Two full months of the season have passed, and we’re now into the middle of the 2021 USL Championship regular season with 84 games slated for the next 31 days in the month of July.

Here are 10 games we’ve got circled on our calendars, including some intriguing interconference and interdivision matchups as well as rivalry contests and the final new stadium unveiling of the season.

The Black Gold Derby is one of the best in the Championship, but if we’re honest this probably wasn’t going to be on the agenda until the past 10 days. Since the change at the top at Energy FC’s coaching staff with Leigh Veidman taking over as interim Head Coach, however, OKC has reeled off three consecutive victories and is suddenly within two points of its biggest rival in the Central Division standings. Tulsa took a 3-1 victory when it visited Taft Stadium in the opening game of the season thanks to a pair of goals by Joaquin Rivas, now Energy FC will get a chance to turn the tables and even the regular-season series this year. 

San Diego Loyal SC ended June on the longest current winning streak in the Championship and is a perfect 4-0-0 at Torero Stadium. The same can’t be said for Sacramento Republic FC, which tied its longest winless streak in club history in its most recent outing last Saturday at home to Phoenix Rising FC. That on paper would look to be a mismatch waiting to happen, but the reality is for Republic FC there is going to be no better place to reassert your place as a postseason contender than on the road on national television. The sense of urgency that was on display against Phoenix has to be on display from the start here, because the longer Republic FC struggles, the greater the threat its run of reaching the playoffs in every season of its history comes to an end.

Opening night in downtown Charlotte finally arrives for the Independence as it opens the newly-renovated 10,000-seat American Legion Memorial Stadium and starts a new chapter in its history. The Jacks have built a team that has the makings of matching its new surroundings – the side begins the month in third place in the Atlantic Division and has already picked up wins against playoff rivals the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Hartford Athletic – and will be hoping the home form that saw it close out its tenure at the Sportsplex at Matthews with a 3-0-0 record this season carries over to its new home. Charlotte will also have a little revenge on its mind after being stung in a 3-1 defeat on the road to the Red Bulls II when they met in June, illustrating the danger the visitors can bring in what should be an entertainment-packed contest.

Just call this one the Black and Yellow Derby. When the Charleston Battery and New Mexico United square off for a special Monday night clash at Isotopes Park it will bring together the Battery’s Mike Anhaeuser with former player and coaching protégé Troy Lesesne for the first time as opposing Head Coaches in their careers. The ties between the clubs go further than that – United assistant coach and the Director of the club’s High Performance Youth Programming Zach Prince also made more than 100 appearances in the Battery’s colors under Anhaeuser before entering the coaching ranks – and there’s even an on-field connection with current New Mexico goalkeeper Alex Tambakis and midfielder Micheal Azira both having competed for Charleston in the past. Those connections make for intriguing pregame storylines, and the contest itself should be a good one with both teams bringing quality talents that could be raised by the intense atmosphere that New Mexico’s fans bring.

The first meeting between these teams in late June offered a litmus test for how far Hartford Athletic and its new Head Coach Harry Watling had come in comparison to the elite teams in the Championship after their strong start to the season. The Rowdies took a 1-0 victory that night on Sebastian Guenzatti’s goal, but there was more than enough offered by the Athletic to suggest that they belong in the conversation not only for a playoff place in the Atlantic Division, but potentially more. That should make for an intriguing midweek rematch at Al Lang Stadium, where the Rowdies have won five out of six to start the season. If the Athletic can execute more sharply than in the first encounter, we could have a very good and entertaining game on our hands.

It took a couple of games, but Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC has settled in very nicely to its new downtown home at Weidner Field and has produced some of the most entertaining soccer in the Championship in the process with current league-leader in goals Hadji Barry and co-assists leader Michee Ngalina leading the way. The dynamic duo sits 1-2 individually in Expected Goals + Expected Assists from American Soccer Analysis’ data, putting the Switchbacks in a strong position to return to the postseason for the first time since 2016 as the month begins. San Antonio is one of its rivals for a top-four finish in the Mountain Division but hasn’t been able to create the same attacking magic consistently this season so far. As hard-fought as the race for the playoffs is set to be, this contest should be a must-see in terms of intensity.

San Antonio FC will go from one high-leverage division contest on national television to another in the middle of the month with New Mexico United visiting Toyota Field for the first time since these sides squared off in Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2020 USL Championship Playoffs. United won that game in extra time, and then grabbed a 2-0 victory at Isotopes Park in June when they first met this season. San Antonio has built an 18-game home undefeated streak dating back to last season, but an excess of draws has left it needing to start stringing together victories to remain in touch with clubs like United in the playoff positions. In terms of six-pointers, this could be a key game not just for both of these sides but for the likely six teams that feel like they’ll be in contention down to the wire for the division’s four playoff places at the end of the season.

We’re bouncing back to Weidner Field again here, but with good reason as Louisville City FC’s visit to face Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is starting to look like one of the most intriguing interconference games we’ll see this season. We mentioned the Expected Goals + Expected Assists numbers for the Switchbacks’ Hadji Barry and Michee Ngalina earlier, but right behind them is LouCity’s Cameron Lancaster, who will be looking to gain ground in the race for the Golden Boot as his side heads West. Add in that both of these teams have consistently looked capable of filling their boots in front of net this season and you’ve got the potential for a thrilling first meeting between these two 2015 expansion clubs.

There are two meetings between El Paso Locomotive FC and New Mexico United in July – the first coming at Southwest University Park on July 3 – but we’ve got this one circled as it’s going to be El Paso’s first visit to Isotopes Park since 2019, when the visitors suffered a 3-0 defeat as Kevaughn Frater and Chris Wehan provided the goals for United. The rivalry between these two teams has grown exponentially since that night – including last year’s postseason battle at Southwest University Park – putting it among the best in the  Championship right now. As competitive as the Mountain Division appears at the start of this month, with six potential contenders battling it out for four spots in the postseason, this game could be crucial to both sides as they look to not only reach the playoffs for a third consecutive season but earn a high finish in the division to get at least one home game when November arrives.

When the new season began, we all had Phoenix Rising FC penciled in as one of the leading contenders to lift the trophy at the 2021 USL Championship Final. One of the things we might have seen coming was improvement from Rio Grande Valley FC, with the Toros’ newly-established independence being supplemented by the return of Wilmer Cabrera as Head Coach and an intriguing balance of experience and youthful talent on its roster. What we probably didn’t see coming was that the Toros would start the third month of the season in first place in the Mountain Division and be a dark horse contender to make some noise should it continue on to the postseason. When the Toros head to Phoenix to close out the month, then, it could provide a glimpse of how far the visitors have come, and a preview of a postseason game that could land in November.