Louisville City FC trailed at home Wednesday for the first time all season, but it was a short-lived deficit for a squad that’s pouring in goals at Lynn Family Stadium.
LouCity answered Detroit City FC’s opener with five goals of its own, dazzling a weeknight crowd of 10,385 — including star rapper Jack Harlow — with a 5-1 win.
The boys in purple improved to 6-0 in their USL Championship home games this season. They also boast a +22 goal differential at Lynn Family Stadium, which coach Danny Cruz has urged his team to make “a fortress.”
“I think the players have certainly taken that message on board,” Cruz said. “The performances at home, for the most part, have been excellent. And then on the road, as I’ve said multiple times, it’s a grind — different environments, different type fields.
“We need to continue to put on performances like that at home. It gives us the best chance to progress throughout the season and finish on the table where we want to be.”
With its win, LouCity (8-1-2, 26 points) pulled within one point of the Charleston Battery for the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference lead, and the boys in purple still hold a game in hand. This victory came against a team in Detroit (5-2-2, 17 points) that entered having conceded only seven goals in eight games — only one of them a loss.
The result looked in doubt early after Damian Las was forced to make an acrobatic free kick save in the 22nd minute but then mishandled a punched clearance, setting up Matt Sheldon’s 34th-minute goal. Wes Charpie crossed to Arturo Ordóñez for an equalizer in the 42nd minute, and LouCity rolled out of the halftime break.
“I think this team is probably the most resilient in the USL,” said defender Jake Morris. “When we go down, there’s no doubt in our minds that we’re going to come back and get another one.”
Following Ordóñez’s goal — his first in purple — the game turned in LouCity’s favor to the tune of four more goals in 26 minutes. Adrien Perez smashed one off the cross bar and in, Wilson Harris rifled in another from a hard angle in the box, and Morris carried a dribble from the midfield before skipping in a hard-driven shot from distance.
To cap the scoring, Sam Gleadle earned a penalty kick leading to another Harris goal, his 10th of the year, already eclipsing his regular season total from 2023.
“The way we play right now, and the field suits us so well, once the game opens up teams hang with us for a bit,” Harris said. “But then once we get into our groove and really start completing passes and getting more creative up the field, we really hurt teams.”
LouCity posted its fourth five-goal home performance Wednesday following score lines of 5-0 (March 30 against Birmingham Legion FC), 5-3 (April 6 versus Indy Eleven) and 6-0 (April 27 over Hartford Athletic). That matches the USL Championship’s record for five-goal home wins in a single season, and the boys in purple still have 11 regular season games left to go at Lynn Family Stadium.
Before a return home, they’ll play their third game in a week, facing another quick turnaround to Saturday’s 7 p.m. kickoff at Miami FC.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Detroit City FC
Date: May 29, 2024
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Attendance: 10,385
Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy
Scoring
Louisville City FC (1, 4, 5)
Detroit City FC (1, 0, 1)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
42’ Arturo Ordóñez (Wes Charpie)
48’ Adrien Perez (Jorge Gonzalez)
61’ Wilson Harris
74’ Jake Morris
84’ Wilson Harris
Detroit City FC:
34’ Matt Sheldon
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 18 – Damian Las, 3 – Jake Morris, 5 – Arturo Ordóñez, 6 – Wes Charpie, 4 – Sean Totsch, 25 – Jansen Wilson, 17 – Taylor Davila, 23 – Elijah Wynder (72’ 11 – Niall McCabe), 7 – Ray Serrano, 14 – Wilson Harris, 16 – Adrien Perez (72’ 20 – Sam Gleadle)
Subs not used: 12 – Danny Faundez, 2 – Aiden McFadden, 13 – Amadou Dia, 80 – Hayden Stamps, 22 – Dylan Mares, 21 – Jorge Gonzalez
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Detroit City FC: 1 — Nate Steinwascher, 17 — Brett Lewis (46’ 3 — Alex Villanueva), 30 — Devon Amoo-Mensah, 5 — Stephen Carroll, 13 — Matt Sheldon (74’ 12 — Michael Bryant), 6 — James Murphy, 8 — Abdoulaye Diop (71’ 11 — Connor Rutz), 10 — Ali Coote, 4 — Ryan Williams, 9 — Ben Morris, 27 — Yazeed Matthews
Subs not used: 2 — Rhys Williams, 7 — Victor Bezerra, 24 — Dominic Gasso, 91 — Carlos Saldana
Head coach: Danny Dichio
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Detroit City FC
Shots: 16 / 11
Shots on Goal: 8 / 8
Possession: 42.9% / 57.1%
Fouls: 14 / 12
Offside: 0 / 0
Corner Kicks: 7 / 6
Discipline Summary
Louisville City FC:
20’ Arturo Ordóñez (yellow)
38’ Elijah Wynder (yellow)
57’ Adrien Perez (yellow)
81’ Danny Cruz (yellow)
Detroit City FC:
40’ James Murphy (yellow)
72’ Connor Rutz (yellow)
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
