Here’s what to know ahead of kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Saturday inside Lynn Family Stadium.
Playoff rematch: Miami FC will return to Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday night with memories of a season-ending playoff loss to LouCity still fresh in its mind. The first-ever meeting of the two sides resulted in a contentious opening-round playoff match that featured Jorge Gonzalez’s game-winning 74th-minute goal as the boys in purple continued their march to a seventh Eastern Conference Final in as many years as a club.
Familiar faces: Three former LouCity players will take the pitch at Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday as Richard Ballard, Paco Craig and Devon “Speedy” Williams are all expected to make the trip with their new club. The trio was a part of both title-winning City teams. They also left Louisville heavily decorated, with the defender Craig earning All-League First Team honors in 2017 and 2018, and the midfielder Williams receiving a First Team recognition in 2020.
Home field advantage: LouCity has made Lynn Family Stadium a fortress having led the USL Championship in attendance in 2021 at more than 10,000 per game. With the support of that crowd behind them, the boys in purple suffered just one defeat on their home turf last season after capacity restrictions were lifted in June while sporting a 20+ goal differential in that time span. The roll continued with the club’s season-opening win last Saturday over Atlanta United 2.
Injury update: It was revealed before the start of the season LouCity would be without striker Cameron Lancaster due to “a lengthy injury” to his leg during the side’s preseason finale against St. Louis CITY SC. This comes after Lancaster’s second career 20-goal campaign as the Englishman netted a team-high 21 goals in 2021.
Wilson at 9: It’s evident fans of the boys in purple have little to worry about, however, as newcomer Wilson Harris has welcomed the role of being LouCity’s starting striker in Lancaster’s absence. Despite the frigid temperatures at Lynn Family Stadium last weekend, Harris was firing on all cylinders as he netted the 70th-minute game-winning goal over Atlanta.
Bagels: While the LouCity backline only allowed one shot on target for goalkeeper Kyle Morton to stop, the 27-year-old came up big when called upon. The clean sheet sets a tone headed into the 2022 season after a 2021 campaign that was plagued with conceding late goals.
Team of the Week: Having made the move to Louisville after spending last season with Major League Soccer’s Austin FC, defender Manny Perez certainly impressed during his LouCity debut. The right back earned USL Championship Team of the Week honors as he won 11 duels, gained possession 11 times and created three chances.
Replacing JoGo: It’s no easy task for someone to step into the role that USL Championship Young Player of Year Jonathan Gomez held last season on the left flank of LouCity’s defense, but it seems newcomer Amadou Dia has welcomed the challenge. In his debut, Dia led City with 17 entries into the final third, passed at a clip of 73% and won five duels.
He’s Wynderful: It seems that LouCity fans have a new young player to clamor about in 16-year-old Josh Wynder. A center back who made 6 starts last season, Wynder got the nod in Week 1 alongside Wes Charpie on the backline and proved that he had earned the spot. His completed 63 passes led the boys in purple while he also won five duels and made three interceptions. Afterwards, coach Danny Cruz had nothing but praise of his new rising star, saying, “He was fantastic today, in both phases of the game. Both defensively and with the ball… honestly, I’m not surprised. The kid’s a young talent and the sky’s the limit.”
