend two points clear of Memphis 901 FC in the table. Meanwhile the Rowdies are off to a 5-3-5 start, sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference after they drew 1-1 on Wednesday at FC Tulsa.
Follow along
- The game will air live locally on MyTV 58 and ESPN Louisville’s 680/105.7, with streaming via ESPN+ and the WDRB Now app.
- 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.
Injury report
• Manny Perez (Out)
• Ian Soler (Out)
Story lines…
Back on top: LouCity returned to its winning ways last weekend, registering a dominant victory over FC Tulsa to end an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak across all competitors. The 4-1 result put the boys in purple back atop the Eastern Conference table with 27 points, two more than Memphis 901 FC’s 25.
Comeback City: Last weekend’s result marked the first rallying victory of 2022 after FC Tulsa scored the opener at Lynn Family Stadium. Thanks to a strong LouCity response, the club’s record in games where the boys in purple trailed improved to 1-1-2.
Transitive property: In a coincidental series of games, the Rowdies traveled to FC Tulsa — LouCity’s competition last Saturday — for a midweek contest Wednesday. Tampa Bay played to a 1-1 draw, seeing Tulsa erase a lead with an 83rd-minute goal.
Goals aplenty: After being shut out May 21 for the first time this season in a loss to Monterey Bay FC, City responded in its next league game by tallying four goals against FC Tulsa, numbering that many in a single game for the third time this season.
Can’t stop Cam: Forward Cameron Lancaster made his first start of 2022 against FC Tulsa and put in a Man of the Match performance, netting a first half penalty and second half tap in. Those strikes bumped his USL Championship goal total to 73, good for third on the league’s all-time scoring list.
Wilson wows: City then displayed its depth when Lancaster existed in favor of fellow forward Wilson Harris, who linked up with Enoch “Matiti” Mushagalusa for the fourth goal against Tulsa. Harris made it his seventh goal, and is now top three in the league for scoring trailing just San Diego Loyal’s Kyle Vassell and Oakland Roots’ Óttar Magnús Karlsson.
Middle man: The boys in purple are undefeated in 10 of central midfielder Tyler Gibson’s 11 starts of the season – the one loss being City’s Round of 16 exit in the U.S. Open Cup to Major League Soccer’s Nashville SC. Gibson led City with 13 final third entries and 50 accurate passes against Tulsa.
For country: Youth academy product Josh Wynder will miss Sunday’s game for good reason. The defender received a second straight call up to the U.S. U-19 national team, with the Louisville native eligible to play in upcoming competitions against England (Monday) and Norway (Thursday).
