LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville City gets a rare home shot at an MLS club Tuesday night, and the timing is pointed for both teams.
Austin FC visits Lynn Family Stadium for a U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 matchup at 7 p.m. The Verde and Black reached last year's Open Cup final, but enter Tuesday just 1-3-3 in MLS play and near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Austin has a goalkeeper Louisville fans know well in Damian Las, who started for LouCity the past two seasons on loan before returning to his parent club.
Louisville comes in with confidence in the occasion but some urgency of its own.
The club has allowed five goals over its last two matches and has conceded nine through six league games this season, nearly half of the 19 it gave up all of last year. So while this is a chance to test itself against a higher-level opponent, it is also a chance for LouCity to look a little more like itself again.
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For LouCity coach Simon Bird, that's part of the appeal.
"We enjoy playing elite-level teams," Bird said. "Whether it's preseason, cup competitions, whatever it is — we want to play the best."
Bird knows his team needs to be sharper than it has been lately. He said the past few days have included "some really difficult discussions as a group" about being more ruthless defensively and returning to the collective sharpness that has defined the club in recent seasons.
Defender Kyle Adams didn't dress it up.
"Last year, we gave up 19 goals and we've already conceded nine in the league," Adams said. "That's something we've been working on and talking about a lot."
Adams and fellow defender Amadou Dia were equally clear: this isn't a night for long-term framing. It's a knockout game at home, and just the third time an MLS side has visited Lynn Family Stadium.
"It's our home. We have expectations, we have standards," Dia said. "We expect to go out there and do everything we can to win the game."
Both players have Open Cup memories to draw on. Adams recalled a 93rd-minute goal he scored for San Diego against Seattle — "a 30-odd screamer," he said — only to see his team lose in extra time. Dia has experienced the other side. He was part of Sporting Kansas City's Open Cup-winning team in 2015 and still has the medal tucked away in a basement in Kansas City.
"Every game is the finals," Dia said. "You lose, you go home."
There won't be much mystery between the teams. Louisville and Austin have met regularly in preseason, including a 1-0 Austin win in January, giving LouCity at least some familiarity with its opponent. But Adams noted the obvious caveat: cup matches can bring rotation, and Austin could look very different from the group Louisville saw then.
The familiarity with Las cuts both ways. Louisville knows his tendencies. He knows plenty about LouCity, too.
What Louisville will have is home field, a crowd and a stage that doesn't come around often.
Bird, raised on the culture of England's FA Cup, understands what nights like this can become. He remembers Louisville's Open Cup win over New England in 2018 and sees the same potential in this matchup.
"Those moments are really special," Bird said. "These games are a test of who we are and how far we've come."
For Louisville, it's a chance to measure itself — not just against the league above it, but against its own standard.
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