LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville City FC will try to continue its streak of reaching the Eastern Conference Final in every season of its history as it hosts Rhode Island FC on Saturday night in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs presented by Terminix with the visitors the lone side to have defeated LouCity on its home turf so far this season. Kickoff at Lynn Family Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+, here’s what you need to know.

How They Got Here

Louisville City FC (24-6-4, 76pts) – LouCity continued its run of dominant home form this season as it took a 3-2 victory against North Carolina FC last Saturday night as Taylor Davila and Adrien Pérez each recorded a goal and assist at Lynn Family Stadium. In what’s become a regular occurrence this season, however, LouCity was forced to rally after conceding the opening goal, earning its seventh comeback win of the season across the regular season and playoffs. Pérez’s assist on Davila’s first-half goal was his team-leading eighth of the season, while Davila now sits second on the team with 15 goal contributions (8 goals, 7 assists) as he continues to play a key role in the center of midfield for Head Coach Danny Cruz’s side since his offseason arrival.

Rhode Island FC (12-7-15, 51pts) – Rhode Island made a big impression in its postseason debut as JJ Williams recorded a hat trick in a 3-2 victory against Indy Eleven at Michael A. Carroll Stadium last Sunday to send the first-year club through. Williams’ hat trick was his second in as many games after bagging three goals against Miami FC to close the regular season and was the seventh hat trick in USL Championship Playoffs history. RIFC will now attempt to duplicate a remarkable 5-2 victory against LouCity at Lynn Family Stadium on that saw five different players find the net, which marks the lone defeat Louisville suffered at home this campaign. Starting with that victory, Rhode Island has gone 12-3-6 across the regular season and playoffs and sits second only to LouCity in wins over that span.

All-Time Series

Rhode Island FC went 1-0-1 against Louisville City in the regular season as the sides played to a scoreless draw in May before RIFC’s victory at Lynn Family Stadium in June.

Opta Says

6 – Louisville City has recorded at least 10 goals in every 15-minute segment of the 90 minutes this season and leads the league with 51 second-half goals – more than 17 teams have scored overall in the regular season and playoffs.

54 – Rhode Island has recorded 54 goals from inside the penalty area across the regular season and playoffs, second to Louisville City overall, which accounts for 95 percent of the club’s scoring, the highest percentage in the league.

Players to Watch

Louisville City FC – Wilson Harris: The center forward has become one of the most prolific strikers in the USL Championship in his career with 68 regular season tallies but has yet to register a postseason goal in two seasons with LouCity. This would be an ideal moment to change that. 

Rhode Island FC – Jojea Kwizera: The Rwanda international notched his sixth assist of the season against Indy Eleven last Sunday and will again be an essential part of the side in a potential head-to-head battle against fellow wingback Aiden McFadden for Louisville.

Uniforms

Discipline Report

Louisville City FC – No suspensions

Rhode Island FC – No suspensions

Officials
REF: Elton Garcia
AR1: Nicholas Balcer
AR2: Ricardo Ocampo
4TH: Abdou Ndiaye