2026 US Open Cup Round 3: Louisville City snap skid vs. MLS with upset of Austin FC

For the second time in club history — and the first since 2018 — Louisville City defeated an MLS side to advance in the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Though they play in different leagues, visiting Austin FC were no strangers as the two sides have met in each of the last three preseasons. Mentality was key to the 2-1 victory, with the Louisville side never considering themselves underdogs in the matchup against the upper division opponent. 

Louisville is on to the Round of 16 where they face the winner between MLS’ Houston Dynamo and fellow ULS-C squad, EL Paso Locomotive.

“The expectation was we’re gonna win this game,” said Louisville City coach Simon Bird. “We want to win this game. We’re out here to win this game.”

Both sides looked eager to score early, starting the game off with a fast paced back and forth in the early minutes. The first big scoring opportunity for either side came in the 18th minute when Louisville City midfielder Evan Davila played through ball to forward Tola Showumni, leaving him one-on-one with Austin goalkeeper — and former Louisville City loanee — Damian Las. Las was aggressive off his line and was able to make a big save at the edge of his own box, keeping the game even at 0-0.

Louisville continued to dominate the attack, forcing more big saves in the 21st and 25th minutes. The breakthrough goal came soon after, with veteran Louisville City defender Sean Totsch scoring off a well weighted Taylor Davila corner kick at the near post in the 26th minute. It’s fitting the opening goal would come from Totsch, the only remaining player from the team’s 2018 Open Cup victory against New England Revolution. 

“You could see what it meant to the locker room by the effort that was put out there,” Totsch said. “Anyone that watched the game tonight knew that we wanted it and we wanted it the whole time.”

Austin was quick to respond, nearly drawing even just minutes later when a redirected corner kick fell to the feet of midfielder Nicolas Dubersarsky inside the Louisville six-yard box. Louisville City keeper Hugo Fauroux was quick to attack the shot off his line with a kick save to preserve the lead for the home side.

With the pace of the first half, it was clear one goal was probably not going to be enough to secure victory. Louisville City was finally able to open up a bit of daylight and improved its lead to 2-0 in the 32nd minute off a leaping right foot finish at the near post from Showumni on a quick cross from outside back Manny Perez. 

Showumni troubled the Austin backline all evening, earning a Man of the Match honor and positioning himself at the top of the Golden Boot race for this year’s Cup.

The tone of the game was much different in the second half, with the home side sitting further back on defense looking to see out the 2-0 lead to a victory. 

“The second half was a grind,” Bird said. “That’s natural when you’re playing against a top team and you’re up by two goals, they’re going to throw caution to the wind and attack and we were a little on the back foot.”

Austin played with the confidence of a team who had been in this position before, recovering from a 2-0 deficit in last season’s Round of 32 against El Paso to win 3-2 on their way to last year’s Open Cup Final. 

Louisville City was able to weather the storm for much of the second half, but the breakthrough for Austin finally came off a set piece in the 70th minute. Joseph Rosales curled a free kick from just outside the top corner of the Louisville penalty box to the head of striker Calvin Fodrey, who subbed in just six minutes prior. Fodrey skipped a shot just past a diving Fauroux to keep the visiting side’s hopes alive with 20 minutes left in regulation. 

Set pieces have been a strength for an Austin side that has struggled at the start the year, currently sitting at 13th in the MLS Western Conference.

A reinvigorated Austin side continued to dominate the attack in the closing minutes of the game, but the Louisville defence was up to the task, seeing through the victory.