Detroit City have already beaten an MLS team (Columbus Crew) in this 2022 Open Cup. They’ve taken on the mantle of tournament darlings and just happen to have one of the most ferocious home-field advantages in the country. It will take all the experience Louisville City can muster to get out of Hamtramck with a win and a potential date with an MLS opponent in the Round of 16.
“It’s an amazing atmosphere. I was proud watching what they [Detroit City] did [beating Columbus Crew] from the outside,” said Cruz of the Keyworth Stadium experience that awaits him and his team. “I’d much rather be at home because Detroit is a hell of a place to go, but the guys who’ve been here a long time know that if they want to play an MLS team, they have to go there and do the job.”
It will be the first meeting this year between Louisville and their league mates from the Motor City – as DCFC only arrived in the second-division USL Championship after winning the third-division NISA two years running in 2020 and 2021. “I watched some of the game [against the Crew] and they really had that place rocking.” Ownby admitted. “You could really feel the emotion from the fans.”
Cruz, Onwby – and the entirety of the Louisville City squad – will feel that emotion up close on gameday. But it’s not something a grizzled vet like Ownby is sweating too much. “I enjoy the banter from the fans from time to time,” he added. “Sometimes it can give you a little more grit out there on the field.”
Experience Breeds Optimism
You’d think all the experience at hand in the Lou City locker room might bring with it a kind of pessimism. That it could breed a fatalism about the Open Cup, a tournament which has been won by an MLS team for 23 of the last 24 years. But when experience cooks down to wisdom it allows for hope – and the possibility of Cup magic.
“I absolutely love this competition,” said Cruz, a man who saw his flirtation with the trophy turn to ash in 2014 and who knows, better than most, how momentum and confidence, and the willingness to battle, can make all the difference. “I know that every year an MLS team has won it, but I also believe I have a group that’s good enough on any given day to compete with the highest level. I believe that.”
Ownby’s on the same page: “It’s do or die. There’s no reason to lay off. I truly think we can match up. [Coach] Danny has instilled it in us – he has full confidence in us and full belief.”