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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 1

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 03/11/19, 4:00PM EDT

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The defending champions goes down, so who takes top spot this week?

The 2019 USL Championship Power Rankings are compiled each week by staff writers John Arlia and Nicholas Murray. Check back every Monday during the regular season to see who’s hot and who’s not, as the biggest season in the league’s history progresses.

Select a logo to find where your team is ranked.

Atlanta United 2 Austin Bold FC Birmingham Legion FC Bethlehem Steel FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC El Paso Locomotive FC Fresno FC
Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven LA Galaxy II Louisville City FC Las Vegas Lights FC Loudoun United FC Memphis 901 FC Nashville SC North Carolina FC
New Mexico United New York Red Bulls II Orange County SC OKC Energy FC Ottawa Fury FC Phoenix Rising FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Portland Timbers 2 Rio Grande Valley FC
Reno 1868 FC San Antonio FC Real Monarchs SLC Saint Louis FC Sacramento Republic FC Swope Park Rangers Tacoma Defiance Tampa Bay Rowdies Tulsa Roughnecks FC

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary

1 Phoenix Rising FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 3-3 @SA
Week 2: NM
1
Last Week: 2
Rising FC didn’t get an opening win, but it showed heart to come back three times in a thrilling 3-3 draw with SAFC.
2 Nashville SC
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 2-0 LDN
Week 2: STL
1
Last Week: 3
It wasn’t the overwhelming performance we anticipated but three points to open the season is always positive.
3 OKC Energy FC
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 3-1 @ELP
Week 2: LV
4
Last Week: 7
Deshorn Brown looked like the preseason Golden Boot candidate we were expecting against El Paso.
4 Orange County SC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 2-2 @RNO
Week 2: TUL
2
Last Week: 6
Rallying back to earn a point in Reno showed OCSC is going to be among the contenders again.
5 Sacramento Republic FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 SLC
Week 2: @COS

Last Week: 5
Republic FC created plenty of chances against the Monarchs but will need to be sharper in front of goal moving forward.
6 North Carolina FC
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 4-1 LOU
Week 2: @BST
16
Last Week: 22
OK, you’ve got our attention. What do you have for an encore?
7 Louisville City FC
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 1-4 @NC
Week 2: @ATL
6
Last Week: 1
Captain Paolo DelPiccolo labeled Saturday’s performance “embarrassing.” Enough said.
8 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 4-1 @LA
Week 2: SAC
5
Last Week: 13
A first hat trick in club history for Shane Malcolm got the Switchbacks rolling in the right direction.
9 Saint Louis FC
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 2-1 IND
Week 2: @NSH
6
Last Week: 15
Comeback victory for the club’s third consecutive home-opening win? That will do nicely.
10 San Antonio FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 3-3 PHX
Week 2: POR

Last Week: 10
SAFC will be kicking itself for letting a late lead slip, but there was a lot to like offensively here.
11 Indy Eleven
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 1-2 @STL
Week 2: @CLT
7
Last Week: 4
Falling at a tough place to play isn’t the end of the world, but the defending on both goals wasn’t pretty.
12 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 1-0 @MEM
Week 2: PIT
1
Last Week: 11
A road win thanks to a solid defensive display is a pretty nice way to start things off.
13 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(0-0-0)
Week 1: --
Week 2: @TBR
5
Last Week: 8
The Hounds ended preseason with a loss to Toronto FC II. We’ll see what that means on Saturday against the Rowdies.
14 Reno 1868 FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 2-2 OC
Week 2: AUS
5
Last Week: 9
A draw that feels like a loss, 1868 FC has still yet to win a home opener in its history.
15 New York Red Bulls II
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 3-1 SPR
Week 2: --
4
Last Week: 19
You saw that attack against Swope Park. You fancy trying to defend it? Woof.
16 Real Monarchs SLC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 @SAC
Week 2: ELP
2
Last Week: 14
A point on the road is perfectly adequate and 18-year-old David Ochoa put in a stellar display in goal.
17 Charleston Battery
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 OTT
Week 2: HFD
5
Last Week: 12
Rallying back from an early deficit, the Battery couldn’t quite find a winner against Ottawa.
18 Bethlehem Steel FC
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 2-0 @BHM
Week 2: NC
2
Last Week: 20
There are lots of new faces, but Brendan Burke’s side meshed quickly to pick up a good road win.
19 Charlotte Independence
(0-0-0)
Week 1: --
Week 2: IND
3
Last Week: 16
We get the debut of the new-look Independence this Friday. Will Jimmy McGuinness be winnin’ matches again?
20 New Mexico United
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 FRS
Week 2: @PHX
3
Last Week: 17
First game, first goal, first point. All in all, not a bad opening night compared to other expansion sides.
21 Ottawa Fury FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 @CHS
Week 2: @BHM
6
Last Week: 27
A draw in Charleston marks the first time Fury FC hasn’t lost its season opener.
22 Atlanta United 2
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 2-0 HFD
Week 2: LOU
12
Last Week: 34
Victory against expansion Hartford makes it two home-opener wins in a row for Atlanta.
23 Fresno FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 @NM
Week 2: @RGV
2
Last Week: 21
A road point against New Mexico got the Foxes off to a decent start in Year 2.
24 Las Vegas Lights FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 0-0 AUS
Week 2: @OKC
6
Last Week: 18
Owner Brett Lashbrook’s guarantee didn’t materialize, neither did a goal at Cashman Field.
25 Portland Timbers 2
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 @TUL
Week 2: @SA
1
Last Week: 26
Coming back to take a point on the road isn’t a bad start, but T2 might have taken all three.
26 Birmingham Legion FC
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 0-2 BST
Week 2: OTT
1
Last Week: 25
There were nice passages in Legion FC’s inaugural game, but Steel FC’s finishing punished the host’s wastefulness.
27 Swope Park Rangers
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 1-3 @NY
Week 2: --
4
Last Week: 23
If not for Eric Dick’s 12 saves it could have been ugly for the Rangers at the Red Bulls II.
28 Tacoma Defiance
(1-0-0)
Week 1: W, 1-0 RGV
Week 2: LA
7
Last Week: 35
New brand, new lineup and a winning start against the Toros. Not bad, guys.
29 Tulsa Roughnecks FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 1-1 POR
Week 2: @OC
4
Last Week: 33
Good first goal and a good effort to hold on for a point against T2.
30 Austin Bold FC
(0-0-1)
Week 1: T, 0-0 @LV
Week 2: @RNO
2
Last Week: 32
No goals but Bold FC looked nicely organized in its trip to Las Vegas.
31 Rio Grande Valley FC
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 0-1 @TAC
Week 2: FRS
3
Last Week: 28
The Toros are going to have to hope their inability to finish on Friday night doesn’t linger long.
32 El Paso Locomotive FC
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 1-3 OKC
Week 2: @SLC
8
Last Week: 24
Defeat isn’t ideal but Locomotive FC won’t have to face a team that looked as good as Energy FC every week.
33 Loudoun United FC
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 0-2 @NSH
Week 2: @MEM
3
Last Week: 36
Antonio Bustamante notched four key passes as Loudoun got through its visit to Nashville without incurring too much damage.
34 Memphis 901 FC
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 0-1 TBR
Week 2: LDN
3
Last Week: 31
The night lived up to all the promise. The team didn’t quite match it.
35 Hartford Athletic
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 0-2 @ATL
Week 2: @CHS
6
Last Week: 29
Missing out on points against ATL UTD 2 hurts even more when you look at the rest of Hartford’s opening road trip.
36 LA Galaxy II
(0-1-0)
Week 1: L, 1-4 COS
Week 2: @TAC
6
Last Week: 30
Shipping four goals at home to start the new season wasn’t the start Los Dos wanted.

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