Louisville City Falls to El Paso, 2-1, at Lynn Family Stadium

Louisville City FC couldn’t complete a second-half comeback Saturday night, falling 2-1 to El Paso Locomotive FC in USL Championship action at Lynn Family Stadium. The defeat dropped LouCity to 9-6-9 with 33 points.

El Paso took control during the opening half. Alex Méndez converted a penalty in the 24th minute to give the Locomotive the lead. The visitors then doubled their advantage just before halftime when Rubio Rubín scored in the 45th minute, sending Louisville into the break trailing 2-0.

LouCity made changes at halftime in an effort to spark the attack, including bringing on Manny Perez, and Louisville controlled much of the pressure after the break.

The breakthrough finally came in the 77th minute, when Perez found the net to cut El Paso’s advantage to 2-1 and give the home side life.

Louisville continued to push for the equalizer and dominated several of the attacking numbers. LouCity finished with 16 total shots, six on goal and 12 corner kicks, compared with eight shots, three on target and only two corners for El Paso. But Locomotive goalkeeper Jahmali Waite and the El Paso defense held firm to preserve the victory.

The loss is a frustrating one for Louisville after the club advanced to the USL Cup Final earlier in the week, defeating San Antonio in an 8-7 penalty shootout following a scoreless semifinal. LouCity will visit Hartford Athletic in the Cup Final on October 4.

Louisville City returns to USL Championship play Saturday, September 19, against Loudoun United FC.