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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 16

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 06/24/19, 4:45PM EDT

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Rising FC rolls on at the top, Pittsburgh, Sacramento push into top 10

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.

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

Biggest Movers

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary

1 Phoenix Rising FC
(9-2-5)
Week 16: W, 3-0 @RNO, W, 4-1 @OKC
Week 17: POR

Last Week: 1
A pair of road wins against Reno 1868 FC and OKC Energy FC saw Phoenix extend its club-record winning streak to seven games and open the gap atop the West to five points.
2 Indy Eleven
(9-2-3)
Week 16: W, 1-0 ATL
Week 17: BHM, LOU

Last Week: 2
The Eleven left it late once again against ATL UTD 2 but Alioune Diakhate’s goal gave Indy its fourth consecutive win as it remained unbeaten at Lucas Oil Stadium.
3 Nashville SC
(8-3-5)
Week 16: T, 3-3 OTT
Week 17: NY, @NC

Last Week: 3
Cameron Lancaster found the back of the net for the second straight week, but this time Nashville couldn’t hold onto all three points against Ottawa.
4 North Carolina FC
(7-2-6)
Week 16: T, 2-2 @STL
Week 17: NSH

Last Week: 4
North Carolina is unbeaten in its last six but would have wanted to walk away with all three points after leading twice on Saturday in Saint Louis.
5 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(9-1-6)
Week 16: W, 2-1 BST
Week 17: OTT
2
Last Week: 7
The Rowdies’ top-ranked defense conceded for the third game running, but Tampa Bay got back in the win column on its trip to Bethlehem.
6 Portland Timbers 2
(7-2-6)
Week 16: W, 2-0 @OC
Week 17: RNO, @PHX
3
Last Week: 9
Portland bagged two late goals to push past Orange County and up to second in the Western Conference standings.
7 New Mexico United
(6-3-8)
Week 16: T, 1-1 @LA
Week 17: --
1
Last Week: 8
Kevaughn Frater’s goal gave him the top spot in the Golden Boot race and earned New Mexico a point on the road against the Galaxy II.
8 El Paso Locomotive FC
(7-3-5)
Week 16: L, 0-1 LV
Week 17: @SA, @FRS
3
Last Week: 5
Locomotive FC’s nine-game unbeaten run and Jerome Kiesewetter’s three-game scoring streak came to a halt at home against Lights FC.
9 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(4-2-7)
Week 16: W, 3-0 NY
Week 17: BHM
8
Last Week: 17
Back-to-back wins have the Hounds looking like the side we expected to be near the top of the East at the beginning of the season, and they’re hungry for more.
10 Sacramento Republic FC
(7-5-2)
Week 16: W, 6-0 TUL
Week 17: @RNO
3
Last Week: 13
Republic FC is also rounding into form as Cameron Iwasa and Stefano Bonomo helped Sacramento put six past Tulsa for its largest victory in club history.
11 New York Red Bulls II
(9-4-2)
Week 16: L, 0-3 @PIT
Week 17: @NSH, @CHS
5
Last Week: 6
New York saw its three-game winning streak end in Pittsburgh, but the Red Bulls II are still well-positioned near the top of the East.
12 Louisville City FC
(7-5-4)
Week 16: T, 1-1 CLT
Week 17: @IND
1
Last Week: 11
Luke Spencer ensured that Louisville earned a point against the Independence, but you would’ve expected more given the hosts’ 67 percent possession and 19-12 shots advantage.
13 Fresno FC
(6-2-7)
Week 16: W, 3-2 SA
Week 17: ELP
2
Last Week: 15
After failing to hold onto leads in three of their last four games, the Foxes finally held off a San Antonio fightback for all three points.
14 Reno 1868 FC
(6-4-5)
Week 16: L, 0-3 PHX
Week 17: @POR, SAC
4
Last Week: 10
Reno had the chance to make a statement against Rising FC on Tuesday, but the hosts were wasteful in the first half and punished in the second.
15 Ottawa Fury FC
(6-2-6)
Week 16: T, 3-3 @NSH
Week 17: CHS, @TBR
1
Last Week: 14
Ottawa showed off its resilience on Saturday night in Nashville, coming back on two separate occasions to earn a point and extend its unbeaten run to a league-best nine games.
16 Charleston Battery
(5-3-7)
Week 16: T, 1-1 SPR
Week 17: @OTT, NY
4
Last Week: 12
The Battery have one win in their last five games after settling for a disappointing home draw with the struggling Rangers.
17 Austin Bold FC
(6-5-5)
Week 16: W, 1-0 @RGV
Week 17: COS
1
Last Week: 18
Andre Lima’s goal just after halftime helped Austin take victory over Copa Tejas rival Rio Grande Valley and put the side in pole position to claim the inaugural trophy.
18 Saint Louis FC
(5-3-5)
Week 16: T, 2-2 NC
Week 17: @SPR
2
Last Week: 16
More late heroics from Sam Fink helped Saint Louis earn a point against North Carolina after the defender headed STLFC into the Open Cup Quarterfinals on Wednesday.
19 Real Monarchs SLC
(5-6-3)
Week 16: W, 2-1 @COS
Week 17: @TUL
4
Last Week: 23
The Monarchs have now won back-to-back games after finding a pair of late goals to rally to victory in Colorado Springs.
20 Las Vegas Lights FC
(6-6-4)
Week 16: W, 1-0 @ELP
Week 17: @OKC
5
Last Week: 25
After earning just a single point from its first seven road trips of the season, Lights FC found the win column after absorbing lots of pressure from Locomotive FC.
21 OKC Energy FC
(5-5-7)
Week 16: L, 1-4 PHX
Week 17: @LV
2
Last Week: 19
Energy FC couldn’t make the most of home-field advantage or a man-advantage against a devastating Rising FC attack.
22 Loudoun United FC
(3-6-3)
Week 16: --
Week 17: ATL

Last Week: 22
Loudoun’s lengthy layoff will come to an end on Friday when it plays host to ATL UTD 2 at Audi Field.
23 Rio Grande Valley FC
(5-7-4)
Week 16: L, 0-1 AUS
Week 17: --
3
Last Week: 20
Rio Grande Valley’s third loss in four outings saw it drop outside of the playoff places in the Western Conference.
24 Orange County SC
(4-5-7)
Week 16: L, 0-2 POR
Week 17: LA
3
Last Week: 21
Orange County has failed to score in its last two games – both defeats – but will like its chances to break that streak next weekend against a porous Galaxy II defense.
25 Hartford Athletic
(2-10-4)
Week 16: T, 2-2 @BHM
Week 17: BST
1
Last Week: 24
Hartford led twice in Birmingham but couldn’t hold on to continue its climb up the table. A return home on Friday against Steel FC will provide another opportunity.
26 San Antonio FC
(4-8-4)
Week 16: L, 2-3 @FRS
Week 17: ELP

Last Week: 26
San Antonio’s road woes returned on Friday night in Fresno and Head Coach Darren Powell’s side has now taken just one point from eight away games this season.
27 Charlotte Independence
(2-7-7)
Week 16: T, 1-1 @LOU
Week 17: MEM
3
Last Week: 30
The Independence have looked a different side since Mike Jeffries returned to the sidelines but have now dropped a league-high 19 points from winning positions.
28 LA Galaxy II
(4-6-7)
Week 16: T, 1-1 NM
Week 17: @OC
4
Last Week: 32
The Galaxy II are now winless in their last eight but holding New Mexico to a goal and a point should be considered a success.
29 Memphis 901 FC
(2-7-5)
Week 16: --
Week 17: @CLT

Last Week: 29
Memphis welcomed Liga MX side Pachuca to AutoZone Park over its bye week and will hope to build off its first-half showing when it travels to Charlotte this weekend.
30 Bethlehem Steel FC
(4-8-4)
Week 16: L, 1-2 TBR
Week 17: @HFD
1
Last Week: 31
James Chambers’ penalty was nothing more than consolation as Steel FC succumbed to defeat against the Rowdies.
31 Birmingham Legion FC
(3-8-4)
Week 16: T, 2-2 HFD
Week 17: @IND, @PIT
2
Last Week: 33
Birmingham battled back against Hartford to snap its four-game losing skid, but Legion FC hasn’t won a league game since April 27.
32 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(4-10-2)
Week 16: L, 2-1 SLC
Week 17: @AUS
4
Last Week: 28
Whatever momentum the Switchbacks created in their two-game winning streak has quickly dissipated after Saturday’s late collapse against the Monarchs.
33 Tulsa Roughnecks FC
(4-7-5)
Week 16: L, 0-6 @SAC
Week 17: SLC
6
Last Week: 27
The Roughnecks have lost their last four games by a combined total of 16-2. That’s not good.
34 Atlanta United 2
(3-8-4)
Week 16: L, 0-1 @IND
Week 17: @LDN

Last Week: 34
A three-game losing streak and nine-game winless run has ATL UTD 2 searching for answers, but they’re still somehow sitting in 12th place in the East.
35 Swope Park Rangers
(1-8-6)
Week 16: T, 1-1 @CHS
Week 17: STL
1
Last Week: 36
The Rangers deserve some credit for fighting back for a draw in Charleston, but they’re still rooted to the bottom of the table.
36 Tacoma Defiance
(2-11-4)
Week 16: --
Week 17: --
1
Last Week: 35
The Defiance will have a second week off to work on things before traveling to Rio Grande Valley in search of their first road win of the season.

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