SAN ANTONIO – Amadou Dia scored the decisive goal in the 10th round of a penalty shootout as Louisville City FC advanced 8-7 from the spot against San Antonio FC on Tuesday night in the Semifinals of the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup as goalkeeper Ryan Schewe made three saves in the shootout to help the visitors to victory at Toyota Field.

Both sides missed out from the spot in the opening round with LouCity’s Ryan Schewe saving Mitchell Taintor’s effort before Sean Totsch hit the crossbar with a retake after Joey Batrouni had initially been ruled to have left his line early to make a save. Both sides scored in the ensuing four rounds, sending the shootout to sudden death where Schewe denied Cristian Parano, only for Batrouni to answer with a stop on Aiden McFadden.

The sides then each made three consecutive shots to extend the shootout further, but in the 10th round Luke Haakenson’s shot to the left corner was kept out by Schewe, and Dia made no mistake with his side’s second chance to clinch, firing high down the center to send the LouCity through.

Chances had proved few and far between in the opening half with the best opportunity falling the San Antonio in stoppage time when Mikey Maldonado had an effort blocked inside the penalty area after Schewe had come for but not claimed an angled free kick into the right side of the penalty area. Schewe was called into action early in the second half as Nicky Hernandez fired a low shot to the right corner that was turned wide of the post.

Louisville threatened just past the hour-mark on a clever short corner routine that set up Aiden McFadden for an effort from the left side of the box that was blocked wide of the near post. SAFC’s Alex Crognale fired high with just over 10 minutes to go after LouCity was unable to cleanly clear another set piece, while Louisville had a golden opportunity to take a late lead when Jansen Wilson was played into the penalty area only to shoot tamely, allowing Batrouni to save. After Danny Barbir headed over for the hosts from close range as the game ticked into stoppage time, though, proceedings headed to the spot, where LouCity emerged with its third shootout win of the tournament so far.

Takeaways

San Antonio FC – The hosts carried more of the play and had the better opportunities over the 90 minutes, holding 71.1% of possession and recording 32 touches in the attacking penalty area to LouCity’s seven, but were unable to convert their chances. San Antonio logged only one official effort on target out of its 22 shots overall, and despite holding the advantage of shooting first in the shootout were unable to capitalize before their home crowd.

Louisville City FC – For a second consecutive round in the Prinx Tires USL Cup knockout stage, LouCity came through in a penalty shootout, although in far tenser circumstances than its win against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the Quarterfinals. Sean Totsch failing to convert in the opening round was a major shock – the center back has converted on 14 of 14 penalties in his career in the Championship – but while the visitors failed to close the deal at their first opportunity, goalkeeper Ryan Schewe gave Amadou Dia a second chance that the veteran put away confidently to send the side through.