LouCity suffered its first regular-season loss of 2023 on Saturday afternoon in a match against El Paso Locomotive FC, despite a home-opener record crowd of 10,881 fans (which included a certain mega-famous rapper from Louisville).
The team was down a number of key players, including Brian Ownby, who was given a one-game suspension after two yellow cards in last week's game against Monterey Bay.
However, LouCity Academy recruit Colin Elder, a recent addition to the LouCity, got to make his first appearance with the team in an 85th-minute substitution.
The final score was 0-3. In a press conference after the game, Coach Danny Cruz said, “First and foremost, I take full responsibility. That was an embarrassing performance, but at the end of the day I have to look at myself and where I need to be better in preparation for the game. They presented how we thought they would, but ultimately it lands on me, so I spoke to the players about having a good reaction."
"The turnout tonight was fantastic, and we wanted to put on a better performance," he added, "but ultimately we fell way, way short — nowhere near the level of expectation we have here.”
Check out LEO's photos in the gallery above.
03/25/2023 | Photos by Carolyn Brown • [email protected] • @cebrownphoto
