Louisville City FC earned two points in the Prinx Tires USL Cup standings Saturday, defeating Detroit City FC 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Mich.
The interleague tournament — pitting teams from the second-division USL Championship and third-division USL League One — includes some experimental rules, one of which was put to use Saturday: ties go to a penalty kick shootout, awarding an extra point to the winner.
On Saturday, Louisville took two points, while Detroit came away with one.
Louisville goalkeeper Danny Faundez saved the first penalty of the shootout and LouCity went four-for-four from the spot to seal the extra point. Detroit’s Maxi Rodriguez missed the target on Detroit’s final effort to end it.
“We’ve got the best keeper in the USL at this, penalty saving,” LouCity interim head coach Simon Bird said. “He’s fantastic.”
Faundez has come up clutch in his LouCity career on spot kicks. Earlier this season, the 33-year-old saved a penalty against the Houston Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup on April 29, and he made a penalty stop in a playoff shootout win over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2022.
On his penalty approach, Faundez said through a smile: “I just get so excited when there’s an opportunity to come out the hero. Nobody expects goalkeepers to make a save (in a shootout). If the goalie doesn’t make a save, nobody looks at him like, ‘Yo, what are you doing?'”
Defender Sean Totsch, who put away LouCity’s first penalty in the shootout, put it simply: “He’s just a dog. We believe in him. He’s a dog out there. He’s going to do what it takes. People have a hard time reading him. He’s going to get good early reads and lay his body out to make the save. So that’s what he did.”
The result keeps Louisville on top of the standings in Group Four for the moment — either Lexington SC or Indy Eleven could move ahead of Louisville with a win Saturday night. The two sides kicked off in Lexington at 7 p.m.
LouCity hosts rival Lexington SC on July 11 in the final group stage game of the tournament, which will help decide the winner in Group Four.
LouCity also has some margin for error entering the finale. Louisville is tied with the Tampa Bay Rowdies for the tournament lead with eight goals scored. Since goals scored serve as the first tiebreaker, LouCity could still contend for the competition’s lone wild-card berth should it fail to win Group Four.
Aside from the result, Bird and his players were pleased with the defensive performance. Louisville did not surrender a shot on target and posted a second clean sheet in its last three games.
“What I’m really proud about is the progression from a defensive standpoint,” Bird said. “(It was) kind of night and day from last week where we were really poor defensively (against Brooklyn FC), gave up a lot of opportunities in transition especially. And so to come here in a really, really difficult place to play … it’s really pleasing.”
“Going into the game tonight, we just said, ‘Alright, we’re going to win the challenges. We’re not going to back down on anything. We’re going to set the tone physically, make the first challenge, make the second challenge, set the tone, and then the game will go from there.'”
Neither team had its full strength team on the field. Regular LouCity starters Taylor Davila and Kyle Adams did not start, with Adams finishing as an unused substitute. Chris Donovan, who scored last week, was not in the gameday squad.
Detroit striker Darren Smith — who tied the USL Championship record with five goals in a single game last week — was unavailable. Detroit had just 17 players dress for the game.
From here, the boys in purple will get a much-needed rest. LouCity won’t be in action again until July 4, with the entire USL Championship taking the final weekend in June off.
That game will be an 8 p.m. home kickoff against Hartford Athletic. The game will be a celebration of Independence Day with fireworks and patriotic giveaways. For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/July4.
The following week, LouCity will welcome in Lexington for a resumption of the Commonwealth Cup, presented by Republic Bank, rivalry — where advancement to the Prinx Tires USL Cup knockout stage will be on the line.
For tickets and more information on that game, visit LouCity.com/Lexington.
Game Summary: Detroit City FC vs. Louisville City FC (Prinx Tires USL Cup)
Date: June 20, 2026
Venue: Keyworth Stadium — Hamtramck, Mich.
Kickoff: 5 p.m. ET
Weather: 75 degrees, sunny
Scoring
Detroit City FC (0, 0, 0 — 3)
Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0 — 4)
Lineups
Detroit City FC: 1 – Carlos Herrera, 33 – Tommy Silva (67′ 6 – Ryan Williams), 30 – Devon Amoo-Mensah (c), 20 – Rio Hope-Gund, 14 – Haruki Yamazaki, 22 – Kobe Hernández-Foster, 8 – Abdoulaye Diop (77′ 11 – Connor Rutz), 32 – Ates Diouf, 3 – Aedan Stanley, 17 – Rafa Mentzingen (85′ 21 – Maxi Rodriguez), 9 – Ben Morris
Unused substitutes: 91 – Carlos Saldaña; 15 – Alexander Dalou, 66 – Bilal Obeid
Head coach: Danny Dicchio
Louisville City FC: 12 – Danny Faundez, 3 – Jake Morris, 13 – Amadou Dia, 5 – Brandon Dayes, 4 – Sean Totsch (c), 2 – Aiden McFadden, 19 – Babacar Niang (56′ 8 – Taylor Davila), 6 – Zach Duncan (81′ 16 – Carlos Moguel Jr.), 7 – Ray Serrano (69′ 47 – Mukwelle Akale), 25 – Jansen Wilson (81′ 27 – Evan Davila), 14 – Tola Showunmi (81′ 21 – Quenzi Huerman)
Unused substitutes: 1 – Hugo Fauroux; 23 – Sam Gleadle, 32 – Kyle Adams
Stats Summary: Detroit City FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 7 / 9
Shots on Goal: 0 / 4
Expected goals: 0.39 / 0.73
Possession: 64% / 36%
Fouls: 13 / 14
Offside: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 6 / 4
Discipline Summary:
Detroit City FC:
39′ Tommy Silva (yellow)
81′ Devon Amoo-Mensah (yellow)
Louisville City FC:
16′ Tola Showunmi (yellow)
51′ Zach Duncan (yellow)
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
