News

It’s time to say goodbye to the Kings’ Cup rivalry.

Saturday’s Soccer City radio show, presented by Kentuckiana Toyota Dealers, on Saturday’s edition memorialized the series between Louisville City FC and Saint Louis FC that will see its final regular-season meeting at 8 p.m. in Fenton, Mo.

LouCity president Brad Estes said on the show, “We’re sad to see those guys go, and hopefully we have a nice match tonight to send them off.”

Host Lance McGarvey, joined in the Lynn Family Stadium radio box with Casey Whitfield, also looked ahead to LouCity’s playoff run that will begin after the Oct. 3 regular-season finale.

Catch Soccer City live from 9-10 a.m. each Saturday on AM 790 WKRD, plus follow via iHeart Radio and subscribe for new editions through Apple Podcasts. This week’s edition can be heard below:

Louisville City FC and Saint Louis FC will settle their Kings’ Cup rivalry series on Saturday night. In the bigger picture, both clubs can also take important steps toward their respective postseason berths.

A win, draw or combination of other results around the United Soccer League locks up the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed for LouCity, while Saint Louis FC must win to retain a shot at making the playoffs.

Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.

Team Records

LouCity: 16-4-8 (56 points) in 28 games; 2nd in the USL’s Eastern Conference standings.

Saint Louis FC: 8-11-9 (33 points) in 28 games; 13th in the USL’s Western Conference.

Follow Along

Saturday’s game will air, as with other LouCity games, live on Youtube. Also watch at www.loucity.com.

For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Find us at louisvillecityfc on Instagram.

Vote for LouCity’s Modelo Man of the Match starting at the 75th minute on Twitter.

Links

• LouCity’s depth proving valuable ahead of St. Louis trip
• Know the foe: More about Saint Louis FC
• Video: LouCity coach O’Connor previews the game
• Boombozz back as Saturday’s official watch party spot
• McCabe undergoes surgery as club takes ‘proactive approach’ 
• With playoffs near, LouCity fully clicking again

By the Numbers

7 – LouCity has scored more goals in its series with Saint Louis FC than in any other versus a USL rival.

6,311 – Even away from Slugger Field, Kings’ Cup competition attracts a large crowd on average.

4 – If LouCity manages a fourth straight clean sheet, it would mark the longest such streak in club history. A fourth consecutive victory would cement its second-longest winning streak.

Notes

Playoff picture: With a point for a draw or three for a win, LouCity would clinch the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference on Saturday night. But kickoff is an hour and a half after FC Cincinnati starts against Orlando City B. Should Cincy do anything but win, LouCity would clinch a second-place finish regardless of its result. A slew of clubs — Richmond, Charleston and Rochester — have 45 points apiece in a gridlock for the No. 7 seed, which opens the postseason against the 2.

LouCity rolling: Since suffering back-to-back defeats for the only time this season to end July, the LouCity that managed to go 17 straight games unbeaten earlier this season has reappeared. The club is 4-1-2 since then, with the only loss to the eventual USL Eastern Conference champion New York Red Bulls II. Currently, the club is riding a three-game winning streak, with each of those victories shutouts.

The Kings’ Cup: Supporters coined the rivaly for their cities’ French namesakes — King Louis XVI (Louisville) and King Louis IX (St. Louis) — before their clubs met four times last year as Eastern Conference rivals. LouCity supporters hold the Kings’ Cup heading into Saturday and would keep it if the boys in purple win, draw or take this season’s series on goal differential. Saint Louis FC, now a member of the Western Conference, fell 2-0 at Slugger Field on May 14.

Featured forwards: Though both are in the Golden Boot race, LouCity and Saint Louis feature strikers seemingly going in opposite directions late this season. Louisville’s Chandler Hoffman has 14 goals but none since July. Meanwhile, Saint Louis’ Irving Herrera enters off a hat trick performance and win over San Antonio FC. FC Cincinnati’s Sean Okoli and Jack McBean, an LA Galaxy II star on loan in Europe, hold the USL scoring lead with 15 goals apiece. Last year, LouCity’s Matt Fondy scored 22 goals in 28 regular-season games to claim the Golden Boot.

A new 1-2 punch: Lately, Hoffman has split time up top. Cameron Lancaster appeared last time out as LouCity’s starting forward with Magnus Rasmussen behind him in the attacking midfield. Both players scored — Lancaster on a penalty kick and Rasmussen a shot from just outside the box — as Louisville shut down a Richmond Kickers squad that had played 10 straight games unbeaten. For their efforts, Rasmussen and Lancaster were named to the USL’s Team of the Week.

Smith to sit: After picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in stoppage time of last weekend’s win over the Richmond Kickers, Kyle Smith, the USL Midseason Rookie of the Year, will miss Saturday’s game. In the portion of Thursday’s training session open to the media, Ben Newnam played at Smith’s right back position, while Tarek Morad filled in on the left. Enrique Montano is also a consideration for playing time on the back line, where Sean Reynolds and Paco Craig have played consistently in center defense.

Having captained the vast majority of Louisville City FC games since donning the armband to begin the 2017 season, Paolo DelPiccolo has seen the nature of that role change over the years.

Players he used to mentor are now considered veterans. Leadership is done by committee.

“It’s everyone doing it, not just me” DelPiccolo said.

But there remains plenty of evidence the boys in purple rely on their captain. DelPiccolo, on the pitch as LouCity restarted its season in July, missed the next three games as the club completed July with a 1-3 record.

DelPiccolo reentered the lineup, however, and LouCity hasn’t lost since, rising to the top of the table, clinching a playoff position and now sitting just one point away from the USL Championship’s Group E top seed.

“He’s a good footballer,” coach John Hackworth said of DelPiccolo, “and his leadership and the way that he plays, I think, does a lot for our team. He leads on the field by example, and he plays the game the way all of us expect it to be played.”

A central midfielder by trade, DelPiccolo has moved up into LouCity’s attack amid a nine-game unbeaten streak the boys in purple carry into the weekend, when they visit Saint Louis FC for an 8 p.m. kickoff at West Community Stadium.

DelPiccolo has scored a goal this season and remains aggressive, leading LouCity with five aerial duels last out in a rout of Memphis 901 FC. He’s also quick to discuss a whistle with the head official and is known to step in, handling any confrontation his teammates take up with the opposition.

“We’ve given him a little more freedom — pushed him up the field,” Hackworth said. “He thinks he’s an attacking midfielder right now. We have some debates about that. But there’s no question that Paolo has always been and continues to be a vital piece of what we do and how we do it.”

A 29-year-old from Colorado, DelPiccolo has roots in town as a former University of Louisville standout who helped the Cardinals to the 2010 College Cup’s final; his 23 career assists remain a school record.

After stints with other USL clubs in Arizona and North Carolina, DelPiccolo signed with LouCity for the 2016 season and has since settled back in Louisville, where the boys in purple have won two USL titles and reached the championship game again in 2019.

“It’s always been a point of pride for this club — the character and determination and fight of the team,” DelPiccolo said. “That hasn’t changed with this team.”

In hindsight, he added, it was especially tough watching form the sidelines as LouCity stumbled from the gate upon the restart. Now, though, “Obviously guys are in a good mood. Guys are having fun. Guys are enjoying their football,” DelPiccolo said.

“But I think one of the big things us, the last four of five years I’ve been here, is still maintaining focus. Sometimes these games are tricky. We still have a lot to play for in the Eastern Conference. For us, it’s not just getting the results but maintaining a high level of football, because that’s what’s important to us.”

Thanks to other results around the USL Championship, Louisville City FC is headed back to the playoffs for its sixth season in as many years of existence.

The boys in purple were assured their position Wednesday night once Saint Louis FC’s game at Indy Eleven went official. Now, with two regular-season games left to play, LouCity can turn its focus toward earning a No. 1 seed and host status in the playoffs’ opening round.

During an abbreviated 2020 season impacted by COVID-19, clubs were slotted into regionalized groups. The top-two finishers from each pod advance to the playoffs, with LouCity guaranteed at least second in Group E.

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, the club has a better than 98% chance of finishing first. Should that happen, meaning LouCity hosts an opening round of 16 playoff game, Honorary Owners have already been contacted about opting into tickets at no additional cost. Any single-game tickets would go on sale later; sign up here to be notified first.

The boys in purple are unbeaten since the start of August, a spree of nine straight games that has seen them climb from fourth — and last — in Group E to the top of the table.

“We have never wavered in our belief of our principles and our process,” said coach John Hackworth. “However, in order to overcome our slow restart, we had to couple our trust in each other with perseverance in our collective.  Answering that call of adversity is a defining character of this group.”

LouCity closes its regular season by playing at Saint Louis FC on Saturday before welcoming Sporting KC II to Lynn Family Stadium for an Oct. 3 finale.

The playoffs, which begin Oct. 8-11, are also regionalized with East and West sides of the bracket. To start, Group E’s 1 and 2 seeds will match up against Group F’s 2 and 1, respectively. Better seeds host opening-round games; record will determine home teams beyond that.

After the Conference Quarterfinals are the Conference Semifinals (Oct. 15-18), Conference Finals (Oct. 22-25) and then the USL Championship Final on Nov. 1. The Final will mark the first USL game to air on ESPN with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.

In its six-year history, LouCity has yet to fall short of the Eastern Conference Final. The boys in purple own two USL titles — in 2017 and 2018 — and returned to the Final in 2019. They’re vying to become the first three-time USL champion in the playoffs era.

At conclusion of Wednesday night’s Indy Eleven-Saint Louis FC game, Louisville City FC will clinch a USL Championship Playoffs spot.

John Hackworth says the work isn’t done.

“What we really want to focus on is remaining in first place in our division,” LouCity’s coach said in his weekly interview with the WDRB sports team. “That’s a big aspiration of ours — to finish the regular season in first place — but it also has really important home playoff implications.”

The top-two clubs from Group E advance to the postseason. Also notably, finishing first means the boys in purple would open the playoffs at Lynn Family Stadium against the No. 2 seed from another group.

Beyond the opening round, clubs sporting the better record host. Should LouCity win out — remaining games are at Saint Louis FC on Saturday and against Sporting KC II on Oct. 3 — LouCity will also be in position to sport the Eastern Conference’s best record.

Hackworth also hit on last weekend’s 4-1 win over Memphis 901 FC; his club’s turnaround since the USL restarted play in July; and just why his club finally donned home purple again.

See Yackin’ with Hack in full above and look for a new edition each Tuesday on WDRB.

Louisville City FC’s peaking late in the USL Championship season, and the latest Team of the Week reflects it. 

A pair of goal contributors from a 2-0 win at Indy Eleven and 4-1 win over Memphis 901 FC — Cameron Lancaster and Brian Ownby — both cemented spots among the league’s best 11 players announced Tuesday.

Lancaster, who registered goal Nos. 49-51 for his career with LouCity across all competitions, also tallied an assist last week. His scoring strikes included a volleyed rebound to put the boys in purple ahead at Indy and a nifty back-heeled goal in the second half of the Memphis win at Lynn Family Stadium.

A forward from England, Lancaster likewise reached 50 regular-season USL goals. Among the select group of players to reach that milestone, he’s scoring at the most effluent rate, according to USL Director of Content Nicholas Murray, with a goal every 114.8 minutes played.

Ownby, who came off the bench in Indy, played a soft touch in behind the defense and to Corben Bone for a goal that doubled the lead late. As a starter against Memphis, he scored his first goal of the season on a curling shot from distance and assisted Lancaster’s opening goal.

USL Championship Team of the Week – Week 13

GK – Abraham Romero, LA Galaxy II: Romero recorded eight saves, made two punched clearances and one high claim to help keep Los Dos in the game as it rallied for a 3-2 victory against Las Vegas Lights FC last Tuesday night.

D – Forrest Lasso, Tampa Bay Rowdies: Lasso scored once, recorded three interceptions and five clearances, and won 5 of 8 duels and 4 of 4 aerial duels in Tampa Bay’s 2-1 victory against Atlanta United 2.

D – Alex Crognale, Birmingham Legion FC: Crognale scored twice and helped Legion FC hold Miami FC to only two shots on target as he recorded six clearances defensively in Birmingham’s 4-0 road victory last Wednesday night.

D – Sam Fink, Saint Louis FC: Fink scored a crucial game-winning goal in stoppage time to add to an earlier assist as Saint Louis kept its postseason hopes alive with a 3-2 victory against Sporting Kansas City II on Saturday night.

D – Aaron Maund, Charlotte Independence: Maund scored the lone goal of the game, won 6 of 8 duels and 5 of 7 aerial duels, made 11 clearances and completed 35 of 43 passes as the Independence defeated North Carolina FC.

M – Brian Ownby, Louisville City FC: Ownby recorded one goal and two assists across two wins, completing 41 of 49 passes and 3 of 5 dribbles and recording six chances created as LouCity defeated Indy Eleven and Memphis 901 FC.

M – Jorge Gonzalez, Portland Timbers 2: Gonzalez recorded two goals and one assist across two games, completing 50 of 60 passes overall and recording five chances created as T2 defeat Real Monarchs SLC before falling to Reno 1868 FC. 

M – Christiano Francois, Reno 1868 FC: Francois scored twice in Reno’s 5-2 victory against the Portland Timbers 2 on Sunday, and across two wins for 1868 FC against Tacoma Defiance and the Portland Timbers 2 over the week completed 34 of 41 passes and recorded five chances created. 

F – Cameron Lancaster, Louisville City FC: Lancaster recorded three goals and one assist across two victories against Indy Eleven and Memphis 901 FC, and in the process reached 50 regular season goals in the Championship for his career. 

F – Rubio Rubin, San Diego Loyal SC: Rubin scored a first-half hat trick for SD Loyal as it took a 3-2 victory against Phoenix Rising FC for its third win in a row, keeping the club’s hopes of a playoff berth in its inaugural season alive.

F – Alex Dixon, Hartford Athletic: Dixon scored three goals across two victories against the New York Red Bulls II and Philadelphia Union II that saw the Athletic clinch a trip to the playoffs in its second season.

Bench: Matt Cardone (SA), Younes Boudadi (RNO), Marcus Epps (POR), Augustine Williams (LA), Neco Brett (BHM), Jordan Perruzza (SA), Junior Flemmings (PHX).

The opening whistle for Louisville City FC’s Oct. 3 game against Sporting KC II will now blow at 8 p.m. ET inside Lynn Family Stadium as a tight race to the USL Championship playoffs concludes 

A half-hour adjustment — kickoff was originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m. — puts those pair of Group E clubs in line to start play at the same time as Indy Eleven at Saint Louis FC in another regular-season finale.

Results on Oct. 3 could influence both who makes it to the postseason and how sides are seeded for the single-elimination playoffs with the top two finishers from each group advancing.

LouCity is in line to clinch a playoff spot this week. From there, the boys in purple have two games to go — before hosting SKC II, they visit Saint Louis FC this Saturday — in hopes of securing the top seed. 

To open the playoffs, the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds from Group E will match up with the 2 and 1, respectively, from Group F. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (10-3-1, 31 points) and Hartford Athletic (8-3-1, 25 points) currently occupy Group F’s playoff spots.

Upcoming LouCity games…

• Saturday: at Saint Louis FC (8 p.m.)

• Oct. 3: versus Sporting KC II (8 p.m.)

USL Championship playoffs…

• Oct. 8-11: Conference Quarterfinals

• Oct. 15-18: Conference Semifinals

• Oct. 22-25: Conference Finals

• TBD: USL Championship Final