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USL Louisville City FC

What to Watch for with LouCity at Oakland Roots SC

July 5, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC in action
Louisville City FC in action
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Chris Carter)

Louisville City FC has arguably never been better positioned at a season's halfway point than now. But a busy month of July, between USL Championship games and a pair of international friendlies, is sure to test the depth of a squad coach Danny Cruz built for this kind of scenario.

LouCity will be without an increasing number of key contributors when traveling to play Oakland Roots SC this Saturday. Kickoff is set for 10 p.m. ET at Pioneer Stadium just as Jorge Gonzalez most recently joined City's list of unavailable players having suffered a knee injury last out.

Kyle Adams (foot), Adrien Perez (groin) and Brian Ownby (knee) also remain on the mend - each of them starting-caliber when healthy.

"We've got a lot of injuries at the moment, and players have opportunity," said coach Danny Cruz. "For the first, probably, 10, 12 games, there wasn't a lot of rotation obviously. We stayed healthy. Guys were performing well, so players had to wait for their chance and their opportunities."

LouCity (12-3-2, 38 points) owns the USL Championship's best record, sitting five points ahead of the Charleston Battery atop the Eastern Conference and four points clear of Western Conference pacesetter New Mexico United.

City's 2.24 points per game marks the second-best figure in club history at a season's midway point. It trails only the prolific 2.67 points per game earned over the first half by 2016's squad.

That group had to contend with a loaded New York Red Bulls II side featuring future U.S. Men's National Team captain Tyler Adams and a host of other top prospects. It's LouCity that hopes to similarly serve as the USL Championship's bully in 2024 while pursuing the club's first Players' Shield for best regular season record.

Oakland Roots (8-8-2, 26 points) poses a tough test, holding a top-four position on the Western Conference table. The Roots have won four of their last five games, including last Saturday's 2-0 away victory over Orange County SC.

LouCity enters the weekend after a similarly dominant road win, doing all of its scoring in the second half of a 4-1 result over Birmingham Legion FC.

Follow along

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

- If streaming, download the free WDRB+ app to watch the local feed in Louisville. ESPN+ or Golazo Network 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

Kyle Adams (out)

Jorge Gonzalez (out)

Brian Ownby (out)

Adrien Perez (out)

Story lines...

Series history: It's short between these two clubs, which met for the first time last season. LouCity found its winner eight minutes into second half stoppage time of a 2-1 game last August at Lynn Family Stadium. City will travel to Oakland for the first time to play at Pioneer Stadium, also home to California State University, East Bay, athletics.

Record pace: LouCity is in contention to challenge Phoenix Rising FC's 2019 squad for the USL Championship's single-season points record. The Western Conference outfit holds the current record for points in a season at 78 (2.29 points per game), a tick ahead of City's 2.24 average.

Raining goals: LouCity also continues to score at a record-setting pace with 46 goals still double those tallied by all but four of the USL Championship's other 23 teams. City's 2.71 goals per game have the club in a race to also match 2019's Phoenix squad that numbered 89 goals, or 2.62 per game.

Breakout win: LouCity had done much of that scoring - and winning - at Lynn Family Stadium until the Birmingham game. Some of that home form translating to the road bodes will for the boys in purple, who have now won three of their last four away and tallied three or more road goals for the first time this season.

Super sub: Sam Gleadle has scored twice in purple, both times changing games after coming on as a first half injury substitute. Gleadle netted LouCity's opener at Birmingham in relief of Jorge Gonzalez weeks after spelling Adrien Perez early in a June 8 victory over North Carolina FC. That day, he also registered the game's first goal.

Spreading scoring: LouCity's attack has proven to be both effective and wide-ranging. Four players - Gleadle, Wilson Harris, Ray Serrano and Tola Showunmi - hit the back of the net for City in Birmingham. Overall, 14 players in purple have goals this year, and the club has scored in 16 of 17 games. Both of those figures are unmatched across the USL Championship.

Golden Boot race: Wilson Harris both assisted Gleadle in the 51st minute at Birmingham and scored a goal of his own in the 58th minute. That boosted his tally on the season to 11 - two more than Harris netted in all of 2023 and two off the league's scoring lead. Charleston Battery's Nick Markanich paces the Golden Boot race with 13 goals.

Serrano sizzles: A bounce-back year continued last weekend for Ray Serrano, who whipped in an 80th-minute free kick for his sixth goal of the season. It's a career-high already and comes after Serrano didn't score a single goal in 2023. He's also added three assists as the 22-year-old - a professional already for seven seasons - finds his groove.

Next up: LouCity will pause from league play following the Oakland game for its first international friendly of the season, hosting championship-winning Mexican side Cancún FC on Saturday, July 13, at Lynn Family Stadium. The boys in purple will also welcome first-division European competition to Louisville on Tuesday, July 30, for a visit from Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt.

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC in action
Louisville City FC in action
(Chris Carter)		   

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