WHO: Real Monarchs, 0-2-0 in WWC play

WHAT: A Wasatch Winter Cup preseason match thing

WHEN: Saturday, February 22, 2020, 11 a.m. EST

WHERE: Zions Bank Stadium or somewhere nearby in Herriman, Utah

WATCH: There’s actually a stream for this one, RIGHT HERE! Hooray!

WHO, AGAIN? Ah, yes, our ageless enemy in combat, the Real Monarchs. When we last saw The Lil’ Butterflies, we were glancing dolefully over our shoulders on our way out of Lynn Stadium while they celebrated their USL Championship Final Trophy victory. That sucked! I’ve mostly erased that from my memory, and then I wrote that sentence and remembered it and got sad again!

Since then, Monarchs have lost their starting center backs in that match, Kaylen Ryden and Konrad Plewa, plus midfielder Maikel Chang. Also gone is that goalkeeper that I wanted to launch into the sun. Those seem like some pretty significant losses. How Jamison Olave deals with that in an offense-heavy Western Conference this year should be interesting to watch.

Monarchs kept captain Jack Blake, however, along with Noah Powder. They brought back Taylor Peay. They’ve added a whole lot of guys from the college and League One ranks. There are only sixteen guys on the Monarchs roster at the moment, but it’s an MLS 2 team so that doesn’t really mean anything.

Monarchs have had a ho-hum preseason so far in terms of results. They had a scoreless draw against Omaha on Sunday. They repeated that scoreline against Colorado Springs on Wednesday. I, personally, would like to see them continue to go scoreless while achieving a significant delta in the “goals against” column tomorrow.

I don’t expect anyone in black adidas training gear to underestimate this team, even if they have lost the best parts of their back line. I have no idea who will be playing forward or what their tactics might be or how much they’ve changed their system, if at all, since last November.

I’d just like to see City look comfortable in their own skin. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can pick out planned patterns of play. I’m looking forward to seeing how guys do in new or different roles, and how the new guys have fit in with the group. More than anything, I’m just excited that I get to watch a Louisville City game for the first time in months. That’s probably the bar I should set.

Speaking of bars, I kind of doubt any will be carrying this streamed broadcast unless they’re super eager to dig into their A/V equipment and figure out if it’s even possible. Drinking beer by yourself on your couch might be your best bet. Be responsible and all that.

VAMOS MORADOS!