Louisville City FC hosts reigning USL Championship title winner Orange County SC at 8 p.m. Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium in a meeting of teams that have combined to take three league titles in the last five years.
LouCity (8-3-3, 27 points) is returning to action after a weekend off, hoping to turn back a rough run of results that has seen the boys in purple drop three of their last four league matches. The extra week of preparation and rest allowed City to get healthy, though first-choice goalkeeper Kyle Morton (concussion protocol) has been ruled out while he continues his recovery from a heavy collision in a June 5 loss at Tampa Bay Rowdies.
The boys in purple, of course, raised league trophies back to back in 2017 and 2018.
Orange County (3-6-5, 14 points) is off to a tough start for a reigning champion, riding a three-game losing streak into Louisville. Head coach Richard Chaplow’s side sits 12th place in the Western Conference standings, seven points off the final playoff spot.
Orange County secured its first USL Championship title by defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies last November.
Saturday marks the first meeting between LouCity and Orange County, one of eight Western Conference opponents on City’s schedule this season.
Follow along
- The game will air live locally on WBKI 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
- Kyle Morton (Out)
- Manny Perez (Out)
- Ian Soler (Out)
- Wilson Harris (Questionable)
Story lines…
Pride Night: Saturday is also Pride Night at Lynn Family Stadium. The match will be used as a chance to further align the club with the LGBTQ+ community and fundraise for associated local nonprofits. All proceeds from team-branded Pride merchandise and warmup kits will benefit Derby City Pride League, Louisville Pride Foundation, Louisville Youth Groups, Play a Role Fund and Queer Kentucky.
Dip in form: LouCity is still searching for its way out of its uncharacteristic skid, with losses in four of its last five matches across all competitions. The stretch ties City’s worst since the club’s inaugural season in 2015, when it closed out the season on the same form. The boys in purple went on a similar run in 2019, when they posted an eight-game stretch with just one win and three draws before going on a 15-match unbeaten run. That squad eventually played in the USL Championship Final.
Homestand: After playing eight of its first 14 USL Championship games on the road, City is looking forward playing six of its next nine games at Lynn Family Stadium, where the club has only lost two league games since COVID-19 capacity restrictions were lifted in June of 2021.
Rare weekend off: Between City’s regular-season opener on March 12 and the loss at Tampa on June 5, the club played a total of 18 games, averaging a match every 4.7 days thanks to added U.S. Open Cup dates. The boys in purple are coming off their first of two open weekends of the season and won’t play another midweek contest until hosting Phoenix Rising FC on Wednesday, July 20.
Climb to the top: A win on Saturday night would move City back to the top of the Eastern Conference table after current frontrunner Memphis 901 FC drew in its Wednesday night matchup against Hartford Athletic, leaving just a two-point gap between the two sides. Memphis is idle this weekend.
Faundez steps up: After Morton exited at Tampa Bay, reserve goalkeeper Danny Faundez stepped in for his USL Championship debut, making three saves in a Man of the Match performance. Cruz has the option to go with Faundez or goalkeeper Parker Siegfried on Saturday. Should Faundez get the nod, he’d appear against his former club, with the Seattle native playing the last two seasons for Orange County before signing with LouCity entering 2022.
Captain Wynder: Defender Josh Wynder returned to Louisville from his time with the U.S. Youth National Team’s U-19 side touting a pair of wins and leadership experience. The 17-year-old wore the captain’s armband in his international debut, leading the U.S. to a 2-1 win over England on June 6. His team beat Norway, 3-0, a few days later as Wynder came off the bench. The trip to Spain marked the second U-19 national team call-up for Wynder, a LouCity Academy product.
