It was an all-USL Championship affair as Loudoun United made the trek from Virginia for the second time in a month to face the two-time USL champs, Louisville City FC. The trip proved to be unsuccessful as Louisville’s Adrian Perez and Sam Gleadle both scored in the first 30 minutes of the match to advance, 2-1, in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, KY on Tuesday night.
LouCity coach Danny Cruz had mixed feelings about his squad’s performance.
“I thought in the first half we were really strong,” Cruz said. “But I thought in the second half we kind of took our foot off the gas … ultimately this tournament is about advancing, and we did that.”
Despite a competitive start to the match, Loudoun dug themselves a hole with a defensive blunder in the 18th minute. The turnover in the final third resulted in Perez scoring and putting the home side up 1-0.
Tommy McCabe’s hard-hit shot from the top of the box for Loudoun only a few minutes later aimed to even the score, but the quick reflexes of Louisville’s Damian Las deflected the on-target shot. Later, it was Louisville City that would find the net again. In the 28th minute, Amadou Dia sent a long pass threading the gaps in the Loudoun back line to Gleadle, whose near-post shot made it past the keeper.
The visitors had one more close call in the first half in the 43rd minute, but the high-flying shot to the top right corner was just a few inches off target.
Loudoun may have been down entering the second half, but not out. Feeling the pressure of a knockout, they went on to record four of their five total shots on target. This offensive swing included a shot from outside the box narrowly missing the far post in the 46th minute and a great shot by Riley Bidois at the top of the box, forcing a diving one-handed save from Las.
LouCity, looking to put the match away, found its best opportunity in the 82nd minute with a blazing fast break by Aiden McFadden who dished the ball over centrally to Gleadle. He failed to make the most of the advantage, though, by shooting it right at the keeper.
As the match crept towards its conclusion, the visitors were thrown a lifeline. Long-time Louisville center-back, Sean Totsch mishandled the ball in front of the net, allowing Abdellatif Aboukoura to put away the point-blank shot in the 90th minute. However, it was too little too late as an equalizer was unable to be found by Loudoun with the match ending 2-1.
The win by Louisville City not only puts them into the Round of 32 in May, but also extends its unbeaten streak to six straight in 2025. The club also remains unblemished in its opening game in Cup ties, having never failed to advance from its opening round in the competition.