Sports stats



USL Louisville City FC

What to Watch for with LouCity at Miami FC

September 19, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC forward Brian Ownby
Louisville City FC forward Brian Ownby
(Louisville City FC, Credit: David Mucker)

Louisville City FC will continue inching toward the postseason with three straight away games to finish the month starting Wednesday against Miami FC. Kickoff's set for 7 p.m. at Riccardo Silva Stadium on the campus of Florida International University.

LouCity (13-9-7, 46 points) holds fourth place on the Eastern Conference table, one point ahead of Memphis 901 FC, with five games to go. The boys in purple would officially clinch a spot in the USL Championship Playoffs for a ninth straight season with a win over Miami FC. From there, the goal remains to secure a top-four finish, meaning City would open the postseason at home.

LouCity will be turning around quickly from a weekend win over San Diego Loyal SC for a midweek trip to Miami FC. This jaunt is part of a larger run through September consisting of a single home game - last Saturday's victory - sandwiched between five road fixtures. City plays this weekend at Loudoun United FC and caps the month at New Mexico United.

Miami FC (7-14-8, 29 points) fell by a 2-1 score last Saturday to first-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. The game-winning goal was scored after Bolu Akinyode's 76th-minute sending off that will leave him suspended Wednesday. Miami FC continues to feature Paco Craig, its team captain who played for LouCity's title teams in 2017 and 2018.

Fans in Louisville are encouraged to attend the official LouCity-Miami FC watch party at World of Beer, 9850 Von Allmen Ct., which will feature food and drink specials throughout the game.

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

Amadou Dia (out)

Kyle Morton (out)

Ramzi Qawasmy (out)

Jordan Scarlett (out)

Story lines...

Last time: Wednesday's game marks the return match from a 3-1 LouCity victory over Miami FC back on May 13 at Lynn Family Stadium. Dylan Mares opened scoring in just the seventh minute with an ESPN2 audience watching before Brian Ownby and Sean Totsch hit the back of the net in the second half. LouCity is 3-1-0 all-time against Miami in regular season meetings and also defeated the orange and blue in the 2021 playoffs.

Strong start: Wilson Harris headed in a rebounding, fifth-minute shot against San Diego that went down as LouCity's second-fastest goal of the season. Scoring first has been key this year for a City team that is 12-2-3 in such situations - with 13 victories overall. City's lone comeback came Aug. 26 in a win over Oakland Roots SC as Oscar Jimenez scored in the 98th minute.

Wilson winds up: Harris scored a team-high 15 goals last year in his first season in purple but this year has been limited to 23 appearances so far due to injury. The 23-year-old appears to be getting hot at the right time, raising his second total to seven goals in the San Diego win. Harris also scored two games back versus the Tampa Bay Rowdies to start his second scoring streak of the year.

Record pace: Oliver Semmle set a new USL Championship clean sheet mark for rookie goalkeepers earlier this season when registering his 11th shutout. With his 12th Saturday against San Diego, the German shot stopper pulled within one of matching LouCity's single-season record set in 2022 by Kyle Morton. The league record of 15 clean sheets is also still within reach with five games to play.

Corner threat: Carlos Moguel Jr. has secured a starting role of late in LouCity's holding midfield and carved a niche taking set pieces. The 20-year-old LouCity Academy grad tallied his first two assists in a Sept. 2 victory over Colorado Springs Switchbacks SC and continued to create chances against San Diego - a game-high four in all. Two were corners headed on by Wes Charpie and Paolo DelPiccolo, respectively, that the Loyal had to clear off the line.

Going the distance: In and out of LouCity's lineup throughout the summer due to injury, Brian Ownby played a full game last Saturday for the first time since July 22 - a span of nine games, or nearly a quarter of the season. Ownby curled in the cross that led to City's winning goal against San Diego, numbered three chances created and a team-high 15 passes in the final third.

Friendly confines: LouCity welcomed 11,121 fans - the season's fifth-largest crowd - to Lynn Family Stadium for the San Diego win. It continued a potentially historic season for club attendance, which is averaging 10,478 per game with two home matches to go. Last year, City averaged a record 10,465 for regular season home games at Lynn Family Stadium. Following the September road swing, the boys in purple close their campaign at home on Oct. 7 and 14.

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC forward Brian Ownby
Louisville City FC forward Brian Ownby
(David Mucker)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 19, 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