LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Time to even up the season series.
The fourth and final matchup between FC Tulsa and Louisville City FC will be held at Lynn Family Stadium on Friday night with LouCity leading the season series between two of the Central Division's heavyweights 2-1. However, 3rd-place FC Tulsa is riding a three-match win streak coming into play while 1st-place LouCity enters the competition coming off a rare loss in its last match.
In the month of August, FC Tulsa earned 12 points in the Central Division standings, the most of any club in the division. A surge of offense has led to four wins in FC Tulsa’s last five matches and its second three-match win streak this season.
FC Tulsa also featured a franchise-record four players named to the Week 19 Team of the Week following its impressive three victories in seven days last week. Matt Sheldon, Lebo Moloto, Marlon, and Jorge Corrales all received recognition for their standout showcases and contributions to FC Tulsa’s success in Week 19 of the USL Championship season.
Louisville City FC, one of just five clubs in USL Championship with at least 40 points earned in 2021, will prove a challenge for FC Tulsa to extend its winning streak to four straight. Cameron Lancaster has been a handful for FC Tulsa, scoring in all three matchups to this point. However, injuries have plagued LouCity as of late, and it is unknown if Louisville will be able to field its strongest Starting XI on Friday night.
Forward Joaquín Rivas will not be available for FC Tulsa as he is on international duty for El Salvador, but recent offensive play from the likes of Lebo Moloto, Marlon, and Darío Suárez leave no doubt that FC Tulsa’s offense is more than capable or banging home goals in Rivas’ absence.
Kickoff from Lynn Family Stadium is scheduled for Friday, September 3 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
HOW TO WATCH
TV: MY41
Stream: ESPN+ (US), YouTube (International)
Follow: You can follow FC Tulsa @FCTulsa on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
SCOUTING LOUISVILLE CITY FC
LouCity is coming off a 2-1 defeat on the road at Birmingham, a result that ended its eight-match unbeaten streak and continued a trend that Louisville has been unable to break this season – all four of Louisville’s losses this season have come when it has conceded first in a match.
At home, LouCity is very difficult to triumph over. The club is 9W-1L-1D at Lynn Family Stadium with a goal differential of +16. However, Louisville will not see much of the home crowd until October. Its matchup with FC Tulsa is LouCity’s only home match in an eight-match stretch of road competitions.
Forward Cameron Lancaster, who has scored five times against FC Tulsa this season, leads LouCity with 11 goals. Brian Ownby, who is listed on the injury report for LouCity along with another key player in Jonathan Gomez for Friday night, leads the club with seven assists (tying Ownby for third in USL Championship). Keeper Parker Siegfried has recorded 13 saves while conceding eight times for a 61.9% save pct.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1) Win Streak
FC Tulsa enters Friday night’s contest looking to extend a three-match win streak. It is the second three-match win streak for FC Tulsa this season as the club got off to a 3W-0L-0D start to the season. When factoring in FC Tulsa’s three straight wins to close out the 2020 season, Tulsa now has three separate three-match win streaks over its last 23 matches. Over the club’s first 170 matches in USL Championship dating back to its inaugural season in 2015, it had never had a single three-match winning streak.
2) Moloto Momentum
Lebo Moloto has been a key contributor to FC Tulsa’s recent stretch in which it has won four of its last five matches. After missing the start of the season due to injury, Moloto has returned to form atop the midfield, netting a first-half brace last weekend, logging his first two assists of the season, and creating at least two chances in every match over the club’s last five matches.
Moloto currently finds himself with 29 career goals and 29 career assists in the USL Championship regular season, just one away in each offensive stat to join the exclusive 30/30 club. Moloto would be just the fifth player in league history to reach the milestone.
3) Scoring First
Scoring first has been the key to FC Tulsa’s success in August. Tulsa is now 9W-1L-0D when being the first on the scoreboard and has improved its record to 8W-0L-0D when leading at halftime. Meanwhile, Louisville City FC struggles when not getting out to the early lead. LouCity has only lost four matches all season, and they conceded first in all four of those matchups.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Time to even up the season series.
The fourth and final matchup between FC Tulsa and Louisville City FC will be held at Lynn Family Stadium on Friday night with LouCity leading the season series between two of the Central Division’s heavyweights 2-1. However, 3rd-place FC Tulsa is riding a three-match win streak coming into play while 1st-place LouCity enters the competition coming off a rare loss in its last match.
In the month of August, FC Tulsa earned 12 points in the Central Division standings, the most of any club in the division. A surge of offense has led to four wins in FC Tulsa’s last five matches and its second three-match win streak this season.
FC Tulsa also featured a franchise-record four players named to the Week 19 Team of the Week following its impressive three victories in seven days last week. Matt Sheldon, Lebo Moloto, Marlon, and Jorge Corrales all received recognition for their standout showcases and contributions to FC Tulsa’s success in Week 19 of the USL Championship season.
Louisville City FC, one of just five clubs in USL Championship with at least 40 points earned in 2021, will prove a challenge for FC Tulsa to extend its winning streak to four straight. Cameron Lancaster has been a handful for FC Tulsa, scoring in all three matchups to this point. However, injuries have plagued LouCity as of late, and it is unknown if Louisville will be able to field its strongest Starting XI on Friday night.
Forward Joaquín Rivas will not be available for FC Tulsa as he is on international duty for El Salvador, but recent offensive play from the likes of Lebo Moloto, Marlon, and Darío Suárez leave no doubt that FC Tulsa’s offense is more than capable or banging home goals in Rivas’ absence.
Kickoff from Lynn Family Stadium is scheduled for Friday, September 3 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
HOW TO WATCH
TV: MY41
Stream: ESPN+ (US), YouTube (International)
Follow: You can follow FC Tulsa @FCTulsa on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
SCOUTING LOUISVILLE CITY FC
LouCity is coming off a 2-1 defeat on the road at Birmingham, a result that ended its eight-match unbeaten streak and continued a trend that Louisville has been unable to break this season – all four of Louisville’s losses this season have come when it has conceded first in a match.
At home, LouCity is very difficult to triumph over. The club is 9W-1L-1D at Lynn Family Stadium with a goal differential of +16. However, Louisville will not see much of the home crowd until October. Its matchup with FC Tulsa is LouCity’s only home match in an eight-match stretch of road competitions.
Forward Cameron Lancaster, who has scored five times against FC Tulsa this season, leads LouCity with 11 goals. Brian Ownby, who is listed on the injury report for LouCity along with another key player in Jonathan Gomez for Friday night, leads the club with seven assists (tying Ownby for third in USL Championship). Keeper Parker Siegfried has recorded 13 saves while conceding eight times for a 61.9% save pct.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1) Win Streak
FC Tulsa enters Friday night’s contest looking to extend a three-match win streak. It is the second three-match win streak for FC Tulsa this season as the club got off to a 3W-0L-0D start to the season. When factoring in FC Tulsa’s three straight wins to close out the 2020 season, Tulsa now has three separate three-match win streaks over its last 23 matches. Over the club’s first 170 matches in USL Championship dating back to its inaugural season in 2015, it had never had a single three-match winning streak.
2) Moloto Momentum
Lebo Moloto has been a key contributor to FC Tulsa’s recent stretch in which it has won four of its last five matches. After missing the start of the season due to injury, Moloto has returned to form atop the midfield, netting a first-half brace last weekend, logging his first two assists of the season, and creating at least two chances in every match over the club’s last five matches.
Moloto currently finds himself with 29 career goals and 29 career assists in the USL Championship regular season, just one away in each offensive stat to join the exclusive 30/30 club. Moloto would be just the fifth player in league history to reach the milestone.
3) Scoring First
Scoring first has been the key to FC Tulsa’s success in August. Tulsa is now 9W-1L-0D when being the first on the scoreboard and has improved its record to 8W-0L-0D when leading at halftime. Meanwhile, Louisville City FC struggles when not getting out to the early lead. LouCity has only lost four matches all season, and they conceded first in all four of those matchups.
