It seemed like the league wanted so bad to send them through after beating us and Charleston on the road in the East.

I think their coach is a turd. Their state sucks because it isn't even an Island, and when you say that they say smugly, "Well the original name is Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations" and we all know what happened at Plantations back in the 1700s.

They suck and I hate the newly spawned rivalry since little brother Indy Eleven has been munching turd sandos since Hoppenot dropped them in stoppage years ago.

Here's to beating RI 4-1 and 3-0 next season!

Anyone else sick of the Rhode Island coverage 😂. Maybe I’m butt hurt but I’m so tired of it. They have like 8 players that played in MLS or were drafted to play there. Yes that’s not the end all be all but I feel that whoever their owner is paid to play. Maybe I’m mistaken and this is a miracle run and I’m just a sore loser.

An updating list of our off-season moves, updated as official roster reports are made. 2020 2021 2022 2023

Roster as of 11/10/2024

Forwards: (8)

• Phillip Goodrum
• Brian Ownby
• Jorge Gonzalez
• Ray Serrano
• Wilson Harris
• Adrien Perez
• Sam Gleadle
• Isaac Cano (Academy Contract)

Midfielders: (7)

• Taylor Davila
• Dylan Mares
• Niall McCabe
• Carlos Moguel Jr.
• Elijah Wynder
• Jansen Wilson
• Evan Davila

Defenders: (12)

• Aiden McFadden
• Jake Morris
• Sean Totsch
• Kyle Adams
• Wes Charpie
• Owen Damm
• Amadou Dia
• Manny Perez
• Arturo Ordóñez
• Sebastian Sanchez (loaned to FC Tulsa for 2024)
• Brandon Dayes (USL Academy Contract)
• Hayden Stamps

Goalkeepers: (3)

• Danny Faundez
• Ryan Troutman
• Crew Hartlage (USL Academy Contract)

#29

Other:

• Damian Las - On loan from Austin FC (MLS) contract expires at the end of 2024 USL Season

Roster Status Unknown as of 11/10/2024:

Did anyone else see the ball go COMPLETELY over the line in the 2nd half against RI last night? I had a side view right at the end, almost directly in line with the goal, and saw the ball cross over and bounce up right into their keep's glove. He was 100% inside the goal, over the line but nothing was called or mentioned at all. The whole stadium saw it yet I haven't seen a thing mentioned or been able to find a replay of it today. RI played well and definitely earned that win but I think the overall outcome of the game would have been much different had they counted that goal. Opinions?

Well, we all knew the ECF run had to end sometime, but I hoped it wouldn’t have ended tonight.

They capitalized on our errors and we gave up another early goal that forced us into chase mode. And we just didn’t come back. We couldn’t answer their fire.

So, credit to Rhode Island, they played fearlessly, and now we have to reflect on how to…y’know…not do this again.

On to the next season.

They are in section 219. I will transfer them on SeatGeek for free if anyone needs tickets still!

I know I should go to the game, I'd love to but with the chance of rain there is no way I can convince my GF to go. Is there an official watch party anywhere? I know there are pub partners but it's rare they have the sounds on at most places.

Big day today!

Will Arturo Ordóñez be back in the back line? If not, I think we will line up exactly as last week. If he’s getting close to match fitness I’d expect him to sub into the second half.

Las Dia Adams Charpie Totsch McFadden Davila Wynder Serrano Harris Adrien Perez

I expect lots of quality crosses in from Davila and McFadden like last week. Then a Phillip Goodrum sub before the 70th to see a different attack mindset if the game is close. Jansen Wilson could make a big impact off the bench as well.

2-1 Lou City advances.

It’s November 8, 2018, we are in the 62^(nd) minute of the USL Cup Final between Louisville City and Phoenix Rising. Oscar Jimenez is about to take a corner kick, but before he does, there are some things we need to unpack. We need to understand what both teams have gone through to get here, what a rollercoaster ride these fans have been on all year, and what led up to this moment. We need to remember the different coaches, players, and icons that made this moment so special. This corner kick could make or break the championship run for either one of these clubs, but to understand why, we need to rewind.

Ok so to start, Louisville City are hosting the USL Cup Final for the second year in a row and are looking to repeat as champions. But instead of playing at Slugger Field, like they usually would, they are playing at Lynn Stadium.

No not Lynn Family Stadium, that hasn’t been built yet. Lynn Stadium, where the Louisville Cardinals play soccer. Confused yet? Cool.

The USL Cup is a 16 team tournament where the top 8 teams from each conference play single eliminator games to determine a conference champion. The two champions square off for the USL Cup. Neither Phoenix nor Louisville finished at the top of their conference but they survived the first three rounds and made it here today. Louisville City had a better record than Phoenix Rising in the regular season so they got to host the final. So how did Louisville get here?

Well, City was a favorite to be here after winning the USL Cup in 2017 and getting off to a 7-3-4 start. Then their coach, James O’ Connor, stepped down to take the same job with MLS side Orlando City. Halfway through the season, great timing dude.

Louisville City didn’t expect this and had no contingency plan for if O’ Connor left. So three veteran players stepped up to form a coaching unit affectionally known as the Triumvirate. Yes, people actually called them that. Unlike it’s counterpart in Rome, this Triumvirate was successful and nobody died. Louisville won 3 of the 4 league games that the trio coached. Let’s take a closer look at those three.

First, we have George Davis IV. The former Kentucky Wildcat was signed from the Richmond Kickers in 2016 and has scored 21 goals so far in his career with Louisville. He also reached 50 goals in his career in the USL, a feat only three others have accomplished up to this point.

Second, we have Paolo Del Piccolo. Paolo played here at Lynn Stadium for the U of L Cardinals and signed with Louisville City in 2016. He would become the team’s Captain in 2017 and will hold that responsibility until he retires at the end of the 2023 season. He will also retire as the most capped player in the club’s history with 242 total appearances.

Finally, we have Luke Spencer. Luke joined Louisville City in 2017 after defecting from their arch rival FC Cincinnati due to a lack of game minutes. He has tallied seven goals so far this season including the game winner in the Eastern Conference Final. Together, these three would keep the ship a float for the arrival of their new coach: John Hackworth.

John came into this job with previous experience coaching the US U-17 team and the Philadelphia Union in MLS. He was also an assistant coach for the US national team just before being hired by City. The transition wasn’t perfect but Louisville City ended the 2018 regular season on a 6-game winning streak and extended it to 9 games in the playoffs after a route of rival Indy Eleven, a convincing win over Bethlehem Steel, and another route of New York Red Bulls II to reach the Cup final.

But to win the Cup, they have to go through these guys. Phoenix Rising. Phoenix also had to overcome a change in coach this season after Patrice Carteron left in May for a coaching job in Egypt. But like John Hackworth, Phoenix’s sharp dressing interim coach Rick Shantz proved that he was right for the job and Phoenix won 18 of their next 27 games.

Chris Cortez led the way in the scoring column with a Phoenix record 19 goals that season. Ghana international Solomon Asante had a tremendous season, logging over 3000 minutes on the pitch, 14 goals, and 9 assists. But it’s impossible to delve into this stacked roster without talking about Phoenix’s captain, Didier Drogba. This Ivorian superstar scored a record 65 goals for his country and has achieved numerous titles in his time in Europe. Including one of the ultimate prizes in the beautiful game, the UEFA Champions League.

He's also an investor. He joined Phoenix Rising the year before and will buy in as a partial owner of the club in December. Despite turning 40 years old before the season began, Drogba proved he could still play at an elite level. He scored in each of Phoenix’s three playoff games en route to their first Western Conference title. Including the game winner in that final. And today he has fired some warning shots at Louisville, taking a shot on goal from almost 45 yards out that City’s goalie is forced to push out of bounds.

Drogba had a few free kicks, which for Drogba are as good of a scoring opportunity as a penalty kick. But today he has struggled and the weather might be to blame. The temperature will drop below 45 degrees in Louisville tonight and last week Phoenix was playing in weather around 30 degrees warmer. But Louisville are used to this weather, they played in similar conditions in the Eastern Conference Final which was also here. A train will go right by the stadium too, it’s not relevant to the story, I just like trains.

The wind speed has hovered around 10 mph during this game which has probably affected the trajectory of free kicks. The field has likely provided an advantage to Louisville since the dimensions at Lynn Stadium are made for soccer instead of baseball. The sound of the crowd has swirled and echoed around the pitch which has made it difficult for Phoenix to communicate near the goal lines. This could benefit Louisville again when their new stadium is complete.

Speaking of new, what does that ad board say? Oh right, you can’t see it, this is a reddit post. Looks like this league is rebranding… and adding a lot of new teams. The United Soccer League or USL would rebrand as the USL Championship following this game and would introduce several new teams. They would also split some of these teams in to another league known as USL League One. A naming convention similar to the ones used by the second and third divisions in England.

 See, the USL was created in 2010 and was considered by some to be semi-professional at its inception. It didn’t help that some teams were reserve sides for MLS clubs and that others would stick around for a year or two before either jumping to MLS or disbanding. But the USL established itself into many markets that didn’t have MLS teams and the League has been around for 8 years at the time of this game. Some teams have even begun building their own stadiums, including Louisville which broke ground on their stadium earlier this year and Phoenix who will move into their own stadium in 2023. Sounds like a professional league to me.

Let’s circle back to the game. Despite the home field advantage, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for Louisville. Watching the game from the bench is their best striker, Cameron Lancaster. Born in London, he spent time playing in the Premier League for Tottenham before emigrating to the US and signing with Louisville.  Last year he scored the winning goal in the 2017 USL Cup Final and this year he set a USL record with 25 goals in the regular season. But an injury in the Eastern Conference Final ruled him out of this game.

So, what about the guy taking the corner kick?

Like Luke Spencer, Oscar Jimenez also tried out for Louisville before the 2017 season and was signed in February. This year he has recorded double-digit assists including three in the playoffs. He’s the kind of guy you want taking this corner kick.

It’s been a tight cagey match and despite all the goal scoring chances, it's still 0-0. Neither team has had a clear advantage. A new era of USL soccer begins tonight, this Final is being watched by a national TV audience on ESPN 2, a first for this league. After this game, the USL will rebrand and split into two leagues as soccer continues to gain traction as a mainstream sport in America.

Drogba has hinted that this could be his last game before retirement. If his team can deal with this corner kick, they could break on the counter, give Phoenix a lead, and send one of the greatest players of the last decade out as a champion.

But if Jimenez and company can take advantage of this opportunity, Louisville could enter this new era as the USL’s first back-to-back champion. They have overcome their manager quitting in the middle of the season, an interim period coached by three of their own players, and an absence of their golden boot winning striker to make it to this point. Ok, we’re here. Welcome to a Moment in History.

(Look up SB Nation Rewinder if you don't get the reference)

I see we are set for Nov 9, but when will they tell us the time? I assume it’s 7:30-8:00, but before I buy tix I’d like to be sure it’s not daytime (couldn’t make that).

It looks like Rhode Island is shaping up to be our next opponent. Part of me would rather play Indianapolis this year, given that we haven’t beaten Rhode Island yet. The other part of me would love to get even. How do you all feel about it?

They are up by 2 in the 57th minute so chances are we got’em again on Saturday. After that last match with them in our blue uniform disaster I really was hoping for Indy instead.

Not our prettiest match (dumb stoppage time gimmie goal), but a come from behind LouCity special, some hustle play from Davila, and some hustle play.

We win, we advance, see you next week!

On to the next!!

Does anybody know if WDRB will be streaming tonight’s game? I know they stream every regular season but I wasn’t sure if they are streaming the playoff games.

its time.

Edit: I took Lou City over 2.5 total goals at +200

Pretty self explanatory. I hate paying service fees if I can avoid it - in this case, more than the cost of one of the four tickets I want to purchase.

Yes, I understand the tickets I'm looking at may not be available at 6:00 pm when I go to buy them. However, it's not a money issue. Hell, I'll buy more expensive tickets if I save on the fee.

But if that's not the case, I'll just suck it up and pay some corporate overlord their monopoly charge.