Louisville City FC has produced some high-scoring performances in its 10-season history.

In this week’s edition of the USL Championship’s News & Notes, after last week’s romp past Birmingham Legion FC we look into where the club’s outbursts of five goals or more in a regular-season contests ranks in league history.

We also take a look at the Derby del Camino Real, where El Paso Locomotive FC and New Mexico United have been making themselves more comfortable on the road than at home during the series’ history, and at the group of players LouCity marksman Wilson Harris joined this season after bagging four goals in March to lead the early Golden Boot race.

We’ve also got a look ahead to upcoming landmarks for players across the USL Championship, and another suspension-free Discipline Report ahead of Week 5’s action.

Let’s begin.

NEWS & NOTES

LOUISVILLE CITY FC BAGS 2024’S FIRST FIVE-GOAL OUTING

Louisville City FC recorded the first five-goal performance of the 2024 USL Championship season on Saturday night with its victory against Birmingham Legion FC at Lynn Family Stadium. The contest marked the 13th time that LouCity has recorded at least five goals in a regular season game in the Championship, having most recently marked two in the 2022 season prior to its win against Legion.

LouCity’s 13 five-goal performances currently sit one back of the league’s all-time mark for the most outings with five goals. Both the New York Red Bulls II and Phoenix Rising FC have notched 14 five-goal performances in the Championship’s regular season.

Most Five-Goal Games in the USL Championship Regular Season
T-1. Phoenix Rising FC – 14
T-1. New York Red Bulls II – 14
3. Louisville City FC – 13
4. LA Galaxy II – 11
5. Tampa Bay Rowdies – 10

NO PLACE LIKE YOUR OPPONENT’S HOME?

New Mexico United and El Paso Locomotive FC will renew their rivalry in the Derby del Camino Real on Saturday night, which brings with it one of the most perplexing lack of homefield advantages in a series in the Championship’s history.

Going into Saturday’s contest at Isotopes Park, both clubs hold winning records at the other’s home venue. Locomotive has gone 2-1-2 in five prior regular season visits to New Mexico, while United is 3-2-4 at Southwest University Park. Each side has taken victory on the other’s turf in each of the past two seasons, a record that El Paso will be hoping to extend going into their first regular season meeting in 2024.

WILSON HARRIS’ HOT START CONTINUES FOR LOUCITY
Louisville City FC’s Wilson Harris recorded the fourth two-goal performance of his career in the USL Championship’s regular season on Saturday against Birmingham Legion FC, continuing his strong start to the new season with four goals in the opening three games of the campaign.

In doing so, the 24-year-old became only the ninth player to record at least four goals in the month of March in a USL Championship season. Harris joined seven other players who ended March with four goals – five of which also notched four goals in their opening three games. Former FC Tulsa player Luca Lobo remains alone at the top of the list after scoring five goals in four appearances at the start of the 2019 season. 

Most Goals in March in a USL Championship Season
1. Luca Lobo, FC Tulsa (2019) – 5 goals in 4 appearances
T-2. Wilson Harris, Louisville City FC (2024) – 4 goals in 3 appearances
T-2. Alex Dixon, Monterey Bay F.C. (2023) – 4 goals in 3 appearances
T-2. Cameron Iwasa, Sacramento Republic FC (2019) – 4 goals in 3 appearances
T-2. Brian Brown, Reno 1868 FC (2019) – 4 goals in 3 appearances
T-2. Kharlton Belmar, Sporting Kansas City II (2018) – 4 goals in 3 appearances
T-2. Jorge Herrera, Charlotte Independence (2018) – 4 goals in 3 appearances
T-2. Thomas Enevoldsen, Orange County SC (2018) – 4 goals in 4 appearances
T-2. Santi Moar, New Mexico United (2019) – 4 goals in 5 appearances 

Quick Hits
- Birmingham Legion FC’s Enzo Martinez moved into the top 10 in USL Championship regular season minutes in his side’s contest against Louisville City FC, passing Yann Ekra and Paolo DelPiccolo. Martinez now sits at 18,093 minutes of action in the league’s regular season.

- Detroit City FC has earned six points after trailing so far this season, the most in the Championship in the opening month of the season, with comeback victories against Loudoun United FC and Indy Eleven. Le Rouge only recouped four points from games in which they trailed in the 2023 season, the lowest mark in the league.

- The Charleston Battery’s victory against Miami FC broke a seven-game winless streak for Charleston in the series between the clubs, and the Battery’s first win away at Miami in club history. Charleston had last defeated Miami at home on June 21, 2021.

- Las Vegas Lights FC’s victory against Oakland Roots SC on Saturday night marked the club’s first consecutive wins in league play since defeating Rio Grande Valley FC (July 17) and Oakland (July 23) in the 2022 season. The side played 50 games between its victory against Roots in 2022 and its win against El Paso Locomotive FC on March 23 this season.

- Of the USL Championship’s current seven undefeated clubs, only Louisville City FC and Sacramento Republic FC have yet to trail in a game so far this season. Sacramento has led for 64 minutes in accumulating a 2-0-2 record, while Louisville has led for 149 minutes while going 3-0-0 to start the campaign.

- Hartford Athletic enters its first meeting this season with Miami FC having not scored in the past five meetings between the two teams, unsurprisingly a run of five consecutive defeats. The last Hartford player to find the net against Miami was Bradford Jamieson IV on August 4, 2021.

Upcoming Player Milestones

Appearances
Approaching 200 regular-season appearances
Augustine Williams (IND) – 197
Niall McCabe (LOU) – 197

Approaching 150 regular-season appearances
Tyler Pasher (BHM) – 149
Tyler Gibson (IND) – 148
Shannon Gomez (SA) – 146
Jack Blake (IND) – 146
Lindo Mfeka (OAK) – 146   

Approaching 100 regular-season appearances
Yuma (ELP) – 99
Enoch Mushagalusa (HFD) – 99
Deshane Beckford (HFD) – 99
Taylor Davila (LOU) – 99
Memo Diaz (OAK) – 99
Mobi Fehr (MB) – 99
Bruno Lapa (MEM) – 98
Edgardo Rito (PHX) – 98
Phillip Goodrum (TUL) – 97
Jordan Doherty (TBR) – 97

Minutes
Approaching 10,000 regular season minutes
Robbie Mertz (PIT) – 9,914
Prosper Kasim (BHM) – 9,914
Albert Dikwa (RI) – 9,883
Danny Griffin (PIT) – 9,709

Goals
Approaching 70 regular season goals
Enzo Martinez (BHM) – 69
Augustine Williams (IND) – 67

Approaching 60 regular season goals
Romario Williams (HFD) – 57
Russell Cicerone (SAC) – 56

Approaching 50 regular season goals
Rodrigo Da Costa (NC) – 47

Assists
Approaching 50 regular season assists
Brian Ownby (LOU) – 46
Rodrigo Lopez (SAC) – 46

Approaching 40 regular season assists
Christiano Francois (LDN) – 38

Approaching 30 regular season assists
Niall McCabe (LOU) – 29
Rodrigo Da Costa (NC) – 29
Cam Lindley (IND) – 27

Saves
Approaching 300 regular season saves
Paul Blanchette (OAK) – 295
Kendall McIntosh (SA) – 278

Approaching 250 regular season saves
Jordan Farr (TBR) – 235

Approaching 200 regular season saves
Rocco Rios Novo (PHX) – 198
Nathan Steinwascher (DET) – 188

Discipline Report – Week 5

TAMPA, Fla. – The following is the USL Championship’s discipline report for Week 5 of the 2024 USL Championship season:

There are no new suspensions to report.