USL Louisville City FC

What to Watch for with LouCity vs. Hartford Athletic

Published on October 6, 2023 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Off a shutout loss last weekend, Louisville City FC coach Danny Cruz sent a message to his players: "I want to see a group that's going to fight from zero to 90 minutes, because we have the quality to win every single game."

LouCity will get two chances to figure it out before the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs, starting Saturday against Hartford Athletic. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Lynn Family Stadium, where fans are encouraged to be to their seats at walkout as the club rolls out a new playoff-themed pregame presentation.

LouCity (14-11-7, 49 points) also closes the regular season at home, hosting the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Oct. 14. And the boys in purple could stay at Lynn Family Stadium as the playoffs begin if results fall their way.

City sits even on points, but behind in the goal differential tiebreaker, with fourth-place Memphis 901 FC. Eight teams from both the Eastern and Western conferences advance to the postseason. Top-four sides host and, pending results, could continue to play at home throughout the playoffs.

LouCity's best chance to stay home involves winning its last two games. But it will also need Memphis to drop points either Saturday versus El Paso Locomotive FC or Oct. 14 at New Mexico United.

Having both lost last out, neither Memphis nor LouCity can catch the Charleston Battery for third on the table. Indy Eleven is four points back in sixth. It's likely City will open the playoffs against Memphis, either at Lynn Family Stadium or on the road in a No. 4-No. 5 matchup.

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)

Oliver Semmle (questionable)

Story lines...

Last meeting: Saturday's game marks the return of a scoreless draw between LouCity and Hartford back on June 3. Since then, the Athletic have transitioned from Tab Ramos to Omid Namazi as head coach. The club is last of 12 in the Eastern Conference standings, eliminated from USL Championship Playoff contention, and carried a nine-game losing streak before Wednesday's draw at Rio Grande Valley FC.

Road warriors: LouCity returns home for its final two games after a month of September spent almost exclusively away. The boys in purple played five of their six games on the road to mixed results, going 3-3-0 in those contests. City did, however, win its lone home game last month when defeating San Diego Loyal SC by a 1-0 score in a dominant Sept. 16 performance.

Surprising shutout: LouCity's 2-0 loss last Saturday at New Mexico United came as a surprise for two reasons. First, the boys in purple were on a season-high six-game scoring streak with multiple goals in three of those contests. But also, New Mexico saw two players sent off, playing down a man from the 53rd minute on and down another after the 75th. City failed to generate a shot on target in the final 15 minutes plus stoppage time.

Rocky form: A year after setting new club-record marks for points (72) and wins (22) in a single season, LouCity will finish with more losses and fewer points than at any point in its history aside from the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Still, to Cruz's point, City has shown an ability to compete with the best, taking points in meetings with three of the top-four clubs in the East and West in meetings this season.

On the front foot: Scoring first remains a key indicator for LouCity in 2023. City is 12-3-3 when netting the opener and 2-8-4 when playing from behind. The comeback wins were both registered recently, with Oscar Jimenez scoring in the 98th minute to beat Oakland Roots SC on Aug. 26 before Harris curled in a 91st-minute game winner Sept. 23 at Loudoun United FC.

On the verge: Wilson Harris saw a four-game scoring streak snapped last weekend in LouCity's shutout loss at New Mexico United. But he remains City's hottest scorer and is a goal away from 50 in his USL Championship career. The 23-year-old would become the youngest player in league history to record a half-century of goals with Junior Flemmings currently first on that list at 24 years and 247 days old.

Record chase: Goalkeeper Oliver Semmle already owns the USL Championship's rookie record for clean sheets in a season with 12. He remains one shutout from matching LouCity's record total set in 2022 by Kyle Morton and with two games to go could eclipse it with back-to-back clean sheets. Donuts, however, have been rare of late with just two from 11 games since the calendar turned to August.

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 6, 2023


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