LouCity Starts Strong in Statement 'Fill the Fam Night' Win Over Charleston
USL Louisville City FC

LouCity Starts Strong in Statement 'Fill the Fam Night' Win Over Charleston

August 9, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC's Jansen Wilson on game night
Louisville City FC's Jansen Wilson on game night
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Connor Cunningham)

Louisville City FC is squarely the USL Championship's team to beat - again.

LouCity defeated its closest rival in the league standings with ease Saturday, registering a 4-1 victory over the Charleston Battery on "Fill the Fam Night" at Lynn Family Stadium.

A crowd of 13,611 - second-largest in stadium history - built anticipation during a national anthem performance on electric guitar, pregame flyover and pyrotechnics welcoming teams to the field. Then the roars began as the boys in purple opened scoring in the third minute.

LouCity netted all four of its goals in the first half while improving to 13-1-5 this season. City now sits three points clear of Charleston and owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Battery.

"I think you've seen it year after year - when this stadium is as full as that - two things," said coach Danny Cruz. "One, we take a lot pride in making sure we're putting a performance together that reflects the community and everyone can enjoy and be proud of. And second, it is really difficult for the opponents to play in that environment.

"Anytime that this place is full like that, we're going to continue to leave our hearts on the field for the fans and do everything we can to put together a performance they can be proud of."

The only Lynn Family Stadium crowd larger than Saturday's showed up to the first Fill the Fam game in August of 2022, when 14,673 saw LouCity defeat the Tampa Bay Rowdies. That was another 1-2 matchup in the standings that put City on a run to the USL Championship Final.

If the boys in purple play for more silverware in 2025, it will mean more performances like this one. They built a lead on precision, converting all four shots on target in the opening 45 minutes. The offense arrived early as Aiden McFadden skied to win a header, playing Phillip Goodrum in behind for a third-minute goal.

Jansen Wilson registered a brace with goals in the 16th and 28th minutes, and Taylor Davila rocketed in a penalty kick six minutes into first half stoppage time to end the onslaught.

"What an atmosphere, man," Goodrum said. "We knew Fill the Fam Night is always a special one, especially when it's a 1 vs. 2 game. This city - this crowd - really showed out. You could feel it. Right from the start we were all over them. We were flying, hungry for a goal. You can't really ask for much more than that in the first half. I think we fed off the atmosphere."

Charleston mixed up its team with four halftime substitutes, managing to leverage some confusion into a 52nd-minute goal when MD Myers finished off a Cal Jennings cross. But LouCity held serve over the final half hour, even looking like it would answer when McFadden hit woodwork in the 65th.

That's in part to a Man of the Match performance by goalkeeper Damian Las, who numbered six clearances to go with five saves.

"It took us a little bit of time to certainly make sure we figured out how to defend it," Cruz said of the Charleston changes. "We did a good job of doing that once we sorted it out collectively. All in all, special evening, great performance, and really, really proud of the group."

"I felt it for sure," Las added of the support, including an 11th-minute sequence that saw him stop two shots within seconds to maintain an early lead. "When I made the double save, that was the first time I ever heard a crowd that loud for a save. I was pretty excited about that for a double save.

From here, attention over the last half of the regular season will turn to a Players' Shield defense and Louisville's chase for the No. 1 overall playoff seed. Cruz, however, emphasized rest, recovery, and the next game up. For LouCity, that's a trip to play Miami FC next Saturday night with 11 games to go before the playoffs.

Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Charleston Battery

Date: August 9, 2025

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET

Weather: 88 degrees, clear

Attendance: 13,611

Scoring

Louisville City FC (4, 0, 4)

Charleston Battery (0, 1, 1)

Goals

Louisville City FC:

3' Phillip Goodrum (Aiden McFadden)

16' Jansen Wilson (Ray Serrano)

28' Jansen Wilson (Taylor Davila)

45+6' Taylor Davila

Charleston Battery:

52' MD Myers (Cal Jennings)

Lineups

Louisville City FC: 1 - Damian Las 13 - Amado Dia (90' 4 - Sean Totsch), 32 - Kyle Adams, 5 - Arturo Ordóñez, 24 - Josh Jones, 2 - Aiden McFadden, 31 - Kevon Lambert, 17 - Taylor Davila (87' 11 - Niall McCabe), 7 - Ray Serrano (79' 27 - Evan Davila), 25 - Jansen Wilson (87' 10 - Brian Ownby), 9 - Phillip Goodrum (79' 23 - Sam Gleadle)

Substitutes: 12 - Danny Faundez, 53 - Cameron Lancaster, 80 - Hayden Stamps, 83 - Brandon Dayes

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Charleston Battery: 56 - Luis Zamudio, 62 - Nathan Dossantos (46' 29 - Jeremy Kelly), 22 - Joey Akpunonu (46' 5 - Leland Archer), 16 - Graham Smith, 7 - Langston Blackstock (46' 8 - Emilio Ycaza), 91 - Houssou Landry (63' 42 - Douglas Martinez), 6 - Aaron Molloy, 10 - Arturo Rodriguez, 9 - MD Myers, 80 - Juan David Torres, 26 - Cal Jennings

Subs not used: 1 - Christian Garner, 2 - Mark Segbers, 14 - Rubio Rubin

Head coach: Ben Pirmann

Stats: Louisville City FC / Charleston Battery

Shots: 14 / 17

Shots on Goal: 5 / 6

Expected goals: 1.78 / 1.18

Possession: 29.5% / 70.5%

Fouls: 19 / 21

Offside: 2 / 1

Corner Kicks: 3 / 9

Discipline Summary

Louisville City FC:

75' Phillip Goodrum (yellow)

89' Brian Ownby (yellow)

Charleston Battery:

31' Juan David Torres (yellow)

83' Douglas Martinez (yellow)

90' Emilio Ycaza (yellow)

Referee: Elijio Arreguin

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC's Jansen Wilson on game night
Louisville City FC's Jansen Wilson on game night
(Connor Cunningham)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 9, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central