Goodrum’s Breakthrough and Tactical Creativity - A Review Of Louisville City’s 2025 Season – Part 4
- Benton
- Jul 2
- 8 min read
Two losses and two draws in the last five matches of our previous review was not what the reigning regular season champs wanted. While the defense has largely been excellent, the offense has not always held up its end of the bargain. Phillip Goodrum was looking for answers and trying to crack the code to get the goals coming on a regular basis. Thankfully, a busy June helped the squad turn the page and regain momentum.
06/07/2025 - LOUvTBR - 2-1 WIN
A Phillip Goodrum goal within the first ten minutes, followed shortly by another from Ray Serrano, quickly left conference rivals Tampa Bay with a mountain to climb. However, a terrific individual effort by TBR's Woobens Pacius gave the Rowdies a glimmer of hope. The home side held then led through the final whistle, with the most nervy moment being a scuffle for the ball on LouCity's goal line before being cleared. Can't count the Rowdies out until the final whistle. With that win, Louisville extended its regular-season unbeaten run to 11 games. Oh yeah, this guy named Cameron Lancaster made his 2025 debut in this one too. “It was special. It felt really good. It was nice to hear that kind of reception,” said club legend Lancaster, who’s on loan from Lexington SC. “To set foot in this amazing stadium again was special.”
06/11/2025 - LOUvRI - 2-1 WIN
This was the first match that the majority of fans circled when the schedule came out. LouCity had yet to beat Rhode Island. The most recent result was the playoff loss that ended the Eastern Conference Finals streak. Louisville was aiming for revenge, just a few days removed from their most recent match. Coach Danny Cruz specifically cited the matches with RI when talking about the physical presence of his offseason signings. He felt that was a notable element that led to Rhode Island's success against the boys in purple. Coach Cruz's game plan hit an early snag after an early injury to Kevon Lambert forced a substitution within the first ten minutes. But by the 20th minute, an Aiden McFadden header secured LOU the lead. An incredibly unfortunate own goal by Kyle Adams would level things back out only minutes later. Manny Perez, Sam Gleadle, and Jansen Wilson subbed into the match at the 60th minute, and that decision almost immediately paid off. The fresh legs helped to produce Ray Serrano's 63rd-minute game-winning goal. "I thought we were excellent on both sides of the ball. I thought our mentality was excellent," Coach Cruz commented after the big win. "I can single out 11 guys in 11 different moments, so all in all thought it was a complete 90 minutes."
06/14/2025 - LOUvBHM - 4-2 WIN
With wins over Tampa and Rhode Island under their belt, momentum was picking up for Louisville. In 2024, LOU thumped the Birmingham Legion 5-0 and 4-1. Phillip Goodrum made it his mission to add this match to the list of lopsided wins. Despite the Legion taking a lead at the 14th minute, the boys in purple would go on to score four straight. Of those four, three were scored by Goodrum. It wasn't long ago, his performances were under scrutiny. Now, he has four goals in three matches to his name and has become just the 6th player in club history with a hat trick. An unlucky Carlos Moguel own goal at the end of the match couldn't dampen the spirits of a club that won three straight at home within a week’s time. “Not an easy week — not easy to do what they just did — and again, nine points is important, especially here at home,” Coach Cruz stated after the match. At 2.1 xG for LOU and just 0.36 xG for BHM, it was one of the more convincing wins this season.
06/20/2025 - NCvLOU (Jägermeister Cup) - 2-1 LOSS
Louisville’s 13-game regular season unbeaten run to start the year would come to an unfortunate end with a lackluster road performance in North Carolina. "I felt tonight we were just out there to kick a ball around and we took it a little bit for granted,” lamented Coach Cruz following the loss. "This game is obviously built on moments, and we didn’t handle (those moments) well enough." Phil Goodrum's lone goal, his sixth in his last five appearances, was not enough to overcome two set-piece goals by North Carolina FC. The result ended a 19-game USL Championship regular season undefeated streak for the club dating back to last year. A wake-up call for the squad after their momentum-building homestand the previous week.
06/25/2025 - LDNvLOU (Jägermeister Cup) - 4-1 WIN
This is when things began to get particularly interesting. It had been a long month for the team. The season has been taking its toll on the squad, and they were set to face Loudoun United for the 4th time in all competitions. Coach Cruz was forced into being creative. He threw a tactical curveball with both his lineup selection and play style. The likes of Carlos Moguel and Josh Jones earned starts, and the team played with two up top with an even more hands-off possession philosophy than they had been playing with. This resulted in just 24.2% of possession, the lowest possession total LouCity has had in a game since Opta began tracking the statistic in the USL Championship in 2017. “We asked the players this week to do something a little bit different tactically," shared Coach Cruz, "and I thought the players executed to the tee.” This changeup led to Louisville taking a lead by way of a 26th-minute Moguel goal. "I was at negative one and now I’m back to zero,” Moguel joked, referencing his own goal against Birmingham. The home team earned one back by way of a penalty kick. But as the first half was coming to a close, Loudoun's tempers flared and forced the referee to reach for his red card. LouCity would go on to score three more to see out the win. Loudoun playing half the match down a man makes the already astonishingly low 24% possession even more notable.
06/29/2025 - LOUvNC (Jägermeister Cup) - 1-0 WIN
After being postponed due to travel issues with the North Carolina camp, Louisville City would get their revenge for their loss less than two weeks prior. Cameron Lancaster earned his first start in another unexpected lineup. Josh Jones was not the only uncommon face on the backline with Kyle Adams. Brandon Dayes earned his first start and became the second-youngest LouCity player to appear in a USL match at 16 years, 6 months, and 12 days old. The only player to debut earlier for City was Josh Wynder. Despite the defensive changes, LOU kept a clean sheet with a 1-0 win. Jansen Wilson bagged a goal in the 10th minute to secure the win. “The last four to five weeks have been very difficult from a scheduling perspective,” Coach Cruz shared. The month saw Louisville win five of six games over 22 days. It would also be the team's first clean sheet across all competitions since May 24, while the result also marked NCFC’s first shutout in 78 days.
Let's begin by talking about Phil Goodrum. With high expectations considering his past performances and taking over the role previously held by Wilson Harris, concern grew quickly with how 2025 began for the striker. He failed to score in the preseason as well as the first two months of the season. His first, in May against in-state rivals Lexington, ignited hope, but the momentum didn't continue as hoped. He'd score again later in the month, but still had not convinced many fans. He was finding shots, but very few were on target. After reacquiring Cameron Lancaster via loan, something finally clicked for Phil. With a goal against Tampa and a hat trick a week later against Birmingham, he finally ascended the throne he inherited. Earlier in the season, he averaged a shot on target every 141 minutes, but that number has since dropped to one every 76 minutes. He is now averaging a goal every 152 minutes, one of his best scoring rates since his 22-goal 2022 campaign. Phillip Goodrum's performance now fits the lofty expectations that come with being the man up top for Louisville City.
While Phil was figuring it out, Ray Serrano picked up where he left off last season. With 6 goals to his name, he is only two shy of his career high set last season. The 23-year-old is finding shots on target at a greater rate (one every 94 minutes) and scoring at an increased rate as well (one every 203 minutes). Should these two continue at their current trajectory, Louisville City's attack may begin to more closely reflect the monstrous outputs we saw in 2024.
Halfway through the season, Louisville's offensive numbers have begun to trend positively. Following our last check-in, the boys in purple have increased their goals for per game (GF/G) from 1.4 to 1.7 (2nd in the league), with expected goals (xG) continuing the same direction. These facts make the decrease in shots for per game (ShtsF/G) from 13.2 to 12.9 more palatable. It's also still good for 4th in the league, so not exactly a significant decline. The quantity of shots doesn't matter without goals anyway. It's no accident we are seeing this following the turnaround of Goodrum's game. He (and the team as a whole) have been more efficient. LOU is sitting in 8th for shots for per goal for (ShtF/GF). Keep in mind that these numbers only reflect regular-season play. So, results such as the 4-1 win against Loudoun in the Jägermeister Cup are not factored in.
On the flipside, goals against per game (GA/G) has drifted up from 0.5 to 0.67, but that rate is still the league’s best with Tulsa (0.75) and Sacramento (0.77) occupying 3rd and 4th. They also hold the best shots against to goals against (ShtA/GA) at 15.5. The next closest is Tulsa, who average 13.9 shots against before conceding. As a side note, it is former LouCity player Luke Spencer leading this Tulsa squad in his first season as a head coach in the USLC. Not a ton more to say here other than the defense is still holding very strong. It was a focal point for Coach Cruz and the team after 2024, and the numbers reflect that.
At 2.27 points per game (Pts/G) (1st) and 2.6 goals scored for every goal against (also 1st), life is good in Louisville. Charleston and Loudoun appear to be Morados' biggest threats, with North Carolina not too far off. June was congested, but Coach Cruz's warriors fought through the adversity. July is more forgiving with just two regular-season matches, two friendlies, and the final Jägermeister Cup group stage match. That match will serve as Louisville's first trip away to Lexington. LouCity is in a much less comfortable position in the new Jägermeister Cup compared to the regular season. Only the team that wins the group is guaranteed to move on to the knockout rounds. With Louisville in 2nd, they would need a win against Lexington and North Carolina to beat Loudoun. Loudoun winning on PKs has the potential for Louisville to make it to the knockout round, depending on the goal differential. If Louisville fails to secure first, they do have the potential to make it to the knockouts via one of the two wildcard spots. This is determined by points and goals for and would be a less clear path to advancing. Let’s just take care of business and hope that North Carolina gets it done at home against Loudoun.
The Jägermeister Cup is less than a sure thing, but their march towards the ultimate prize, the USL playoffs, continues in favorable fashion. The team made it through a busy period with success and has upcoming gaps in the action to allow for them to recover and refine their game. Phil Goodrum has overcome his early-season struggles and seems poised for a dominant second half of the season. Life continues to be good for Louisville City fans.
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