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Louisville City FC has the chance to finish a busy stretch in its schedule strong at 7:30 p.m. Saturday as the boys in purple welcome Orlando City B to Slugger Field.

Already, LouCity’s on a three-game winning streak, with two of those victories on Sunday and Wednesday of this week. The run has the club back in first place.

Tickets to Saturday’s game start at just $15 and are available by calling (502) 384-8799 or at www.loucity.com/tickets.

Here’s what to watch for…

Tune In

TV: WBNA TV-21 will air the game live and in high definition locally.

Radio: TJ Walker (play-by-play) and Jeff Milby (color commentary) have the call on NewsRadio 840 WHAS, with pregame coverage starting at 7:15 p.m.

Streaming: Watch live via the USL Match Center or at www.loucity.com.

Follow Along

For Starting XI information and in-game updates, check us out on social media. It’s @loucityfc on Twitter, Louisville City FC on Facebook and louisvillecityfc on Instagram. Vote for the Modelo Man of the Match on Twitter starting in the 75th minute.

Links

• Five score as LouCity routs Harrisburg, returns to first
• A year after surgery, McCabe hitting his stride again
• LouCity maintains focus during attacking surge
• Column: O’Connor’s offense on a historic run
• Offensive fireworks continue for the boys in purple

Notes

Atop the Eastern Conference: LouCity (13-4-5, 44 points) took back the first-place Eastern Conference spot on goal differential following Wednesday’s 5-0 home win over the Harrisburg City Islanders. On a three-game winning streak — and having won five of their last six games — the boys in purple host Orlando City B (7-6-11, 32 points). The Lions head into the weekend holding the crucial eighth spot on the table, the playoff cutoff.

LouCity’s recent surge: The boys in purple have out-scored their last three opponents by a combined score of 13-1 and have tallied 20 goals in six games, the most offense by the club in such a span in its history. LouCity’s goal differential on the season of plus-23 is second-best overall in the USL.

Diversified scoring: Continuing a season-long trend, LouCity has continued to feature a variety of goal scorers rather than a single striker as in years past. Nine players have scored in the last three games, with defender Sean Reynolds, defender Sean Totsch and midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo nabbing their first of the season. In all, 14 LouCity players have goals this year.

Last time they met: LouCity followed up a scoreless draw in its 2017 opener with a much more satisfying result at the new Orlando City Stadium, posting a 3-1 win over Orlando City B. Scorers were Cameron Lancaster, George Davis IV and Luke Spencer, who hit the back of the net March 30 for the first time as a professional. LouCity only conceded an own goal.

Scouting the Lions: Forward Hadji Barry, the reigning USL Player of the Week, enters having scored three goals in Orlando’s last two games. He leads his side with eight total goals this season. Nine of his teammates have also scored. Keeper Earl Edward Jr. has nine clean sheets to keep the Lions in playoff contention. OCB is coached by Anthony Pulis, a former teammate of LouCity’s James O’Connor.

Home field advantage: In years past, LouCity has posted a better record away, thriving on larger pitches. But the boys in purple have figured out how to make Slugger Field friendly confines this season as well, improving their record there to 7-1-2 on Wednesday. Strong fan support helps. An average 9,029 fans have attended the club’s 10 home games, including a record 13,812 Aug. 12 when the boys in purple hosted FC Cincinnati.

Fully healthy: Midfielder George Davis IV returned to the pitch Wednesday, making his first appearance since July 15, and assisted Mark-Anthony Kaye’s first half goal in his first game back from a minor knee injury. In the second half, another attacking midfielder, Brian Ownby, out for four games with a muscle strain and stomach bug, also logged minutes as a substitute.

Spencer’s breakout season: With LouCity amid three games in seven days, striker Luke Spencer earned a rest Wednesday, three days after he registered a first half brace in a 3-1 win at Bethlehem Steel FC. Spencer’s eight goals lead LouCity, and his strong holdup play produced a pair of assists as well Aug. 12 against FC Cincinnati. The former first-round MLS SuperDraft selection is playing true to form.

Set piece specialist: With three assists in LouCity’s last three games, defender Oscar Jimenez has taken the team lead in that category at five on the season. Two of his connections came on set pieces involving Luke Spencer, and another was off a free kick to Cameron Lancaster, who replaced Spencer in the second half of the Bethlehem win. LouCity produced 15 scoring chances last time out, with Jimenez starting seven of those. While not credited with an assist, two of the five goals started with him playing a ball into the box.

Ranjitsingh stands tall in goal: Following a clean sheet Aug. 12 against FC Cincinnati — Greg Ranjitsingh’s first start in nearly a month — the goalkeeper willed LouCity to another win Sunday. He recorded four saves on an afternoon Steel FC tallied eight shots in the box. Ranjitsingh wasn’t pressed Wednesday against Harrisburg, as the City Islanders didn’t manage a shot on goal, resulting in his fifth clean sheet of the year. Counterpart Tim Dobrowolski has three shutout performances as well.

Injuries/discipline: The USL on Wednesday announced a three-game suspension for LouCity defender Kyle Smith — the team’s leader in minutes played — for a stoppage time incident in Bethlehem that saw him sent off for a shove outside the run of play. Aside from Smith, LouCity’s entire roster is available for selection Saturday against Orlando.

It was this time last year that nagging pain led to a difficult decision by Louisville City FC’s Niall McCabe.

With his club in the chase for a United Soccer League championship — and McCabe a regular starter in the midfield — he elected to undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a hip labral tear on his left side.

As LouCity made a run to the Eastern Conference Final, McCabe first watched, then healed before beginning months of rehab toward a return in 2017.

Because of that, “He’s a man I have tremendous respect for,” said coach James O’Connor. “I think when you look at how he dealt with that, where he was mature enough to admit he needed to have the operation—difficult for him to come out at that time.”

“…So I think he’s earned everybody’s respect with the way he’s handled himself off the pitch.”

Lately, McCabe has reminded how much of a threat he can be on the pitch as well. The third-year LouCity man scored a rocket of a goal Wednesday in the 67th minute before assisting Sean Totsch’s headed corner in stoppage time of a 5-0 win over the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Heading into Saturday’s game against Orlando City B, McCabe has totaled three goals to go with three assists, on pace to set career highs in both statistical categories.

“Some say it’s the rehab that he’s coming back strong, but it’s the fatherhood, you know?” joked Paolo DelPiccolo, LouCity’s captain.

McCabe became the first father on the roster in May, when his son, Luca Emmet McCabe, was born.

But, really, “He’s been really excellent the last few games,” DelPiccolo added. “The goals, the assists — I mean really, really, really effective. It’s someone I’m sure the other teams look at and have problems trying to deal with him, so it’s been huge for us.”

McCabe has started six straight games in LouCity’s attacking midfield. In addition to his accomplishments in Wednesday’s Harrisburg game, McCabe scored the opening goal Aug. 12 in LouCity’s 5-0 win over FC Cincinnati, with that strike eventually voted USL Goal of the Week.

The 26-year-old stuck with the script — one game at a time — when reflecting on the work done to get here. A native of Ireland, he remained in the United States during the entirety of the offseason, away from friends and family to rehab daily with Baptist Health’s Scott Ritter, LouCity’s athletic trainer.

With LouCity sitting first in the USL Eastern Conference standings, McCabe’s on track to earn a call during this year’s playoffs.

“It’s kind of toward the end of the season and when the season’s over that you can look back and say, ‘Yeah, it was worth it,’” McCabe said. “If we come away with nothing it wasn’t worth it, but if we come away with something, it’s a massive success.

“Just one game at a time. We’ll focus on the next game.”

The boys in purple are on some kind of run. 

Wednesday’s crushing 5-0 victory over the Harrisburg City Islanders set a new record in offensive success for Louisville City FC. With the win, the club has scored 13 goals in its last three games and 20 goals in its last six games. 

Perhaps even more impressive, 11 LouCity players scored in that six-game span (nine in the last three games). 

The run began with LouCity’s 4-1 rout in the searing Fenton, Mo., heat and humidity, running Saint Louis FC off the park in the second half. City followed that with a 2-1 win over New York Red Bulls II before falling 3-1 on the road at the Charlotte Independence. 

But the Charlotte game appears to have been a turning point. Louisville City followed that up with the 5-0 demolition of rival FC Cincinnati before knocking off the Bethlehem Steel comfortably, 3-1 last Sunday. 

“I think the last few games have been really strong performances that we put in,” said midfielder and captain Paolo DelPiccolo. “Even going back to Charlotte, I thought we put in a strong performance at Charlotte. We ended up losing the game, which isn’t what we want, but I think we’re on a strong roll right now.”

The closest Louisville City has come to a scoring run like this was in the club’s inaugural season. From June 27 through August 1, 2015, LouCity tallied 18 goals in six games, all of them wins, three at home and three on the road. Former USL MVP Matt Fondy scored six goals in that span. 

In the team’s current run however, the goals have been spread around. 

Luke Spencer leads the team with five goals in the last six games, while Mark-Anthony Kaye has scored three goals. Niall McCabe, Cameron Lancaster and Paco Craig each have two. Six other players have also chipped in with a goal. 

“I mean, yeah, we have some players that can score goals for sure,” McCabe said. “Like you can see throughout the team, Ilija scoring tonight. Luke’s scoring. Cam’s scoring. Mark’s scoring. Everyone’s chipping in — all kind of chipping in good bunches too. 

“When you have players like that, and the team we have, you’re always capable of scoring goals. We’re scoring quite a lot regularly, and maybe that’s just the ball breaking to whereas maybe early on, that little bit of luck is falling their way. We’ll take the luck when it comes to us.”

Just as impressive as the goals, and arguably more important, is the service into the box. Oscar Jimenez, a converted midfielder playing this season as an outside back, has been in arguably the best form of his Louisville City career. 

The 27-year-old, who leads the team in creating 46 goal-scoring chances to this point in 2017, has created 22 chances on goal, with five assists. And as we addressed earlier this week, Louisville City is becoming much more efficient with their shots, converting the multitude of chances and putting shots on frame. 

With LouCity back in first place with games in hand, the team is looking primed for a run at a No. 1 seed in the USL Cup Playoffs.

Louisville City FC looked like a first-place team Wednesday night, and as the final whistle sounded, the boys in purple officially found themselves atop the USL Eastern Conference standings again with a 5-0 win over the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Mark-Anthony Kaye’s 11th-minute goal started the onslaught before Ilija Ilic, Paolo DelPiccolo, Niall McCabe and Sean Totsch each found the back of the net as well. Defensively, LouCity proved sound, as Harrisburg went without a shot on goal during the game.

Best performance of the season?

“That’s a great question,” said coach James O’Connor. “I don’t know. It’ll be up there. I thought we played some really good stuff against Cincy. So there’ve been games where I think we played well. There’s also things in there that we need to be better at. We’ll touch on that.

“But again I thought, you know when you look over the course of the 90 minutes how strong the desire was and the movement and the timing of runs, the quality of passing — really really good.”

LouCity’s 44 points equal the Charlotte Independence’s total. But a plus-23 goal differential to Charlotte’s plus-17, breaks the current tie. To add, LouCity has played two games fewer than the Independence with another home game ahead Saturday against Orlando City B.

O’Connor noticed a sharp team in warmups, and that form carried over to a game LouCity controlled from the start. The club out-possessed Harrisburg 55-46 percent, out-shot the City Islanders 19-3 and didn’t receive a card during the run of play.

On the assist from George Davis IV, Kaye switched to his left foot on the wing, fired and put LouCity in front for good. Ilic finished a corner for the second goal, and DelPiccolo cleaned up a ball in the box for the third goal of the half — also his first of the season.

“We’re really kind of clicking offensively, and also, we were really happy to get the shutout tonight,” DelPiccolo said. “I think that was a big goal of ours coming into the game was to make sure we didn’t give up any goals. Doing that puts us in a good spot in the league and (gives us ) good momentum — a good feeling in the locker room.”

LouCity appeared content with its lead — this was a Harrisburg team that forced a 1-0 upset back in June — before adding to the lead in the 67th minute. Ilic flicked a ball forward that McCabe finished with a rocket of a shot. In stoppage time, McCabe’s corner landed to Totsch, who added the final goal.

As a result, LouCity won its third straight game and five of its last six overall.

“It all starts in training,” McCabe said. “You know, training at the really high intensity — everyone knows how James trains — it’s pretty high intensity. So we take that into games and just hope the results will follow.”

The boys in purple have an opportunity to move into sole possession of first place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday when Orlando City B visits Slugger Field.

Game Summary

Match: Louisville City FC vs. Harrisburg City Islanders

Date: Aug. 23, 2017

Venue: Louisville Slugger Field

Kickoff: 7:35

Weather: 78 degrees, sunny

Attendance: 6,763

LouCity Man of the Match: Mark-Anthony Kaye

Scoring

Louisville City FC (3,2,5)

Harrisburg City (0,0,0)

Goals

Louisville City FC:

Mark-Anthony Kaye, assist to George Davis IV (11’)

Ilija Ilic, assist to Tarek Morad (13’)

Paolo DelPiccolo (28’)

Niall McCabe (67’)

Sean Totsch, assist to Niall McCabe (90’+1)

Lineups

Louisville City: 1 Greg Ranjitsingh, 4 Sean Totsch, 15 Sean Reynolds, 6 Tarek Morad, 19 Oscar Jimenez (9 Cameron Lancaster – 76’), 36 Paolo DelPiccolo, 80 Devon Williams, 22 George Davis IV (18 Paco Craig – 73’), 11 Niall McCabe, 14 Ilija Ilic, 7 Mark-Anthony Kaye (10 Brian Ownby – 60’)

Subs not used: 28 Tim Dobrowolski, 12 Luke Spencer, 23 Richard Ballard, 8 Guy Abend

Head Coach: James O’Connor

Harrisburg: 33 Brandon Miller, 23 Shawn McLaws, 5 Tiago Calvano, 4 Travis Brent, 18 Abass Mohammad, 14 Danny DiPrima, 22 John Grosh (30 Pedro Ribiero – 69), 10 Paul Wilson (12 Rasheed Olabiyi – 79’), 25 Ropapa Mensah, 9 Johnny Mendoza, 19 Cardel Benbow (7 Monolo Sanchez – 70’)

Subs not used: 21 Sean Lewis, 16 Jacob Bond, 15 Lee Nishanian, 30 Pedro Ribiero, 60 Fredrick Opoku

Head Coach: Bill Becher

Discipline

Harrisburg:

Ropapa Mensah, yellow (29’)

Shawn McLaws, yellow (56’)

Stats

Louisville City/Harrisburg

Shots: 19/3

Shots on target: 7/0

Possession: 55.2/44.8

Passes: 521/420

Corners: 8/3

Fouls: 5/14

Officials

Referee: Aaron Hernandez

Assistant referee 1: Paul Terry

Assistant referee 2: Chad Collins

4th official: Casie Anderson

Louisville City FC on Wednesday announced a new ticket and fundraising program, LouCity Give&Go, to benefit deserving causes throughout Kentuckiana.

The “Give” portion of the initiative presents a new fundraising opportunity for local 501(c)3 organizations to get to experience the excitement of a LouCity home game while at the same time raising vital funds for their nonprofits. 

This season, LouCity is making up to 5,000 single-game tickets available to charitable organizations to sell to the public at a nonprofit rate. For each ticket sold in the “Give” part of the program, a $4 contribution will go back to the nonprofit organization.

The program is also open to for-profit companies and individuals who would like to purchase and donate tickets in the “Go” part of the initiative, allowing less fortunate families and groups the opportunity to see pro soccer at Slugger Field.

Additionally, for-profit organizations and individuals can purchase tickets and donate for non-profit use. Any tickets bought through the “Go” portion of the program can be tax deductible.

LouCity is initially making donated tickets available to the following nonprofits:

• Active Heroes

• Big Brothers/Big Sisters

• Jefferson County Public Education Foundation

• U.S. Military Families

• YMCA Safe Shelter Program

Any fans or companies who wish to purchase and donate match tickets should call the Louisville City FC ticket office at (502) 384-8799.

Any non-profits wishing to adopt the program as a fundraising opportunity should contact Zach Darst at zdarst@louisvillecityfc.com.

For more information, visit www.loucity.com/giveandgo.

Both key players in Sunday’s 3-1 away win over Bethlehem Steel FC, Louisville City FC forward Luke Spencer and defender Oscar Jimenez were on Tuesday named to the USL Team of the Week.

Spencer recorded a first half brace with a headed free kick in the 16th minute before he controlled a long ball, finishing off a rebound from the keeper in the 25th.

Spencer’s goals came on passes from Jimenez, listed as a defender but more recently featured on the left wing. While Jimenez wasn’t credited for the assist on Spencer’s second goal, he looped another free kick into Cameron Lancaster in the 85th minute to earn his second of the game.

Spencer’s eight goals lead LouCity, while Jimenez’s five assists are also a team-high. Both players signed with the club this year following impressive showings at an invitation tryout.

Thanks to contributions from the duo, LouCity’s on a two-game winning streak entering the week, which includes two games at Slugger Field: Wednesday against the Harrisburg City Islanders and Saturday against Orlando City B.

With Orlando City B, LouCity will face reigning USL Player of the Week Hadji Barry, who scored three goals in the Lions’ two games last week. 

USL Team of the Week

GK – Cody Mizell, Charlotte Independence: Mizell recorded 13 saves across two contests, including a seven-save shutout in a 1-0 win against Bethlehem Steel FC on Wednesday night, as Charlotte remained on top of the Eastern Conference.

D – Oscar Jimenez, Louisville City FC: Jimenez recorded two assists, played a key role in a third goal and created six scoring chances overall as Louisville took a 3-1 victory against Bethlehem Steel FC.

D – Sola Abolaji, Orange County SC: Abolaji scored a late equalizer as OCSC earned a 1-1 draw against Phoenix Rising FC, as the club officially opened Champions Soccer Stadium before a sellout crowd on Friday night. 

D – Alex Lee, Richmond Kickers: Lee notched the assist on Richmond’s opening goal and put in a solid two-way performance overall, as the Kickers earned a 2-1 victory against Toronto FC II.

M – Nansel Selbol, Swope Park Rangers: Selbol had a major impact coming on as a halftime substitute, as he recorded a goal and was a threat throughout in the Rangers’ 2-2 draw with Real Monarchs SLC.

M – Justin Portillo, Charleston Battery: Portillo scored the only goal as the Battery broke a seven-game winless streak with a 1-0 win against the Rochester Rhinos, while also completing 51 of 56 passes.

M – Chris Wehan, Reno 1868 FC: Wehan scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in Reno’s 2-1 victory against Sacramento Republic FC and was active in wide positions throughout the game.

M – Junior Flemmings, New York Red Bulls II: Flemmings scored twice as the Red Bulls II earned a 4-0 victory against FC Cincinnati and finished the game with five shots overall and two key passes.

F – Luke Spencer, Louisville City FC: Spencer followed his Player of the Week performance in Week 21 with a two-goal outing, as Louisville took a 3-1 victory against Bethlehem Steel FC on Sunday. 

F – Corey Hertzog, Pittsburgh Riverhounds: Hertzog scored both goals as the Riverhounds rallied past Saint Louis to cap a good all-around display that saw him win five of seven duels and finish with five shots total. 

F – Hadji Barry, Orlando City B: Badji scored three goals in two games, as OCB defeated Ottawa Fury FC and drew with the Charlotte Independence to extend its undefeated streak to a club-record 10 games.

Bench: Earl Edwards Jr. (ORL), Taylor Mueller (CHS), Henry Wingo (SEA), Gerardo Bruna (OTT), Enzo Martinez (CLT), Dane Kelly (RNO), Kharlton Belmar (SPR)

The spotlight returns to Slugger Field on Wednesday for the United Soccer League’s Game of the Week between Louisville City FC and the Harrisburg City Islanders.

The boys in purple will test their two-game winning streak and take a shot at returning to first place with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. Show your support with tickets available by calling (502) 384-8799 or online.

Here’s what to watch for…

Tune In

TV: WBNA TV-21 will air the game live and in high definition locally with Mike Watts and Morgan Conklin on the call.

Radio: TJ Walker (play-by-play) and Jeff Milby (color commentary) will voice the action on 1080 WKJK, with pregame coverage starting at 7:15 p.m.

Streaming: Watch live via ESPN3.com, a special online destination for the USL Game of the Week.

Follow Along

For Starting XI information and in-game updates, check us out on social media. It’s @loucityfc on Twitter, Louisville City FC on Facebook and louisvillecityfc on Instagram. Live stats are available at the USL Match Center. Vote for the Modelo Man of the Match on Twitter starting in the 75th minute.

Links

• O’Connor transforming tryout players into stars
• Efficient offense has LouCity in USL title race
• Spencer’s brace leads LouCity past Bethlehem

Notes

Eastern Conference race: LouCity (12-4-5, 41 points) sits second on the table after Sunday’s 3-1 win over Bethlehem Steel FC. While three points back of the No. 1 Charlotte Independence, LouCity has three games in hand with two opportunities to gain ground this week. The boys in purple also host Orlando City B this Saturday. The City Islanders (6-12-6, 24 points) have lost four of their last five games.

Last time they met: The City Islanders scored one the 2017 season’s biggest upsets to date when LouCity traveled to Harrisburg, Penn., for the clubs’ first matchup. Pedro Riberio’s 53rd-minute goal made the difference June 24 in a 1-0 City Islanders victory which, at the time, marked their first win in 12 games and ended a five-game losing streak.

Scouting Harrisburg: As with their form earlier this season, the City Islanders enter without a win over a lengthy stretch, this time going back to July 15. Harrisburg has scored 18 goals this season and conceded 32, though 10 players have found the back of the net. The City Islanders are solid in goal, featuring Brandon Miller, who won a USL championship in 2015 with the Rochester Rhinos. Miller has six clean sheets to his name.

LouCity on the rise: Attendance this season through nine LouCity games at Slugger Field has averaged 9,281, a number bolstered by a capacity crowd of 13,812 on hand last time the boys in purple were home. Amid the growth — attendance is up more than 20 percent over last year — ownership has announced plans to build a soccer-specific stadium in the Butchertown Neighborhood that would open for the 2020 season.

Spencer’s breakout season: Already the reigning USL Player of the Week, Luke Spencer continued his run Sunday by registering a first half brace in Bethlehem. His seventh and eighth goals lead all LouCity players. To add, Spencer assisted two goals in LouCity’s recent win over FC Cincinnati, his hometown and former club, continuing a big year for the former MLS SuperDraft selection.

Set piece specialist: With three assists in LouCity’s last two games, defender Oscar Jimenez has taken the team lead in that category at five on the season. Two of his connections came on set pieces involving Spencer, and another was off a free kick to Cameron Lancaster, who replaced Spencer in the second half of the Bethlehem win. Jimenez has also scored two goals in his first year with LouCity while proving a threat offensively, placing 15 of his 24 shots on target.

Ranjitsingh stands tall in goal: Following a clean sheet against FC Cincinnati — Greg Ranjitsingh’s first start in nearly a month — the goalkeeper willed LouCity to another win Sunday. He recorded four saves on an afternoon Steel FC recorded eight shots in the box. His diving stop just before the half maintained LouCity’s lead, and he stepped in during the second half to thwart a free kick with the club still then only ahead a goal as well

Lineup consistency: For Sunday’s game at Bethlehem, coach James O’Connor elected for no changes in his Starting XI from last week’s 5-0 win over FC Cincinnati. But there was a new name eligible for selection off the bench as George Davis IV traveled to play Steel FC. Davis hasn’t played since July 15 after tweaking his knee in training.

Taking their chances: Over its past two games, LouCity has scored eight goals and tallied 22 shots on target, a significant turnaround from the early days of the 2017 season when the club managed just eight goals in its first eight games. O’Connor has harped on his side maximizing its opportunities. At 39 goals, LouCity sports the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 scoring offense.

Injury/discipline: LouCity’s 20-man roster is all available for Wednesday’s game, though the club will be without its leader in minutes played. Defender Kyle Smith received a red card in stoppage time of Sunday’s win at Bethlehem and will have to sit out against the City Islanders. Smith has missed only one other game this year, that one last month due to yellow card accumulation.