Louisville City FC has matched its loss total from a record-breaking 2022 season just past the halfway point of this year’s campaign. Given the boys in purple returned most every key piece from that squad, they’re searching a return to form at Lynn Family Stadium.
LouCity will host four of its next five games on home turf, starting Saturday when Birmingham Legion FC visits for an 8 p.m. kickoff.
City (8-6-5, 29 points) remains well within the USL Championship Playoffs picture, sitting fifth on the Eastern Conference table. It’s just one point to fourth, the threshold to open the postseason with a home game.
Still, LouCity’s present teams are often measured by past success. The boys in purple are following up on a season in which they set new club marks for points (72), wins (22) and scored 65 goals before a playoffs run to the league final.
City has scored 17 goals in 19 games this year and shows a -4 goal differential, relying on its defense — and a number of 1-0 winning score lines — to remain in the top half of the standings. The club enters this weekend off back-to-back shutout losses, most recently on Wednesday at Detroit City FC.
The boys in purple will look to turn things around against Birmingham Legion (8-8-2, 26 points), the Eastern Conference’s sixth-place club. Birmingham also enters Saturday with a -4 goal differential, but the Legion can claim better recent form. They took points from four of their last five games, including a 1-0 victory most recently over the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Follow along
• The game will air live locally on WBKI/The CW and ESPN Louisville’s 680/105.7.
• If streaming, download the free WDRB Now app to watch the local feed in Louisville. ESPN+ also streams the home feed of all USL Championship games not selected for national TV.
• For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter. Also find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram and Louisville City FC on Facebook.
Player availability report
Owen Damm (out)
Jorge Gonzalez (out)
Wilson Harris (out)
Kyle Morton (out)
Enoch Mushagalusa (out)
Brian Ownby (questionable)
Ramzi Qawasmy (out)
Jordan Scarlett (out)
Story lines…
Know the foe: Birmingham is led by a familiar duo. Journeyman forward Enzo Martinez paces Saturday’s opposition with eight goals scored so far this season, two off the Golden Boot lead. Matt Van Oekel became just the fifth USL Championship goalkeeper to reach 40 regular season shutouts with the Rowdies victory, ranking him second among active players at the position.
Schedule congestion: LouCity will on Saturday play its fifth game in 15 days, enduring a repeating pattern of Saturday games followed by midweek fixtures. The run did include last weekend’s international friendly against Mexico’s Atlante FC — an opportunity to rotate the lineup — but team selection has remained tough with City carrying an unusually high number of injuries.
200 club: Veteran LouCity midfielder Niall McCabe is one appearance away from 200 in purple across the regular season and playoffs — a milestone reached only by fellow midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo and defender Sean Totsch. From Ireland, McCabe signed his first pro contract with City in 2015 out of Young Harris College in Georgia and has remained with the club ever since.
Ownby returns: Winger Brian Ownby, having recovered from a pair of muscle strains, started his first league game Wednesday since June 3. While his presence didn’t impact the score sheet, Ownby left his mark against Detroit, earning a game-high six fouls and winning 10 of 15 duels. The forward went 82 minutes in a sign of improving fitness moving forward.
Semmle’s shutouts: Goalkeeper Oliver Semmle’s nine clean sheets continue to lead the USL Championship and are one off the league’s rookie record of 10 set in 2014 by the Rochester Rhinos’ John McCarthy. Semmle is also in play to reach the overall Championship record of 15 first set in 2018 by Maxime Crepeau, then of the Ottawa Fury, and matched last year by San Antonio FC’s Jordan Farr.
Growing attendance: Results at Lynn Family Stadium haven’t been what LouCity has come to expect this season with five wins — but also four losses. It’s not for lack of support. City has averaged 10,724 fans at its USL Championship home games. The figure both leads the league and is on pace to set a new club record ahead of a a numbers-boosting opportunity next up.
Fill the Fam: A week after hosting Birmingham, LouCity could very well host its largest home crowd of the season for its second “Fill the Fam” game. This time, rival Indy Eleven visits a year after 14,673 crammed into Lynn Family Stadium to see a victory over the Rowdies. The game will be paired with a number of promotions, including pregame giveaways and postgame fireworks. Visit LouCity.com/FilltheFam for tickets and more information.
