There were pregame pyrotechnics, a flyover and cello National Anthem performance by Kentucky native Ben Sollee. And that was just the beginning of the show Saturday.
Louisville City FC broke out of its scoring slump with a flurry of second half goals, downing Memphis 901 FC by a 3-0 score in Lynn Family Stadium’s Grand Opening game at 100% capacity.
All seating sold out in advance, with only general admission tickets available upon walkup. There was one final roar of the crowd when a record attendance of 12,115 flashed up on the video board.
In the minutes prior, LouCity quickly ran away from Memphis, tallying more than two goals in a game for the first time since Sept. 19, 2020 — the last time 901 FC visited.
“I think you could feel it. You could feel it on the bench,” head coach Danny Cruz said of the support. “The players even talked about it in the locker room. This atmosphere is something special, and the players feed off it and you can certainly see once they got the first (goal), they were itching to go again.”
It all started with a key, 57th-minute whistle when Memphis defender Skylar Thomas was sent off after dragging down LouCity forward Kyle Greig near the box. Paolo DelPiccolo’s ensuing free kick was blocked, but the rebound returned to him. The captain played a ball in that caught defender Wes Charpie’s foot and deflected for Charpie’s first professional goal.
“It was amazing,” Charpie said. “This club is so special to me, and I still feel like a new guy here. It’s got such rich history from day one with the owners and everyone involved. It feels like a family here, and tonight I felt like it was a whole piece to it all. To give them something to smile about and get the win was the cherry on top. I’m so happy to be a part of it.”
Cameron Lancaster both earned and scored on a 68th-minute penalty kick to double the lead. Then in the 70th minute, Jonathan Gomez’s drive to the end line resulted in a deflected cross. Brian Ownby skied to head it in and finish the chance.
LouCity, which out-shot Memphis 18-3 and held 63.4% of possession, made for a reversal in form Saturday after dropping back-to-back games. The victory moved the boys in purple to fourth in the USL Championship’s Central Division standings. The top four advance to the playoffs at the end of the 32-game season in October.
“It’s been a good week of training and we were focused,” Charpie said. “We wanted to give everybody here a special night and get back to what we are good at, and that is playing football and winning soccer games. I’m very happy that we did that tonight.”
Gomez, who was away from the team for its two defeats, returned just in time for the weekend from a stint training with Mexico’s National Team. Charpie made this his first start of the season, too, after overcoming a nagging quad injury.
Having improved to 3-2-1, LouCity faces a quick turnaround and some scheduling congestion next. The boys in purple host Birmingham Legion FC on Wednesday before traveling to play FC Tulsa next weekend.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Memphis 901 FC
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Weather: 93 degrees, partly cloudy
Man of the Match: Wes Charpie
Attendance: 12,115
Scoring
Louisville City FC (0, 3, 3)
Memphis 901 FC (0, 0, 0)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
58’ Charpie (assisted by DelPiccolo)
68’ Lancaster (penalty kick)
70’ Ownby (assisted by Gomez)
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Memphis 901 FC
Shots: 18 / 3
Shots on Goal: 8 / 1
Fouls: 9 / 8
Offside: 0 / 2
Corner Kicks: 5 / 3
Saves: 1 / 5
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 1 – Chris Hubbard, 15 – Pat McMahon, 4 – Sean Totsch, 6 – Wes Charpie (74’ 3 – Alexis Souahy), 10 – Brian Ownby, 36 – Paolo DelPiccolo, 13 – Corben Bone (89’ 20 – Jimmy McLaughlin), 12 – Tyler Gibson, 42 – Jonathan Gomez (75’ 8 – Akil Watts), 29 – Antoine Hoppenot (62’ 11 – Niall McCabe), 21 – Kyle Greig (62’ 17 – Cameron Lancaster)
Subs not used: 24 – Parker Siegfried, 7 – Napo Matsoso,
Memphis 901 FC: 13 – John Berner, 7 – Mitch Guitar (65’ 19 – Dre Fortune), 3 – Zach Carroll, 33 – Skyler Thomas, 9 – Kyle Murphy (59’ 5 – Brecc Evans), 23 – Leston Paul, 2 – Mark Segbers, 36 – Andre Rynolds (60’ 8 – Raúl González), 11 – Michael Salazar (66’ 16 – Rashawn Dally), 30 – Laurent Kissiedou, 14 – Francis Atuahene (45’ 10 – Kadeem Dacres)
Subs not used: 28 – Brady Scott, 18 – Dominic Oduro
Discipline Summary
Memphis 901: Segbers (yellow) 16’
Louisville City: Ownby (yellow) 22’
Memphis 901: Thomas (yellow) 50’
Memphis 901: Thomas (ejection) 57’
Louisville City: McCabe (yellow) 72’
Referee: Greg Dopka
Assistant Referees: Justen Lopez & Mike Nickerson
Fourth Official: Chris Schurfranz
