Lots to get to today, so let’s just skip the usual nonsense and get right to it:
LouCity to play in Wasatch Winter Cup
Louisville City’s first four preseasons were generally marked by a strenuous two week conditioning camp in Florida, followed by a few tune-up matches against local collegiate competitions. However, the club announced yesterday that they’d be participating in a preseason tournament for the first time in the club’s history: the Wasatch Winter Cup. Matches will be played at Zion’s Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, home Real Salt Lake’s training complex and Real Monarchs.
The tournament will also feature Real Monarchs, Colorado Springs Switchbacks, and League One’s Union Omaha. City will play Switchbacks on February 16, Omaha on the 19th, and Monarchs on the 22nd. It’s not a knockout competition, but presumably the side with the best record wins the cup. City’s press release doesn’t indicate whether any of the matches will be broadcast, but apparently they’ll be streamed on ESPN+. If you happen to just be out in Utah for some reason that week, the matches are free to attend and open to the public!
Other Purple Preseason News
City is also featuring in a couple of other preseason matches that we know about, thanks to irresponsible public relations people! Morados will play DC United at the Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex in Clearwater on February 6, and then Nashville SC at IMG Academy in Bradenton on February 9.
City itself hasn’t yet announced that the team is heading to Florida for preseason camp, but given that they’ve done that the last five years, it was a fair assumption they’d do it again in 2020. These MLS friendlies pretty much confirm that trip is happening. Taking a look at the calendar, Hackworth & Co. will probably spend the first two weeks of February in Florida before heading west for the Wasatch Winter Cup for a week. It remains to be seen whether they’ll play in any additional preseason matches when they finally get back to Louisville, but there are two weeks between the Monarchs match on February 22 and the season opener in North Carolina on March 7.
Other USL Stuff
- Tampa Bay Rowdies have a U23 team in League Two now.
- Professional soccer in Ottawa may rise again, but this time in the Canadian Premier League.
- Pittsburgh continues to lean into its Rochester Rhinos Retirement Refuge motif and signed Tony Walls yesterday.
Have a great Thursday!
