The USL Championship’s inaugural Summer Showcase will make its debut at Lynn Family Stadium at 7 p.m. Wednesday when Louisville City FC hosts Phoenix Rising FC in a meeting of the league’s two most recently successful clubs.
The Summer Showcase is intended to be a standout event, putting both LouCity and the USL on display for a national audience, with ESPN2 broadcasting the rematch of the 2018 USL Championship final and league executives from around the country holding mid-year meetings in Louisville.
Wednesday’s game is the first meaningful meeting between LouCity and Phoenix since that 2018 final, which LouCity won, 1-0, thanks to a second-half goal from Luke Spencer to claim its second league title in as many years. The teams also played to a 2-2 draw this preseason in Arizona.
LouCity (13-3-3, 42 points) has won five consecutive league matches and is in first place in the Eastern Conference standings coming off a frenetic 2-1 win over then-second-place Memphis 901 FC.
Phoenix (7-10-1, 22 points) arrives in Louisville amid its toughest stretch of the season, a six-match winless drought. The Rick Schantz-led Rising stands in 11th place in the Western Conference, seven points off a playoff position.
On Tuesday, fans can attend “The Warmup,” a party running from 5-11 p.m. at Noble Funk Brewing Company, 922 South 2nd Street. The main event is a live broadcast of the weekly SiriusXM FC show, “USL All Access,” with show hosts Mike Watts and Devon Kerr, the league’s lead broadcasters, also in town to call Wednesday’s game.
On game day, attendees are encouraged to arrive early to Lynn Family Stadium for a Fan Fest that will include an array of activities, displays and giveaways from both USL and LouCity partners — plus $2 beers. The Fan Fest begins at 5 p.m. outside Gates 4 and 5 at the stadium’s waterfront end and is open to those with valid match tickets.
Follow along
- The game will air live nationally on ESPN2 and Sirius XM FC and locally 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.
Injury report
- Wilson Harris (Questionable)
- Jorge Gonzalez (Questionable)
- Cameron Lancaster (Out)
Story lines…
Cruz control: LouCity enters Wednesday’s game on a five-game winning streak, the longest since Danny Cruz assumed head coaching responsibilities one game into 2021. A sixth consecutive victory would equal the club’s regular season record, which has been set twice, in 2018 and 2020.
Good company: Only one team has finished a USL Championship season with the most goals scored, fewest conceded and most shutouts since LouCity entered the league — the title-winning New York Red Bulls II in 2016. Past the current campaign’s midpoint, LouCity ranks first in goals (42) and second in goals against (15) and shares first in clean sheets (nine).
In the spotlight: Lynn Family Stadium will feature on ESPN2 for the third time Wednesday. LouCity was previously on the worldwide leader for its July 12, 2020, stadium opener and a 2021 victory over New Mexico United.LouCity-Phoenix will also serve as the lead-in to a friendly between reigning English Premier League champion Manchester City and Mexican giant Club América.
Phoenix falling: Typically a Western Conference power, Phoenix Rising FC finds itself in 11th place of the 13 teams in the USL Championship’s Western Conference despite retaining most key pieces from last year’s top-seeded team in the West. Phoenix heads into Wednesday stuck in a run of six matches without a win that stretches back to May.
Amadou’s out: Defender Amadou Dia — who has started 16 of LouCity’s 19 USL Championship games this season at left back — will sit out Wednesday after seeing a red card over the weekend against Memphis 901 FC. So puts an end to one main story line for the game: Dia started for Phoenix when it met City in the 2018 USL Championship final and played there for three seasons.
Earning caps: Out since leaving LouCity’s June 5 game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies under concussion protocol, goalkeeper Kyle Morton returned against Memphis, donning protective head gear. Despite missing more than a month, Morton still ranks second in the USL Championship with seven clean sheets, one off the league lead.
Top form: Brian Ownby has registered braces in back-to-back weeks, first going for two goals and two assists in a July 9 win over New York Red Bulls II before scoring twice in the second half of this past weekend’s win at Memphis. With strikers Cameron Lancaster and Wilson Harris injured, Ownby has excelled moving from his normal winger role to center forward. The performance against Memphis came on his 32nd birthday, the second birthday brace in club history. George Davis IV also scored twice on his birthday in 2016 against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
Assist kings: Ownby is now tied with Oscar Jimenez with 32 career assists, tallying four so far in 2022. Niall McCabe sits third with 28 assists, adding to his total in the Memphis win. The club’s longest-tenured player, McCabe signed ahead of the inaugural season in 2015. He rolled a crafty free kick to Ownby, who converted the pass for his first of two goals.
Threats aplenty: LouCity has four players with at least five goals this year — Harris (eight), Enoch Mushagalusa (six), Ownby (five) and Sean Totsch (five). Lancaster, McCabe, Paolo DelPiccolo, Ray Serrano and Jorge Gonzalez all have multiple goals on the season.
