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Louisville Excited for Campus Return vs. Nashville

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 06/20/18, 4:14AM EDT

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Lynn Stadium has become home away from home in Open Cup campaign


Photo courtesy Em-Dash Photography / Louisville City FC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With a 5-0-1 record at Slugger Field this season, Louisville City FC has fared extremely well on its home turf during the 2018 USL regular season, but while that’s been the case the backdrop that’s been provided by Lynn Stadium on the campus of the University of Louisville has provided a special atmosphere for the club during its run in the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Having defeated Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution there on June 6 in the Fourth Round, the side now gets to return to the same venue for its Round of 16 meeting with fellow USL side Nashville SC on Wednesday night, and Head Coach James O’Connor is looking forward to what that will mean with a sellout crowd again expected.

“I think it allows the supporters to have sort of a different gameday experience,” said O’Connor. “I think the supporters can get closer to the field, I think it gives them an opportunity to maybe get a little bit closer to the action, but also to maybe affect the game a little bit more, because they’re a bit closer, maybe a little bit more intimidating, get right close behind the goal, and the players have to walk through the supporters at halftime and leading out to the game. So, I think it creates a special atmosphere that our players have really enjoyed playing in front of.”

Wednesday night will be the third meeting of the season for Louisville and Nashville, with both sides having claimed victory on home turf in the prior two contests between the sides. In its first professional season, Nashville has started to find a strong vein of form over the past two months, and its current 11-game undefeated streak across all competitions included a 2-0 victory against Louisville at First Tennessee Park just over a month ago.

With Louisville coming off Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Penn FC that saw it let a two-goal halftime lead slip at Slugger Field, there’s plenty of motivation for O’Connor’s side, but also plenty of respect for what Nashville is bringing to the contest.

“I think, there’s a determination from the guys, especially with this game to go and try to continue to run,” said O’Connor. “But, you know Nashville are in a very rich vein of form, they’ve been playing very well, they picked up some really good results as well, so it’ll be a very tough game. I mean credit to them. They’re a very hard team to play against and I expect an exciting game tomorrow night.”


Photo courtesy Em-Dash Photography / Louisville City FC

With both sides aiming at a place in the last eight, the draw that placed them together is somewhat of an oddity for this stage of the tournament. It’s been six years since two lower-division clubs squared off for a place in the Quarterfinals, but the fact that his side will look to continue its run against a familiar opponent isn’t of great significance to Louisville midfielder Niall McCabe.

“I don’t take notice of that stuff too much,” said McCabe. “We’re trying to go as far as we can in the competition, whether it’s against a PDL team, USL team, or an MLS team. We’re trying to beat whatever team is put in front of us and put in good performances. It’s just another game for us and hopefully things come out well for us and we’re through to the other side.”

With the short history between the two clubs having established a mutual respect between the two USL Eastern Conference contenders, Louisville believes it will again make Lynn Stadium a happy home away from home.

“It comes down to our mentality, character, and training,” said McCabe. “We train at a very high intensity and we’re all fit. We have players that can step in and do the job as well as anybody. Now it’s a case of pushing through and letting our training take over.”

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