WHO:

St. Louis FC, 5-7-4, 19 points, 13th place Eastern Conference

WHAT:

A USL away match. Or is it an USL away match? Aren’t vowels supposed to be preceded by consonants? Or is “U” an exception? Well, no, because you say “an” umbrella. The lesson here is that, like magnets, it’s impossible to know how English works.

WHEN:

Saturday, July 22, 2017, 8:30 PM, just about the same time as the USMNT play Costa Rica. Given the Yanks’ performance thus far in the Gold Cup, I don’t think the choice is that difficult here.

WHERE:

Worldwide Technology Soccer Park/Marshall Wireless Stadium/Toyota Stadium. In any event, it’s soccer stadium in Fenton, Missouri that may or may not be under water by kickoff.

WATCH:

Louisville City’s having a watch party at BoomBozz at Westport Village. They’ve got LouCity IPA! Of course, you can always catch LouCity away matches at Against the Grain, Saints, Great Flood Brewing, Molly Malone’s, and other places that have TVs that get WBNA-21. 840 WHAS has the radio broadcast again, and YouTube has the streamery.

WHO, AGAIN?

Apparently suck is just ingrained in STLFC and no amount of Preki or eastern European soccer talent can get it out. A team that was almost totally overhauled before the season with a USL-winning coach and big(ger) money players certainly haven’t performed up to expectations. If you’re into schadenfreude, listen to just about any of the Louligans’ “This is Silly” podcasts this season and you’ll get at least double your daily allowance of sodium.

All that said, Preki is still a good coach, Christian Volesky is still a good striker, and these guys did beat the Battery in St. Louis last week. Statistically, the only real difference between St. Louis and LouCity is goals scored and goals allowed. It’s a big difference, but this is still a quality team. They just can’t stop leaking goals or start scoring them. Except last week.

Louisville City has its own demons to work out after paying for every mistake they made against Cincinnati with a goal and not doing enough to break down the Cindy defense. St. Louis’s back line may be a bit more forgiving, but a clean sheet would do wonders for the City central defenders, too. Let’s see if we can work some magic and bring the Kings Cup home for the rest of the season.

COME ON, CITY!