One trend has remained consistent for Louisville City FC amid a season of topsy turvy form: Start quickly, and more often than not the boys in purple will win.
It proved true again Saturday when Wilson Harris rebounded in a fifth-minute goal against San Diego Loyal SC, as that was all LouCity needed to register a 1-0 victory in front of 11,121 fans at Lynn Family Stadium.
The win improved City to 13-9-7 on the year, with the club now 12-2-3 when scoring first.
“I think some of those games where we don’t score first but we’ve been on the front foot, there’s a change in the confidence level,” said coach Danny Cruz. “You start the game well but you don’t score, and you think, ‘Is it gonna fall?’ I think we had that early in the season.
“But obviously it’s the response after you score. Are you staying with the right mentality — staying on the front foot like we talk about — and tonight I thought we did that.”
Harris netted his team-leading seventh goal of the season on the game’s first chance. LouCity turned over San Diego in its own half before Brian Ownby sent in a cross. Jorge Gonzalez headed an initial shot on target, and Harris punched in the follow-up try.
LouCity was also dominant defensively from the onset, holding San Diego without a shot until the 38th minute. It wasn’t until Oscar Jimenez slid to make a 52nd-minute block that the Loyal attempted another.
“It gives us more confidence to play the way we want to,” Harris said. “Getting a goal from the start always boosts the team and just lifts everyone’s energy. I was feeling more confident, and I’m sure the guys were too.
“I saw Jorge get up really well,” Harris added of his goal. “I honestly thought his header was going in, but I was there in a good position — just reacted first.”
LouCity numbered the game’s single “big chance,” per Stats Perform, on its goal. But that seems to dismiss the majority of Oliver Semmle’s five saves on the night. In the 53rd minute, he stretched to parry away a deflected San Diego shot from distance. And in the 77th, he denied Evan Conway from close range to preserve the shutout.
This went down as Semmle’s USL Championship-leading 12th clean sheet of 2023— one off the single-season club record of 13.
“I think it’s massive,” Semmle said of LouCity’s early goal. “It helps a lot because they have to go. They have to score. It’s on them to do something. It helps a lot. An early goal is just in our favor, and tonight was great. Willie finished that header well. It wasn’t easy, and I think we did a good job of defending a 1-0 lead.”
Saturday’s result left LouCity in fourth place on the Eastern Conference table — one point ahead of Memphis 901 FC — with five games to play. Eight teams from both the East and Western Conference qualify for the USL Championship Playoffs. Top-four sides host and, pending results, could continue to play at home throughout the postseason.
City leaves its only home game in September to play three more times on the road starting with a quick turnaround. Wednesday’s clash at Miami FC kicks off at 7 p.m. ET.
“The biggest thing for me is, we need to make sure we have the bite on the road that we have had a good portion of this year,” Cruz said. “And we need to make sure we start the game the right way like we’ve talked about. We have the quality in that room to make sure we continue to perform well in the next three games. The focus is obviously on Wednesday.
“Will it be difficult? Yeah. Should we be able to handle it? Absolutely, no question about it.”
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. San Diego Loyal SC
Date: September 16, 2023
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 75 degrees, cloudy
Attendance: 11,121
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1, 0, 1)
San Diego Loyal SC (0, 0, 0)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
5’ Wilson Harris
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 28 — Oliver Semmle, 15 — Manny Perez, 4 — Sean Totsch, 8 — Carlos Moguel Jr (78’ 22 — Dylan Mares), 6 — Wes Charpie, 19 — Oscar Jimenez (78’ 32 — Kyle Adams), 10 — Brian Ownby, 23 — Elijah Wynder, 36 — Paolo DelPiccolo (72’ 12 — Tyler Gibson), 9 — Jorge Gonzalez (72’ 7 — Ray Serrano), 14 — Wilson Harris (88’ 90 — Maarten Pouwels)
Subs not used: 18 — Danny Faundez, 67 — Owen Damm
Head coach: Danny Cruz
San Diego Loyal SC: 1 — Koke Vegas, 4 — Carlos Guzman (87’ 2 — Morgan Hackworth), 5 — Grant Stoneman, 13 — Camden Riley, 7 — Blake Bodily, 15 — Joe Corona (81’ 50 — Xavi Gnaulati), 10 — Alejandro Guido (60’ 6 — Charlie Adams), 17 — Collin Martin, 14 — Adrien Perez, 9 — Evan Conway, 11 — Tumi Moshobane (60’ 8 — Ronaldo Damus)
Subs not used: 60 — Duran Ferree, 20 — Nick Moon, 23 — Michael Chilaka
Head coach: Nathan Miller
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / San Diego Loyal SC
Shots: 18 / 7
Shots on Goal: 5 / 5
Possession: 37.5% / 62.5%
Fouls: 14 / 16
Offside: 1 / 0
Corner Kicks: 8 / 7
Discipline Summary
Louisville City FC:
22’ Wes Charpie (yellow)
73’ Tyler Gibson (yellow)
75’ Ray Serrano (yellow)
87’ Manny Perez (yellow)
San Diego Loyal SC:
77’ Evan Conway (yellow)
Referee: Nabil Bensalah
