Louisville City FC will look to match its best start to a season under coach Danny Cruz at a place where the boys in purple rarely lose: Lynn Family Stadium.
The club’s 2023 home opener is set for 3 p.m. Saturday against El Paso Locomotive FC, marking LouCity’s third straight game against a Western Conference opponent. Previously, City took all three points from away fixtures versus Orange County SC and Monterey Bay FC.
LouCity won its first three games of 2022 as part of a 10-game unbeaten run to open the campaign. Going back to 2018 — when City most recently took the league title — a four-game winning streak marked the club’s best-ever start.
El Paso heads into the weekend in poor form, with an 0-3 record and -4 goal differential. The bad news for Locomotive FC? Since capacity limits were lifted in mid-2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, LouCity is 24-4-2 at Lynn Family Stadium and boasts a +45 goal differential.
While LouCity will play the majority of its home games under the lights this season, Saturday’s game is one of two early season afternoon kickoffs designed to avoid colder temperatures. The National Weather Service forecasts rain to clear in the morning and a high of 61 degrees.
Follow along
• Saturday’s game will air live on WBKI and ESPN Louisville’s 680/105.7.
•If streaming, download the free WDRB Now 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 and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram.
Player availability report
Wes Charpie (Out)
Jorge Gonzalez (Questionable)
Wilson Harris (Out)
Dylan Mares (Out)
Kyle Morton (Questionable)
Brian Ownby (Out)
Ray Serrano (Out)
Josh Wynder (Out)
Story lines…
Polar opposites: Only two games of 34 are down, but LouCity’s back atop the Eastern Conference table — where it also finished last year. FivetThirtyEight.com gives the boys in purple a 25% chance of winning the USL Championship Final, up 3 points from preseason predictions. Meanwhile, El Paso is looking to work itself out of last place in the Western Conference standings.
Switching sides: In a high-profile offseason move, LouCity signed midfielder Dylan Mares after three seasons at El Paso. Last season, Mares scored a career-high 10 goals, and his role figures to grow after an opening day appearance off the bench. From Indianapolis, Mares is back in familiar territory after playing on the University of Louisville’s 2010 NCAA College Cup team.
Ownby’s out: Off to the best start of his career with a goal and two assists so far, veteran winger Brian Ownby will miss Saturday’s home opener after being sent off for a second yellow card foul last week at Monterey Bay. LouCity unsuccessfully appealed the card through the USL Championship’s Independent Review Panel. Ownby will serve a one-game suspension as a result.
Red card record: With Ownby sent off at Monterey Bay FC, LouCity played the final 23 minutes plus stoppage time down a man. That’s a situation in which the boys in purple have thrived under Cruz, going 6-1-1 in games where they’ve been shown a red card. That includes the 2022 Eastern Conference Final victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies last time LouCity played at Lynn Family Stadium.
Between the posts: A Week 1 knock to Kyle Morton forced the reigning Golden Glove winner out at Monterey Bay FC, clearing the way for rookie Oliver Semmle’s debut. A 2020 NCAA champion at Marshall, Semmle needed only one save to keep his first career clean sheet. But the German also showed quick wits to routinely come off his line to gather Monterey Bay’s long-ball attacks.
Dia dealing: Amadou Dia, LouCity’s 2022 assist leader with a career-high 8 of those goal contributions last season, got back on the board at Monterey Bay FC. Dia served a pass back into the box when the hosts failed to clear City’s 48th-minute attack. It landed to Ownby, who scored the game-winning goal at the near post.
Red, white and blue: Star center back Josh Wynder, a 17-year-old making international headlines over an impending transfer to Europe, could play Saturday — just not in purple. Wynder is with the U.S. U-20 national team for its final training camp ahead of the age division’s World Cup in May. The U-20s are scheduled to face England at 11 a.m. ET.
200 club: Following Saturday’s warmup period, the club will formally honor midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo after he last weekend became the first player to make 200 LouCity appearances across the USL Championship’s regular season and playoffs. DelPiccolo, who attended the University of Louisville, has also captained City’s squad since 2017.
