I’m glad to be back bringing you good folks a preview of Thursday night’s matchup between Louisville City FC and the University of Louisville men’s soccer team. It’s the first chance we will have to see our team play in person in 2016, so make sure you’re there! As a UofL student and one of the biggest (and loudest) supporters of the Cards, I will try my best to turn the bias down to an acceptable level.

As we all know by now, Lou City started their preseason off in great form, beating SIU Edwardsville 4:0 thanks to goals from newcomer Chandler Hoffman (PK), Tarek Morad and a brace (!) for Connor Shanosky. As a Cards fan, I’d like to think that our boys will offer a bit more resistance, but nobody on Floyd Street is holding their breath.

Players

This is going to be a re-hash for those who read my preview for the SIUe game, but in a nutshell, look to see minutes spread around generously to some of the new guys like former Cardinal Paolo DelPiccolo, Andy Lubahn, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Junghyun Son, Ben Newnam and George Davis IV. Friendly matches like these offer unlimited subs, so expect to see these new faces for the first time, in person. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Ranjitsingh start between the posts, but now that I’ve made that prediction, Scotty is a lock to start.

UofL is coming off of a disappointing season where, despite having glimpses of class, they didn’t quite put it all together and failed to make the NCAA tournament. At any rate, UofL still has several players that could pose a threat to a yet-unsynchronized back line. A player in particular to watch is Borussia Dortmund and Schalke youth system product Tim Kubel, number 27. He plays Right Midfield/Right Back and is a goal threat as soon as he steps on the field. I can rattle off five or six other notable players for the cards, but this is an article about Louisville City, so I digress.

History

UofL hosted, and lost to, the Boys in Purple almost exactly a year ago (March 11) by a line of 0-3, which saw Ilija Ilic and Magnus Rasmussen score their first goals in purple, as well as a goal for a guy named “Matt Fondy.” If memory serves, it got particularly scrappy for a friendly and there was a LCFC red card in the second half, but that was forever ago. For some reason last year the match was in Cardinal Park, be it maintenance on the field at Lynn or something.

Either way, I’d like to welcome everyone to the foremost College Soccer facility in the country that is Lynn stadium. It may only seat around 3,500 but it’s a damn sight better than having to play in Slugger, I’ll tell you that much.

I don’t want to promise anyone an entertaining match because this is UofL’s first game since November 8th and technically City played a match last weekend. If the Coopers didn’t see it, did it really happen? Ultimately what we want to see out of these guys is learning and gaining experience that only in-game moments can give you, and this will definitely give us that.

Notes

Coach O’Connor has been spotted scouting at UofL games before, so don’t be surprised if LouCity signs one of these Cards you see Thursday. As a fan that follows UofL closely, don’t be surprised to see little turnout from fans of the Cards. As much as it pains me to say it, UofL has not touched the nerve that Louisville City FC has seemed to have found in supporters passion and interest. Don’t be too harsh on us. We’re just kids. If you think that the rules regarding drums, flags and banners are annoying, try running a supporters group there.