Ownby's Strike Seals Historic Second-Straight Players' Shield for LouCity
USL Louisville City FC

Ownby's Strike Seals Historic Second-Straight Players' Shield for LouCity

Published on October 11, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC celebrates win
Louisville City FC celebrates win
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Connor Cunningham)

For the second consecutive season, the USL Championship's Players' Shield belongs to Louisville City FC.

LouCity only needed one point to take home the silverware Saturday. Club legend Brian Ownby delivered something better: the winning goal.

Linking up with fellow legend Cameron Lancaster, Ownby's strike secured all three points as the boys in purple topped Miami FC 1-0 before a crowd of 10,237 at Lynn Family Stadium.

The triumph delivered home-field advantage throughout the postseason and etched the boys in purple into the record books as the first team in 13 years to win back-to-back USL Championship regular-season crowns.

Louisville (21-1-6, 69 points) also extended its winning run in the league to seven games - its longest since 2020 - all while shutting its opponent out for the seventh time this season on home soil.

"It's an incredible group of people," said head coach Danny Cruz, reflecting on the Players' Shield achievement. "Certainly grateful that I get to come to work every day with these guys. We've spoken plenty about the importance of the fact that it (the Players' Shield) means that the playoffs run through (Lynn Family Stadium). I think that's obviously critical, so really, really proud of the group. Proud of my staff. Proud of the players. But this is just the first step - we have a lot more to do."

As for the performance, it once again proved a simple point: good teams just know how to find ways to win.

Cruz summed it up, stating, "We were really sloppy with the ball too often tonight. That being said, I thought our backline did an excellent job of dealing with the threats that (Miami) had. They have a lot of quality, individual quality, technical ability in dangerous spaces, (which) can cause us problems and it did tonight. At the same time again, it's another shutout here at home. The group has worked so hard on making sure that is a key emphasis."

Though the two outfits combined for four goals in the first half in their last meeting in Florida, it was the defenses that stole the show this time around. Five combined shots on target were all Louisville and Miami could muster throughout 90 minutes. It took just one, though, to ensure LouCity clinched the Players' Shield in winning fashion.

City was forced to wait until the 88th minute for that breakthrough, when Lancaster played Ownby through and the 35-year-old rolled it home for the Shield-winning goal. It was a storybook moment for the LouCity icon. The goal was his first in 719 days, after injuries hampered his time on the pitch over the last year-plus.

"I love Brian," captain Kyle Adams said. "For all the stuff he's done for the team over the last 8, 9, 10 years, he deserves that. He deserves hopefully a couple more trophies there at the end to finish his career, which would be a great thing if we're able to do that for him."

Adams, along with goalkeeper Danny Faundez, helped lead the defensive effort en route to history. They held Miami to its third-lowest expected goals total of the season (0.31), a defensive standard that will matter when the playoffs arrive in a few weeks.

"When we start day one of preseason, our goal is to be the last team standing come November," said Ownby. "Obviously, this (the Players' Shield) is one objective (because) it's a long season, it's hard to do this. We're proud, but we'll enjoy it for tonight.

"We know that's not the standard that we performed out there, but it is a huge achievement, especially for this club. The consistency that we've been able to do, now we've got to see it out."

There are two regular-season games to go, and then all of LouCity's attention will be placed on the playoffs. The boys in purple will next travel to Irvine, California, for their final road match of 2025, against Orange County FC. Kickoff is set for 10 p.m. next Saturday.

For tickets and further information about the playoffs, visit LouCity.com/playoffs.

Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Miami FC

Date: October 11, 2025

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET

Weather: 68 degrees, clear

Attendance: 10,237

Scoring

Louisville City FC (0, 1, 1)

Miami FC (0, 0, 0)

Goals

Louisville City FC:

88' Brian Ownby (Cameron Lancaster)

Lineups

Louisville City FC: 12 - Danny Faundez; 13 - Amadou Dia (78' 83 - Brandon Dayes), 32 - Kyle Adams (c), 24 - Josh Jones, 4 - Sean Totsch, 2 - Aiden McFadden, 17 - Taylor Davila (86' 11 - Niall McCabe), 31 - Kevon Lambert, 25 - Jansen Wilson (61' 10 - Brian Ownby), 16 - Adrien Perez (61' 7 - Ray Serrano), 9 - Phillip Goodrum (62' 53 - Cameron Lancaster)

Subs not used: 30 - Ryan Troutman; 3 - Jake Morris, 27 - Evan Davila, 80 - Hayden Stamps

Miami FC: 1 - Nicolás Campisi; 2 - Jonathan Ricketts, 6 - Tulu, 13 - Daltyn Knutson, 93 - César García, 8 - Matías Romero, 5 - Diego Mercado, 30 - Cristian Vázquez (62' 7 - Allen Gavilanes), 10 - Sebastián Blanco (c) (84' 22 - Francesco Celeste), 18 - Tobías Zárate (76' 35 - Brandon Bent), 9 - Francisco Bonfiglio

Subs not used: 31 - Felipe Rodriguez; 3 - Alejandro Mitrano, 29 - Kevin Hoyos, 37 - Diego Mello

Head Coach: Gastón Maddoni

Stats: Louisville City FC / Miami FC

Shots: 13 / 8

Shots on Goal: 3 / 2

Expected goals: 1.00 / 0.31

Possession: 47.3% / 52.7%

Fouls: 14 / 19

Offside: 1 / 0

Corner Kicks: 6 / 0

Discipline Summary

Louisville City FC:

72' Kyle Adams (yellow)

Miami FC:

39' Tobías Zárate (yellow)

69' Francisco Bonfiglio (yellow)

Referee: Amin Hadzic

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics

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Images from this story

Louisville City FC celebrates win
Louisville City FC celebrates win
(Connor Cunningham)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 11, 2025


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