September 30, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Louisville City FC News Release
Louisville City FC forward Wilson Harris
(Louisville City FC, Credit: EM Dash Photography)
There’s a lot riding on Louisville City FC’s final road game of the regular season, an 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday kickoff at Rio Grande Valley FC in south Texas.
The matchup is the first of three pivotal games to close out the campaign, with City aiming to secure first place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference and the accompanying bye to start the playoffs.
LouCity (19-6-6, 63 points) has a narrow two-point edge over Memphis 901, which topped the boys in purple this past weekend in Louisville and holds a game in hand. City is the third-best road team in the Eastern Conference, with eight wins and four draws in 16 matches away from home.
This is the first meeting between the two clubs. Rio Grande Valley (12-12-6, 42 points) hosts LouCity amid a four-game winning streak. The Toros are in seventh place in the Western Conference, leading the race for the final playoff spot by two points over three other teams while also having a game in hand on each of them.
The Toros have actually struggled at home, posting a .500 record at H-E-B Park in Edinburg, Texas.
Here’s more of what to watch for on Saturday…
Follow along
The game will air locally on My58 TV and ESPN Louisville’s 680/105.7, with streaming via ESPN+ and the WDRB Now app.
For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram.
Availability report
Corben Bone (Out, suspension)
Tyler Gibson (Out, red card)
Cameron Lancaster (Questionable, injury)
Niall McCabe (Out, injury)
Story lines…
Staying home: Despite the loss to Memphis 901 last Friday, LouCity still secured at least one home playoff game. Pittsburgh’s draw the following day with Orange County SC guaranteed a top-four finish for the boys in purple, who will either open the postseason Oct. 22 (with a 2-4 finish in the standings) or Oct. 29 (should they finish top of the table and earn the No. 1 seed).
Playoff format: The top seven teams in both conferences qualify for the single-elimination USL Championship playoffs. No. 1 seeds receive byes past the conference quarterfinals, and brackets will be re-seeded ahead of the conference semifinals to ensure they play the lowest-seeded remaining clubs. The postseason runs through the USL Championship Final on Sunday, Nov….