Sports stats



USL Louisville City FC

What to Watch for with LouCity at Detroit City FC

July 18, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC defender Manny Perez
Louisville City FC defender Manny Perez
(Louisville City FC, Credit: David Mucker)

Louisville City FC and Detroit City FC - the USL Championship's lowest-scoring teams just past the 2023 season's midway mark - meet Wednesday to see if either side can spark its attack.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan. Broadcast coverage shifted from ESPN2, as was originally announced, to MyTV 58 locally and ESPN+ streaming, with live radio on ESPN Louisville's 680/105.7.

LouCity fans are also encouraged to join in the club's official watch party at World of Beer, 9850 Von Allmen Ct. Food and drink will both be on special, including $2 shots should the boys in purple hit the back of the net.

And that's been a priority for the club of late with 17 goals scored in 18 league games this season. Much thanks to its defense, LouCity (8-5-5, 29 points) is still fifth on the table, solidly in the USL Championship's playoff picture.

Detroit City (4-11-5, 17 points) has registered 13 goals in 20 games for the league's most anemic offense. Le Rouge's struggles continued over the weekend with a 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC that dropped Detroit to 11th of 12 in the Eastern Conference.

LouCity coincidentally also fell to first-place Pittsburgh in its most-recent league game. Prior to that, the boys in purple had put together a four-game unbeaten streak.

Follow along

- The game will air live locally on MyTV 58 and ESPN Louisville's 680/105.7.

- If streaming, download the free WDRB Now 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 and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram.

Player availability report

Owen Damm (out)

Jorge Gonzalez (out)

Wilson Harris (out)

Kyle Morton (out)

Enoch Mushagalusa (out)

Brian Ownby (questionable)

Ramzi Qawasmy (out)

Jordan Scarlett (out)

Story lines...

Got their number: Since Detroit City joined the USL Championship last year, LouCity is a perfect 5-0 in league play against the club, most recently defeating Le Rouge by a 1-0 score back on April 8 at Lynn Family Stadium. The clubs also met in the 2016 and 2022 U.S. Open Cup tournaments with both results going LouCity's way in penalty kick shootouts.

Schedule congestion: LouCity's amid the busiest part of its season, with Wednesday's match the fourth of five games in 15 days. City is 1-1-0 in league play over this span, plus hosted Mexico's Atlante FC over the weekend in an international friendly. Coach Danny Cruz rotated all but one player out against Atlante, with only Carlos Moguel Jr. starting consecutive games.

The Beard's back: LouCity's friendly also provided an opportunity for Brian Ownby to regain fitness. The star winger started and logged 32 minutes against Atlante after also coming on as a 61st-minute sub midweek against Pittsburgh. Ownby has made only two league appearances since leaving a June 3 game with a muscle strain.

Making a name: Oliver Semmle didn't get a clean sheet against Pittsburgh but continued an impressive first season in purple with a career-high five saves. Semmle's nine shutouts continue to lead the USL Championship and are one off the league's rookie record of 10 set in 2014 by the Rochester Rhinos' John McCarthy. The overall Championship record is 15.

A sure thing: Sean Totsch has been just that this season for LouCity. Having recently hit 200 USL Championship appearances in purple, Totsch is the only player on the roster to have played all 1,620 league minutes so far this season. The center back leads City in a number of statistical categories, including clearances (52), interceptions (29) and blocks (18).

Debut day: LouCity Academy standout Issac Cano got the start and went 62 minutes against Atlante FC in his first appearance for the first team. Cano, who led Paul Laurence Dunbar to the 2021 Kentucky state title, has forgone college - for now - to pursue a contract with City. His USL Academy deal allows him to train and play with the pros while preserving amateur status.

Up next: City caps this stretch of games when turning around to host Birmingham Legion FC at 8 p.m. Saturday. It's Military Appreciation Night at Lynn Family Stadium, where members of all United States Armed Forces branches will be celebrated. Fans can visit LouCity.com/Military for more information on ticket discounts for active and veteran service members.

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC defender Manny Perez
Louisville City FC defender Manny Perez
(David Mucker)		   

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 18, 2023


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.

OurSports Central