The boys in purple began their season with wins at both Orange County and Monterey Bay. Playing away, especially so far away, is tough. While staying in Cali is good to help reduce travel, it’s still less than ideal conditions. Despite that, LouCity will make their triumphant home debut with all six points in tow. The El Paso Locomotive’s have the unfortunate honor of being Morados’ home match. Between Louisville’s historically strong home record and El Paso’s slow start, it could be a fun night at Lynn Family Stadium.
The Trains have started their 2023 season in forgettable fashion. Three straight home losses being outscored 6-2 by Sacramento, the Switchbacks, and Detroit City. After narrowly missing the 2022 playoffs (LouCity didn’t help their cause), this isn’t the rebound they had in mind. Losing Dylan Mares didn’t help their cause. Between their early results and FiveThirtyEight’s 38% playoff odds, one would have to imagine this is a team of growing desperation. They can only go up from here.
Denys Kostyshyn has been a bright spot for El Paso this season. Their new Ukrainian midfielder has one of their two goals this season and a team-high player rating of 7.03. He is also leading in shots per 90 (4.0), shots on target per 90 (1.6), and big chances created (1). Their 2022 leading goal scorer, Luis Solignac, is also back for them in 2023. He had 16 goals (1st), 5 assists (T-4th), and a 7.32 player rating (2nd) last season but has been rather quiet in 2023. Also back this season is the 37-year-old Spaniard, Yuma. Yuma was near the top of his squad in most defensive categories; however, his real notable quality is his pain-in-the-ass factor. He is not loved.
There is a whopping 88% chance for Chelsea Dagger to play at the end of the 90-minute match this Saturday, according to FiveThirtyEight. Only 11% for the poor Choo-choos. Brian Ownby is out for this one after a very questionable second yellow from the MB match was upheld. He has been phenomenal early on, but this will be an excellent opportunity for someone else to play the hero. It’s been 138 days and counting since our last outing at LFS (it was a stellar one too). Let’s get the 2023 home record off to a good start!
Parting Thoughts
Want to do a little more reading on LouCity? I suggest the following:
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