Meet the new boss, same as the old boss — the 2025 Louisville City FC team began its season looking much like its record-setting 2024 group with a 2-1 victory Saturday over the Charleston Battery in a high-profile, season-opening clash at Patriots Point Soccer Complex in South Carolina.
The game pitted the top-two finishers from last year’s Eastern Conference standings and was decided in eventful second half that featured three goals and a 70th-minute Charleston red card. Ray Serrano and Adrien Perez found the back of the net for LouCity, with Perez bagging the winner from distance in the 77th minute.
“I thought the execution of what we wanted to accomplish tonight was done to the ‘T’,” said LouCity head coach Danny Cruz, whose team limited Charleston to three shots on target. “I thought our performance defensively was excellent, made it difficult to break us down, especially on the road against one of the top teams in the league.”
With a starting lineup that featured 10 returning players, Louisville City’s style of play was familiar.
Charleston enjoyed nearly two-thirds of ball possession in the game. That was the continuance of a successful trend from 2024. LouCity was out-possessed in all but 13 games last season, finishing 17-4-4 in those games.
“I saw a group tonight that had a clear understanding of how we wanted to play — had a togetherness and a mentality that we expect from one another,” Cruz said. “They certainly executed tonight in a positive way.”
The win marked the fourth-straight season opening victory for Cruz, the 2024 USL Championship Coach of the Year. It was the sixth-straight season opening win for the club overall.
“We knew it was going to be a war,” Serrano said of the season-opening test against Charleston. Turns out, it was a war of attrition.
With the score even at 1-1 in the 70th minute, Charleston’s Arturo Rodriguez appeared to make contact with the face of Louisville City’s Aiden McFadden. Referee Abdou Ndiaye issued a straight red card, forcing the hosts to finish the game with 10 players.
LouCity took advantage seven minutes later when Perez — who had come off the bench just two minutes earlier — pulled the trigger from distance, and the ball managed to inch past Charleston goalkeeper Luis Zamudio inside his left post, giving LouCity the winning margin.
“I just thought we were relentless,” Perez said. “Especially with a man up, that just gave us even more juice to get ahead. And that’s all I was thinking about, just how to create chances when I went in.”
Ray Serrano opened the scoring for LouCity in the 53rd minute, smashing the ball past the Zamudio with his left from the corner of the six-yard box. The chance came off of a Taylor Davila shot that Zamudio had saved.
Two Louisville City players made their club debuts in the game. Midfielder Zach Duncan started, and he was replaced by fellow debutant Kevon Lambert in the 67th minute.
LouCity will remain on the road, traveling to take on the Birmingham Legion in Alabama on Saturday, March 15. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at Protective Stadium.
City’s home opener at Lynn Family Stadium will take place on Saturday, March 22, vs. Loudoun United. Fans can purchase tickets at LouCity.com/opener or by calling (502) LOU-CITY.
Game Summary: Charleston Battery vs. Louisville City FC
Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025
Venue: Patriots Point Soccer Complex
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 68 degrees, light wind
Scoring
Charleston Battery (0, 1, 1)
Louisville City FC (0, 2, 2)
Goals
Charleston Battery:
63′ Juan David Torres
Louisville City FC:
53′ Ray Serrano (Phillip Goodrum)
77′ Adrien Perez
Lineups
Charleston Battery: 56 – Luis Zamudio, 4 – Chris Allan (62 – Nathan Dossantos, 45′), 16 – Graham Smith, 5 – Leland Archer (c) (23 – Josh Drack, 89′), 7– Langston Blackstock (36 – Jackson Conway, 82′), 91 – Houssou Landry, 6 – Aaron Molloy, 19 – Johnny Klein (42 – Douglas Martínez, 45′), 8 – Emilio Ycaza (10 – Arturo Rodríguez), 80 – Juan David Torres, 26 – Cal Jennings
Subs not used: 1 – Christian Garner, 22 – Joey Akpunonu, 11 – Viggo Ortiz, 17 – Zeke Soto
Head coach: Ben Pirmann
Louisville City FC: 1 – Damian Las, 13 – Amadou Dia, 32 – Kyle Adams (c), 5 – Arturo Ordóñez, 4 – Sean Totsch, 15 – Manny Perez (2 – Aiden McFadden, 67′), 6 – Zach Duncan (31 – Kevon Lambert, 67′), 17 – Taylor Davila, 25 – Jansen Wilson (16 – Adrien Perez, 75′), 7 – Ray Serrano, 9 – Phillip Goodrum (23 – Sam Gleadle, 89′)
Substitutes: 12 – Danny Faundez, 24 – Josh Jones, 27 – Evan Davila
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: Charleston Battery / Louisville City FC
Shots: 14 / 11
Shots on Goal: 3 / 5
Possession: 63.5% / 36.5%
Fouls: 13 / 20
Offside: 1 / 4
Corner Kicks: 5 / 3
Discipline Summary
Charleston Battery:
45+2′ Emilio Ycaza (yellow)
45+2′ Aaron Molloy (yellow)
70′ Arturo Rodriguez (red)
83′ Juan David Torres (yellow)
90+3′ Nathan Dossantos (yellow)
Louisville City FC:
14′ Zach Duncan (yellow)
45+4′ Taylor Davila (yellow)
62′ Kyle Adams (yellow)
73′ Kevon Lambert (yellow)
90′ Aiden McFadden (90+7′)
Referee: Abdou Ndiaye
