Louisville City FC’s unbeaten run ended on Wednesday night as Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United FC advanced in the 110th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 1-0 win at Lynn Family Stadium.
The nine-game run was the second-longest in club history to start a season behind a 13-game stretch in 2022.
“We’re not invincible,” LouCity head coach Danny Cruz said. “There’s still certainly areas that have to improve: quality on the ball, quality in the final third, numbers in the box. We needed more.”
For long stretches in Wednesday’s Round of 32 game, it looked like the USL Championship’s LouCity (7-1-2) might pull off the “Cup-set” of its MLS counterpart.
Ray Serrano found the back of the net in the first half from an offside position — but it wasn’t the only chance for the boys in purple. LouCity finished with 15 shots to Minnesota’s six and with a higher expected goal value.
Defender Amadou Dia agreed with his coach, saying LouCity didn’t capitalize on its opportunities in the loss.
“We missed too many chances,” Dia said. “An MLS team, or any good team will punish us if we don’t finish our chances, and that’s kind of been the theme this year. We create a lot of chances, (but) we don’t score as many as we should.”
Minnesota’s Darius Randell finished off a transition to put the visitors ahead in the 65th minute, and the emotions began to boil over for a LouCity team accustomed to winning, especially at home.
Referee Muhammad Kaleia brandished five yellow cards to LouCity — four after the goal.
“I thought I got a little too frustrated on the sideline,” said Cruz, who was shown a yellow card himself. “And I think the players felt the same.”
Losses at Lynn Family Stadium are a rarity for Louisville City. Since the venue opened in 2020, LouCity is 72-18-9 in Butchertown.
LouCity dropped to 1-7-0 against MLS opponents in the U.S. Open Cup. The club has advanced past the Round of 32 twice in its history from nine total appearances in America’s national championship.
“MLS team, USL (Championship) team, USL League One team — a loss is a loss,” Dia said. “Here at Louisville, we don’t lose two games in a row. That’s something I learned the first day that I got here.”
It’ll be a short turnaround for LouCity. The boys in purple return to regular season action on Saturday night, hosting the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Cruz said. “We have to come back to work and do what we know how to do, which is stick to our process.”
Saturday’s game is Pups at the Pitch at Lynn Family Stadium in partnership with the Kentucky Humane Society. Fans are encouraged to bring their furry friends to the game with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/pups.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Minnesota United FC
Date: May 7, 2025
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 73 degrees, fair
Attendance: 4,482
Scoring
Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0)
Minnesota United FC (0, 1, 1)
Goals
Minnesota United FC:
65′ Darius Randell (Jeong Sang-Bin)
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 1 – Damian Las; 13 – Amadou Dia (65′, 3 – Jake Morris — 76′, 70 – Isaac Cano), 32 – Kyle Adams (c), 5 – Arturo Ordóñez, 2 – Aiden McFadden, 15 – Manny Perez (84′, 24 – Josh Jones), 27 – Evan Davila (45′, 31 – Kevon Lambert), 17 – Taylor Davila, 7 – Ray Serrano, 16 – Adrien Perez (66′, 25 – Jansen Wilson), 9 – Phillip Goodrum
Subs not used: 12 – Danny Faundez; 8 – Carlos Moguel Jr.
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Minnesota United FC: 96 – Wessel Speel; 23 – Morris Duggan, 27 – DJ Taylor (c), 2 – Devin Padelford, 33 – Kieran Chandler, 24 – Julian Gressel (67′, 35 – Britton Fischer), 34 – Curt Calov, 19 – Samuel Shashoua (79′, 37 – Babacar Niang), 22 – Jeong Ho-Yeon, 98 – Darius Randell (67′, 90 – Loïc Mesanvi), 7 – Jeong Sang-Bin (90’+2, 39 – Luke Hille)
Subs not used: 1 – Alec Smir, 36 – Kisa Kiingi, 95 – Mouba Nour
Head coach: Eric Ramsay
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Minnesota United FC
Shots: 15 / 6
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Expected goals: 0.72 / 0.43
Possession: 49.5% / 50.5%
Fouls: 16 / 7
Offside: 2 / 0
Corner Kicks: 10 / 4
Discipline Summary
Louisville City FC:
39′ Kyle Adams (yellow)
73′ Jake Morris (yellow)
84′ Kevon Lambert (yellow)
90’+2 Danny Cruz (yellow)
90’+5 Aiden McFadden (yellow)
Minnesota United FC:
90’+3 Brennon Fischer (yellow)
Referee: Muhammad Kaleia
