The leaders in both conferences kept cruising along in the USL Championship this past week, but there was plenty of jostling just behind them.
San Antonio FC returned from a two-week break to win comfortably and extend its lead at the top of the Western Conference, but the other two teams in Texas came away with head-scratching losses. Over in California, San Diego Loyal SC inched closer to the top but is still a considerable distance away from SAFC.
Over in the Eastern Conference, Louisville City FC kept up its position at the top of the table with a hard-fought win away to the team which was closest to it heading into the weekend. Surprisingly, the two bottom teams in the East also got wins this weekend, bringing some excitement back to those communities.
Here are the results and details you should care about from the last week of action in the USL Championship.
Talkin’ Tejas
SAFC returned to action and started the second half of its season with a dominant 5-0 home win over Atlanta United 2, extending its lead at the top of the Western Conference and furthering its case for being the best team in the league. SAFC exploited the league’s leakiest defense as Santiago Patiño and Samuel Adeniran became the first duo of SAFC players to score braces in the same match.
El Paso Locomotive FC’s league-leading 10-match unbeaten streak came to an end in shocking fashion Saturday as Oakland Roots SC sent the Locos home with a 4-0 loss. Oakland carved through the El Paso defense and kicked it while it was down, scoring all four goals within a 20-minute span in the first half.
Rio Grande Valley FC was also on the wrong end of a result as it fell 1-0 at home against Las Vegas Lights FC on Sunday in a match it had more than enough chances to win. Despite outshooting the Lights 27-3, the Toros could never find a goal to balance out a rocket from Morten Björshol, which is The Striker’s USL Championship Goal of the Week.
Throw-in from @Mohamedtraore04, precise long pass from @danny_christos and a 🚀 BANGER from Morty!
— Las Vegas Lights FC (@lvlightsfc) July 18, 2022
Just like we drew it up at practice ...#RGVvLV | #VivaLights ⚽️🎉 | @AFCU pic.twitter.com/UGonAnleJA
Considering Cali
San Diego Loyal SC reminded everyone why it’s the highest-scoring team in the league with a dominant 3-0 home win over Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Monday. Coupled with a 3-2 win in Colorado Springs two weeks earlier, San Diego is now just two points behind the Switchbacks and could soon usurp them as the team which is closest, yet still so far away, from SAFC.
Orange County SC continues to languish near the bottom of the West after a scoreless draw at home against Miami FC on Saturday which had more action than the scoreline suggests.
Examining everyone else
For a brief moment before its loss on Monday, the Switchbacks looked like their old selves with a thrilling 4-2 win over LA Galaxy II on Friday night. Following a weather delay because of storms in the area, the Switchbacks’ front three of Michee Ngalina, Hadji Barry and Elvis Amoh worked together, scoring all four goals between themselves and providing each other assists on three. The Switchbacks will need to get back to such confident displays if they’re going to keep the pace in the race for second place.
New Mexico United extended its unbeaten streak to five matches and has only lost once in its last 13, propelling it to fourth place in the West after picking up four points last week. It began on Wednesday with a 2-1 away win over FC Tulsa before it returned home on Saturday to draw 1-1 with Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, opening the scoring less than a minute in but leaving the door open for the visitors to draw level 15 minutes from the end.
Louisville City FC extended its unbeaten streak to a handful of matches after its rollercoaster 2-1 win away to Memphis 901 FC in a top-of-the-table clash in the Eastern Conference. Both teams had a man sent off before Memphis opened the scoring in the 66th minute, only for two goals from Brian Ownby to flip things around and maintain Louisville’s breathing room at the top of the East.
That result opened the door for the Tampa Bay Rowdies to overtake Memphis for second place in the East with a 4-1 win away to Loudon United on Saturday. It took until the 64th minute for the scoring to start, but then the dam burst as both sides scored all five goals within the next 20 minutes. A perennial contender, the Rowdies took over from El Paso to have the league’s longest unbeaten streak at 10 matches, hence why it now sits just three points behind Louisville for the top spot in the East.
The Charleston Battery remains near the bottom of the Eastern Conference but snapped a five-match losing streak on Saturday, downing Hartford Athletic 3-1 at home thanks largely to Augustine Williams’ brace. The signs of a breakthrough were flashed three days earlier in Charleston’s 1-0 loss away to Miami FC as it could have come away with the win then instead, had it not struck the woodwork twice.
The only team below Charleston, New York Red Bulls 2, got just its second win of the season and first in four months with a 1-0 result at home against Indy Eleven. While a rare victory for New York, it was the latest in Indy’s mid-season collapse which has seen the team lose six straight matches and last score on June 18, going 450 minutes without a goal.
