Cruz Pleased with Performance in Preseason Loss to MLS' Sounders

Published on February 15, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release

Louisville City FC vs. Sounders FC in preseason friendly
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Mike Fiechtner, courtesy Sounders FC Communications)

LouCity head coach Danny Cruz was pleased with his team's performance despite the loss, particularly his team's display in the second half. Louisville dominated stretches of play after the break and forced Seattle's goalkeeper into multiple saves.

"It was a really good exercise for us against a difficult opponent that has so much quality. We went out in the first half and probably needed to be a little bit better defensively. The intensity was there, but it wasn't as organized as we wanted it to be," Cruz said. "We made some adjustments at halftime defensively, and I think that led to a lot of quality both with and without the ball."

The game's opening moments saw both goalkeepers make superb stops to deny the opposition. Seattle's Andrew Thomas halted a Louisville chance from a corner kick. Meanwhile, Seattle native Danny Faundez made a timely save to thwart a Seattle counterattack.

Seattle opened the scoring in the 31st minute, when Albert Rusnak expertly deposited a penalty kick past Faundez.

Louisville tied the score just before halftime. Jansen Wilson swung a corner kick into the box, and it ricocheted off a Seattle defender for an own goal.

In the second half, Wilson again was central to the action for LouCity. He forced another top-notch save from Seattle's goalkeeper in the early going.

The Sounders regained the lead midway through the second half through Osaze De Rosario and then extended it with the final kick of the game. With Louisville pushing numbers forward, Seattle capitalized on a counterattack with De Rosario adding a second goal to his tally, making it 3-1.

Both clubs won silverware in 2025. Louisville City lifted the USL Championship Players' Shield, awarded to the regular-season champion. Seattle defeated Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF to win the 2025 Leagues Cup, a tournament pitting MLS clubs and teams from Mexico's Liga MX.

Since joining MLS as an expansion team in 2009, Seattle has established itself as one of the league's highest-performing clubs. Seattle has won seven major domestic titles, including two MLS Cups, and two international competitions in its 17-year history. The club has missed the MLS Cup Playoffs just once.

Louisville, meanwhile, has never missed the USL Championship Playoffs in its 11-season history, and has won four significant trophies: two USL Championship titles and two USL Championship Players' Shields (2024, 2025).

"When we're putting preseason together, we're trying to put together a difficult schedule that is going to stress us physically (and) mentally to put us in the best position come the regular season, and this test was the same," LouCity head coach Danny Cruz said. "It's difficult to travel across multiple time zones to play away against a really difficult opponent. And so, when we look at what we wanted to get out of this game, we felt we certainly got that apart from the result."

Seattle hosted the game at Providence Swedish Performance Center & Clubhouse, the club's training facility, which opened in 2024 on the site of the former Longacres Racetrack.

The game was LouCity's fifth opportunity to face outside competition in the 2026 preseason. Cruz said he was pleased with his team's progress thus far.

"I think that we are ahead of where we were last year with the ball, in the tendencies and what we're trying to implement - and that's intentional," Cruz said. "But, we need to make sure that we are still re-emphasizing the defensive side of the ball and the importance of that as well. We're where we expect to be with two weeks left to go in preseason and we're excited about what's to come."

The two clubs also contested a second game Sunday. Louisville City used a heavily rotated squad, including several LouCity Academy players.

LouCity will return home after the trip to the Pacific Northwest, with three more preseason games on the schedule: Feb. 22 vs. FC Cincinnati, Feb. 27 vs. One Knoxville SC and Feb. 28 against the University of Louisville.

LouCity opens the regular season on Friday, March 6, at rival Lexington SC. The following week, the boys in purple will take the field at Lynn Family Stadium for the home opener versus Miami FC on Saturday, March 14 at 4 p.m.

For tickets, visit LouCity.com/tickets, call (502) LOU-CITY during regular business hours or email tickets@loucity.com.

Louisville City FC vs. Sounders FC in preseason friendly (Mike Fiechtner, courtesy Sounders FC Communications)

United Soccer League Championship Stories from February 15, 2026

• Cruz Pleased with Performance in Preseason Loss to MLS' Sounders - Louisville City FC

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