When Louisville City FC coach Danny Cruz set out to prepare his squad for the 2022 season, he did so with the current stretch of games in mind.
LouCity will continue a run of five matches in 15 days — with four of those to be played away from Lynn Family Stadium — at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when visiting FC Tulsa’s ONEOK Field.
Going back to the winter, Cruz set up a preseason schedule that saw the boys in purple play exclusively outside of Louisville. The aim: improve upon last year’s 6-5-5 away record.
So far, mostly good. City was 8-2-2 outside of Lynn Family Stadium until recently suffering back-to-back road losses at Miami FC and Indy Eleven. Following the trip to Tulsa, it’s a quick turnaround to Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
LouCity (18-5-4, 58 points)) broke out of its funk over the weekend when defeating Sacramento Republic FC by a 3-1 score in that lone home game of late. Despite some recent struggles, the boys in purple continue to lead the Eastern Conference table and remain in play for the USL Championship’s best overall record.
FC Tulsa (10-14-4, 34 points) can consider every point imperative down the stretch of the campaign. The club sits in eighth place, one position out of the playoff cut line, and needs to claw back from a nine-point deficit.
Here’s more of what to watch for Wednesday night…
Follow along
- The game will air live locally on My58 TV 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
- Cameron Lancaster (Out)
- Niall McCabe (Out)
Story lines…
Playoffs clinched: As the boys in purple waited out a weather delay of more than an hour Saturday night, FC Tulsa dropped points to guarantee City a spot in the 2022 USL Championship playoff. City has both made the postseason and advanced to at least the Eastern Conference Final in its seven prior campaigns.
Postseason format: The top-seven teams in the Eastern and Western conferences qualify for the single-elimination playoffs, which begin the weekend of Oct. 21-23 for all but the top seeds, which receive a bye to the conference semifinals. The USL Championship Final will be played on a date to be determined between Nov. 10-14.
Race to the top: Higher seeds — determined by points earned during the regular season — host playoff games. City holds a four-point lead atop the Eastern Conference, but the boys in purple have a goal of finishing with the league’s best overall record, too. They’re just two points off Western Conference leader San Antonio FC.
Bouncing back: With its weekend victory, LouCity avoided a third straight league defeat — something the club has suffered only once ever and not since the end of the inaugural campaign in 2015. Earlier this season, the boys in purple bounced out of a similar slump against FC Tulsa, defeating Wednesday’s opponent on May 28 off back-to-back losses.
ONEOK advantage: FC Tulsa performs markedly better on its home turf, which is regularly converted to a soccer pitch from the Double-A Tulsa Drillers baseball team. At ONEOK Field, Wednesday’s hosts are 8-4-2 on the year. FC Tulsa’s away record this season is 2-10-2.
Delivery man: In setting up Wilson Harris’s opening goal Saturday against Sacramento, Amadou Dia registered his seventh assist, a career-high total that ranks him first on the team. For his part, Harris made it 11 goals, one off his career-best tallied in 2019 with the Swope Park Rangers.
No. 9 vibes: All-league center back Sean Totsch has showcased a pristine finishing touch this season on set pieces. He headed in City’s second goal in the Sacramento game to make it a career-high eight on the year. Totsch, who came into the league in 2015, had before this season never scored more than one goal in a season.
Wynder-ful finish: Post-rain delay, Elijah Wynder took a step forward in his career when the 19-year-old struck home an 87th-minute goal. Wynder, who signed out of LouCity’s youth academy, missed the 2021 season due to injury and started 2022 on loan in the USL League One ranks before returning to City earlier this summer.
