For Friday’s opener in the 2026 USL Championship Playoffs, Louisville City FC interim head coach Simon Bird has returned to a first-choice lineup, making six changes from last week’s regular-season finale.
No. 4 LouCity hosts the No. 5 Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Friday. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Lynn Family Stadium.
For tickets and more information, visit LouCity.com/playoffs.
Last week, with little on the line, Bird used a heavily rotated lineup in a 0-0 draw with Detroit City FC, making six changes from the previous game.
Now, he’s made six changes again, bringing back many of his first-choice starters.
That includes Chris Donovan, who did not dress last weekend. The center forward has tallied 10 goals and nine assists this season, including seven goals and eight assists in league play. Those 19 total goal contributions lead LouCity.
Ray Serrano and Evan Davila will join Donovan in the attack. Serrano ranks just behind Donovan with 15 goal contributions this season, across all competitions (10 goals, five assists). Those numbers mark a career high for goals and goal contributions for the 24-year-old, in his ninth professional season.
Davila retains his place in the starting group from last week’s regular-season finale, but shifts positionally. Against Detroit, Davila played as the center forward in a makeshift lineup. In Friday’s playoff game, the 24-year-old will play on the wing opposite Serrano. The former California Golden Bear has totaled one goal and one assist this season — he scored at Loudoun United in a 3-3 draw on April 10 and tallied an assist in a 5-4 loss at the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Aug. 1.
Davila’s older brother, Taylor, will start in the midfield. The elder Davila has 11 assists this season in all copetitions, including nine in league play — tied for second-most in the USL Championship.
He will play next to Babacar Niang. On loan from Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United FC, the Senegalese midfielder has been a bellweather for LouCity this season when healthy — the club is 13-2-5 in games in which Niang appears.
The backline sees Amadou Dia and Manny Perez at wingback, with captain Kyle Adams, Kevon Lambert and Aiden McFadden playing as the center back trio. That back five has started together in four of the last games six games for LouCity. In that span, the group has helped LouCity to a 3-0-1 record, earning two clean sheets.
Behind them, Ryan Schewe remains in goal. Despite joining the team in early September on loan from Sporting Kansas City of MLS, Schewe is now tied for the team lead with five clean sheets in all competitions. He has saved 21 of the 27 shots he has faced since joining the club.
On the bench, Jansen Wilson is available for the first time since he scored at the Charleston Battery on Oct. 10, overcoming an injury. The 25-year-old leads LouCity with 13 goals this season, in all competitions.
He is joined by five players that started last week’s draw with Detroit: Jake Morris, Sean Totsch, Brandon Dayes and Zach Duncan. Tola Showunmi and Cooper Conley offer Bird attacking options if LouCity is in need of a goal, while Ryan Troutman will serve as backup goalkeeper.
Cameron Duke, who started last week, was not selected for the gameday squad, marking Bird’s sixth and final change.
Team sheet vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (USL Championship Playoffs – Eastern Conference Quarterfinal)
29 – Ryan Schewe
13 – Amadou Dia
32 – Kyle Adams (c)
31 – Kevon Lambert
2 – Aiden McFadden
15 – Manny Perez
8 – Taylor Davila
19 – Babacar Niang
7 – Ray Serrano
27 – Evan Davila
9 – Chris Donovan
Available substitutes: 30 – Ryan Troutman, 3 – Jake Morris, 4 – Sean Totsch, 5 – Brandon Dayes, 6 – Zach Duncan, 14 – Tola Showunmi, 25 – Jansen Wilson, 47 – Mukwelle Akale, 99 – Cooper Conley
