Louisville City FC will begin the 2025 campaign with one of its highest-profile regular season games: The boys in purple travel to South Carolina to face fellow Eastern Conference power Charleston Battery. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Patriots Point Soccer Complex.
Saturday’s game will set the tone for the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The game pits teams that finished No. 1 (LouCity) and No. 2 (Charleston) in the 2024 Eastern Conference standings, and both sides are expected to be in contention atop the East once again this year.
“Certainly, (it’s) a difficult opponent to start the season with,” LouCity head coach Danny Cruz said. “But, we’re excited with the challenge.”
The two sides have made a habit of high-stakes meetings in recent seasons. Charleston defeated LouCity in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final, denying the boys in purple a fifth conference crown. Then in August 2024, Charleston visited Butchertown for a highly anticipated game that pitted the top-two teams in the Eastern Conference standings. LouCity beat the Battery, 3-1, before a crowd of 13,526 at Lynn Family Stadium.
Despite the potential implications of the opener, Cruz said he expects his team to be prepared.
“We address this weekend as we would any game on the road,” Cruz said. “We’re gonna go there and do everything we can to come away with three points.”
Among the story lines will be scoring: LouCity and Charleston hit the back of the net more than any other USL Championship clubs in 2024, tallying 86 and 68 goals, respectively. But both sides will have new leading scorers in 2025 after LouCity’s Wilson Harris and Charleston’s Nick Markanich both departed for Europe in the winter.
Saturday marks the first of 30 games LouCity will play in the USL Championship regular season, down from 34 last year to make room for the inter-league USL Jägermeister Cup. The top eight finishers in each conference will qualify for the USL Championship Playoffs. The season runs through the USL Championship Final, which will take place on Saturday, November 22.
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.
Story Lines…
Coaching supremacy: Saturday’s game pits two of the top young coaches in American men’s professional soccer. Louisville City’s Danny Cruz, 35, won the USL Championship Coach of the Year in 2024, while Charleston’s Ben Pirmann, 39, brought home the award in 2022 as the head coach of Memphis 901 FC. They’ve had an even share of the spoils in their 11 previous meetings — the series stands at 4-4-3 all time between the two.
Encore, encore: LouCity brings back 20 players from its record-setting 2024 team, which set new club marks in wins (24), goals scored (86) and points earned (76). The returning group includes three players that earned all-league superlatives in 2024 — first-team representatives Taylor Davila and Arturo Ordóñez and second-team selection Sean Totsch. By percentage, LouCity returns: 86% of scoring and 85% of assists from 2024.
New faces: Three players could make their LouCity debuts Saturday — midfielders Kevon Lambert and Zach Duncan, as well as rookie defender Josh Jones, who could also see his pro debut. Lambert joined on loan from Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake. Duncan signed with LouCity after spending last season with now-defunct Memphis 901. Jones signed out of the University of Louisville, where he served as captain.
On the market: Lambert and Duncan were brought in as LouCity Academy graduate Elijah Wynder made a headline-grabbing move to the LA Galaxy, the reigning Major League Soccer champions. He’s the latest in a line of LouCity players to make big moves from the club, including his brother Josh’s record-setting transfer to Portugal’s Benfica in 2022 and Jonathan Gomez’s 2021 deal to join Real Sociedad in Spain.
Oh, goody: After scoring 43 league goals for Louisville City over the last three seasons, forward Wilson Harris moved to Europe in the off-season, joining Maccabi Petah Tikva FC of the Israeli first division. Now, the goalscoring mantle falls on the shoulders of Phillip Goodrum. Formerly of Atlanta United, Memphis 901, and FC Tulsa, Goodrum has scored 48 career goals in the USL Championship in his five-season career, including four goals with LouCity last season after joining the club as part of an August transfer.
Battery re-charged: Like Louisville City, Charleston is also replacing a departed star forward with a proven USL Championship scorer. Last season’s USL Championship Player of the Year, Charleston forward Nick Markanich moved to Spain in the winter transfer window. League veteran Cal Jennings will attempt to fill the void. The 27-year-old has scored 65 goals over five seasons in the league, most recently with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2023 and 2024.
Aye, aye: Brian Ownby will serve as LouCity’s captain in 2025. The 34-year-old forward was named to the role ahead of the 2024 season, just before a season-ending leg injury in the final preseason game prevented him from ever wearing the armband in a competitive game. In the event Ownby is not on the field, Cruz said a member of LouCity’s leadership group will have the honors.
New season, who dis: Among moves across the USL Championship, nearby Lexington SC joined the league, moving up from USL League One. Located 75 miles east of Louisville, the Kentucky club will compete in the Championship’s Western Conference. The league’s conferences are evenly split in 2025 with 12 teams apiece. Memphis 901 shut down, transferring its franchise rights to Santa Barbara, California, which will bring a new club to the Championship in 2026.
