Wait for it: Lou City 1-Miami 0
Brian Ownby and Cameron Lancaster stand behind the coaches during pre-match warm-ups, discussing their plans for an 88th minute assist and goal to win the match. It’s all very hush hush. (“Should we run our play earlier?” “Nah, let’s make the young guys sweat it out.”)
Once upon a time, there was a group of lads who liked to wear purple and play soccer together. They were insanely good, so they won the USL Championship Players’ Shield two years in a row, the end.
This match really did have a storybook ending, as Jonathan Lintner so eloquently phrased it during the post-match media time. Fans were anxious for a hero to pull the sword from the stone, or better yet nab a shield with a goal (or tie) against Miami, but both seemed impossible. Would their knight ever come? I admit, when Coach Danny Cruz slowly replaced the younglings with the old guard, I thought he’d lost his mind. Yes, they had failed to score after so many chances, but they were on the precipice of something great, we could all smell it. Or maybe that was just the Sean Totsch beef grilled cheese that my husband raved about.
Either way, why put Golden Boot contender Phil Goodrum on the bench for Cameron Lancaster? We all love Cam, but is he good for a goal in a high-pressure situation, in 2025? Evidently if you put him in with Brian Ownby, Niall McCabe, and Sean Totsch, you’re going to get that fairytale ending that we all love.
Before we jump to endings, let’s enjoy a look back at the moments of the match that made us smile while we patiently waited for that sweet Ownby goal.
Players modeled the “keep Louisville weird” warm-ups against a beautiful downtown Louisville sunset and nothing felt less weird.
Goodrum and McFadden act and look like they’ve been BFFs since middle school. They would’ve shared lockers and sat together at lunch to eat their terrible hamburger and canned corn before chugging down 2 oz of chocolate milk from a paper container.
Middle school (and high school and college) graduate Aiden McFadden dancing like no one is watching. Like no one has a camera. Like I don’t have a camera, fifty feet in front of him, watching for great shots like this. Everyone should have Aiden’s love for life.
And then there’s Kyle Adams, who knows that people (me) have cameras, and is really tired of people (me) taking pictures of him.
Warm-up-against-the-sunset Gallery
The same carefree Aiden who dances when there’s no music is also an intensely competitive individual (you knew this) and tried to hide his impatience under the light show pre-match.
Welcome back to the gallery, Phil’s abs! Kyle’s abs did an excellent job last week, but we all missed you. Definitely earning Mr. Goodrum more than five minutes of play.
The headers start early, and everyone is surprised to see Adrien Perez’s new form that combines McFadden’s love of dance with a ballerina stretching technique.
Davila the Elder has opponents falling at his feet after they heard about the injuries sustained from that one guy last week. You know what I’m talking about. You know you watched it and laughed over and over at that poor guy’s misery.
For fuller, thicker hair…ask Aiden what on earth he does because not only does he have an amazing head of hair, but it stands up on command.
Adrien Perez has full control of the ball and then Miami Vice reject pulls his arm behind his back to make him say uncle. Of course, the spectacular refs put an end to this and restarted the play with Miami earning possession.
In a brief moment of levity in the game, Jansen Wilson challenges the Miami Keeper to a game of peek-a-boo.
You know how you go for a nice walk as a family and the toddler runs way ahead and you have to yell at him to slow down? I wonder who the Lou City toddler would be…
And that feeling of cleaning up the kitchen, all the dishes put away, and in walks the 2nd grader who spills goldfish everywhere, gets out 5 cups before finding her favorite and then bounces? Who would do that?
I would like to renew my objection to the wearing of white shorts by any sports player ever. If we can move past that atrocity, take a moment to appreciate the windmill-like rotation of Adrien Perez’s shot at the goal.
You know that part in every Bond movie where the villain stops to explain his entire evil plan to 007 because he’s so confident that he’s succeeded? Maybe Aiden (though not evil) should not have stopped to explain that he was planning on scoring to Miami because they thwarted his plan. Several times over.
Time for some wrestling. Wait, what? How did we end up here? I haven’t even shown you the swole guy warming up for Miami.
There he is. I’m sorry, but what? Why are you playing soccer when you could clearly be headlining a Magic Mike show at some cantina off-off the Vegas strip?
Great time to pause for a Fan Gallery
After 32 shots on target and 0 goals (we’re still early in the 1st half), Kyle Adams has had enough.
I know it’s early to be thinking about the holidays, but I’m already seeing commercials (and we know Hobby Lobby is ready) so isn’t this giving Grinch-stealing-Christmas-presents? Where’s Cindy Lou Who when you need her? (Probably at that Magic Mike show. She’s gotta be old enough by now.)
Earmuffs, kiddos. McFadden is not using his indoor voice and he’s got something to say. Everyone in the stadium is about to hear a bad word.
Here we go! Time to bring in some subs. We get three fan favorites at once - Brian Ownby, Ray Serrano, and Adam’s abs.
Adams uses the internation sign for “will you buy me an Apple watch” to let Ownby know they need get the match started.
Here’s how spectacular the refereeing was. Middle guy showed a yellow card, and McFadden and Lou City argued with him for a full 60 seconds before understanding that the card was on the Miami player. Round of applause for the next-level incompetence demonstrated by this crew.
In a beautiful moment of foreshadowing, Lancaster and Ownby seem to share the ball and signal that it’s time for the play they’ve been rehearsing for five years and saving for tonight.
This may seem like a blurry picture, but it’s actually one of those 3D pictures from the 90s where you have to let your eyes go out of focus and then you can see the images come to life. (Let me know if that actually works.) The moment when Ownby sent a smooth pass to the goal and the stadium went from 0 to 5000 decibels will forever be engraved on my ear drums. What a sweet moment.
You can now refocus your eyes on #13 and should be able to see all the hope draining from his soul while his teammates collapse in utter defeat.
The lads surround Ownby as he celebrates his first goal in two years. (He dedicated the goal to his wife, who has been bugging him about scoring like all good wives do).
Brian-Ownby-Goal-Celebration-Gallery
Beautiful score and the man who made it so.
Davila the younger appears to rock a mock-turtleneck to the post-match huddle.
Post-match-huddle Gallery
Shield-Celebration Gallery
McFadden and Goodrum pose with the shield while a grown-up from the stands tells them not to play frisbee with it.
They immediately play frisbee with it.
Kyle also wants to play frisbee but Ownby wants to talk “lessons learned” about the match before letting Adams have any fun.
The guys who are “older than God” according to a 23 year old player who wasn’t invited to pose.
The old guard (she says with all the respect of a granddaughter).
Classic face-off between media and player. Who will blink first - Kyle Adams or WLKY’s Preston Harvey?
The phenomenal grounds crew who keep the pitch in shape for the lads and lasses who do their best to tear it up each week. Job security, right fellas?
Couple of the Racing Louisville players showing some love to Lou City (and Burger King)
Great-shots-Gallery (both kinds)
