UPDATED: Damian Las will be back in goal Saturday for Louisville City FC after all. Counterpart Danny Faundez — who was set to start for the first time in more than a year — suffered an injury in warmups ahead of the club’s 10 p.m. kickoff at Monterey Bay FC.
The rest of LouCity’s original lineup remains the same. City will play Saturday with six players on the bench.
ORIGINAL: Louisville City FC head coach Danny Cruz has made three changes to his lineup for Saturday’s 10 p.m. game at Monterey Bay FC.
In the most notable switch, goalkeeper Danny Faundez will make his first start in more than a year. LouCity’s regular netminder, Damian Las, has dropped to the bench in a coach’s decision after playing every minute of the season up to this point.
The 32-year-old Faundez last took the field on May 8, 2024, in a U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 game at the Seattle Sounders. Faundez made one save in regular time and three in a penalty shootout.
Overall, since joining LouCity in 2022, Faundez has made 14 appearances for the club, 13 of them starts.
While his experience may be limited, it’s been impactful. Faundez notably started each game of Louisville City’s 2022 Eastern Conference title-winning playoff run in place of the injured Kyle Morton. He made nine saves in the 2022 playoffs and helped LouCity advance in a penalty shootout over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
Elsewhere, Niall McCabe moves to the bench and a mild injury counts out Phillip Goodrum, who scored LouCity’s only goal in a 1-1 tie at Hartford last week. Cruz swapped in Ray Serrano and Jansen Wilson. These moves signal a reversion in shape after Cruz’s formational experimentation last week to feature three midfielders.
“We tried something new tonight,” Cruz said of his team’s formation after the draw in Connecticut. “I was happy with that, for the most part, from a shape perspective. We just did not execute there in the second half the way that we needed to.”
The rest of the team remains unchanged in personnel, though Wilson moves to the top of the formation to get a crack at center forward duty. The second-year pro from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, has played multiple positions in his brief LouCity career — fullback, wingback, winger and the No. 9 role.
Serrano and Adrien Perez will flank Wilson in the attack. LouCity’s leading scorer with four goals, Serrano hasn’t found the back of the net since an April 26 USL Jägermeister Cup win over the Richmond Kickers. He returns to the lineup after playing 18 minutes on the bench at Hartford.
The back five of Amadou Dia, Kyle Adams, Arturo Ordóñez, Sean Totsch and Manny Perez starts together for the second straight game, and third time this season.
In the midfield, Taylor Davila pairs with Kevon Lambert for the second straight game. Davila has started every game for Louisville this season, while Lambert starts in consecutive games for just the second time.
On the bench, LouCity Academy graduate Issac Cano looms as a backup striker option. Also, McCabe makes a game day squad for the third-straight game, a season-high, after playing 90 minutes at Hartford. The 34-year-old had yet to make consecutive game day squads this season prior to this three-game run.
Team sheet at Monterey Bay FC
12 – Danny Faundez
13 – Amadou Dia
32 – Kyle Adams (c)
5 – Arturo Ordóñez
4 – Sean Totsch
15 – Manny Perez
17 – Taylor Davila
31 – Kevon Lambert
7 – Ray Serrano
16 – Adrien Perez
25 – Jansen Wilson
Substitutes: 1 – Damian Las; 2 – Aiden McFadden, 8 – Carlos Moguel Jr., 11 – Niall McCabe, 24 – Josh Jones, 27 – Evan Davila, 70 – Issac Cano
