Louisville City FC welcomed a home-opening record crowd of 10,881 to Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday, and weather cooperated with sunny skies and a high near 60 degrees.
The game itself didn’t follow suit, however, as LouCity suffered a stunning 3-0 defeat to El Paso Locomotive FC.
The boys in purple entered the weekend 2-0 and atop the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference standings. El Paso was 0-3 and at the bottom of the Western Conference table.
This went down as only the third multi-goal home loss for LouCity since Lynn Family Stadium opened in 2020.
“First and foremost, I take full responsibility,” said LouCity’s coach, Danny Cruz. “That was an embarrassing performance, but at the end of the day I have to look at myself and where I need to be better in preparation for the game. They presented how we thought they would, but ultimately it lands on me, so I spoke to the players about having a good reaction.
“That’s all we can do at this point…You can’t change the result. I am embarrassed, though. The turnout tonight was fantastic, and we wanted to put on a better performance. But ultimately we fell way, way short — nowhere near the level of expectation we have here.”
City failed to generate early chances, opening the door to Locomotive FC. The visitors capitalized in the 39th minute when Marc Navarro whipped a cross into the box. It split a pair of players, appeared to shield LouCity goalkeeper Kyle Morton and rolled into the net.
El Paso doubled its lead just before the half, and blustery winds might have played a part as keeper Benny Diaz boomed a goal kick well into LouCity’s final third. Ricardo Zacarias gathered it and rolled in another shot.
Locomotive FC’s third could be chalked up to another error at the back, as an pass intended for a LouCity defender instead landed to Petar Petrovic, who finished the chance.
“Ultimately, we have the talent here to do great things and have great seasons, but that’s a day in and day out thing,” said LouCity defender Sean Totsch. “Just because we won the first two games and they struggled to start the season doesn’t mean they’re going to roll over for us. There was a sense of complacency, and that’s not good enough. That’s not us. That’s not normal, and it’s something where we have to take a deep look at ourselves.”
LouCity made three halftime changes but couldn’t muster a goal, coming as close as Jorge Gonzalez’s double chance in the 69th minute. His first shot was blocked and the second hammered off the post — both well inside the area.
One positive Cruz took away from the day: the debut of LouCity Academy standout Colin Elder, a forward who subbed on in the 85th minute.
“I trained with them on Wednesday, and that’s when I knew I’d be singing a (USL Academy) contract,” Elder said. “…It’s just been a great learning experience to come out in front of the home crowd with my debut in front of a record-setting crowd.”
Next for LouCity is a trip back to California, where the boys in purple won both their prior games. It’s a 10 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Sacramento Republic FC before a quick turnaround to host USL League One’s Lexington SC on Wednesday, April 5, in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. El Paso Locomotive FC
Date: March 25, 2023
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 3 p.m. ET
Weather: 59 degrees, windy
Attendance: 10,881
Scoring
Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0)
El Paso Locomotive FC (2, 1, 3)
Goals
El Paso Locomotive FC:
39’ Marc Navarro (Eric Calvillo assist)
45’ Ricardo Zacarias (Benny Diaz assist)
57’ Petar Petrovic
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 1 — Kyle Morton, 13 — Amadou Dia, 51 — Ramzi Qawasmy (46’ 19 — Oscar Jimenez), 4 — Sean Totsch, 15 — Manny Perez, 8 — Carlos Moguel Jr., 5 — Rasmus Thellufsen, 36 — Paolo DelPiccolo (46’ 11 — Niall McCabe), 77 — Enoch Mushagalusa (77’ 12 — Tyler Gibson), 23 — Elijah Wynder (46’ 9 — Jorge Gonzalez, 85’ 71 — Colin Elder), 17 — Cameron Lancaster
Subs not used: 28 — Oliver Semmle, 72 — Travis Smith
Head coach: Danny Cruz
El Paso Locomotive FC: 1 — Benny Diaz, 5 — Eder Borelli, 24 — Yuma, 3 — Bence Pavkovics, 2 — Marc Navarro (85’ 21 — Emmanuel Sonupe), 27 — Petar Petrovic (65’ 7 — Aaron Gomez), 6 — Eric Calvillo, 22 — Liam Rose, 10 — Denys Kostyshyn (73’ 16 — Miles Lyons), 17 — Ricardo Zacarias (73’ 20 — Louis Herrera), 9 — Luis Solignac
Subs not used: 13 — Javier Garcia, 11 — Chris Garcia, 31 — Nick Hinds
Head coach: Brian Clarhaut
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / El Paso Locomotive FC
Shots: 13 / 8
Shots on Goal: 2 / 6
Possession: 58% / 42%
Fouls: 18 / 16
Offside: 5 / 2
Corner Kicks: 4 / 1
Discipline Summary
Louisville City FC:
41’ Carlos Moguel Jr. (yellow)
El Paso Locomotive FC:
23’ Liam Rose (yellow)
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
