Off another dominating home win, Louisville City FC will look to translate some of that form to the road Saturday when kicking off at 7 p.m. against Miami FC.
Coach Danny Cruz said following Wednesday’s 5-1 win over Detroit City FC that away play in the USL Championship is a “a grind,” as tough travel scenarios and nontraditional pitches await the boys in purple.
This time, they’ll play at FIU Stadium, a purpose-built football venue with a turf surface.
“I think when we go away, we need to find that edge,” said City defender Jake Morris. “When we’re at home we have the edge, because we’ve got the support. But we need to find it within us away — use this result to go there and get a win.”
LouCity’s prior pair of road results were a 2-2 draw May 18 at Las Vegas Lights FC before last Saturday’s scoreless draw with Rhode Island FC.
“Two games now,” Morris said, “we’ve come away with ties away where we should have done more.”
Overall, LouCity is 6-0 at home with a +22 goal differential. The record is 2-1-2 with a +1 differential on the road, where the club rarely plays on a full-sized, natural grass pitch like the one at Lynn Family Stadium.
Miami FC’s form could present an opportunity to boost those numbers. The club failed to earn a point in May while getting out-scored 10-1 in four games. As a result, Miami is last of 12 on the Eastern Conference table.
LouCity’s six-game unbeaten streak has it within two points of the first-place Charleston Battery entering the weekend. Despite recent schedule congestion — Saturday’s game is City’s third in eight days — the boys in purple have played two fewer matches than Charleston, too.
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)
Brian Ownby (out)
Story lines…
City’s firepower: LouCity’s 33 goals in 11 games (3 goals per game) are setting record pace for a USL Championship club with 2019’s Phoenix Rising FC atop that list at 89 goals (2.6 per game). Nearly three months into the season, this City team has scored double the goals of 19 of its 23 league rivals.
Unbeaten run: It’s been six league games without a loss for the boys in purple dating back to an April 9 game at Charleston, their only defeat of the season. That’s the longest unbeaten run for the club since a stretch of 10 straight games from June 18-August 27, 2022 — a season capped by an appearance in the USL Championship Final.
Raining goals: LouCity scored five goals in a home game for a fourth time this season Wednesday. That equals a single-season USL Championship mark set previously by New York Red Bulls II and LA Galaxy II, both in 2018, before Real Monarchs SLC also did it in 2019. City has 11 more regular season home matches to do it again and stand alone.
Double digits: Wilson Harris registered a brace Wednesday against Detroit City, boosting his 2024 total for goals to 10 — one more than he tallied during last year’s regular season. Harris, who also captained LouCity for the first time in the absence of Kyle Adams, sits second in the league’s Golden Boot race behind Charleston’s Nick Markanich with 12 goals.
From the spot: As part of his two-goal performance, Harris scored once from the run of play and again on a penalty kick. His accurate penalty continued LouCity’s run of converting 23 straight attempts in regular season play dating back to June 7, 2021.
Man of the Match: It was Jake Morris on Wednesday, and for good reason. The wingback not only won back possession, dribbled forward and scored from distance in the 74th minute. He also took 69 touches, put in 5 tackles and created 3 chances, all team-highs for the newcomer who arrived via the Columbus Crew.
Leading off: LouCity trailed in a home game for the first time this season Wednesday — at least until an unlikely pair connected to equalize. Wes Charpie looped in a cross to Arturo Ordóñez for a 42nd-minute goal against Detroit. The center back-to-center back connection marked Charpie’s first assist of the season and Ordóñez’s first goal in purple.
Finding footing: Jorge Gonzalez has been in and out of LouCity’s lineup this season, appearing in nine games but only starting three. However, he’s been tough to exclude as of late, contributing to a goal in three straight games. His latest assist came via a 48th-minute pass to Adrien Perez, who smashed in Wednesday’s game-winning goal off the cross bar.
Las Leader: LouCity keeper Damian Las will be disappointed by the nature of Detroit’s opening goal Wednesday, a mishit punch-out attempt. But the Austin FC loanee was spectacular otherwise, numbering four saves, including an early diving save denying a Detroit free kick from the edge of the box. Las remains tied for the league lead for clean sheets with 5.
