Louisville City FC’s making once-in-a-season type of victories a fairly routine occasion as part of an impressive start to 2024, adding to the list a 6-0 victory Saturday over the Hartford Athletic.
The boys in purple buried Lynn Family Stadium’s visitors under a familiar attack having now scored at least five goals in a game for a third time this season. They’ve also already registered four clean sheets.
It all adds up to a 6-1-0 record, marking the club’s best-ever record through seven games.
“I’m really proud of how guys came into the game,” said coach Danny Cruz. “They did their jobs and performed well from a mentality standpoint. We talked a ton about, and I know I’ve said it before, that the zero is just as important as the six.”
A dominating LouCity performance Saturday came in front of a crowd of 10,887 fans — and the 285 dogs — as part of LouCity’s annual Pups at the Pitch game, which fundraises for and brings awareness to the Kentucky Humane Society.
Six City players scored a goal, second-most in a single game in club history behind an 8-3 victory back on October 12, 2019, when seven players in purple hit the back of the net.
“It’s so fun when everyone gets to score and everybody gets a piece of the dub,” said forward Adrien Perez. “It’s an amazing feeling, and you can see it from the fans to the players, just the atmosphere. Our group had a fun time.”
Elijah Wynder netted the first goal in the fifth minute, Perez doubled the lead with his first club goal in the 12th, and Aiden McFadden ended the early onslaught in the 32nd.
Cruz was short on negatives regarding his team’s performance but wished for a stronger start to the second half. After the coach substituted, Jorge Gonzalez (67th minute), Ray Serrano (83rd) and Tola Shownumi (stoppage time) rounded out the scoring.
“We always talk about coming out on the front foot, pinning them back in and getting early shots off,” Wynder said. “An early goal always helps the momentum. If you get scored on in six, seven minutes in, you know it’s going to be a long night. Six different goal scorers — everybody was a part of it.”
Defensively, two efforts from Wes Charpie stood out. He slid to block Hartford’s only first half shot, a look from Mamadou Dieng in the box. And when goalkeeper Damian Las ran far off his line in the 43rd minute, Charpie tracked back to prevent an Athletic shot on an empty net.
Hartford wound up going without a single shot on target from its three attempts.
“To step up tonight the way he did and to start, he has a lot to be proud of,” Cruz said of Charpie. “I thought it was a group effort. I thought everybody supported one another — backed one another — and we ultimately come out with the score we did today.”
LouCity sits second in the Eastern Conference standings, three points off the Charleston Battery but with two games in hand. The boys in purple will pause — as they traditionally do — for Kentucky Derby weekend before traveling to play Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, May 8, in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 32.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Hartford Athletic
Date: April 27, 2024
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Attendance: 10,887 (and 285 dogs)
Weather: 77 degrees, cloudy
Scoring
Louisville City FC (3, 3, 6)
Hartford Athletic (0, 0, 0)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
5’ Elijah Wynder
12’ Adrien Perez (Jake Morris)
32’ Aiden McFadden
67’ Jorge Gonzalez
83’ Ray Serrano (Jake Morris)
90’+3 Tola Showunmi (Sam Gleadle)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 18 – Damian Las, 3 – Jake Morris , 4 – Sean Totsch, 6 – Wes Charpie (63’ 13 – Amadou Dia), 32 – Kyle Adams, 2 – Aiden McFadden (63’ 25 – Jansen Wilson), 17 – Taylor Davila, 23 – Elijah Wynder, 7 – Ray Serrano (84’ 20 – Sam Gleadle), 14 – Wilson Harris (84’ 24 – Tola Showunmi), 16 – Adrien Perez (63’ 21 – Jorge Gonzalez, 90’ 11 – Niall McCabe)
Subs not used: 12 – Danny Faundez
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Hartford Athletic: 25 — Paul Walters, 5 — Triston Hodge, 23 — Thomas Vancaeyezeele, 15 — Joe Farrell (77’ 3 — Joey Akpunonu), 19 — Rece Buckmaster (68’ 43 — Ian Shaul), 12 — Anderson Asiedu (84’ 18 — Joe Schmidt), 94 — Marlon Hairston (64’ 6 — Beverly Makangila), 77 — Enoch Mushagalusa (64’ 29 — Emmanuel Samadia), 7 — Marcus Epps (68’ 9 — Romario Williams), 31 — Deshane Beckford, 33 — Mamadou Dieng
Subs not used: 40 — Renan Ribeiro
Head coach: Aaron Wheeler
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Hartford Athletic
Shots: 16 / 3
Shots on Goal: 10 / 0
Possession: 47.8% / 52.2%
Fouls: 14 / 21
Offside: 2 / 1
Corner Kicks: 3 /1
Discipline Summary
Louisville City FC:
82’ Sean Totsch (yellow)
Hartford Athletic:
10’ Marcus Epps (yellow)
37’ Rece Buckmaster (yellow)
57’ Triston Hodge (yellow)
78’ Anderson Asiedu (yellow)
Referee: Ricardo Fierro