Shorthanded LouCity Nears Players' Shield with Rivalry Win Over Indy Eleven
USL Louisville City FC

Shorthanded LouCity Nears Players' Shield with Rivalry Win Over Indy Eleven

Published on October 4, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC's Taylor Davila on game night
Louisville City FC's Taylor Davila on game night
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Drew Hill)

With a 2-0 win Saturday over rival Indy Eleven, Louisville City FC closed to within a point of clinching a second straight USL Championship Players' Shield - and the No. 1 overall playoff seed that comes with it.

Amadou Dia and Taylor Davila scored at Lynn Family Stadium to create a lead for the hosts. The boys in purple - wearing pink to raise breast cancer awareness - then kept a clean sheet despite playing the final 25 minutes down a man following a red card foul.

Regardless of the bigger picture, City coach Danny Cruz is taking the final stretch of this season a week at a time.

"I'm focused on Miami," he said of next Saturday's opponent. "That's what I'm focused on. Not (the Players' Shield). We continue to talk about process. We continue to talk about the importance of now. So we prepare for Miami and put ourselves in the best position possible for next weekend. We really don't discuss it."

Still, LouCity's moving forward at a historic pace. The boys in purple are 20-1-6 on the season, haven't lost at home, and are sitting on a +35 goal differential with three regular season games to play.

They made another statement Saturday after starting goalkeeper Damian Las came off his line to make a play on the ball and was shown a straight red card for preventing an empty-net goal.

Danny Faundez came on in relief and made an immediate impact, diving for the first of his three saves in the 75th minute seconds after entering the game.

"The best way to look at it is I don't get time to think," Faundez said. "I was just stepping in there. Everything was reactionary and just making sure we fought until the end and held on for that result."

Faundez played limited minutes earlier this season - and going back to the 2022 playoffs, stepped up as LouCity won their last Eastern Conference title.

"It speaks volumes of his preparation," Cruz said. "It speaks volumes of his ability to stay tuned in and be ready to go. It speaks volumes of the type of teammate he is as well. He's Damian's biggest fan, and when his number was called, he was there to answer it. He's done that multiple times this year."

LouCity held a shutout while doing enough offensively, too.

After a tightly contested opening half hour, Man of the Match Amadou Dia broke the deadlock in the 36th minute, finishing off a Kevon Lambert assist on LouCity's first shot on target. It marked Dia's career-high third USL Championship goal this season and his first since June 15 against Birmingham Legion FC.

"It's good to help my team out more than just doing defensive stuff," Dia said. "Plus, the guys give me a lot of crap for not scoring, so it's an even better feeling when I get to go back on Tuesday and watch film and let them know that I scored and they've got to stop giving me crap for it."

Taylor Davila doubled the lead in the 58th minute, capitalizing on a loose ball to score from the top of the box after a turnover in Indy Eleven's half. It was his fourth goal of the season and first since August 10 against Charleston Battery.

Fighting for a playoff spot, Indy Eleven played with urgency, holding 55% of possession and firing 15 shots - well above its season average of 10.3. But LouCity's defense held firm, tallying four blocks and four saves.

"First and foremost, it takes a collective buy-in from the group to want to get better in that phase of the game," Cruz said. "I said this a few weeks ago: I think you have to love to defend as much as you love to attack here, and I think the players have certainly shown that."

Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Indy Eleven

Date: October 4, 2025

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET

Weather: 79 degrees, clear

Attendance: 9,785

Scoring

Louisville City FC (1, 1, 2)

Indy Eleven (0, 0, 0)

Goals

Louisville City FC:

36' Amadou Dia (Kevon Lambert)

58' Taylor Davila

Lineups

Louisville City FC: 1 - Damian Las, 13 - Amadou Dia, 32 - Kyle Adams, 4 - Sean Totsch, 24 - Josh Jones, 2 - Aiden McFadden, 17 - Taylor Davila (82' 83 - Brandon Dayes), 31 - Kevon Lambert, 7 - Ray Serrano (82' 11 - Niall McCabe), 16 - Adrien Perez (69' 10 - Brian Ownby), 23 - Sam Gleadle (69' 9 - Phillip Goodrum, 74' 12 - Danny Faundez)

Substitutes: 3 - Jake Morris, 27 - Evan Davila, 53 - Cameron Lancaster, 80 - Hayden Stamps

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Indy Eleven: 31 - Luke Pruter, 41 - James Musa, 30 - Ben Ofeimu (78' 21 - Oliver Bryneus), 12 - Brian Schaefer, 71 - Joseph Zalinsky (63' 33 - Hayden White), 5 - James Murphy (63' 22 - Elvis Amoh), 6 - Cam Lindley, 8 - Jack Blake, 14 - Aodhan Quinn, 9 - Romario Williams, 27 - Bruno Rendon (78' 32 - Brem Soumaoro)

Substitutes: 2 - Josh O'Brien, 19 - Edward Kizza, 98 - Hunter Sulte

Head Coach: Sean McAuley

Stats: Louisville City FC / Indy Eleven

Shots: 10 / 15

Shots on Goal: 2 / 4

Expected goals: 0.87 / 2.02

Possession: 45.1% / 54.9%

Fouls: 9 / 8

Offside: 0 / 1

Corner Kicks: 4 / 7

Discipline Summary

Louisville City FC:

41' Danny Cruz (yellow)

63' Adrien Perez (yellow)

72' Damian Las (red)

Referee: Servando Berna Rico

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics

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Images from this story

Louisville City FC's Taylor Davila on game night
Louisville City FC's Taylor Davila on game night
(Drew Hill)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 4, 2025


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