LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ray Serrano recorded a pair of goals, including a 90th-minute winner while Manny Perez had a goal and an assist as Louisville City FC took a 3-2 victory against in-state rival Lexington SC in a preseason exhibition at the Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center on Sunday evening.

Serrano scored the decisive goal in the final minute off a feed from LouCity Academy product Isaac Cano as he rolled a ball to Serrano's path for the 2024 Championship Young Player of the Year finalist to tuck a finish neatly into the Lexington goal.

“These games matter,” said LouCity Head Coach Danny Cruz. “We talked about it before [the game]. We talked about Louisville-Lexington, and when my players walked off the field, I wanted to be able to tell that it mattered to my group, and I could tell that it did.”

LouCity took a seventh-minute lead on Serrano’s first goal of the night as a move begun by Carlos Moguel Jr. sent Manny Perez down the right side outside the Lexington box. Perez's cross found Serrano at the back post and, after a tidy, settling touch, Serrano curled the ball into the back of the net.

Perez doubled Louisville’s lead seven minutes into the second half when his looping delivery from the flank caught the Lexington goalkeeper flat footed, and the ball – perhaps intended as a cross, but ultimately a shot – slotted into the top corner.

Lexington rallied back to level in the final 20 minutes. Nick Firmino struck first with a curling right-footed effort from near the top of the Louisville penalty area, and with four minutes to go Eliot Goldthorp made a darting run into the LouCity box from the left before curling a finish into the right from just outside the six-yard box.

Serrano denied the visitors a morale-boosting result with his late finish, however, as he notched the late winner.

SAN ANTONIO FC 2, EL PASO LOCOMOTIVE FC 1: Jake LaCava had a goal and assist to lead San Antonio FC to victory against Copa Tejas rival El Paso Locomotive FC in a preseason exhibition on Saturday night at Toyota Field.

SAFC wasted no time jumping on the board as LaCava found Diogo Pacheco for the opening goal in just the third minute for Pacheco’s second goal in as many matches.

LaCava followed his assist with a goal of his own seven minutes into the second half, bringing down a long ball from Alexis Souahy with his chest before finishing from a tight angle to double the lead. Locomotive grabbed a goal back with 19 minutes to play, but San Antonio saw out the result from there.

INDY ELEVEN 5, FORWARD MADISON FC 0: Romario Williams scored a pair of goals while Elliot Colier notched a pair of assists as Indy Eleven pulled away with four second-half goals against Forward Madison FC in a preseason exhibition at the Grand Park Events Center on Friday afternoon.

Indy opened the scoring through Jack Blake in the 16th minute as the English midfielder sent Aedan Stanley’s cross into the bottom-right corner. The hosts proceeded to take control of the game in the second half as Williams bagged his first of the day 11 minutes after the break, blasting a shot to the bottom left corner in the 56th minute.

Oliver Bryneus scored his first goal with the Boys in Blue six minutes later, finishing off a chance created by Collier for his first assist after the New Zealand international and Williams had combined well. Collier then set up Williams to bag his second of the game with nine minutes to go before an own goal rounded out the scoring.

CHARLESTON BATTERY 4, CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE 0: Cal Jennings scored a pair of goals while Johnny Klein and MD Myers also found the net for the hosts against the Charlotte Independence in a preseason exhibition at Patriots Point on Saturday night.

Klein opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark with a strong header off a cross from the right by Langston Blackstock that found the bottom-right corner. That opened a flurry of goals for the Battery, who doubled their lead in the 37th minute when Jennings put home a first-time finish from Myers’ centering feed from the left.

Myers then added a third a minute before halftime as he ran onto a through-ball by Aaron Molloy into the right side of the penalty area and lifted his finish over the advancing goalkeeper. Jennings then completed the scoring, clipping home a low cross from the right by Douglas Martinez Jr. at the near post with just over 20 minutes to play.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS SC 3, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH 0: Goals by Kenardo Forbes, Max Broughton and a trialist sent Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC to victory against the University of Pittsburgh, giving the Hounds their fourth consecutive preseason win and third by way of shutout.

The Hounds created problems for the Panthers early by pressing the Pitt defenders, and turnovers in their own half led to each of the first two goals. In the 13th minute, the Hounds’ Jackson Walti got on the ball and drove into the box after the Hounds gained possession 30 yards from goal. The initial shot by Walti was saved, but a trialist crashed in and buried the rebound.

The Hounds doubled their lead four minutes later when Luke Biasi got in behind the defense on the right, and his low, hard cross was turned into the goal by Forbes for the veteran’s first goal this preseason.

The hosts closed out the scoring with seven minutes to go after recycling a corner kick and finding Charles Ahl on the right side. His cross toward the near post found Broughton, who turned the ball into the net.

COLORADO SPRINGS SWITCHBACKS FC 3, COLORADO RAPIDS 2 (1): Marco Micaletto scored a pair of goals as Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC eased to victory against the Colorado Rapids 2 at Weidner Field.

Micaletto opened the scoring for the Switchbacks on the quarter-hour mark before the Rapids 2 hit back just before the half-hour mark. The recent arrival via transfer from New Mexico United restored Colorado Springs’ lead six minutes before the halftime break, however, before Levonte Johnson added a third midway through the second half to see out the result.

NEW MEXICO UNITED 2, DENVER UNIVERSITY 1: Greg Hurst and Tomas Pondeca each found the net as New Mexico United took victory against Denver University on Saturday afternoon at the New Mexico United Training Center.

Hurst put United ahead as the hosts applied pressure to win possession in the Denver penalty area, resulting in a blocked shot that caromed to Hurst for a first-time finish into the net. Denver responded three minutes into the second half to level, but four minutes later Pondeca put United back ahead as the side forced a turnover in the attacking end the offseason arrival put away calmly.