2021 USL Championship Season LOUISVILLE CITY FC GAME NOTES 2017 & 2018 USL CUP CHAMPIONS LOUISVILLE CITY FC MEDIA INFORMATION Vice President of Communications Jonathan Lintner e: [email protected] c: 502.930.7271 For deadline photos, video interviews and quote sheets, visit LOUCITY.COM/MEDIA 2021 USL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON GAME INFORMATION APRIL 24 Atlanta United 2 W 2-0 LOUISVILLE CITY FC (2-0-1, 7 pts) MAY HOME: 2-0-1 AWAY: 0-0-0 8 Birmingham Legion D 1-1 22 San Diego Loyal W 2-1 FORM: W-D-W 29 Indy Eleven 0-0 JUNE vs. 6 Atlanta United 2 0-0 12 Memphis 901 FC 0-0 INDY ELEVEN (2-1-0, 0 pts) 16 Birmingham Legion 0-0 19 FC Tulsa 0-0 HOME: 1-1-0 AWAY: 1-0-0 26 Indy Eleven 0-0 FORM: W-L-W JULY 2 Sporting Kansas City II 0-0 10 FC Tulsa 0-0 14 OKC Energy 0-0 Saturday, May 29, 2021 - 7:30 p.m. ET 17 Atlanta United 2 0-0 23 Colorado Switchbacks 0-0 Lynn Family Stadium - Louisville, KY 28 Sporting KC II 0-0 31 OKC Energy 0-0 AUGUST REFEREES: 7 Sporting Kansas City II 0-0 14 FC Tulsa 0-0 Head Official: Elijio Arreguin 22 OKC Energy FC 28 Birmingham Legion 0-0 Assistant Referees: Matthew Rodman/Jeffrey Skinker SEPTEMBER 4th Official: Nabil Bensalah 3 Atlanta United 2 0-0 7 Hartford Athletic 0-0 12 OKC Energy FC 0-0 LOCAL TV: WBKI/TheCW LOCAL RADIO: ESPN 680 18 Indy Eleven 0-0 25 Memphis 901 FC 0-0 STREAMING VIDEO: WDRB Now/ESPN+ 29 Atlanta United 2 0-0 OCTOBER LIVE STATS: LouCity.com/match-center 3 New Mexico United 0-0 9 Sporting Kansas City II 0-0 13 Memphis 901 FC 0-0 UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION 16 Indy Eleven 0-0 23 Memphis 901 FC 0-0 F Abdou Thiam MF Elijah Wynder 30 Birmingham Legion 0-0 MF Jorge Gonzalez D Oscar Jimenez HOME MATCHES IN BOLD WWW.LOUCITY.COM GAME PREVIEW GIBSON’S NOW A GOOD GUY As of Saturday morning, it will have been 1,120 Having signed with LouCity in the offseason, days since Indy Eleven has defeated Louisville midfielder Tyler Gibson will look to make his City FC. second start in a row for his new club against his old side Saturday. The former Indy Eleven The boys in purple will look to extend their standout played every minute of the 2020 ten-game unbeaten streak in Louisville Indiana campaign. Here, he worked his way into Cruz’s Proximity Association Football Contest series second lineup after coming off the bench in at 7:30 pm ET inside Lynn Family Stadium. LouCity’s previous games. Gibson, a holding midfielder, completed 50 passes with 94% LouCity enters Saturday’s fresh off celebrating accuracy. the club’s first win under new head coach Danny Cruz’s leadership over a Landon INDY’S NEWCOMERS Donovan-led San Diego Loyal side. The club Gibson was hardly the only member of the currently stands 2-0-1 on the season, also 2020 Indy Eleven roster to make an offseason boasting a win over Atlanta United 2 and a move, as the club’s leading scorer Tyler Pasher draw with Birmingham Legion FC. and goalkeeper Evan Newton were both sold to MLS sides during the break. A rebuilt As with last week, LouCity will be without Indy squad now features forwards Manuel winger Brian Ownby, who currently has one Arteage and Jordan Hamilton, who bring Copa game remaining in a two-game suspension. Libertadores and MLS experience to the roster, New, however, is the departure of left back along with midfielder Aboubacar Sissoko out of Jonathan Gomez, who left this week for a call the Canadian Premiere League. up to train with the Mexican National Team. TO LOUCITY’S DEPTHS The boys in blue come to Louisville after a A combination of injuries and a suspension 2-1-0 start to the season. Indy is 1-0 on the will leave the boys in purple without two road thanks to a season-opening victory regular starters Saturday. Outside back Oscar over Birmingham Legion FC. The club fell in Jimenez will sit due to a recent knee cartilage its return to Carroll Stadium, an 0-2 defeat to injury counting him out until the summer. Brian current Central Division leader FC Tulsa before Ownby was handed a two-game suspension bouncing back to defeat Sporting KC II last by the USL Championship exiting the weekend. Birmingham game earlier this month. Saturday’s game will be the first of four LIPAFC BACK IN BLACK matchups this season with Indy visiting Lynn The boys in purple will don new shirts revealed Family Stadium again on June 26 before just this week for the Indy game. As with the LouCity goes to Carroll Stadium on Sept. 18 club’s prior third kit iterations, this one features and Oct. 16. a black and gray color scheme. New this year WWW.LOUCITY.COM is a polka-dotted front. The alternate jersey, as TOP SCORERS with LouCity’s home purple and away hoops, is Greig made his goal his 59th in USL Championship available for purchase at the club’s Team Store play, while LouCity also features two others in or online at Shop.LouCity.com. the league’s all-time Top 10 for scoring. George IN THE STANDS Davis IV has scored 56 goals and Lancaster 52, providing the boys in purple a potent threat up In a final step toward 100% capacity, Lynn Family top. Lancaster figures to hold the starting role, with Stadium will increase to 75% of its 15,304 maximum Greig — known for his physical play having spent Saturday. Also for now, the stadium continues the 2018-2020 seasons with now-defunct Saint to follow guidelines set by Centers for Disease Louis FC — providing a change of pace for Cruz’s Control and mirrored by the State of Kentucky offense. allowing fully vaccinated persons to go mask-free in the venue. LouCity will then on June 12 host its ON TO EL TRI official Grand Opening game at full capacity. LouCity will be without rising star defender Jonathan Gomez for a couple of weeks, as the COUNT ON CAM 17-year-old this week joined the Mexican National After two scoreless games, top LouCity striker Team for training as it prepares for Concacaf Cameron Lancaster opened his account for the Nations League games and a May 30 friendly 2021 season last out against San Diego Loyal. against Iceland. Gomez started the first three A foul in the box earned by midfielder Napo games of Louisville City FC’s season and earned Matsoso sent the Englishman to the penalty Man of the Match honors after trying 14 crosses, spot in the early seconds of first half stoppage winning eight duels and taking a shot on goal May time. Lancaster’s initial strike was swatted 8 against Birmingham Legion FC. away, but he struck the rebound into the back of net, giving the boys in purple their go-ahead A VICTORY CRUZ goal. Saturday night marked the beginning of the next WHIRLWIND DEBUT winning era for LouCity when Cruz, the 31-year- old former assistant to John Hackworth, nabbed Just announced as part of the roster last his first win as manager since taking over the Thursday, forward Kyle Greig made the bench role in late April following the departure of John for the San Diego game and found himself Hackworth. The boy in purple drew with the on the pitch in the 80th minute as a sub for Birmingham Legion in Cruz’s first match as boss. Lancaster. The forward nearly converted on After a two-week refresh, LouCity earned a 2-1 win his first touch as a cross bounced around the over San Diego Loyal. box. Not long after, an Antoine Hoppenot-led counter sent defender Akil Watts flying into the box, where Greig leaped to meet the ball mid- air. It somehow rolled off the back of his leg and into the net for his first LouCity goal. WWW.LOUCITY.COM MILESTONES ON THE HORIZON FAMILIAR FACES A similar trend to years past, Louisville City Niall McCabe is five appearances away from FC once again returned the core of its roster, his 150th Louisville City FC appearance and retaining 18 members off the 2020 LouCity roster. two goals away from 20. Of that 18 also includes nine of the 11 starters that led the boys in purple through streaks Cameron Lancaster is two appearancesa measured eight winning and 13 unbeaten into the way from marking his 100th regular season club’s sixth-straight Eastern Conference Finals appearance in purple. appearance in as many years. Pat McMahon is three games away from his Returning (18) Newcomers (5) 50th Louisville City FC appearance. GK Chris Hubbard GK Simon Lefebvre D Wes Charpie GK Parker Siegfried Sean Totsch is two appearances away from his D Jonathan Gomez MF Tyler Gibson 120th Louisville City FC appearance. D Oscar Jimenez MF Jorge Gonzalez D Pat McMahon F Kyle Greig MATCH QUOTES D Alexis Souahy F Jimmy McLaughlin “They’re a good team. Every single one of those D Sean Totsch games are intense. Our guys are always up for the D Akil Watts challenge. The expectation is that we continue to have success on the weekend. We know that it’s MF Paolo DelPiccolo going to be a tough game.