USL Championship: Louisville City draws largest crowd at new stadium for opening win
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Apr 25, 2021
Louisville City has been consistent in its first six USL Championship seasons.
It opened 2021 with a 2-0 win over Atlanta United 2, continuing its streak of winning the first game each season. It's also reached the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference final each of its first five seasons, so the opening win thanks to a pair of Paolo DelPiccolo goals in the second half is a good omen.
The game drew 7,652 fans -- 50 percent of stadium capacity -- making it the largest crowd in Lynn Family Stadium’s brief history. The stadium opened in June 2020. It was supposed to open in April 2020 but play in the USL Championship was halted after one week due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the USL Championship's only other game on its opening weekend, Salvadoran Joaquin Rivas scored twice to lead FC Tulsa to a 3-1 victory at OKC Energy FC.
Notable: Louisville City started 17-year-old Jonathan Gomez, who joined it from the FC Dallas academy.
Interesting move. Must be that Jodo will skip college as the signing of pro contract probably disqalifies him as amatuer. Jogo opts out of FC Dallas. Both moves are unusual. Typical USL Championship contracts are one year, wonder if Louisville made a longer commitment to the player and will invest in him with eyes of selling on to MLS or Europe? Interesting story this, as when USL Championship became USSF D2, there was the promise that it could become the platform for non-college bound players, but they got wrapped around the axel trying with everyone trying to win and new league and all. Maybe now things are stabilizing and folks are starting to figure this out. Not what MLS wants, I don't think.