Louisville City FC coach Danny Cruz opted for a quartet of fresh faces in his starting lineup Saturday as the boys in purple play their third game in eight days.
Kickoff against Rhode Island FC is set for 8 p.m. at Lynn Family Stadium, where LouCity wheels back quickly from a road trip that yielded a loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies before a midweek, bounce-back victory over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
Up top, Sam Gleadle replaces Tola Showunmi, who made his first club start in Pittsburgh. Ray Serrano supplants Jorge Gonzalez in the attacking midfield. Amadou Dia earns a start, spelling Jake Morris on the left wing. And with Kyle Adams picking up a knock against the Riverhounds, Sean Totsch returns defensively on the short turnaround.
Cruz has given himself options with his shape, which could appear as both a 3-5-2 or 5-2-3.
Damian Las returns in goal, where he’s tied for the USL Championship lead with six shutouts this season. Arturo Ordóñez and Wes Charpie join Totsch on the back line.
Jansen Wilson, who scored the game-winning goal against Pittsburgh last time out, returns on the right wing opposite of Dia. They’ll flank LouCity’s usual midfield pairing of Taylor Davila and Elijah Wynder.
Wilson Harris and Ray Serrano join Gleadle at the head of City’s formation.
First-place LouCity (11-2-2, 35 points) enters Saturday six points clear of second in the league. Rhode Island FC (1-4-9, 12 points) is the only club to so far hold the boys in purple scoreless this season, which they did in teams’ initial meeting back on May 25.
Saturday’s game will air locally on WBKI/The CW, and fans can listen in via ESPN Louisville’s AM 680/FM 105.7. ESPN+ will provide national streaming coverage.
Team sheet vs. Rhode Island FC
18 — Damian Las
5 — Arturo Ordóñez
6 — Wes Charpie
4 — Sean Totsch
13 — Amadou Dia
25 — Jansen Wilson
17 — Taylor Davila
23 — Elijah Wynder
7 — Ray Serrano
14 — Wilson Harris
20 — Sam Gleadle
Substitutes: 30 — Ryan Troutman, 3 — Jake Morris, 2 — Aiden McFadden, 11 — Niall McCabe, 24 — Tola Shownumi, 21 — Jorge Gonzalez, 22 — Dylan Mares, 80 — Hayden Stamps
