Louisville City FC rallied from two goals down late Wednesday and into early Thursday morning before falling to Seattle Sounders FC in a penalty shootout that concluded the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 32.
Eight sets of penalties were taken as goalkeepers Danny Faundez (LouCity) and Andrew Thomas (Seattle) tallied three saves apiece. Thomas ultimately called his own number, making the final kick to cap a long night at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington.
Seattle moved on to the Round of 16 in U.S. Soccer’s annual national championship tournament. For LouCity it’s a return to USL Championship play, where the boys in purple are off to a 6-1-0 start — plus now have the experience of pushing a Major League Soccer side to the wire.
“I genuinely believe it didn’t matter who was on the field for the opponent,” said coach Danny Cruz. “We were going to put in a performance that was going to give us a chance to win the game. Some bounces didn’t go our way. But we fought back. We didn’t roll over. We made adjustments, and the players did an excellent job of executing.
“I want them to remain confident and continue to believe in the quality we have.”
LouCity trailed 2-0 just more than an hour into regulation before a handball in the box changed the game. Sounders defender Alex Roldan’s errant arm led to a Sean Totsch penalty kick that halved the lead, and Jorge Gonzalez rebounded in an 89th-minute equalizer to force extra time.
The comeback had LouCity gunning for its first Open Cup victory over an MLS squad since 2018’s un to the Quarterfinal Round, which included a “Cup-set” of the New England Revolution. However, City instead bowed out for a third straight season to a higher-division foe following other close brushes with Nashville SC in 2022 and FC Cincinnati in 2023.
“It’s always tough to lose that way,” said LouCity midfielder Niall McCabe. “I thought we played really well for long periods of the game. At the end of the 90, we kind of had them on the ropes a bit. I felt like they were hanging on and we could have snatched it.
“I don’t even care that they’re an MLS team. I think whoever we play, we want to win. It doesn’t matter who’s against us or what players they play. It was there for the taking, and I feel like it was a bit of an opportunity missed.”
While Seattle opened Wednesday with the early chances, LouCity settled into the run of play over a compact turf field. That led up to Adrien Perez’s 40th-minute deflected shot that went off the near post. But at the other end, Paul Rothock countered to score the Sounders’ opener only seconds later.
A bit against the run of play, Seattle added a second goal on the other side of the half when Danny Leyva fired a free kick into Danny Musovski in the 62nd minute. LouCity managed to turn momentum from there, though 120-plus minutes played will make for a challenge heading into the weekend.
The boys in purple turn around to host Orange County SC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in league competition at Lynn Family Stadium.
“We’re leaving here right now,” Cruz said after the game. “We’re fortunate that we have an ownership group that supports our ability to recover and prepare for Orange County. So we’re heading straight to the airport — getting on a flight. We’ll be in tomorrow evening for a recovery session for the most part. We’ll train on Friday, and then we’ll go again Saturday.”
Game Summary: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: May 8, 2024
Venue: Starfire Sports Complex
Kickoff: 10:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 60 degrees, clear
Scoring
Seattle Sounders FC (1, 1, 2)
Louisville City FC (0, 2, 2)
Goals
Seattle Sounders FC:
41’ Paul Rothrock (Georgi Minoungou)
62’ Danny Musovski (Danny Leyva)
Louisville City FC:
67’ Sean Totsch
89’ Jorge Gonzalez
Lineups
Seattle Sounders FC: 26 — Andrew Thomas, 33 — Cody Baker, 39 — Stuart Hawkins, 15 — Jon Bell (91’ 35 — Antino Lopez), 16 — Alex Roldan (91’ 23 — Leo Chu), 99 — Dylan Teves (86’ 37 — Snyder Brunell), 75 — Danny Leyva, 8 — Josh Atencio (86’ 77 — Sota Kitahara), 93 — Georgi Minoungou (116’ 95 — Osaze de Rosario), 17 — Danny Musovski, 14 — Paul Rothrock (81’ 85 — Kalani Kossa-Rienzi)
Subs not used: 29 — Jacob Castro
Head coach: Brian Schmetzer
Louisville City FC: 12 – Danny Faundez, 3 – Jake Morris (77’ 13 – Amadou Dia), 32 – Kyle Adams, 6 – Wes Charpie (112’ 5 – Arturo Ordóñez), 4 – Sean Totsch, 2 – Aiden McFadden (77’ 25 – Jansen Wilson ), 17 – Taylor Davila, 23 – Elijah Wynder, 7 – Ray Serrano (46’ 21 – Jorge Gonzalez), 14 – Wilson Harris (91’ 20 – Sam Gleadle), 16 – Adrien Perez (103’ 11 – Niall McCabe)
Subs not used: 18 – Damian Las
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: Seattle Sounders FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 15 / 19
Shots on Goal: 3 / 6
Possession: 51.7% / 48.3%
Fouls: 12 / 15
Offside: 1 / 1
Corner Kicks: 8 / 9
Discipline Summary
Seattle Sounders FC:
Louisville City FC:
61’ Wes Charpie (yellow)
78’ Amadou Dia (yellow)
90’ Kyle Adams (yellow)
Referee: Cristian Campo Hernandez
