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USL Memphis 901 FC

Memphis 901 FC Face Final Road Test of Regular Season

October 22, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Memphis 901 FC News Release


MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis 901 FC (12-9-8, 44 points) travel to Louisville for its final round trip of the regular season against Louisville City FC (16-7-7, 55 points). 901 FC is coming off a stretch of five matches in 15 days in which the club earned four wins. Last Saturday, Memphis secured a 4-2 come-from-behind win over Atlanta United 2 before locking up its postseason spot on Sunday evening thanks to an OKC Energy FC draw with Birmingham Legion FC.

Trailing to begin the second half last weekend, an offensive resurgence earned Memphis four goals in the span of 19 minutes against ATL UTD 2. Roland Lamah sparked the response in the 50' as the veteran forward sent a ball just over the line, despite an attempted goal-line clearance. Not long after, midfielder Kadeem Dacres similarly sent home a loose ball in the Atlanta box to give Memphis its first lead of the evening. To cap off a trio of scores in 10 minutes, a perfect ball from Laurent Kissiedou set Kyle Murphy up with a simple finish to extend Memphis' lead to a pair of goals in the 60'. Finally, Alan Winn scored in the 69' to secure the victory.

Despite sitting at second place in the Central Division, Louisville City FC is coming off back-to-back losses for the third time this season as the club needs to win against Memphis on Saturday and Birmingham Legion FC on the last day of the season to claim the division title. Prior to dropping a 1-0 contest to Indy Eleven on Oct. 16, Memphis defeated Louisville for the first time in club history on Oct. 13 at AutoZone Park.

For Memphis, the fight to retain the third seed in the division is on as FC Tulsa challenges. Winning all three remaining matches would guarantee Memphis the third seed and a trip to either Charlotte or Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs. Dropping to the fourth spot would mean a visit to Tampa is in the cards.

"The goal first was to make the playoffs," captain Leston Paul said. "The second is to qualify as high as we can in the postseason. After that, we go from there and take it game by game. Our celebration was short-lived after making the playoffs because we all know there's more work to be done. One of our goals is checked off, but we keep going."

An energized LouCity will be hungry for a win at Lynn Family Stadium as the side is led by Cameron Lancaster's 17 goals-one shy of Kyle Murphy's tally of 18 on the season. Louisville have amassed the third most goals in Championship play this season, but Memphis has inched closer to the top of the pack-averaging 2.36 goals per match in its last eight outings. Additionally, Memphis and Louisville tout strong defenses as both sides are in the bottom third of the league in goals allowed.

"We've got arguably the toughest team on the road in a must-win match for them," Head Coach Ben Pirmann said. "Our job is to take points off of them and fight for a win. We turn around Wednesday and then Friday, so we have three matches in eight days to put our best foot forward and fight for that third seed."

Kickoff from Lynn Family Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 23, and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and WMC+ (5.5 - Over the Air, 906 - Comcast, 6 - Dish). Memphis' trip to Louisville will be the last road match of the regular season before 901 FC finish October with a pair of home matches.

For the latest information on the team, visit www.memphis901fc.com and follow the club on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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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.

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