Louisville City FC trailed at three points of Saturday’s game against North Carolina FC, rallying each time for a 6-4 victory that set a USL Championship record and matched club history.
Wilson Harris and Jansen Wilson both registered braces at WakeMed Soccer Park, where LouCity benefitted from a pair of North Carolina own goals along the way. Paired with an own goal of City’s, this became the first USL Championship game to feature three of them.
It also marked the second-ever time the boys in purple conceded four goals and still won, equaling a 6-4 victory over New York Red Bulls II back in August of 2018.
This all happened with Simon Bird, LouCity’s top assistant, serving as acting head coach due to Danny Cruz’s red card suspension.
“I guess it was good for the neutrals and the spectators, but it’s certainly not the way we anticipated the game was going to go or the way we drew it up,” Bird said. “We’re obviously happy we got the win. We showed character when we conceded goals — bounced back immediately — but we lacked control of the game.
“That’s certainly not us, so we need to make sure we learn from it. Ultimately, it’s three points, and we’re happy with the three points. But it needs to be better.”
LouCity improved to 18-5-2, with its 56 points still pacing ahead of the Charleston Battery atop the USL Championship standings. City continues to hold two games in hand over Charleston down the stretch as well.
The boys in purple also continued a positive trend that has seen them follow each of this year’s five losses with a next-out win. That only became a reality Saturday after LouCity overcame losing positions at 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 on the road.
City finally created some distance over the game’s last half hour, seeing Harris convert a penalty kick in the 60th minute to equalize. He then got behind the defense for a go-ahead strike in the 69th minute before Wilson struck a sixth and final Louisville goal from distance in the 79th.
“It was good character from the guys, but I think this is a not a sustainable way to keep playing,” Harris said. “So I think we’ll take some things from this game and really learn and take it as a positive — but also learn from the negatives.”
Harris upped his season total to a career-high 16 goals, eclipsing the 15 he scored in 2022, his debut LouCity season. Wilson sits on eight goals and has hit the back of the net in four of the last five games.
A rookie from Elizabethtown, Wilson nearly netted a hat trick Saturday. His 36th-minute blast on frame was deflected out from the goalkeeper and into a North Carolina defender for an own goal. It came just four minutes after Carolina’s other own goal, a Taylor Davila cross that bounced off former City defender Paco Craig on its way.
“It’s going to be tough to continue going if the 11 on the field are conceding goals, so there’s a lot we’ve got to work on,” Wilson said. “But I think it shows the resilience of this team that we’re able to go down goals and concede goals, but we still keep fighting and find a way to win.”
Defensively, LouCity opened up in transition for North Carolina’s Oalex Anderson to get a brace of his own. Two other goals were conceded on set pieces — first a beauty of an opener from a Rodrigo da Costa free kick and later a corner kick from the hosts headed in by City’s Kyle Adams.
Louisville emerged as the better side over time, tallying six “Big Chances,” according to Opta statistics. It’s all part of a league-leading attack that has now numbered 67 goals in 25 games, with the club’s next match a Friday night homecoming against Loudoun United FC.
Game Summary: North Carolina FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: August 31, 2024
Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy
Scoring
North Carolina FC (3, 1, 4)
Louisville City FC (3, 3, 6)
Goals
North Carolina FC:
11’ Rodrigo da Costa
29’ Oalex Anderson (Ezra Armstrong)
45’+3 Kyle Adams (own goal)
56’ Oalex Anderson (Ezra Armstrong)
Louisville City FC:
18’ Jansen Wilson
32’ Paco Craig (own goal)
36’ Justin Malou (own goal)
60’ Wilson Harris
69’ Wilson Harris (Aiden McFadden)
79’ Jansen Wilson
Lineups
North Carolina FC: 1 — Jake McGuire, 2 — Paco Craig (81’ 28 — Shaft Brewer), 27 — Bryce Washington, 4 — Justin Malou, 42 — Ezra Armstrong, 17 — Collin Martin (73’ 11 — Evan Conway), 15 — Mike Maldonado, 14 — Rafa Mentzingen (87’ 10 — Jaden Servant), 16 — Rodrigo da Costa, 8 — Louis Perez (87’ 44 — Raheem Somersall), 9 — Oalex Anderson
Subs not used: 6 — Jacori Hayes, 7 — Lamar Batista, 25 — Akira Fitzgerald
Head coach: John Bradford
Louisville City FC: 18 – Damian Las, 13 – Amadou Dia (78’ 3 – Jake Morris), 32 – Kyle Adams, 5 – Arturo Ordóñez, 4 – Sean Totsch, 2 – Aiden McFadden, 17 – Taylor Davila, 23 – Elijah Wynder, 7 – Ray Serrano (90’+1 22 – Dylan Mares), 14 – Wilson Harris (78’ 9 – Phillip Goodrum), 25 – Jansen Wilson (84’ 11 – Niall McCabe)
Subs not used: 30 – Ryan Troutman, 15 — Manny Perez, 27 – Evan Davila
Head coach: Simon Bird
Stats Summary: North Carolina FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 19 / 10
Shots on Goal: 8 / 6
Possession: 53.5% / 46.5%
Fouls: 5 / 15
Offside: 2 / 6
Corner Kicks: 6 / 13
Discipline Summary
North Carolina FC:
58’ Paco Craig (yellow)
Louisville City FC:
10’ Kyle Adams (yellow)
70’ Aiden McFadden (yellow)
Referee: Lorenzo Hernandez
