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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 10

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 08/31/20, 12:09PM EDT

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San Antonio stands undefeated at the top of the rankings after week of surprise results

TAMPA, Fla. – And then there was one.

San Antonio FC’s 3-1 victory against Rio Grande Valley FC on Friday night in the South Texas Derby left it as the last undefeated team standing in this season’s Championship regular season as both Orange County SC and the Tampa Bay Rowdies suffered their first losses of the season on the road, in Las Vegas and Charleston respectively, in the past seven days.

What does that mean in the big picture for SAFC? Well, it’s certainly good for their seeding prospects. The last time San Antonio went this long undefeated to start a campaign was in 2017 when it reached 14 games without a blemish on its record. It ended up with the No. 2 seed in the West that year behind regular-season title winners Real Monarchs SLC, which used a big winning streak to surpass SAFC by five points in the final tally.

This year, the potential for homefield advantage could hold even more promise for Head Coach Alen Marcina’s side. They’ve won four out of five so far at Toyota Field, and produced a miracle late equalizer against Austin Bold FC in the lone draw. They’ve got a productive attack, a strong defense, and all the components you’d expect for a title contender.

But there’s one thing to be concerned about, too. Only once in Championship history has the last team standing been the team standing with the trophy on the final day of the season, the Rochester Rhinos in 2015. Maintaining this peak over the next potential 10 games to come is going to be as important as what’s come so far.

Here’s where we stand this week. As always, feel free to come and yell at me on Twitter if you’d like (@NJEMurray).

Atlanta United 2 Austin Bold FC Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC El Paso Locomotive FC
Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven LA Galaxy II Las Vegas Lights FC Loudoun United FC Louisville City FC Memphis 901 FC
The Miami FC New Mexico United New York Red Bulls II North Carolina FC OKC Energy FC Orange County SC Philadelphia Union II
Phoenix Rising FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Portland Timbers 2 Real Monarchs SLC Reno 1868 FC Rio Grande Valley FC Sacramento Republic FC
Saint Louis FC San Antonio FC San Diego Loyal SC Sporting KC II Tacoma Defiance Tampa Bay Rowdies FC Tulsa

Biggest Movers

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary

1 San Antonio FC
(7-0-3)
Week 11: RGV
2
Last Week:
3
Not only is Luis Solignac continuing to strike, San Antonio’s got six different players with at least two goals this season as it reached 20 overall tallies for the season.
2 Birmingham Legion FC
(6-1-3)
Week 11: NC, @MEM
6
Last Week:
8
Sure, Charlotte was coming off an emotional midweek win, but the quality of the goals Legion FC produced in Saturday’s 4-1 victory was outstanding. They’re head and shoulders above the rest of Group G now.
3 Reno 1868 FC
(7-2-0)
Week 11: POR
6
Last Week:
9
Three wins in a row, including a first home victory in club history against Phoenix Rising FC, has put Reno in the driver’s seat to take first place in Group A.
4 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(6-3-1)
Week 11: LDN, @NY
7
Last Week:
11
Pittsburgh is second in the Championship with 25 goals this season, and they didn’t miss a beat even when Kenardo Forbes went down early with an injury against Hartford.
5 New Mexico United
(6-2-2)
Week 11: @ELP
1
Last Week:
6
A draw in Colorado Springs might not feel like the best result, but United kept accumulating points despite finishing the game down to 10 men and is the closest side of any to clinching a playoff place as it stands right now.
6 Charleston Battery
(6-2-2)
Week 11: @MIA
7
Last Week:
13
Four consecutive wins, including a sweep of the state of Florida in the past week? That race for first place in Group H just got a lot more interesting.
7 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(6-1-3)
Week 11: MIA, PHI
5
Last Week:
2
The Rowdies looked enlivened after a poor first half against Charleston, but still didn’t have enough to find a way to avoid their first loss of the season.
8 Sacramento Republic FC
(5-1-3)
Week 11: @POR
1
Last Week:
7
No action this week, but the pressure’s going to be on to add to the club’s four-game winning streak against Portland before the next Donner Pass Derby on September 12.
9 Louisville City FC
(5-3-2)
Week 11: @IND
6
Last Week:
15
LouCity went undefeated in August (3-0-2) including last week’s victory against Indy and draw with Saint Louis. Now Saturday night’s LIPAFC is for first place in the standings.
10 Orange County SC
(4-1-3)
Week 11: LA, LA
9
Last Week:
1
The late defeat against Las Vegas was not Orange County’s finest hour defensively, and the draw with San Diego was just a bit of a snoozer overall. Needs to be better on Wednesday against Los Dos.
11 Phoenix Rising FC
(6-2-2)
Week 11: @LV
6
Last Week:
5
The road is proving trickier for Phoenix to handle, with Rising FC only 1-2-2 away from home after Saturday’s loss in Reno.
12 Indy Eleven
(6-3-1)
Week 11: LOU
8
Last Week:
4
Tyler Pasher has cooled off a bit, and so has Indy. Two goals and only one win in the past four games, and only one shot on goal in defeat to Louisville on Wednesday night.
13 El Paso Locomotive FC
(4-2-3)
Week 11: @COS, NM
4
Last Week:
17
Locomotive FC made the most of the Monarchs’ errors to move even closer to a return trip to the playoffs, and Saturday’s game with New Mexico could bring first place into play as well.
14 Saint Louis FC
(4-3-3)
Week 11: SKC
2
Last Week:
12
After a second consecutive draw, Saint Louis could really ramp up the pressure on LouCity’s trip to face Indy on Friday night if it can claim all three points against Sporting Kansas City II…
15 Sporting KC II
(4-5-1)
Week 11: @STL
4
Last Week:
19
… but then again, SKC II has pulled back into the playoff picture itself thanks to a sweep of the teams in the state of Oklahoma. Wilson Harris’ three goals in those two games made him the youngest player to 20 regular-season goals in the Championship’s history, too.
16 Austin Bold FC
(3-2-4)
Week 11: TUL
2
Last Week:
14
Two more points to the total aren’t so bad, but Bold FC is going to be very frustrated by its collapse in Colorado Springs on Wednesday and by not creating more against 10-man OKC on Sunday.
17 Hartford Athletic
(5-2-1)
Week 11: LDN
7
Last Week:
10
Thanks to their games in hand, the Athletic can still theoretically finish with more points than Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Friday night’s game showed they’re not in their class yet, though.
18 Charlotte Independence
(3-3-3)
Week 11: @MEM, NC
3
Last Week:
21
The defeat against Birmingham on Saturday night was tough, but the Independence’s first league win against North Carolina FC was the bigger story for their playoff chances.
19 LA Galaxy II
(5-3-0)
Week 11: @OC, @OC
7
Last Week:
26
Back-to-back victories have catapulted Los Dos into second place in Group B. I’m still not certain if they’re going to be in the playoffs at the end, but they’re scoring in bunches just in time for two games with Orange County that could propel them even further.
20 FC Tulsa
(2-2-4)
Week 11: RGV, @ATX
4
Last Week:
16
Two consecutive defeats and four games without a win overall isn’t a great spot to be in. At least Austin was unable to punish Tulsa’s slowdown in form, keeping FCT in touch with second place in Group D before the first of two crucial showdowns this Saturday.
21 Las Vegas Lights FC
(2-4-2)
Week 11: SD, PHX
2
Last Week:
23
After Wednesday’s win against Orange County, Lights FC came a goalpost away from another incredible comeback against Los Dos. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be this time.
22 San Diego Loyal SC
(3-4-3)
Week 11: @LV
4
Last Week:
18
It was all set up for Miguel Berry to make a dream debut, but his heavy touch on a breakaway showed the rust he’ll need to shake off, and summed up recent weeks in attack for SD Loyal overall.
23 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(1-4-4)
Week 11: ELP, OKC
4
Last Week:
27
Becoming the first team to record a four-goal comeback in Championship history was a remarkable feat. The Switchbacks may not go to the playoffs this year, but they’re building their identity.
24 North Carolina FC
(2-4-1)
Week 11: @BHM, @CLT
4
Last Week:
20
For a team that looks good on paper, the lack of goals right now is seriously perplexing. At least there’s time to turn it around for a place in the playoffs, but it’s going to have to happen fast with a visit to Birmingham up next.
25 The Miami FC
(1-4-2)
Week 11: @TBR, CHS
3
Last Week:
22
It was bad for Miami to lose to Charleston in midweek. It was even worse that the Battery then went ahead and beat Tampa Bay on Saturday, reducing Miami’s playoff chances even further in the process.
26 Memphis 901 FC
(1-4-3)
Week 11: CLT, BHM
1
Last Week:
25
Massive week coming up for Memphis as it gets the Independence and Legion FC at home. Four points is a must, six points would be serious playoff momentum.
27 New York Red Bulls II
(3-6-0)
Week 11: PIT
6
Last Week:
33
Was Saturday’s 3-2 win against Loudoun the starting point for something bigger? Getting Jake LaCava and Caden Clark in the goals certainly won’t hurt New York’s pursuit of Hartford.
28 Real Monarchs SLC
(1-6-1)
Week 11: TAC
4
Last Week:
24
There’s still time, but it feels increasingly like the Monarchs are going to be the first defending champion to miss the playoffs the following season after Saturday’s defeat in El Paso.
29 Tacoma Defiance
(2-5-1)
Week 11: @SLC
1
Last Week:
28
If Tacoma’s going to close the gap to Reno and Sacramento in Group A, getting a struggling Real Monarchs SLC side on Friday night might be just the thing the Defiance need to start a revival.
30 OKC Energy FC
(1-5-4)
Week 11: @COS
1
Last Week:
31
A win might have been the requirement for OKC’s playoff chances on Sunday night, but the hosts still battled well down a man against Austin for 40 minutes to avoid a third consecutive defeat.
31 Philadelphia Union II
(1-4-1)
Week 11: ATL, @TBR
2
Last Week:
29
Wednesday night at home to Atlanta starts the charge for the Union II if there’s to be any chance of a playoff place this season.
32 Loudoun United FC
(1-5-2)
Week 11: @PIT, @HFD
2
Last Week:
30
Loudoun couldn’t find victory against the Red Bulls II, but Kairou Amsoutapha was absolutely scintillating individually. Keep an eye on the 19-year-old moving forward.
33 Atlanta United 2
(1-7-3)
Week 11: @PHI
1
Last Week:
32
About those draws for Charleston and Miami that were going to give Atlanta a chance at a playoff place? The Battery don’t want any part of it, apparently.
34 Rio Grande Valley FC
(0-7-3)
Week 11: @TUL, @SA

Last Week:
34
The Toros couldn’t match their South Texas Derby rivals on Friday night, but the lack of wins everywhere else in the group means they’re not completely out of it yet.
35 Portland Timbers 2
(0-8-0)
Week 11: SAC, @RNO

Last Week:
35
T2 had nine shots on goal to the LA Galaxy II’s four on Wednesday night, and still couldn’t get anything out of the game. Been one of those seasons.

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