New trophy created for pro soccer rivalry between Lexington and Louisville (2025)

For the first time as members of the same league, Lexington Sporting Club and Louisville City will face off on the pitch this season.

And now, there will be a trophy on the line.

LSC and Lou City — both members of the USL Championship, the second-highest level of men’s professional soccer in the United States — are slated to play twice this season.

The winner of this two-game series between Kentucky’s pro men’s soccer teams will win the Commonwealth Cup, presented by Republic Bank.

The first meeting between the teams will be at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville. That match will be part of the Championship’s regular season schedule.

The second meeting between the sides will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at the Lexington SC Stadium in Lexington. That match will be part of the expanded USL Jagermeister Cup, a competition that includes all USL Championship and USL League One teams.

Both of these meetings between LSC and LouCity will count toward the newly created Commonwealth Cup.

“Moving up the USL Championship league is a milestone moment for Lexington SC, and the introduction of the Commonwealth Cup shows how far the game has come in Kentucky,” Lexington Sporting Club CEO Kim Shelton said in a news release. “Together with LouCity and Republic Bank, we’re shaping a future that puts Kentucky soccer on the national stage.”

The two teams are working on the design of the Commonwealth Cup. Included in the announcement of the Commonwealth Cup was news that both Lexington and LouCity are planning a summer service project benefiting local food pantries, in conjunction with Republic Bank.

LSC and Louisville City have previously faced each other only once in a competitive match: LouCity defeated LSC 1-0 in April 2023 in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a national single-elimination tournament that’s held each year.

Lexington and Louisville have played each other in the preseason in each of the last two years.

With the two teams now both members of the 24-team Championship, annual meetings for the Commonwealth Cup will be the norm.

If the teams split the results against each other in this season’s two matches, the Commonwealth Cup will be determined by goal differential. If needed, other traditional soccer tiebreaking procedures would then be used to determine a winner.

The May 1 meeting between Lexington and LouCity is an official Kentucky Derby Festival event. The match will take place the day before the Kentucky Oaks and two days before the Kentucky Derby, both of which will be run at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

“Our rivalry with Lexington is something bigger than two soccer games a year,” Louisville City President James O’Connor said in the release. “We’re thrilled to partner with Republic Bank in elevating the series, building a stronger city and state, and making an impact in the community through the power of soccer. The Commonwealth Cup provides a platform that unites Kentucky’s pro soccer clubs, and that will only encourage growth for the game in our communities. Of course, we’re always excited by the opportunity to lift a trophy, too. We hope to see the stands packed with purple May 1 for a massive game at Lynn Family Stadium.”

How are Lexington SC, Louisville City doing in USL Championship?

Both Lexington and Louisville are several games into their respective 34-game regular seasons in the Championship.

Lexington has played seven matches, with a 1-2-4 (W-L-D) record that equates to seven points. LSC is the first team out of the playoffs in the Western Conference standings.

Lexington Sporting Club won its first match as a Championship club — a 2-0 home win over Hartford Athletic, currently the worst team in the league, on March 8 at home — but LSC is winless in its last six games. LSC is coming off back-to-back scoreless draws at home against the Las Vegas Lights and Monterey Bay.

Before the May 1 game against Louisville, Lexington will play at 6 p.m. Saturday at home against Loudoun United in a Jagermeister Cup match.

Louisville has played only six matches in the Championship this season, posting a 4-0-2 record that’s good for 14 points. Louisville City is the last unbeaten team left in the Championship. LouCity is second in the Eastern Conference standings.

Like Lexington, LouCity — two-time winners of the Championship — has a Jagermeister Cup engagement this weekend before next Thursday’s rivalry showdown. Louisville City will host the Richmond Kickers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium in that competition.

This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 1:01 PM.