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.
Rank |
Team |
Change |
Summary |
|
1 | Phoenix Rising FC (14-2-5) Week 22: W, 3-2 @LA Week 23: ELP |
Last Week: 1 |
Rising FC added another record to its growing haul with its sixth consecutive road victory, coming back from to two goals down against Los Dos to make it 12 straight wins overall. | |
2 | New York Red Bulls II (13-4-5) Week 22: W, 2-0 STL Week 23: @HFD |
Last Week: 2 |
The Red Bulls II reached double-digit home wins for the third straight regular season and boast a +26 goal differential at MSU Soccer Park this season. Fortress. | |
3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies (13-2-7) Week 22: W, 5-0 @CHS Week 23: BHM |
Last Week: 3 |
The Rowdies routed the Battery to claim the inaugural No Quarter Derby and the set modern-day franchise record for road wins in a season (seven) and largest road win. | |
4 | Reno 1868 FC (13-5-5) Week 22: W, 2-1 @RGV Week 23: SA |
Last Week: 4 |
Speaking of road wins, 1868 FC has won four of its last five away from Greater Nevada Field and sits just three points behind Phoenix at the top of the West. | |
5 | Nashville SC (11-5-5) Week 22: W, 2-0 @SPR Week 23: HFD, BST |
Last Week: 5 |
Nashville has won its last three matches by the same 2-0 scoreline. Can Head Coach Gary Smith’s side make it 4-for-4 on Wednesday against Hartford? | |
6 | Fresno FC (11-3-7) Week 22: W, 2-1 LV Week 23: @OKC |
Last Week: 6 |
The Foxes surpassed their 2018 points total with another victory but suffered a big loss as midfielder Arun Basuljevic fractured his left fibula and will miss the rest of the season. | |
7 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (9-3-8) Week 22: W, 4-0 MEM Week 23: SPR |
Last Week: 7 |
The Hounds scored four goals in back-to-back games for the first time since 2013. Aside from the clean sheet, this feels weird from a Bob Lilley-coached side. | |
8 | Indy Eleven (12-4-4) Week 22: W, 2-1 @NC Week 23: -- |
Last Week: 8 |
Another week, another late goal. Ilija Ilic’s game-winner was Indy’s sixth in the 80th minute or later since May 18 and a massive confidence boost for the injury-hit forward. | |
9 | New Mexico United (8-5-9) Week 22: W, 3-0 ELP, T, 2-2 AUS Week 23: @POR |
2 Last Week: 11 |
New Mexico has scored seven goals over its past three games and is starting to look like the side that rose to the top of the West in May. | |
10 | El Paso Locomotive FC (7-6-8) Week 22: L, 0-3 @NM, PP POR Week 23: @PHX |
Last Week: 10 |
El Paso, our hearts are with you. | |
11 | North Carolina FC (10-5-7) Week 22: L, 1-2 IND Week 23: @MEM |
2 Last Week: 9 |
North Carolina took 60 percent of its shots from outside the box – compared to Indy’s 29 percent – as it fell to its first home defeat of the season. | |
12 | Ottawa Fury FC (8-4-9) Week 22: T, 0-0 BHM Week 23: -- |
1 Last Week: 13 |
A home point against a charging Legion FC isn’t a bad result, but it leaves Fury FC in eighth place in the Eastern Conference heading into its bye week. | |
13 | Austin Bold FC (9-7-6) Week 22: T, 2-2 @NM Week 23: LA |
2 Last Week: 15 |
Bold FC got the point it needed in New Mexico to remain the top expansion side in the Western Conference ahead of its two-game homestand. | |
14 | Louisville City FC (9-7-6) Week 22: W, 1-0 @CLT Week 23: ATL |
2 Last Week: 16 |
A first shutout since May 18 will go a long way for Head Coach John Hackworth, who got the defensive performance he wanted after swapping formations. | |
15 | Real Monarchs SLC (9-7-4) Week 22: W, 1-0 COS Week 23: TUL |
2 Last Week: 17 |
The Monarchs left it late but moved into first place in the Four Corners Cup standings with a narrow victory over the Switchbacks. | |
16 | San Antonio FC (7-9-6) Week 22: L, 2-3 SAC Week 23: @RNO |
4 Last Week: 12 |
San Antonio’s first home defeat since March 16 kept the side on the fringes of the Western Conference playoff places. | |
17 | Birmingham Legion FC (6-10-5) Week 22: T, 0-0 @OTT Week 23: @TBR |
2 Last Week: 19 |
Legion FC will take a 375-minute shutout streak into Al Lang Stadium on Saturday to take on a Rowdies team that just put five past the Battery. Something will have to give. | |
18 | Charleston Battery (6-5-8) Week 22: L, 0-5 TBR Week 23: @STL |
4 Last Week: 14 |
The Battery conceded five goals at home for the first time in their Championship history and will have to move on quickly ahead of Saturday’s trip to Saint Louis. | |
19 | OKC Energy FC (7-7-9) Week 22: T, 1-1 TUL Week 23: FRS |
1 Last Week: 20 |
The Black Gold Derby saw its second 1-1 draw of the season, a result Energy FC will live with on its home turf after Je-Vaughn Watson’s 64th-minute sending off. | |
20 | Sacramento Republic FC (9-9-3) Week 22: W, 3-2 @SA Week 23: LV |
5 Last Week: 25 |
Republic FC showed flashes of brilliance while taking a three-goal halftime lead against San Antonio, but nearly gave it all back in the second half. A win is a win, though. | |
21 | Saint Louis FC (6-7-6) Week 22: L, 0-2 @NY Week 23: MEM, CHS |
3 Last Week: 18 |
A pair of home matches against Memphis and Charleston make for a busy and important week for Saint Louis at the newly named West Community Stadium at Soccer Park. | |
22 | Orange County SC (6-7-9) Week 22: -- Week 23: @TAC |
1 Last Week: 23 |
Orange County should be well rested ahead of Friday’s trip to Tacoma, which is probably a must-win if it wants to keep pace with the rest of the playoff contenders. | |
23 | Charlotte Independence (5-9-9) Week 22: L, 0-1 LOU Week 23: @LDN |
2 Last Week: 21 |
Charlotte’s bid for a playoff berth took another hit this weekend and won’t get any easier as five of its next six games come against teams currently in the postseason positions. | |
24 | Loudoun United FC (5-9-4) Week 22: L, 2-4 @ATL Week 23: CLT |
2 Last Week: 22 |
A disappointing loss to ATL UTD 2 won’t be how Loudoun wanted to head into Friday’s contest with Charlotte as United opens its new home at Segra Field. | |
25 | Hartford Athletic (4-15-4) Week 22: W, 3-0 @BST Week 23: @NSH, NY |
4 Last Week: 29 |
Frederik Due provided the penalty save heroics and the offense followed as the Athletic earned their second road win of the season in 13 tries. | |
26 | LA Galaxy II (7-8-8) Week 22: L, 2-3 PHX Week 23: @AUS |
2 Last Week: 24 |
It looked as though Los Dos was going to snap Rising FC’s record win streak, but a costly giveaway from Ernesto Walker kickstarted a slippery slope of events. | |
27 | Las Vegas Lights FC (7-9-5) Week 22: L, 1-2 @FRS Week 23: @SAC |
1 Last Week: 26 |
Lights FC has been shown four red cards in three games and will need to keep all 11 men on the field against Sacramento on Wednesday Night Soccer. | |
28 | Portland Timbers 2 (7-7-7) Week 22: PP @ELP Week 23: @COS, NM |
1 Last Week: 27 |
Five of Portland’s seven losses this season have come over the club’s last six games. Wednesday’s trip to Colorado Springs may prove trickier than it originally seemed. | |
29 | Memphis 901 FC (4-10-6) Week 22: L, 0-4 @PIT Week 23: @STL, NC |
1 Last Week: 28 |
901 FC added former Nashville defender Liam Doyle on Monday, which should be a boost to a defense that just conceded four goals to the Hounds. | |
30 | Rio Grande Valley FC (6-11-5) Week 22: L, 1-2 RNO Week 23: @COS |
Last Week: 30 |
The Toros’ upcoming two-game road trip will go a long way toward deciding the club’s playoff fate after suffering defeat at home to Reno. | |
31 | Tacoma Defiance (3-13-5) Week 22: -- Week 23: OC |
Last Week: 31 |
The Defiance will try to make it two wins out of three when it hosts an inconsistent Orange County side after a week off. | |
32 | Atlanta United 2 (4-12-5) Week 22: W, 4-2 LDN Week 23: @LOU |
3 Last Week: 35 |
Bienvenue Kanakimana is currently the hottest striker in the league with six goals in his past three games after Friday night’s hat trick against Loudoun United. | |
33 | Bethlehem Steel FC (6-12-4) Week 22: L, 0-3 HFD Week 23: @NSH |
1 Last Week: 32 |
Steel FC’s chances of making the postseason for a third straight year took a pretty big hit with a surprising home loss to the Athletic. | |
34 | Tulsa Roughnecks FC (4-11-7) Week 22: T, 1-1 @OKC Week 23: @SLC |
2 Last Week: 36 |
Rodrigo da Costa continues to be the Roughnecks’ lone bright spot of late, adding his team-high eighth goal of the season on Saturday to go with a team-best seven assists. | |
35 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (6-14-2) Week 22: L, 0-1 @SLC Week 23: POR, RGV |
2 Last Week: 33 |
The Switchbacks have been held to a goal or less in each of their last eight games. That lack of firepower has been the primary cause of its -20 goal differential. | |
36 | Swope Park Rangers (3-11-6) Week 22: L, 0-2 NSH Week 23: @PIT |
2 Last Week: 34 |
After ATL UTD 2 and Hartford recorded wins over the week, the Rangers remain the only Eastern Conference team sitting on three wins for the season. |
Tag(s): News News Archive Nashville SC Power Rankings San Antonio FC CO Spring Switchbacks LA Galaxy II OKC Energy FC Orange County SC Phoenix Rising FC Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Reno 1868 FC Rio Grande Valley FC Sacramento Republic FC Swope Park Rangers FC Tulsa Philadelphia Union II Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Louisville City FC New York Red Bulls II Ottawa Fury FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds Saint Louis FC Tampa Bay Rowdies Fresno FC Las Vegas Lights FC Birmingham Legion FC Austin Bold FC Atlanta United 2 North Carolina FC Indy Eleven Memphis 901 FC El Paso Locomotive FC New Mexico United Loudoun United FC Hartford Athletic Tacoma Defiance