They don’t get much bigger than this in the USL Championship.
The stakes will be sky-high on Saturday when Louisville City FC hosts the Charleston Battery in a matchup that could well decide the Players’ Shield title and the No. 1 overall playoff seed. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at Lynn Family Stadium.
Louisville (12-1-5, 41 points) and Charleston (13-3-2, 41 points) are tied on points atop the USL Championship standings, with LouCity edging the Battery for first place on head-to-head results after a 2-1 win in South Carolina on March 8.
The two sides lead their nearest competition for the Players’ Shield — FC Tulsa — by six points.
The game is “Fill the Fam” night at Lynn Family Stadium. The season’s largest crowd will pack the stands, guaranteeing an atmosphere worthy of the occasion.
In addition to the title and playoff implications, Saturday’s subplots are plentiful.
Charleston (38 goals) and Louisville (34 goals) are the two highest-scoring teams in the USL Championship. On the other side, their defensive records are among the league’s best — LouCity’s 14 goals allowed rank second, while the Battery’s 16 rank fourth.
Individually, the field at Lynn Family Stadium will be filled with league leaders on Saturday.
Three of the Championship’s top scorers will be on the field. Charleston’s Cal Jennings’ 11 goals are tied for the most in the USL Championship. Louisville’s Phillip Goodrum is tied for fifth with nine goals and Charleston’s MD Myers is right behind him with eight.
In the midfield, two of the league’s chief creative maestros will square off: Charleston’s Juan Torres leads the league in assists (8), shots (54), and chances created (46). Louisville’s Taylor Davila has five assists this year (tied for fifth most) and is second only to Torres with 35 chances created.
The goals will be occupied by two of the league’s best net-minders. Louisville’s Damian Las is third in the league in saves (48) and tied for fourth with six clean sheets, while Charleston’s Luis Zamudio ranks fifth (43 saves) and tied for sixth (five clean sheets) respectively.
There’s no doubt this is the biggest game of the year in the USL Championship. For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/fillthefam.
Follow Along
• The match will air live locally on MyTV 58 and ESPN Louisville’s AM 680/FM 105.7.
• If streaming, download the free WDRB+ app to watch the local feed in Louisville or CBS Sports Golazo Network for national coverage.
• For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter. Also, find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram and Louisville City FC on Facebook.
Story Lines…
Fam filled: Louisville City has hosted a “Fill the Fam” game in each of the last three seasons, all wins with an average of 13,816 fans in attendance. In 2022, a stadium-record 14,673 were on hand to see a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies. In 2023, 13,248 saw a 2-0 victory over Indy Eleven. Last year, 13,526 were in the house for a 3-1 LouCity win over Charleston.
Cruz vs. Pirmann XIII: Louisville’s Danny Cruz and Charleston’s Ben Pirmann are two of the best young coaches in the country. Cruz (35) and Pirmann (39) are the second- and fifth-youngest coaches in the USL Championship, and rank first (1.96) and second (1.84) respectively in points per match among active coaches. In 12 previous meetings between them, Cruz holds the slim 5-4-3 advantage.
Wear purple: Saturday’s game is a “purple out” at Lynn Family Stadium. Fans are encouraged to wear LouCity’s signature color. This season, Louisville is 11-1-2 across competitions when wearing their purple “City” kits.
Team of the week: LouCity’s Josh Jones and Damian Las were named to the USL Championship Team of the Week, while Cruz was named Coach of the Week following last Saturday’s 4-1 win over North Carolina FC. Additionally, Sam Gleadle and Kevon Lambert both earned places on the bench.
Better with the ball: In LouCity’s last three competitive games, the boys in purple have dominated possession — a contrast to the season-long trend. In a 1-1 home tie versus Tulsa, a 2-1 USL Jägermeister Cup win at Lexington and last week’s 4-1 USL Championship win over North Carolina, LouCity enjoyed 60.7% possession. The three games mark LouCity’s three-highest possession totals of the season.
Shorthanded: Pirmann’s Charleston bench will look a little different Saturday. Assistant Devin Rensing recently left the club to become the head coach at the Las Vegas Lights. He had been on Pirmann’s staff going back five years, at both Charleston and Memphis 901 FC.
