Having qualified for the USL Championship Playoffs last Saturday, Louisville City FC will be out to improve its seeding with three games to go.
But the quest begins in a tough spot as LouCity travels to New Mexico United for the first time Saturday. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. ET at Isotopes Park, where New Mexico regularly draws crowds of 10,000-plus.
City (14-10-7, 49 points) is currently fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, level on points with — but behind in goal differential — fourth-place Memphis 901 FC. Those two sides have already wrapped up their season series, so the boys in purple will rely on Memphis dropping points down the stretch to earn its way back up the table.
The top eight teams from both conferences make the single-elimination playoffs. First- through fourth-place finishers host their postseason openers.
New Mexico (10-14-7, 37 points) enters the weekend 11th of 12 in the Western Conference but can’t yet be counted out of the playoff race, sitting just four points back of eighth-place Monterey Bay FC. United have faced first-place competition in consecutive weeks, drawing Sacramento Republic FC on Sept. 20 before a 2-1 away loss to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
This marks the second-ever meeting between LouCity and New Mexico, which launched in 2019. United originally visited Lynn Family Stadium back in October of 2021 for a 3-1 City victory.
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…
Road warriors: LouCity has gone 3-2-0 so far in September having spent most of it away from home. The boys in purple will play their fifth road game from six contests this month on Saturday. They did win their lone home game Sept. 16 against San Diego Loyal as well as at Colorado Springs Switchbacks SC back on Sept. 2 and last weekend at Loudoun United FC.
Scoring streak: Wilson Harris looped in a 91st-minute game winner from beyond the 18-yard box at Loudoun to both clinch LouCity’s playoff spot and hit an individual mark. Harris has scored now in four straight games, equaling the longest streak in club history previously set by himself in 2022 and Chandler Hoffman in 2016.
Youth served: Harris upped his total USL Championship career goals count to 49 with the goal against Loudoun. Should he score again, the 23-year-old would become the youngest player in league history to record a half-century of goals. Junior Flemmings currently sits first on that list having hit the 50 mark at 24 years and 247 days old.
Spreading it out: Harris upped his season total to nine goals, at an efficient rate of 0.52 per 90 minutes on the pitch. But LouCity’s not leaning only on its center forward. City has scored in a season-high six straight games, numbering 12 goals over that span. Eight different players have hit the back of the net as part of the run.
Super sub: Dylan Mares came on the 68th minute at Loudoun and helped LouCity reverse its fortunes, scoring an equalizer in the 74th minute before assisting Harris’ strike later. It marked the second comeback City win of the season following an Aug. 26 home victory over Oakland Roots SC, when Oscar Jimenez netted the winner in the 98th minute.
Record chase: Goalkeeper Oliver Semmle already owns the USL Championship’s rookie record for clean sheets in a season with 12. He’s now one shutout from matching LouCity’s record total set in 2022 by Kyle Morton. Semmle also has a chance — should he not concede the rest of the regular season — to match the league’s clean sheet record of 15.
Set piece woes: LouCity coach Danny Cruz has harped on set piece defending of late, but the boys in purple are still looking for a solution. Miami FC scored off a pair of them in a rallying midweek defeat before Loudoun scored its lone goal on a 20th-minute corner kick. City has also conceded on a pair of penalty kicks this month.
Delivery man: Offensively, though, LouCity has improved on set pieces of its own with LouCity Academy graduate Carlos Moguel Jr. taking corners. Moguel Jr. registered his third assist of the year in the Miami game and peppered Loudoun in City’s comeback second half, when the boys in purple earned 13 corners.
