A busy weekend of action produced some notable results and record-setting performances in the USL Championship’s Western Conference. Here are five takeaways from what we saw in the past three days.

ROOTS LAY DOWN MARKER IN LA

After the club’s opening outing two weeks ago, we were waiting to get a true impression of Oakland Roots SC as it joined the USL Championship. On Sunday night as the club took a 3-2 victory against the LA Galaxy II at Dignity Health Sports Park, we might have gotten a clearer glimpse of what Head Coach Jordan Ferrell’s side is going to bring to the table.

“I said after the last game in Phoenix that we showed really good personality,” said Ferrell. “The only thing is we didn't have a product. In this game we showed that same personality and we had the product for it. It's a great benchmark for us.”

Truth be told, Oakland had possession but not much product in the first half. The visitors only recorded one serious attacking threat on a chance for Danny Flores from a narrow angle. The energy Roots SC showed after the break, though, was much improved and led to Flores – a native of Half Moon Bay, Calif. in the Bay Area – to score the club’s opening goal in the league just two minutes after the break.

“It's an honor to be honest,” said Flores. “The coincidence is that I was thinking about the first goal in Roots’ history last night and that it would be remembered forever. Luckily, it was me. I’m proud to represent my hometown, the Bay Area and my family.”

Oakland outshot Los Dos – which had entered on a four-game undefeated streak – 11-2 in the second half and that pressure paid off as the game ticket into stoppage time. Jeremy Bokila provided a thunderous finish to give the visitors their first lead of the game in a result that should give Roots SC a solid platform to build on.

EL PASO PUTS THE CLAMPS ON THE TOROS

How do you handle playing a first game with a new, unfamiliar goalkeeper against a side that had won its first three games of the season? Easy, just don’t give the opponent a sniff of the back of the net. El Paso Locomotive FC did just that against Rio Grande Valley FC on Saturday night, holding the visitors to Southwest University Park to only five shots, one shot on goal and an Expected Goals total of 0.14xG, the lowest mark in the Championship so far this season.

It was an outstanding display by Locomotive FC defensively as it controlled the tempo of the game and gave the Toros few avenues to play through when they did get onto the ball. Given an immediate lead through Luis Solignac’s goal after 18 seconds – his second entry into the Top 10 fastest goals in Championship history after tying the league record last season for San Antonio, incidentally also against RGVFC – the hosts lived up to their billing as Mountain Division favorites.

“I’m really happy,” said Locomotive FC Head Coach Mark Lowry. “It’s only our second game of the season but it kind of feels like the first with the bye week last week. We haven’t been able to get momentum, the fitness levels, or build the relationships on the field, and that was [RGV’s] fourth game this season. They’ve won three games so far, they are a good and strong team coming into it with confidence. We started the game great. Lucho [Solignac] with a great press. That’s not luck; it was a smart play. I had a good feeling he was going to score tonight because he had been so good in training.”

NEW MEXICO PLAYS SPOILER FOR SWITCHBACKS

It was all set up perfectly for Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. The opening USL Championship game at their beautiful new downtown stadium, the maximum allowed 5,600 fans on hand and a goal after just 67 seconds from Hadji Barry had Weidner Field rocking early on.

Then New Mexico United decided to spoil the party. The visitors – backed by their own section of impressive travelling support – rallied back for a 3-1 victory that saw the side face the final 35 minutes a player down after Andrew Tinari’s sending off for a second yellow card but show the determination to see out a second consecutive win. If this is what we can expect from New Mexico as it moves forward in its third season, there could be some very heady days ahead at Isotopes Park.

“It’s hard to describe how proud I am of the group under these circumstances,” United Head Coach Troy Lesesne told the Albuquerque Journal’s Ken Sickenger. “With the crowd here and the opening of the stadium and then going down a man, it’s tough. But we were able to stick together and see the match through. Outstanding effort.”

New Mexico started the season slowly, but now has back-to-back outings with three goals, with Amando Moreno and local produce Sergio Rivas both scoring twice. The momentum certainly seems to be moving in a positive direction.

RISING FC BRINGS EVERYONE A REMINDER

After suffering a defeat in Tampa Bay that saw its attack somewhat stifled, most were expecting Phoenix Rising FC to react strongly against Las Vegas Lights FC back on home turf on Saturday night. What we maybe weren’t expecting was a display that would set a handful of new single-game Championship regular season records.

Phoenix was on the charge from the opening whistle as Rufat Dadashov scored the opening goal after only two minutes, and by the time the dust had settled on the hosts’ 5-1 victory Phoenix had racked up a record 41 total shots and 20 shots on goal. Las Vegas also played their role, with the 51 combined shots and 25 combined shots on target also setting single-game records for the Championship, while Lights FC goalkeeper Alex Rando – a former University of Virginia standout making his first pro start – also set a single-game record with 15 saves to keep the result from being more lopsided.

“When we play with confidence it’s a pretty special group of players. We started well. That was the idea, to get after them fast,” said Rising FC Head Coach Rick Schantz. “Credit to Vegas and LAFC, they play a very attacking style of football. We wanted to press them. We wanted to try and make it difficult for them. Defensively for us, we put a lot of pressure on them to handle difficult moments. Vegas does the same, but we were just able to capitalize.”

WEHAN GETS HAPPY ORANGE COUNTY HOMECOMING

You probably couldn’t have written a better script. The hometown kid, back after spending the first four seasons of his professional career elsewhere, gets his first goal in his first home game to lead his side to a first victory of the season. Well, that’s how it played out for Chris Wehan on Saturday night as the Orange, Calif. native scored the only goal to give Orange County SC a 1-0 win against Sacramento Republic FC in front of friends and family at Championship Soccer Stadium.

Wehan’s presence in Orange County comes due to a number of factors, but one of the biggest for both the 2017 Championship Rookie of the Year and OCSC is to find success on the field. Orange County has been on the cusp of the USL Championship Final before but hasn’t quite broken through. After missing the playoffs last year new pieces like Wehan were added to battle for a title. Saturday’s performance was a good start as Wehan not only scored once but was consistently active in the contest. As OCSC looks ahead to a clash with the LA Galaxy II next weekend, this was something to build on for both the player and the side.

“Obviously, we just want to keep the same type of intensity and have the same type of week that we had last week leading up to this game,” said Orange County Head Coach Braeden Cloutier. “It's a new focus new attitude and, you know guys are still trying to get familiar with one another. But yeah, that was a massive three points tonight.”