With New York Red Bulls II well off playoff pace, Saturday’s 8 p.m. meeting at Lynn Family Stadium could close a storied rivalry for Louisville City FC.
The former USL Championship powerhouse is set to move to MLS Next Pro in 2023, fully working as a developmental squad for its Major League Soccer counterpart.
Dating back to 2016, New York defeated LouCity in penalty kicks to take the Eastern Conference Final on its way to a first USL Championship title. The boys in purple repaid the favor the next season, knocking off Red Bulls II in the conference final before raising the league trophy.
LouCity has dominated recent iterations of the once-formidable rivalry, topping New York seven times in the nine meetings since 2017, with another match ending in a draw. That includes a 2-0 away victory earlier this season for City.
LouCity (11-3-3, 36 points) has spent most of the year atop the Eastern Conference, and the boys in purple have won three straight. A fourth victory in a row would match their longest such run in 2021.
Meanwhile, New York (1-13-3, 6 points) limps into this weekend’s matchup, sitting at the bottom of the table. Red Bulls II have gone 15 games without a victory and parted ways with first-year head coach Gary Lewis last week.
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
- Wilson Harris (Out)
- Cameron Lancaster (Questionable)
- Kyle Morton (Out)
Story lines…
Top of the table: City reclaimed its spot atop the Eastern Conference standings with last weekend’s win over Birmingham Legion FC. Memphis 901 FC is close, just a point clear, while the Tampa Bay Rowdies are chasing in third three points back. The East’s top seven earn playoff berths, with better-seeded clubs receiving home field advantage.
Halfway home: The Birmingham win marked the midpoint point of LouCity’s season, with an 11-3-3 record better than the club’s 2017 and 2018 title winners through 17 games. Only City’s 2016 squad looked better at this point, that season boasting an 11-5-1 record.
Cruz control: In his first full season in charge, head coach Danny Cruz is making waves across the league as arguably the USL Championship’s most successful new coach. The 32-year-old averages 2.02 points earned per game, the best rate of any new manager in the last three seasons, with a record so far of 33-12-10.
Goals aplenty: The boys in purple top the league with a plus-20 goal differential, ranking among the top four in goals (34) and goals per match (2). Even more impressive is that City’s attack has remained lethal despite missing Cameron Lancaster for much of the season due to injury.
On the attack: In Lancaster’s absence — and with Wilson Harris having exited the Birmingham game with a rib injury — Brian Ownby has delivered with three goals four penalties won in league play. Ownby’s most-recent penalty earned led to the game-winner against Birmingham as he took over the center forward role. Additionally, the veteran’s five assists are one off the league lead.
Wynderful: At 17, defender Josh Wynder’s resume now includes his first professional goal after netting the opener against Birmingham. That led to a USL Championship Team of the Week selection after he headed in a 32nd-minute free kick from Niall McCabe. The center back’s resume keeps building not long separated from a U.S. Men’s Youth National Team call up with the U-19s, which he captained to a win over England last month.
Tucked in, locked in: Center back Sean Totsch enters Saturday’s game as City’s second-leading goal scorer on the season, now with five after he knocked in the game-winning penalty. Three of Totsch’s goals this year have come from the spot, with him stepping up as the No. 1 option in Lancaster’s absence.
