Wilson Harris reached a significant personal milestone Saturday while helping Louisville City FC to a victory in the club’s 10th anniversary season opener.
Harris headed in a 57th-minute Sean Totsch cross that propelled LouCity to a 1-0 victory at El Paso Locomotive FC. It marked the striker’s 50th career USL Championship goal, at 24 years old making him the youngest player to the half-century mark in league history.
Defensively, LouCity goalkeeper Damian Las made six saves while pitching shutout at Southwest University Park, a purpose-built baseball field that serves as the Locomotive’s home.
“I thought it was a bit of an ugly game,” said coach Danny Cruz. “The field here’s not great. The size of the field makes it that way, but I was extremely proud of the bite of the group. We talked a ton about making sure that when we go back and watch the game that you see a group that was relentless — and that when people are watching back home, they look at it and say that group is relentless. I certainly felt that way.
“…If we have that mentality, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
Harris’ goal arrived just as it looked like the sides could settle for a scoreless afternoon. Shots on target were tame to that point, with the best look from either club a 29th-minute near miss for the boys in purple. Harris put a cross in that a defender got his foot to first, and El Paso goalkeeper Jahmali Waite needed a kick save at the near post to prevent an own goal.
Seemingly from out of nowhere, City took advantage on the other side of the half. Totsch played a ball in from the right side, and Harris flicked in a header that stood as the game winner. Las later stood tall to deny an El Paso equalizer in the 71st minute when getting a paw on Amando Moreno’s rocketed shot from the top of the box.
“It’s something I’ve been chasing,” Harris said of the 50-goal mark. “I was a little disappointed not to get it last year, but I couldn’t ask for a better start this year. I’m really excited about that but also excited about three points with this group of players right now.
“It was a pretty chippy game both halves. In the second half, we wanted to raise the energy a bit, and I just saw Totsch on a good run. I knew he was going to beat his man when he got the ball first, and I was just trying to be in the area to find his cross. It was the perfect cross.”
LouCity, after receiving a bye to on the USL Championship’s first weekend, won a road opener for a second straight year. El Paso dropped to 0-2-1 having played three times in a week.
Cruz’s new-look City side saw six players debut upon starting: Las, Taylor Davila, Jake Morris, Arturo Ordóñez, Adrien Perez and Jansen Wilson. The boys in purple also had a new captain. Defender Kyle Adams wore the armband following Paolo DelPiccolo’s offseason retirement and the preseason injury to Brian Ownby.
“Wearing the armband, to me, it’s obviously very special, especially at a club like this,” Adams said. “There were three captains before me and then Brian is the fourth. Whether I wear it or not, I’m going to go out and try to lead and do the best I can in that regard.
“On the game today, I think that’s what a Louisville City-like win on the road is. We grind. We fight. We fight for each other, and we come out of here with three points. It doesn’t have to be pretty sometimes, but it gets the job done.”
Off its victory, LouCity will host Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at 4 p.m. next Saturday, March 23, at Lynn Family Stadium. Tickets for the home opener are on sale now at LouCity.com or by calling (502) LOU-CITY.
Game Summary: El Paso Locomotive FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: March 16, 2024
Venue: Southwest University Park
Kickoff: 3 p.m. ET
Weather: 67 degrees, mostly sunny
Scoring
El Paso Locomotive FC (0, 0, 0)
Louisville City FC (0, 1, 1)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
57’ Wilson Harris (Sean Totsch assist)
Lineups
El Paso Locomotive FC: 23 — Jahmali Waite, 93 — Tony Alfaro (81’ 17 — Ricardo Zacarias), 21 — Bolu Akinyode, 2 — Brandan Craig (15’ 15 — Noah Dollenmayer), 16 — Miles Lyons (65’ 31 — Nick Hinds), 22 — Liam Rose, 4 — Lucas Stauffer, 6 — Eric Calvillo (81’ 77 — Diego Abarca), 18 — Tumi Moshobane (46’ 9 — Justin Dhillon), 10 — Amando Moreno, 19 — Arun Basuljevic
Subs not used: 8 — Luis Moreno, 13 — Javier Garcia, 20 — Jeremy Garay, 24 — Yuma
Head coach: Brian Clarhaut
Louisville City FC: 18 – Damian Las, 3 – Jake Morris (68’ 6 – Wes Charpie), 32 – Kyle Adams, 5 – Arturo Ordóñez, 4 – Sean Totsch, 25 – Jansen Wilson (46’ 20 – Sam Gleadle), 17 – Taylor Davila (46’ 11 – Niall McCabe), 23 – Elijah Wynder, 7 – Ray Serrano, 16 – Adrien Perez (89’ 27– Evan Davila), 14 – Wilson Harris (89’ 24 – Tola Showunmi)
Subs not used: 18 – Danny Faundez, 22 – Dylan Mares
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: El Paso Locomotive FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 13 / 10
Shots on Goal: 6 / 3
Possession: 56.2% / 43.8%
Fouls: 15 / 11
Offside: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 1 / 1
Discipline Summary
El Paso Locomotive FC:
41’ Tony Alfaro (yellow)
58’ Noah Dollenmayer (yellow)
Louisville City FC:
19’ Wilson Harris (yellow)
33’ Taylor Davila (yellow)
36’ Jansen Wilson (yellow)
42’ Ray Serrano (yellow)
Referee: Abdou Ndiaye
