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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 18

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 07/08/19, 5:30PM EDT

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Charlotte regains form while New Mexico struggles to win games

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
(10-2-5)
Week 18: --
Week 19: @RGV

Last Week: 1
Rising FC is riding an eight-game winning streak and should have Junior Flemmings and Kevon Lambert available again next weekend after their Gold Cup exploits with Jamaica. Watch out.
2 Indy Eleven
(10-2-4)
Week 18: --
Week 19: @HFD

Last Week: 2
The Eleven are in the midst of a league-best 10-game unbeaten run and should be well rested ahead of their trip to Hartford on Saturday.
3 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(11-1-6)
Week 18: W, 3-1 @SPR
Week 19: @PIT
1
Last Week: 4
The Rowdies are 7-0-2 against teams currently outside of the playoff positions and have opened a five-point gap at the top of the Eastern Conference.
4 North Carolina FC
(8-2-7)
Week 18: T, 1-1 CLT
Week 19: @BHM
1
Last Week: 3
North Carolina FC suffered a slight setback in its hopes of claiming another Southern Derby title at season’s end, but Dave Sarachan’s squad hasn’t lost since May 12.
5 Fresno FC
(8-2-7)
Week 18: W, 1-0 @SAC
Week 19: NM
3
Last Week: 8
Head Coach Adam Smith continues to push all the right buttons for Fresno. Super-sub Diego Casillas’ impact in Sacramento was just the latest example of that.
6 Reno 1868 FC
(9-4-5)
Week 18: W, 4-0 RGV
Week 19: --
3
Last Week: 9
Leading scorer Brian Brown may be moving on, but 1868 FC is showing it still has plenty of firepower in attack without him.
7 Louisville City FC
(8-5-5)
Week 18: W, 2-1 NSH
Week 19: @OTT
5
Last Week: 12
Louisville leads the league with 124 Chances Created in the second half of games this season and converted on two opportunities Saturday for a comeback victory over rival Nashville.
8 Nashville SC
(8-5-5)
Week 18: L, 1-2 @LOU
Week 19: --
3
Last Week: 5
Cameron Lancaster’s return to Louisville lasted just 29 minutes as Head Coach Gary Smith saw four players pick up injuries on his side’s defeat at Slugger Field, it’s second in a row overall.
9 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(6-3-7)
Week 18: W, 1-0 BST, L, 0-1 @CLT
Week 19: TBR
2
Last Week: 7
The Hounds extended their winning streak to four games on the Fourth of July before failing to record a shot on target in Sunday’s trip to Charlotte.
10 New York Red Bulls II
(9-4-4)
Week 18: T, 1-1 PTT
Week 19: @BST, ATL

Last Week: 10
The typically high-flying Red Bulls II have scored just three goals in their past four outings and probably should have done more with a man advantage for over an hour against Ottawa on Friday night.
11 El Paso Locomotive FC
(7-4-7)
Week 18: T, 1-1 @OKC
Week 19: --

Last Week: 11
Jerome Kiesewetter hasn’t scored in four games and Locomotive FC hasn’t won any of them. Coincidence? We don’t think so.
12 Portland Timbers 2
(7-4-7)
Week 18: T, 1-1 TUL
Week 19: @SAC
1
Last Week: 13
Portland was lucky not to fall to its third successive defeat as a late penalty rescued a home point against the Roughnecks that still felt disappointing.
13 Real Monarchs SLC
(7-6-3)
Week 18: W, 1-0 NM
Week 19: TAC
5
Last Week: 18
New coach, no problem. The Monarchs have won four games in a row and are back in the Western Conference playoff positions.
14 New Mexico United
(6-4-8)
Week 18: L, 0-1 @SLC
Week 19: @FRS
8
Last Week: 6
United is winless in its last five league outings and faces a tough trio of games after Wednesday’s Open Cup trip to Minnesota United FC.
15 Ottawa Fury FC
(7-3-7)
Week 18: T, 1-1 @NY
Week 19: LOU

Last Week: 15
A 24th-minute red card is never a good thing, but Fury FC showed off its resilience to hold on for a point in New York after Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé’s early exit.
16 Charlotte Independence
(4-7-7)
Week 18: T, 1-1 @NC, W, 1-0 PIT
Week 19: STL
8
Last Week: 24
The Independence have found their form under Mike Jeffries and are now just outside the playoff places after a four-point week.
17 Charleston Battery
(5-4-8)
Week 18: PP @ATL
Week 19: MEM

Last Week: 17
Mother Nature gave the Battery an extra week to prepare for a Memphis squad coming off its best performance of the season.
18 Sacramento Republic FC
(7-7-2)
Week 18: L, 0-1 FRS
Week 19: POR
4
Last Week: 14
After being shut out by a rival for the second straight week, Republic FC has now lost as many games (7) as it did in the entire 2018 season.
19 OKC Energy FC
(6-5-8)
Week 18: T, 1-1 ELP
Week 19: --

Last Week: 19
Energy FC is tied for the league-lead with eight draws so far this season, six of which have now come via a 1-1 scoreline. Consistent.
20 Loudoun United FC
(4-6-4)
Week 18: T, 2-2 @STL
Week 19: --

Last Week: 20
Nelson Martinez became the latest Loudoun player to score his first professional goal, but United couldn’t hold a two-goal lead in Saint Louis.
21 Austin Bold FC
(7-6-5)
Week 18: L, 0-3 @SA
Week 19 OC
5
Last Week: 16
Four days after recording the biggest win of its inaugural season over the Switchbacks, Bold FC suffered the heaviest defeat of its inaugural season in San Antonio.
22 Saint Louis FC
(5-4-6)
Week 18: T, 2-2 LDN
Week 19: @CLT
1
Last Week: 21
Kyle Greig finally ended his goal drought to reach 50 regular-season goals for his Championship career, but Saint Louis is still winless in league play since April 27.
23 Las Vegas Lights FC
(6-7-5)
Week 18: T, 2-2 LA
Week 19: --
1
Last Week: 22
Irvin Parra helped Lights FC avoid back-to-back home defeats, but Las Vegas will need to pick up its road form if it wants to make the postseason.
24 San Antonio FC
(5-8-5)
Week 18: W, 3-0 AUS
Week 19: --
2
Last Week: 26
A convincing home victory over Bold FC should restore some confidence, but San Antonio needs points from its two-game road trip following its bye week.
25 LA Galaxy II
(5-6-8)
Week 18: T, 2-2 @LV
Week 19: --

Last Week: 25
While Energy FC has been collecting 1-1 draws, Los Dos – perhaps fittingly – has been accumulating 2-2 ties. LA has drawn six of its last nine matches, four of which have come via that scoreline.
26 Orange County SC
(5-6-7)
Week 18: W, 2-1 @COS
Week 19: @AUS
1
Last Week: 27
It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but a win is a win is a win. Orange County will look to back up its first road victory over the season on Saturday in Austin.
27 Rio Grande Valley FC
(5-8-5)
Week 18: L, 0-4 @RNO,T, 0-0 TAC
Week 19: PHX
4
Last Week: 23
The Dynamo’s signing of Michael Salazar may be starting to take its toll on RGVFC, which has now failed to score in its last three contests.
28 Memphis 901 FC
(3-8-5)
Week 18: W, 4-1 HFD
Week 19: @CHS
2
Last Week: 30
901 FC fans had to wait nearly four months, but Elliot Collier delivered Memphis’ first home win as well as the first hat trick in club history.
29 Bethlehem Steel FC
(5-9-4)
Week 18: L, 0-1 @PIT
Week 19: NY
1
Last Week: 28
Steel FC failed to record a shot on target in its trip to Pittsburgh and could use some consistency as it continues to alternate wins and losses.
30 Hartford Athletic
(2-12-4)
Week 18: L, 1-4 @MEM
Week 19: IND
1
Last Week: 29
The wheels have started to wobble again on the wagon for Hartford, which had shown some promise after its miserable start to the campaign.
31 Swope Park Rangers
(2-9-6)
Week 18: L, 1-3 TBR
Week 19: --

Last Week: 31
The Rangers offered little resistance to the Rowdies and are still allowing north of two goals per contest.
32 Tacoma Defiance
(2-11-5)
Week 18: T, 0-0 @RGV
Week 19: @SLC
2
Last Week: 34
The Defiance have drawn four of their past six matches but still haven’t won a league game since April 1.
33 Birmingham Legion FC
(3-10-4)
Week 18 --
Week 19: NC

Last Week: 33
Legion FC will be hoping its upcoming three-game homestand can get the side back up and firing again..
34 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(4-12-2)
Week 18: L, 1-2 OC
Week 19: TUL
2
Last Week: 32
A change at Head Coach didn’t change the fortunes of the Switchbacks, who suffered their fourth successive defeat.
35 Atlanta United 2
(3-9-4)
Week 18: PP CHS
Week 19: @NY

Last Week: 35
Inclement weather gave ATL UTD 2 an extra week to prepare for an always difficult trip to MSU Soccer Park to take on the Red Bulls II.
36 Tulsa Roughnecks FC
(4-8-6)
Week 18: T 1-1 @POR
Week 19: @COS

Last Week: 36
Rodrigo da Costa has had the Roughnecks moving in the right direction on offense over the past two weeks, but Tulsa found a new way to drop points with two red cards and a penalty conceded beyond the 90th minute.

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