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USL North Carolina FC

NCFC Travels to League-Leading Louisville City FC

June 7, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
North Carolina FC News Release


LOUISVILLE, Ky. - North Carolina FC caps off its three-game road swing at league-leading Louisville City FC in Week 14 of the 2024 USL Championship regular season on Saturday, June 8, at 8 p.m. ET. The match will stream live on CBS's Golazo Network.

Louisville enters the match atop of the Eastern Conference standings with a 9-1-2 record for a league-best 29 points, seven more than any other club. North Carolina FC enters the match unbeaten in four straight, climbing to eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 3-4-5 record for 14 points.

North Carolina and Louisville met five times in the USL Championship between 2018-2020 with Louisville leading the series, 3-1-1.

North Carolina FC was on bye for Week 13 of the regular season after a resounding 4-0 win at Miami FC in Week 12. The win was the team's fourth clean sheet of the season, and the four-goal second half gave North Carolina its highest-scoring game of the season.

Louis Perez connected with Evan Conway at the far post to open the scoring, while Oalex Anderson and Rodrigo Da Costa added goals on either side of a Mikey Maldonado Olympico, which was nominated for USL Championship Goal of the Week.

The Perez to Conway connection has been building in recent weeks with the pair combining for a goal in two straight games. On both occasions, Perez's service from the wide channel found Conway's head at the far post for a goal.

Perez has been the creative engine for NCFC so far this season, with the midfielder's 26 chances created tied for the fourth most in the league.

Scouting Louisville City FC

Like NCFC, Louisville City enters the Week 14 matchup fresh off a game against Miami. While North Carolina left South Beach with the team's best score line of the year, the league leaders needed an 84' penalty to avoid dropping points against the 12th-place team in the East. Miami out-shot and out-possessed Louisville in that game, but Louisville was able to escape with all three points.

Wilson Harris leads the line for Louisville, with the former Sporting KC homegrown player currently sitting second in the Golden Boot race behind Charleston Battery's Nicholas Markanich.

Harris is as proven of a goal scorer as they come in the USL Championship, with 59 goals in 125 appearances across his seven seasons with Louisville and Sporting KC's second team. With 10 goals in 11 games this season, Harris is on pace for his best season in front of goal.

Louisville's defense, which ranks second in the league for clean sheets with six and third in goals conceded with 11, is based around its three-at-the-back anchored by Arturo Ordoñez in the middle and Sean Totsch and Wesley Charpie on either side.

Damian Las has been the go-to goalkeeper for Louisville Head Coach Danny Cruz. Las, currently with Louisville on loan from Austin FC, made two appearances for NCFC in 2021 while on loan from English club Fulham. Las has a save percentage of 73.81% this season, playing all but one of LouCity's games.

Elijah Wynder and Taylor Davila have been the main duo in midfield for Louisville this season, with both starting 11 of the team's 12 games. Wydner is the more defensive of the two, with Davila's 28 chances created being the most on the team, but both have the ability to get forward and score with each bagging three goals and one assist this season.

Next Up

North Carolina FC will return to WakeMed Soccer Park for Week 15 of the USL Championship season, taking on Monterey Bay FC on Sunday, June 16, at 6 p.m. ET. The match will be NCFC's Juneteenth celebration.

Check out the North Carolina FC Statistics

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