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USL Louisville City FC

What to Watch for with LouCity at Colorado Springs

September 1, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC midfielder Elijah Wynder
Louisville City FC midfielder Elijah Wynder
(Louisville City FC, Credit: EM Dash Photography)

Louisville City FC will look to build on the momentum of a dramatic last-out victory when traveling Saturday to play Colorado Springs Switchbacks SC.

The boys in purple kick off at 9 p.m. ET at Weidner Field, where they'll be back in action on the heels of Oscar Jimenez's 98th-minute game winner - the latest goal scored in a USL Championship game this season - against another Western Conference side, Oakland Roots SC.

LouCity (11-8-7, 40 points) jumped to fourth place in the Eastern Conference with the result, above the cutoff line for clubs to host their USL Championship Playoffs openers. City has eight games left to continue improving its postseason seeding.

It's the opposite sort of story for Colorado Springs (11-12-3, 36 points), which enters Saturday sixth on the West's table. Three Switchbacks players were issued red cards as Monterey Bay FC netted penalty kicks in the 89th and 94th minutes of a rallying, 2-1 win last weekend.

LouCity will be making its second visit to 8,000-seat Weidner Field, a soccer-specific stadium opened in 2021 in downtown Colorado Springs. The boys in purple handled the mountain air while playing the Switchbacks to a 1-1 draw in July of that same year in the teams' only prior meeting.

Follow along

- The game will air live locally on WBKI/The CW and ESPN Louisville's 680/105.7.

- If streaming, download the free WDRB+ app to watch the local feed in Louisville. ESPN+ also streams the home feed of all USL Championship games not selected for national TV.

- For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter. Also find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram and Louisville City FC on Facebook.

Player availability report

Wes Charpie (out)

Owen Damm (out)

Amadou Dia (out)

Kyle Morton (out)

Ramzi Qawasmy (out)

Jordan Scarlett (out)

Story lines...

Road warriors: Starting Saturday, LouCity will play five of its next six games - all in September - away from Lynn Family Stadium. The exception is a Sept. 16 meeting with San Diego Loyal SC, which breaks up a swing from Colorado Springs to the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Trips to Miami FC and New Mexico United end a month of coast-to-coast travel.

Familiar faces: LouCity can expect to see two former players suited up in Colorado Springs' blue and black. Midfielder Devon "Speedy" Williams was part of both City title teams in 2017 and 2018 before making the move to Miami FC in 2021. He newly joined the Switcbacks this year. Defender Jimmy Ockford, in his third season at Colorado Springs, moved there after his lone season in purple in 2020.

Shorthanded hosts: The Switchbacks' Maalique Foster (59th minute), Jonas Fjeldberg (64th) and James Musa (97th) will all sit out this weekend having been issued red cards during the Monterey Bay loss. They were second yellows for Foster and Fjeldberg before Musa was sent off for a straight red foul. Before Saturday, Colorado Springs had only seen two players sent off all season.

City's comeback: LouCity was 0-5 on the year when trailing at the half entering the Oakland game, while the Roots were an unbeaten 8-0-2 when carrying a lead into the break. The boys in purple bucked both of those trends to register their first rallying victory of the season. Brian Ownby scored first to equalize in the 71st minute before Jimenez took Tyler Gibson's stoppage-time pass off the volley to win it.

Jimenez's moment: Known more for his service - Jimenez is second on LouCity's all-time assists list - the veteran outside back hit the back of the net for the first time since Oct. 9, 2021. That too was part of a dramatic comeback win as City went down a goal in the 85th minute, equalized through Jimenez in the 88th and then got a Cameron Lancaster goal at the death to beat Sporting KC II by a 4-3 score.

Instant impact: Ownby has twice this summer returned from injuries to deliver big moments for LouCity. The winger first ended a two-game break back on June 24 by registering the game-winning assist minutes later versus Loudoun United FC. Sidelined again of late, Ownby came on in the 60th minute against Oakland and headed in the equalizer only 11 minutes later.

Semmle's save: Oliver Semmle didn't get to improve on his league-leading 11 clean sheets against Oakland, but he very well kept LouCity in a position to beat the Roots late. The shot stopper made perhaps the save of the season in the 94th minute when diving to tip Anuar Peláez's distant shot over the bar and keep the score level. Semmle's clean sheet total already represents the USL Championship's single-season rookie record.

Adjustments aplenty: LouCity has taken points from four of its last five games. The one aberration - a 2-0 loss Aug. 19 at Birmingham Legion FC - led coach Danny Cruz to make six lineup changes against Oakland. LouCity also shifted from a three-back shape to its more traditional 4-3-3 formation. The moves worked, with City going on to fire a season-high 25 shots against the Roots.

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC midfielder Elijah Wynder
Louisville City FC midfielder Elijah Wynder
(EM Dash Photography)		   

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