September 2, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Louisville City FC News Release
Stumbles this time of year seem like clockwork for Louisville City FC, a club that has consistently rebounded to advance to the Eastern Conference Final in all seven of its prior seasons. That applies even to LouCity’s hallmark campaigns.
In 2017, the boys in purple won just one of five games from Sept. 15-30 before closing the regular season with back-to-back wins en route to a first USL Championship crown. In 2018, there were four straight games without a victory as August changed to September before LouCity went on to become the league’s first repeat title winner.
Heading into Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. meeting with Sacramento Republic FC at Lynn Family Stadium, history tells us it’s far too early to hit the panic button. That’s even with City limping in off back-to-back defeats at Miami FC last weekend and at Indy Eleven in the midweek.
“I felt that we’ve had a lot of the ball and done a lot of good things and just haven’t executed,” said coach Danny Cruz. “If I walk off the field and feel like I’ve been completely outplayed by an opponent, I think that’s a moment when you might start questioning some things.”
Miami FC scored in the game’s opening minutes, then settled into a low block LouCity couldn’t stymie. City managed the early goal against Indy Eleven, but the rival club capitalized on a pair of errors at the back to score on either side of the half.
In both contests, the boys in purple controlled more possession, took more shots and overwhelmingly spent more time in the opposition’s final third.
“Certainly, you need to reflect, but I’m not questioning the quality of the group,” Cruz continued. “We are where we are on the table for a reason. We’ve had some injuries. We need to get everybody healthy so we have a full group to select from. That’s when this group is at their best – when they’re challenging each other in training every day for spots.
“Ultimately, I’m 100% confident in the group. I’m confident we’ll turn things around Saturday. We certainly have the players to do that, and the rest of the season and where we end up is still in our control.”
Here’s more of what to watch for with LouCity vs. Sacramento…
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The game will air live locally on WBKI and ESPN Louisville’s 680/105.7, with streaming via ESPN+ and the WDRB Now app.
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