Should everything go according to plan for Louisville City FC on Saturday, they’ll be in possession of the USL Championship Players’ Shield by the end of the night.

The Eastern Conference leaders host last-place Miami FC at Lynn Family Stadium needing just a point to move clear of the Charleston Battery in second place. Not that it’s of any concern to LouCity Head Coach Danny Cruz.

“I’m focused on Miami,” said Cruz following his side’s victory at home to Indy Eleven last Saturday night, the club’s sixth in a row. “That’s what I’m focused on. Not [the Players’ Shield]. We continue to talk about process. We continue to talk about the importance of now. So, we prepare for Miami and put ourselves in the best position possible for next weekend. We really don’t discuss it.”

For the rest of us, though, it’s the moment to put what this LouCity squad is accomplishing into context, because in terms of the USL Championship’s 15 seasons, it’s historic.

• BACK-TO-BACK: Having claimed the Players’ Shield for the first time in club history a season ago, Louisville City is on course for consecutive regular season titles. That’s only happened once previously, when Orlando City SC did so in the league’s first two seasons (2011-12).

• ONE LOSS CLUB: What’s making this season more historic for LouCity is the other marks it’s either accomplished or within range of reaching. Among them, the club could also become just the fourth team to go through a full regular season with only one defeat, and the first this decade. If it does, it would join Orlando City’s 2012 squad (17-1-6), the 2013 Richmond Kickers (15-1-10) and 2015 Rochester Rhinos (17-1-10).

• RAISING THE BAR: The most notable mark LouCity is within range of is the league’s points-per-game record. That’s currently held by the 2012 Orlando City side at 2.38ppg, but Louisville is ahead of the pace. Thanks to its current six-game winning streak, LouCity currently sits at a 2.44ppg mark. If it wins two of its last three games, it will be guaranteed to sit at the top of the list.

What’s made this season all the more remarkable is it has simply been a team whose greatest strength has been its depth. There are great players here – Phillip Goodrum leads the team with 12 goals and ranks fifth in the league with a +7.56 Goals Added mark, while Taylor Davila is being tabbed as a Player of the Year candidate by friend of the newsletter John Morrissey – but the collective pushes things further.

You can see it in both the clubs’ attacking numbers – 11 players have recorded multiple goals, while 10 have recorded multiple assists – or in the performances of players like first-year pro Josh Jones, who has become a staple in the back line ahead of Arturo Ordóñez – two years ago the league’s Defender of the Year.

At the center of it all is Cruz, who has become one of the most accomplished coaches in league history by the age of 35. The youngest Head Coach to win 100 games in USL Championship history – doing so in the fewest games of any to reach the landmark – has guided the club to three 20-win seasons. That’s another first in league history, and something neither of his predecessors achieved once.

And – like potentially winning the Players’ Shield on Saturday – it’s something that Cruz will barely bat an eyelid at. What matters is the daily work and attention to detail that underscores everything LouCity does.

By taking care of the process, Louisville isn’t just the standard by which others are judged in the USL Championship. It’s brought the club to the verge of history.

• READ MORE – The secrets of sustained success in the USL: How the best clubs stay on top – John Morrissey, Backheeled.com

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This is an excerpt from The Rondo, the USL Championship's twice-weekly newsletter. Sign up to have stories like this delivered straight to your inbox at uslchampionship.com/newsletter.