Game Preview: Rhode Island FC at Louisville City FC: March 21, 2026
USL Rhode Island FC

Game Preview: Rhode Island FC at Louisville City FC: March 21, 2026

Published on March 19, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Rhode Island FC News Release


After advancing to the Second Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday with a 4-0 win vs. amateur side CD Faialense at Centreville Bank Stadium, Rhode Island FC will return to USL Championship action when it travels to Lynn Family Stadium for its first road test of the season against Louisville City FC on Saturday. Although the back-to-back Players' Shield winners won both meetings vs. the Ocean State club last season, RIFC stands as the only USL Championship clubs to defeat LouCity at Lynn Family Stadium in the regular season in more than two years, dating back to October 2023. RIFC will look to repeat history from its historic 5-2 win on June 22, 2024, to pick up its first win of the 2026 season over the weekend. Ahead of one of the biggest tests of the young season for the Ocean State club, here is everything you need to know.

AT A GLANCE

Date | Saturday, March 21

Kickoff | 4:00 p.m. ET

Location | Lynn Family Stadium - Louisville, Kentucky

Broadcast | NESN+, ESPN Select

Radio | 790 The Score (WPRV 790 AM)

Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)

Game Hashtag | #LOUvRI

Last Meeting | Sept. 6, 2025: RI 0-1 LOU - Louisville, KY.

LOUISVILLE CITY FC

Roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Hugo Fauroux, 12-Danny Faundez, 30-Ryan Troutman

DEFENDERS (8): 2-Aiden McFadden, 3-Jake Morris, 4-Sean Totsch, 5-Brandon Dayes, 13-Amadou Dia, 15-Manny Perez, 24-Josh Jones, 32-Kyle Adams

MIDFIELDERS (8): 6-Zach Duncan, 8-Taylor Davila, 16-Carlos Moguel Jr., 19-Babacar Niang, 27-Evan Davila, 28-Cameron Duke, 31-Kevon Lambert, 97-Thomas Weinrich

FORWARDS (7): 7-Ray Serrano, 9-Chris Donovan, 14-Tola Showunmi, 21-Quenzi Huerman, 23-Sam Gleadle, 25-Jansen Wilson, 47-Mukwelle Akale

Impenetrable at Home

Louisville City FC enters Saturday's game on a 25-game unbeaten streak at home in the regular season dating back to 2024, which includes an unblemished 12W-0L-3T record at Lynn Family Stadium in 2025. The back-to-back Players' Shield winners finished second in the USL Championship with a staggering 56 goals in 2025, and that attack has shown no signs of slowing down. It most recently defeated Miami FC 4-1 in its 2026 home opener, flying to a 3-0 lead in just 30 minutes and never looking back from there. The Boys in Purple are off to a perfect 2W-0L-0T record to start the 2026 regular season, scoring six goals in two games, and look primed to continue what has been a dominant run of form in the regular season in the last three years. The bad news for Louisville: the last team to defeat it at Lynn Family Stadium was Rhode Island FC, on June 22, 2024.

Bird Takes the Reins

For the first time since 2021, LouCity will see a new face on the sideline after it was announced that Louisville's winningest head coach in club history, Danny Cruz, would depart the club after more than five seasons and 106 wins at the helm. Simon Bird, who has worked alongside Cruz as an assistant coach since 2021, took the reins as Louisville's interim head coach, and will make his USL Championship coaching debut on the sidelines vs. the back-to-back Eastern Conference Finalists on Saturday. The Lincoln, England native has deep-rooted ties with Louisville, dating back to his playing time at the University of Louisville from 2001-2004. He officially joined LouCity as an assistant coach under Cruz in 2021 after stints as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville and the director of the LouCity Academy.

Showunmi Shows Out

Louisville City FC were also in action midweek, taking down amateur side Southern Indiana FC 2-0 at Lynn Family Stadium in the First Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The win was the first under Interim Head Coach Simon Bird, who did not skip a beat in keeping the club's strong form alive and punching its ticket to the Second Round. LouCity prevailed early thanks to a first-half brace from Tola Showumni, who returned to the club ahead of the 2026 campaign after spending two years with English club Crawley Town. The goals were his first of 2026. Defensively, The Boys in Purple did not let up a single shot on target, leading to a first career LouCity clean sheet from newly-acquired goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux in his debut for the club.

RHODE ISLAND FC

Roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Koke Vegas, 13-Will Meyer, 29-Jacob Castro

DEFENDERS (8): 2-Dani Rovira, 3-Aldair Sanchez, 4-Hugo Bacharach, 5-Grant Stoneman, 15-Frank Nodarse, 22-Nick Scardina, 24-Karifa Yao, 25-CJ Williams, 32-Hamady Diop

MIDFIELDERS (7): 7-Dwayne Atkinson, 10-Agustín "Pity" Rodríguez, 12-Clay Holstad, 17-Jojea Kwizera, 19-Kevin Vang, 21-Zachary Herivaux, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson

FORWARDS (5): 8-Leo Afonso, 9-JJ Williams, 11-Noah Fuson, 14-Logan Dorsey, 20-Jamin Gogo Peters

Logan Dorsey, CJ Williams Shine in Debut

Between Rhode Island FC's U.S. Open Cup First Round win and its 2026 Home Opener, the club debuted six of its new signings, two which found the back of the net in their first game. In Saturday's 1-1 season-opening draw vs. Sporting Club Jacksonville, second-half substitute Logan Dorsey stole the show in the 79th minute, scoring just four minutes after coming off the bench in his RIFC debut to give the Ocean State club a 1-0 lead. Dorsey's goal was the third-fastest substitute goal in club history, and marked the seventh time in three seasons an RIFC player has scored less than five minutes after coming off the bench. Three days later, in RIFC's Open Cup win vs. CD Faialense, former Boston College defender CJ Williams made his first professional start, taking just 26 minutes to find the back of the net for the first time. Dorsey and Williams are the first two players in club history to score in their RIFC debuts at Centreville Bank Stadium.

Record-setting Attack

In Rhode Island FC's first two games, its new-look attack has shown dominance in full force, outshooting its opponents 39-13. In its home opener vs. Sporting JAX, Rhode Island FC's 23 shots tied a single-game regular-season record, marking its highest shot output in the USL Championship since a 2-1 win vs. FC Tulsa on Sept. 21, 2024. The impressive effort was led by Leo Afonso, whose nine shots on his RIFC debut was also a single-game club record. In its Open Cup game vs. CD Faialense, RIFC continued to display its attacking strengths, this time matching the all-time club record with 26 shots, and setting the all-time record with 12 shots on target. The only other game RIFC has ever totaled 26 shots in a competitive game was its Open Cup debut on April 16, 2024, when it fell to USL League One club Charlotte Independence in penalties after a back-and-forth 4-4 tie. Against Faialense.

For the Recordbooks

Rhode Island FC is 2W-2L-1T vs. Louisville all-time, and has historically been a thorn in the side of an otherwise near-perfect Louisville team. Although the Ocean State club narrowly fell in both contests vs. LouCity last season, it famously went unbeaten against the Players' Shield winners during its inaugural season in 2024, becoming the first team to ever beat Louisville twice at Lynn Family Stadium in one season. RIFC's 5-2 win at Louisville on June 22, 2024 - which set the record for the most goals ever scored by an opponent at Lynn Family Stadium - remains Louisville's only regular-season loss at home dating back to October 2023. Its 3-0 win in the Eastern Conference Final later that season ended Louisville's 10-year run of advancing to the Eastern Conference Final, marking the first time in the club's decorated history it has failed to advance past the conference semifinal. After falling 2-1 in its lone trip to Kentucky in 2025, and then once again in a 1-0 loss in Pawtucket on Aug. 30, RIFC will look to draw from its impressive history to get back in the win column against the league leaders.

Check out the Rhode Island FC Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from March 19, 2026


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