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]

As of 28 April 2024[27]

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

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

All times in regular season on Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00) unless otherwise noted

As a member of the USL Championship that finished outside the top eight teams in the 2023 season, Louisville City entered the tournament in the Third Round, with their Cup opener played on April 16, 2024.[28] Louisville City's third round draw is against Greenville Triumph SC from USL League One.[29]