LouCity Threatens, But Held to Scoreless Draw in Road Finale at Orange County
USL Louisville City FC

LouCity Threatens, But Held to Scoreless Draw in Road Finale at Orange County

Published on October 18, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC's Aiden McFadden and Adrien Perez and Orange County SC's Tristan Trager on game night
Louisville City FC's Aiden McFadden and Adrien Perez and Orange County SC's Tristan Trager on game night
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Kat Acosta)

In a late one out West, Louisville City FC created opportunities at will, but converting them proved to be the problem. Orange County SC's defense held firm in a 0-0 stalemate Saturday at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, Calif.

Despite unleashing 24 shots in its regular-season road finale - the second-most in any game this season - LouCity couldn't break through Danny Stone's OCSC. Of the 24, only five hit the target. Notably, the Louisville rotated three players from their last match: two in the defense and one up front.

It was just the third time in 2025 USL Championship play that Louisville's attack was silenced for an entire 90 minutes. The other two instances occurred on home soil.

Although neither of the last two matches before the playoffs will impact City's (21-1-7, 70 points) position on the table - thanks to its Shield-clinching victory over Miami FC last week - it did secure its 70th point of the season with a point Saturday, a feat it has impressively achieved in three of the previous four campaigns.

"I think, given the circumstances and the amount of different players that played in different positions, traveled to the West Coast, I was really, really happy with the performance," head coach Danny Cruz said. "... I thought we were excellent (in the first half), I thought we started the game on the front foot, managed the territory, created chances. We just needed execution in the final third.

"... All in all, another shutout, a good, excellent defensive performance from the group, despite having one center back on the team to make sure that our other two get healthy going into next week."

Against a team that has scored quite a lot in front of its fans this season, LouCity's defense continued its run of excellence. The unit extended its streak of clean sheets to four. Orange County amassed just five shots and merely eight touches inside LouCity's box. Returning from his red card suspension, goalkeeper Damian Las anchored a makeshift defense that included only one traditional center back.

"From a defensive phase of the game, I think we're all really proud of the way we performed," said Las. "I'd say the backline was huge today, just winning aerial duels, cutting off through ball passes and just playing out of the back as well. ... The most important thing for us is (that) we didn't concede."

Louisville's 24 shots compared to OCSC's five only tells part of the story. LouCity dominated a majority of the important offensive categories, including chances created and expected goals. Jansen Wilson paced the attack by generating a team-high eight chances, while Phillip Goodrum contributed six shots, to no avail.

Louisville's 2.22 expected goals total Saturday was the highest it has recorded without scoring a goal across the last two years.

"I think we had the intensity, the right mentality," defender Amadou Dia said. "We executed the game plan that Danny (Cruz) and the staff came up for us. We just could not execute in the final third and the final action to get the goal. ... We were not as clinical as we should've been when it came to that final pass."

LouCity will put a bow on the 2025 regular season next Saturday, as it journeys back to Lynn Family Stadium to face another top-three Eastern Conference outfit: Hartford Athletic. It'll be Trick-or-Treat Night in Louisville, with the match set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and more information on the club's final game of October, visit LouCity.com/trickortreat.

Playoffs will begin the following week in Butchertown, as the boys in purple will host whoever finishes as the Eastern Conference's eighth-place finisher at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 1.

Game Summary: Orange County SC vs. Louisville City FC

Date: October 18, 2025

Venue: Championship Soccer Stadium

Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET

Weather: 73 degrees, clear

Scoring

Orange County SC (0, 0, 0)

Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0)

Lineups

Orange County SC: 1 - Colin Shutler; 23 - Ryan Doghman (c), 20 - Vuk Latinovich, 4 - Nico Benalcázar, 13 - Pedro Guimaraes, 14 - Christopher Hegardt (90'+3 33 - Ashton Miles), 27 - Stephen Kelly, 6 - Malik Pinto (82' 19 - Kevin Partida), 11 - Bryce Jamison (63' 21 - Mouhamadou War), 10 - Tristan Trager (63' 8 - Ousmane Sylla), 9 - Ethan Zubak

Subs not used: 31 - Tetsuya Kadono; 7 - Cameron Dunbar, 15 - Tyson Espy, 18 - Roberto Molina, 26 - Cheick Kone

Head coach: Danny Stone

Louisville City FC: 1 - Damian Las; 3 - Jake Morris (66' 83 - Brandon Dayes), 13 - Amadou Dia, 4 - Sean Totsch, 2 - Aiden McFadden, 25 - Jansen Wilson, 17 - Taylor Davila (c) (89' 11 - Niall McCabe), 31 - Kevon Lambert, 7 - Ray Serrano (89' 23 - Sam Gleadle), 16 - Adrien Perez (66' 10 - Brian Ownby), 9 - Phillip Goodrum (66' 53 - Cameron Lancaster)

Subs not used: 12 - Danny Faundez; 15 - Manny Perez, 27 - Evan Davila

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Stats Summary: Orange County SC / Louisville City FC

Shots: 5 / 24

Shots on Goal: 3 / 5

Expected goals: 0.57 / 2.23

Possession: 51.6% / 48.4%

Fouls: 9 / 8

Offside: 1 / 3

Corner Kicks: 4 / 11

Discipline Summary

Orange County SC:

60' Pedro Guimaraes (yellow)

75' Ethan Zubak (yellow)

85' Kevin Partida (yellow)

86' Christopher Hegardt (yellow)

Louisville City FC:

43' Amadou Dia (yellow)

Referee: Mathew Corrigan

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics

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Images from this story

Louisville City FC's Aiden McFadden and Adrien Perez and Orange County SC's Tristan Trager on game night
Louisville City FC's Aiden McFadden and Adrien Perez and Orange County SC's Tristan Trager on game night
(Kat Acosta)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 18, 2025


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