Last season, Louisville City FC put back-to-back clean sheets together only twice: once in the regular season and again to open the playoffs. Two games into its 2022 campaign, however, LouCity is already on a shutout streak as signs of an improved defense show themselves.
It’s not just that the boys in purple are preventing opponents from scoring. They’ve given their foes little hope for anything other than a bagel — a trend they’ll look to take on the road when traveling to play New York Red Bulls II at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The clubs will meet at MSU Soccer Park on Montclair State University’s campus after LouCity closed down Miami FC in a weekend win at Lynn Family Stadium. The visitors tried only 4 shots with an expected goals total of 0.33. In its Week 1 victory, LouCity held Atlanta United 2 to 6 shots with 0.26 xGoals.
“I talked a lot last year about how we didn’t concede a lot of chances, but we were conceding goals,” said Head Coach Danny Cruz. “Anytime you have a shutout…the way we choose to play, it’s collective. That zero isn’t just because of the goalkeeper or just because of the defenders.
“If you look at (forward) Wilson (Harris), the guy runs himself into the ground. It starts there, and you look at how our goalkeeper and the back line have been playing and the ground the midfield covers. I can’t speak highly enough of the group at the moment.
“But the challenge is to understand we’re not where we need to be yet. We’re going to continue to get better every day — continue to stay humble — and get the results that are necessary.”
Backing up Cruz’s words, Kyle Morton is one of two goalkeepers across the USL Championship with multiple clean sheets. But he’s tied for 19th on the saves list having only needed to stop a trio of shots.
Cruz didn’t make lineup changes from Week 1 to 2. Given the New York trip’s a midweek contest, rotation is likely this time.
Particularly defensively, LouCity touts plenty of depth behind a starting center back core of Wes Charpie and the 16-year-old academy product Josh Wynder. All-League defender Sean Totsch and European newcomer Ian Soler are both options, while Manny Perez and Ray Serrano have proven to be versatile additions to this year’s squad.
A spate of yellow cards Saturday — LouCity and Miami FC totaled nine on the night — led to Cruz giving his bench some earlier chances anyway.
“It certainly dictated some of our subs,” Cruz said. “…The guys that came on did an excellent job. We get another goal, and they close the game out. This is what a team is. We just said it in (the locker room): Whether you started, whether you dress, whether you don’t dress — we don’t get to a result like this without the group throughout the week.”
Following the Red Bulls II game, it’s another quick turnaround to LouCity’s next home game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against rival Indy Eleven.
Injury report
Oscar Jimenez (out)
Cameron Lancaster (out)
Niall McCable (questionable)
Follow along…
• For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find us at louisvillecityfc on Instagram.
• Wednesday’s game will air on MyTV and stream via ESPN+ and the WDRB Now app. Listen to live radio coverage from Jeff Milby and Casey Whitfield on ESPN 680/105.7 or at ESPNLouisville.com.
