Crew announced for USL Championship Final in San Antonio
Lukasz Szpala will take charge of the 2022 USL Championship Final at Toyota Field on Sunday, November 13 (8:30PM ET), between San Antonio and Louisville City.
He will be assisted by ARs Kevin Klinger and Ian McKay, who have both officiated 26 regular-season MLS games this year. Matt Thompson will be the fourth official, and Kali Smith will be the reserve assistant referee.
Szpala made his MLS debut in March 2021 when he oversaw D.C. United’s meeting with Toronto FC. After a further five MLS games and having taken charge of the USL Championship Eastern Conference Final, he graduated from PRO2 and was promoted to the senior officiating group, completing 25 MLS refereeing assignments in 2022.
Klinger has been running the line in MLS for the past decade, with close to 150 regular-season assignments to his name. McKay was the USL Assistant Referee of the Year in 2019 before recording 17 MLS regular-season games the following season – a number that has grown every year since.
Thompson was last year’s USL Referee of the Year and is this weekend’s fourth official – a role he was assigned 14 times in MLS this season in addition to refereeing in NWSL and USL Championship.
San Antonio reached the final courtesy of a 2-0 victory against western rivals Colorado Springs Switchbacks, while Louisville City needed extratime to see off Tampa Bay Rowdies in the Eastern Conference Final.
11/13/22
San Antonio vs Louisville City
Toyota Field (8:30PM ET)
REF: Lukasz Szpala
AR1: Kevin Klinger
AR2: Ian McKay
4TH: Matt Thompson
RAR: Kali Smith