It wasn’t quite like a stroll down South Beach, but Louisville City FC continued to do Saturday night what great teams typically always do: find a way to win.
Amid the Florida heat, LouCity overcame a back-and-forth first half to best Miami FC, 4-2, at Pitbull Stadium, extending its unbeaten run in the USL Championship to six games.
Louisville and Miami traded blows inside the first 25 minutes, with the hosts pegging the visitors back not once, but twice. The stretch was highlighted by Phillip Goodrum, who recorded a brace inside 23 minutes to give him a league high (as of now) 12 goals on the campaign.
Top drawer finishes by Aiden McFadden and Jansen Wilson in the final period of play allowed City to escape the 305 with all three points.
LouCity (14-1-5, 47 points) remains at the top of the Eastern Conference after the result, currently holding a three-point edge over the Charleston Battery — the side Louisville just defeated last week in front of 13,611 fans at Lynn Family Stadium. Notably, Louisville’s four goals made it the new league leader in that category (42), surpassing the Battery.
“I didn’t think the first half was up to the standard that we expect of ourselves,” said head coach Danny Cruz. “That being said, I told them at the beginning of the week, this is a difficult place to come play — a little bit of heat … the turf, all those things, but ultimately there will be no excuses at the end of it. Both teams have to play on it. Both teams have to play in it.
“These games are usually not pretty. Tonight was a classic example of that. At the same time, I think it showed really, really good character tonight in the second half to make sure we’re walking out of here with three points. Not our prettiest moment, or prettiest three points, but these games on the road are often about the grind and about the mentality. I thought (in) the second half (we) certainly showed that.”
Goodrum’s two first period goals, both created by Josh Jones’ hotel room service-level long throws, were matched by Lucas Melano and Daltyn Knutson, serving notice to LouCity that this wouldn’t be a straightforward affair.
But City found their response in the second half with a vastly improved performance. McFadden provided the decisive moment 18 minutes after the restart, finishing brilliantly from Taylor Davila’s perfectly weighted through ball.
The cherry was added soon after as Wilson would ensure Miami’s hopes of getting anything out of the match went timber in the 80th minute, when he smashed home a fireball past the arms of Felipe Rodriguez to solidify a third consecutive match with a four-goal offensive output.
The finish marked Wilson’s fourth goal in his last three contests, and fifth from his last four if you count the Eintracht Frankfurt international friendly.
“It feels great to help the team win,” Wilson said. “Obviously, I love scoring goals, but it all comes down to the team. They’re the ones that get me in good positions; they’re the ones that move the ball and open up space. If it wasn’t for our whole team being so dangerous and having other people scoring goals … I would(n’t) be able to be in the spaces that I’m in.”
Louisville’s home dominance is well-known, but its ability to win on the road like this will be crucial down the stretch. This was the club’s sixth road victory this season — just two short of its entire road win total from last year’s record-breaking season.
“No game in this league is easy — ever,” said Goodrum. “I think that was on full display tonight, but it was a resilient performance from us in the end. I thought we could have been better, honestly, quality-wise, but in the end, we’ll take a 4-2 win on turf away in a hot, humid environment.”
City will be back on a more ideal playing surface at Lynn Family Stadium next Saturday for its final home match of August against a struggling New Mexico United. The match, which will kick off at 8 p.m., marks the club’s Teacher Appreciation Night. For tickets and further information on this meeting with a Western Conference foe, visit LouCity.com/teachers/.
Game Summary: Miami FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: August 16, 2025
Venue: Pitbull Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 86 degrees, cloudy
Scoring
Miami FC (2, 0, 2)
Louisville City FC (2, 2, 4)
Goals
Miami FC:
22’ Lucas Melano (Cristian Vázquez)
25’ Daltyn Knutson
Louisville City FC:
12’ Phillip Goodrum
23’ Phillip Goodrum (Josh Jones)
63’ Aiden McFadden (Taylor Davila)
80’ Jansen Wilson (Taylor Davila)
Lineups
Miami FC: 31 – Felipe Rodriguez; 4 – Nicolás Cardona (76’ 22 – Francesco Celeste), 13 – Daltyn Knutson, 93 – César García, 2 – Jonathan Ricketts, 21 – Bolu Akinyode (c), 8 – Matías Romero, 26 – Lucas Melano (83’ 17 – Ricardo Rivera), 18 – Tobías Zárate (71’ 7 – Allen Gavilanes), 30 – Cristian Vázquez (83’ 19 – Michael Lawrence), 9 – Francisco Bonfiglio
Subs not used: 12 – Rafael Martell; 3 – Alejandro Mitrano, 29 – Kevin Hoyos, 36 – Alexander Naranjo, 77 – Felipe Rodríguez
Head coach: Gastόn Maddoni
Louisville City FC: 1 – Damian Las; 13 – Amadou Dia, 32 – Kyle Adams (c), 24 – Josh Jones, 4 – Sean Totsch (46’ 5 – Arturo Ordóñez), 2 – Aiden McFadden, 17 – Taylor Davila, 31 – Kevon Lambert (46’ 27 – Evan Davila), 7 – Ray Serrano (83’ 10 – Brian Ownby), 25 – Jansen Wilson, 9 – Phillip Goodrum (83’ 23 – Sam Gleadle)
Subs not used: 12 – Danny Faundez; 3 – Jake Morris, 11 – Niall McCabe, 80 – Hayden Stamps, 83 – Brandon Dayes
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: Miami FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 12 / 8
Shots on Goal: 8 / 5
Expected goals: 1.54 / 1.64
Possession: 67.4% / 32.6%
Fouls: 8 / 12
Offside: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 4 / 3
Discipline Summary
Louisville City FC:
16’ Kyle Adams (yellow)
39’ Kevon Lambert (yellow)
Referee: Rodrigo Albuquerque
