On a weekend that saw three of the top four teams in the USL Championship fall at the first hurdle, no team engineered a bigger upset than Detroit City FC. Two years ago, DCFC edged into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They went into Pittsburgh and stunned the top seeded Riverhounds on a Dominic Gasso goal late in the second half.
The gap between DCFC and Louisville this year was even bigger than the 25 point chasm in 2023. Louisville City had a record year, finishing a whopping 36 points ahead of DCFC. It’s also worth mentioning that in five previous visits to Louisville, Le Rouge had lost by a combined 14-2. On paper, it looked pretty bleak. DCFC also has an injury list that would make up a decent portion of a starting team. Ben Morris, Rhys Williams, Connor Rutz, Abdoulaye Diop, Marco Polisi, Carlos Herrera, and the aforementioned Dominic Gasso all missed large portions of the season, including the game in Louisville. Captain Stephen Carroll missed over the two months with a knee injury and still hasn’t been able to play a full game, appearing only as a late substitute since his return.
With all the odds going against them, DCFC looked to be little more than a nuisance for the high-powered Louisville team playing at home. However, some dreary weather kept the crowd to barely 50% capacity at Lynn Family Stadium. That dampened the atmosphere and the field.
There’s not much to discuss in terms of the run of play in this game. Louisville camped out in the DCFC half of the field for the majority of the 90 minutes. The final stats only showed possession at 60-40 for the hosts, but that hardly paints a picture of their thorough territorial domination. Louisville took 19 shots, but only 3 went on goal. Carlos Saldana produced three superb saves to keep them out. They also had 9 corner kicks to just 2 for DCFC.
The most important statistic, however, is the one that decides the game. That is where DCFC came out on top. Le Rouge scored on one of their two corners with their only shot on goal of the game. In the 34th minute, Ryan Williams served the ball in from the DCFC left. Jay Chapman cut across the front of the goal unmarked and nodded the ball down to the far post where Devon Amoo-Mensah stormed in to stab the ball into the goal. That stunned the home crowd but sent the few dozen DCFC fans in the upper deck into rapturous cheers.
That goal may have come too early in the game. It left Danny Dichio’s team with an hour to hold on for dear life. And hold on they did. They kept a lid on Louisville’s attack until halftime. During the interval, Danny Cruz lit a fire under his team and they piled on the pressure. Shots, crosses, and driving runs came at DCFC’s back line from every direction. DCFC’s rapidly tiring defenders blocked a lot of shots and passes. Saldana made one of the saves of this season or any other from a Brian Ownby header when he reached behind him at full stretch to claw the ball out of the goal, conceding yet another corner kick.
Louisville became more and more frustrated with the rope-a-dope tactics DCFC used. Le Rouge slowed the game at every opportunity: goal kicks, throw-ins, defensive free kicks. No delay was too inconvenient as they nursed the 1-0 lead down to the end. When the final whistle went, Detroit City celebrated as if they had won the championship. This result will go down in history as the biggest ever upset in the playoffs. It also gives DCFC a chance to repeat their win from two years ago as they now face a trip to Pittsburgh.
The Riverhounds edged Hartford Athletic in penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw. They were at home, but struggled mightily against Hartford, dominating possession, but failing to turn that into goals. Knowing that DCFC will be coming to Highmark Stadium on Saturday night (7:30, ESPN+) will hardly be comforting. The teams split their two games in 2025, each winning at home. But the Riverhounds and their fans will remember the last time Detroit City came in as a big underdog. There will also be plenty of DCFC supporters in attendance, traveling on their own or on the team sponsored fan bus. That will boost the atmosphere and intensity. For Detroit to have any shot at winning the USL Championship playoffs, they will have to become road warriors. As the lowest seed, they won’t be able to host any games this year. Based on the result in Louisville, it might not matter.
