2024 Louisville City FC 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]

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]

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]

As of August 15, 2024^[31]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  USA Aiden McFadden 3 DF  USA Jake Morris 4 DF  USA Sean Totsch 5 DF  ESP Arturo Ordoñez 6 DF  USA Wesley Charpie 7 FW  USA Ray Serrano 8 MF  USA Carlos Moguel 9 FW  USA Phillip Goodrum 10 FW  USA Brian Ownby 11 MF  IRL Niall McCabe 12 GK  USA Danny Faundez 13 DF  USA Amadou Dia 14 FW  USA Wilson Harris

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 FW  USA Adrien Perez 17 MF  USA Taylor Davila 18 GK  USA Damian Las (on loan from Austin FC) 20 MF  ENG Sam Gleadle 21 FW  ESP Jorge Gonzalez 22 MF  USA Dylan Mares 23 MF  USA Elijah Wynder 25 MF  USA Jansen Wilson 27 MF  USA Evan Davila 30 GK  USA Ryan Troutman 32 DF  NZL Kyle Adams 80 DF  USA Hayden Stamps ([A])

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 63 DF  USA Sebastian Sanchez (on loan to FC Tulsa) 67 DF  USA Owen Damm (on loan to FC Tulsa) 70 FW  USA Issac Cano (on loan to Lexington SC)