The 2024 Louisville City FC season was the club's tenth season of competition. Louisville City competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of professional soccer in the United States.
Background
The previous season was the second consecutive season where the USL played a 34-match schedule divided into two conferences with both conferences having a single table. While being the first where all sides from both conferences played against each other.[1]
The USL Regular season was historically bad as Louisville finished fifth in the Eastern Conference; the lowest in team history. The team also set record lows in average points per game (1.47) and goal differential (-3) as they were shutout a record nine times. Leading to the first season where Louisville reached double digit losses.[2] In the USL Playoff Louisville returned to form as they reached the Eastern Conference finals for the ninth consecutive season. UpsettingMemphis 901 FC in the Conference Quarter-finals before falling to the Charleston in the Conference Finals. In the U.S. Open Cup opened the competition by defeating Lexington SC. Their first competitive match against a fellow club from the state of Kentucky.[3] Before falling the FC Cincinnati in the next round.[4]
Following the season Sean Totsch was selected for the all league team.[5] While [2]Oliver Semmle set a USL Championship Rookie record with 12 clean sheets.
Summary
Pre-season
During the offseason Louisville City went through a generational shift that saw twelve players leave the club. This included long time captain Paolo DelPiccolo who retired from on field play to take a coaching position with the team and all-time leading goal scorer Cameron Lancaster signing with Lexington SC.[6] Furthermore, Louisville was able to transfer two players to other clubs for a fee as goalkeeper Oliver Semmle[7] transferred to MLS side Philadelphia Union and defender Manny Perez[8] became the third Louisville player to transfer directly to a European league when he was transferred to AC Horsens of the Danish 1st Division. In return eleven new players were signed before the start of the regular season with most of which having previous USL experience.[6] The preeminent signing was Arturo Ordoñez, the reigning USL Defensive Player of the year, from rival Pittsburgh.[9] In addition three goal keepers were added to the roster with Damian Las becoming the first choice keeper after being loaned for the season from Austin FC.[10]
Louisville played seven preseason friendlies compiling a record of 4 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. Which included two matches against MLS sides; a 2–2 draw against Austin and 1–2 victory against St. Louis. The lone loss was a one-goal affair against Pittsburgh.[11] The most significant event during these matches was an injury to team captain Brian Ownby who injured his leg in the final friendly against Knoxville. This injury required surgery and caused him to miss a significant amount of time.[12]
March and April
Louisville kicked off the USL regular season away from home against Western Conference Side El Paso in a match were seven players made their debuts for the team. The match remained scoreless until the second half when Wilson Harris scored the games only goal after a Sean Totsch cross.[13] This was the 50th USL Champsionship goal of Harris' career making him the fastest player to 50 goals in USL history.[14] On the defensive side of the ball Damian Las earned his first USL Championship clean sheet. Louisville's next game was their home opener against Pittsburgh which was the first of three consecutive games at home. In this match Louisville and Pittsburgh would trade goals as Harris scored his second goal in as many games in first half stoppage time while Edward Kizza scored an equalizer in the 59th minute. Six minutes later Louisville would retake the lead after Ray Serrano was fouled in the box leading to successful penalty kick by Sean Totsch. In stoppage time Serrano would add his first goal of the year leading to a 3–1 Louisville victory.[15] To close out March Louisville played Birmingham and turned in its first five-goal performance since July 2022. Four different players found the back of the net as Taylor Davila and Jake Morris scored their first goals in a Louisville jersey while Harris registered a brace. For the second consecutive match Serrano would score Louisville final goal while Las made three saves as Louisville won 5–0.[16] With four goals in three matches Harris was voted March's USL Player of the Month. The first Louisville player to earn that earn that honor since Cameron Lancaster in 2018.[17]
To begin April Louisville hosted the Indy Eleven in the first edition of LIPAFC of the 2024 season. In a match that was given the honor of being the first ever USL championship match to be broadcast nationwide on network TV as part of the USL's media rights agreement with CBS.[18] The match was a high scoring affair with Harris scoring the opening goal in the 16th minute. Indy would then level the score on a penalty kick by Jack Blake only for Wilson to put Louisville back in front before the half time whistle. To begin the second half Louisville and Indy again traded goals as Elijah Wynder scored his first goal of the year while Blake scored his second of the match. Then, an hour into the match Harris found the back of the net twice within a span of ten minutes earning the first hat-trick of his professional career as well as the first hat-trick of the USL season and LIPAFC history. In the final ten minutes of the match Indy would score a third and final goal as Louisville went on to win in front of a crowd of over 11,000. Their largest crowd of the season to that point.[19] The final score line of 5–3 set LIPAFC records for the most goals by a single team as well as the highest combined score. It was also the first time in team history that Louisville has had consecutive 5 goal performances. In addition it was also Wesley Charpie 100th appearance for the club.[20]
Three days later Louisville returned to the road to face Charleston in a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference final in front of a soldout crowd. Louisville struck first when Jorge Gonzalez scored his first goal of the season in the 9th minute only for Charleston to pull level one minute later when MD Myers scored off of a shot that rebounded off of the goalposts. Approximately 10 minutes later Kyle Adams was called for a handball in box giving a Charleston penalty kick. Markanich successfully converted the penalty giving Charleston the lead and Louisville their first deficit of the season. Markanich scored again in the 30th minute allowing Charleston to go into half time with a 3–1 lead.[21] In the second half Louisville reduced the deficit to one when new signing Taylor Davila scored his first goal for the club. Louisville conceded another penalty in 84th minute which was subsequently saved by Las. However, the first half goals proved too much and Louisville went on to lose their first game of the season. The loss ended Louisville four match winning streak as well as ending Harris' four match goal scoring streak.[22] Louisville returned to their winning ways during the next match when it travelled to face Loudon. Although Louisville earned all three points this match the first of the year where a Louisville player failed to find the back of the net as the only goal of the game was a 67th minute own goal by Loudon's Florian Valot. On the defensive end of the pitch Danny Faundez made his first start of the year in goal earning a clean sheet.[23] To close out April Louisville hosted Hartford were they turned in a dominating performance. Starting with Wynder scoring his second goal of the season in the 5th minute Louisville went on to score six goals with six different players finding the back of the net. Of those six players Adrien Perez, Aiden McFadden, and Tola Showunmi scored their first goals in Louisville Jerseys while Jake Morris contributed two assists. Defensively Las earned his third clean sheet of the season as Louisville won 6–0.[24] Louisville's largest margin of victory in a league game since defeating New York Red Bulls II 6–0 in July 2022.[25] This match also marked Niall McCabe's 200th league appearance for the club. The fourth player in league history to reach that milestone with a single organization.[26]
May and June
Louisville began May at home against Western Conference side Orange County SC on short rest after playing in the U.S. Open Cup midweek. Harris opened the scoring in the 19th minute for his eighth goal of the year and first in three matches. After the break Serrano scored goal for the second consecutive match with Wilson scoring Louisville's third goal and final goal in the 86th minute. On the defensive side of the ball Las earned a clean sheet as Louisville won 3–0. The first back to back clean sheets of the season.[27] Next, Louisville travelled to play Las Vegas. In this match Louisville scored quickly as Davila found the back of the net after seven minutes. However, Las Vegas responded quickly as Noël levelled the score in the 16th minute. Louisville then fell behind for only the second time this year when former Louisville City original player, Charlie Adams, gave Las Vegas a 2–1 lead. After the half, Danny Cruz made several substitutions including bringing on Serrano who drew Louisville level in the 70th minute. This would be the final goal of the game as Louisville earned a draw for the first time this season.[28] Louisville then travelled to Smithfield for their first ever match against USL expansion side Rhode Island FC in a match where both sides failed to score a single goal with Rhode Island failing to record a shot on target. The scoreless draw ended Serrano's three match scoring streak as well being the first match of the season where Louisville failed to find the back of the net.[29] Louisville closed out May with a mid-week home game against Detroit City FC. In this match Louisville went down first as Matt Sheldon scored off of a rebound in the 34th minute. Only for Louisville to respond with an avalanche of goals. Beginning with Arturo Ordoñez scoring his first goal in a Louisville jersey in the 42nd minute Louisville scored five unanswered goals. Including goals by Morris and Perez and a brace by Harris bringing his goal total to 10 for the season. This was the fourth time Louisville has scored at least 5 goals in a match this season setting a team record.[30]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Stadium: Southwest University Park Attendance: 4,876 Referee: Abdou Ndiaye Assistant referees: Stephen McGonagle Assistant referees: Mark Novosel Fourth official: William Hale
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 11,330 Referee: Jeremy Scheer Assistant referees: Matthew Rodman Assistant referees: Tom Felice Fourth official: Jackson Krauser
Stadium: Patriots Point Soccer Complex Attendance: 4,465 Referee: Alexis Da Silva Assistant referees: Jeremy Smith Assistant referees: Rhett Hammil Fourth official: Josiah Parke
Stadium: Segra Field Attendance: 2,879 Referee: Alyssa Nichols Assistant referees: Nicholas Seymour Assistant referees: Joseph Knoff Fourth official: Gary Gutierrez
Stadium: Cashman Field Attendance: 1,048 Referee: Joshua Encarnacion Assistant referees: Stephen McGonagle Assistant referees: William Aten Fourth official: Pavel Georgiev
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 10,338 Referee: Matthew Corrigan Assistant referees: Nicholas Balcer Assistant referees: Christian Little Fourth official: Mohamed Sadraoui
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,393 Referee: Ricardo Fierro Assistant referees: Ben Rigel Assistant referees: Juan Pablo Casas Fourth official: Mario Maric
Stadium: Highmark Stadium Attendance: 5,084 Referee: Matt Thompson Assistant referees: Art Arustamyan Assistant referees: Nicholas Seymour Fourth official: Ali Zolgharnain
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 10,418 Referee: Muhammad Hassan Assistant referees: Jeremy Smith Assistant referees: Chris Schurfranz Fourth official: Mohamed Sadraoui
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,219 Referee: Lorenzo Hernandez Assistant referees: Eric Del Rosario Gandara Assistant referees: Aaron Riley Fourth official: Josiah Parke
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 8,020 Referee: Thomas Snyder Assistant referees: Matt Trotter Assistant referees: Eric Del Rosario Gandara Fourth official: Jackson Krauser
Stadium: Toyota Field Attendance: 7,199 Referee: Abdou Ndiaye Assistant referees: Clarence Clark Assistant referees: Joseph Jeffers Fourth official: Collins Gitau
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 10,187 Referee: Jeremy Scheer Assistant referees: Art Arustamyan Assistant referees: Nicholas Seymour Fourth official: Alexander Adkins
The top eight teams in each USL Championship conference advanced to the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs. Louisville City entered the playoffs as the first seed out of the Eastern Conference.
As a member of the USL Championship that finished outside the top eight teams in the 2023 season, Louisville City entered the tournament in the Third Round, with their Cup opener played on April 16, 2024.[35] Louisville City's third round draw is against Greenville Triumph SC from USL League One.[36]
^ abNewman, Benton (November 13, 2023). "Louisville City's 2023 Season Review". www.vamosmorados.com. Louisville, KY: Vamos Morados. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
^ abNewman, Benton (February 8, 2024). "Louisville City's 2024 Storylines". www.vamosmorados.com. Louisville, KY: Vamos Morados. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
^Newman, Benton (December 8, 2023). "New Signing – Arturo Ordoñez". www.vamosmorados.com. Louisville, KY: Vamos Morados. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
^Newman, Benton (January 29, 2024). "New Signing – Damian Las". www.vamosmorados.com. Louisville, KY: Vamos Morados. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
