Week 18’s midweek slate gives way to a more limited weekend schedule on Saturday night in the USL Championship’s Western Conference, but there’s still plenty to keep an eye on. Here are five storylines we’ll be focusing on.

TOROS HOPING TO EMULATE EL PASO’S LONG-TERM BUILD

With nine points separating El Paso Locomotive FC from the rest of the USL Championship’s Mountain Division going into this weekend’s action, the experience and consistency the club has been able to build since its first campaign in 2019 with a solid core to its roster has been key to the way the club has performed on the field. For Rio Grande Valley FC midfielder Rodrigo Lopez – whose side will take on El Paso on Saturday night sitting in second place in the standings – it’s the idea that the Toros are chasing as the newly-assembled squad this year looks for the sort of consistency that will at lease secure the side a place in the postseason in November.

“You look at El Paso and they’ve been together,” said Lopez. “Same with New Mexico and all these teams know each other a little more than we do. Some of us are still trying to get to know each other. We’ve had a lot of different lineups, which is great so guys can get minutes. But at the same time, it’s a little hard to get to know everyone the way you want to and get that camaraderie on the field.

“I feel like we’ve had our ups and downs this season. Some really good ones and some really bad ones…but I feel like our group is mentally strong. We showed it on Tuesday.”

The Toros earned a 1-1 draw with Austin Bold FC on Tuesday night to snap a two-game losing skid, and they will go into Saturday’s game at Southwest University Park in the knowledge that they were the lone team to come out on top against Locomotive FC this season in a 3-2 win on their home turf back on June 30. RGVFC would likely settle for any kind of result on the road this time around, though, as it continues to try and emulate the success its Copa Tejas rival has built.

SACRAMENTO NEEDS ROAD ATTACK BOOST

Last Saturday night saw Sacramento Republic FC put on arguably its most impressive attacking performance of the season as it rolled to a 2-1 victory against Las Vegas Lights FC that was more one-sided than the final score might indicate. Republic FC outshot its visitors 24-5, including 16 shots from inside the penalty area, to take victory as Cameron Iwasa bagged his second and third goals of the season.

What has to happen now for Sacramento is to carry that initiative and attacking verve on the road. The side is now undefeated in six games as it heads to face Phoenix Rising FC on Saturday night – a daunting task, but one that Republic FC has squared up to well in prior visits to Arizona – but the numbers Sacramento has put up offensively don’t inspire confidence that will happen. Republic FC’s highest away shot total this season is 13 against San Diego Loyal SC on July 3, which coincided with its highest away xG total this season of 1.19. Republic FC has exceeded that mark five times in nine home games – a sign of how the club’s attack has fluctuated in confidence this season – but if it’s going to get something out of Saturday night, the visitors are almost certainly going to have to put Phoenix’s solid back line under consistent pressure with the type of energy it showed last week.

FALL’S PRESENCE PROVING KEY FOR ROOTS

If there was one offseason move above all others that inspired belief that Oakland Roots SC would be able to compete in the USL Championship in its inaugural season, it was the club’s signing of Wal Fall, whose position in prior playoff contenders in his career in the league had put him as a centerpiece in midfield for the club to build around.

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone to play for Oakland or Fall this season, but his return to the lineup after injury curtailed his presence early in the season has coincided with a boost in performance. Oakland has earned four points from its past two games as it heads to face Las Vegas Lights FC on Saturday night at Cashman Field, with Fall scoring twice from set pieces in the past three games, including an outstanding strike on Wednesday night against New Mexico United to earn the visitors a 1-1 draw. That quality – and the influence he brings on the field beyond his play – could make Oakland a much more difficult side to face over the final two months of the season.

“He’s our captain, and obviously it’s taken a while this season for us to get him there, but the goals are one thing, and you see the leadership on the field which makes a big difference for us,” said Roots SC Head Coach Jordan Ferrell. “How he makes other players around him better, he’s a big piece that’s been missing for us. As he continues catching a rhythm, he’ll keep showing why he’s so important for us.”

ORANGE COUNTY LOOKS FOR BOUNCE IN SAN DIEGO

Orange County SC became the fourth USL Championship side this season to make a change at the helm – excluding Atlanta United 2’s preordained move as Tony Annan moved on to Clemson University – with the hopes of salvaging a season that had seemed to lose its way after an outstanding month of June. It’s a measure of how fickle fortunes can be that Braeden Cloutier was the runner-up for June’s Coach of the Month award in the Championship, and yet soon after was departing the club he had led to 49 regular season victories in 103 regular-season games.

With only one win in the last eight, though, Orange County felt it needed to make a change to try and avoid the late-season slide that saw it win only twice in its last seven games a season ago to miss out on a place in the postseason. Saturday’s visit to San Diego Loyal SC will see if a new voice and potentially a new strategy can pay off against an SD Loyal side that has had its own bumps since Landon Donovan edged out Cloutier for that June honor. With a point separating the teams going in, Orange County could do itself plenty of good with a repeat of its first trip to Torero Stadium last year when a 2-0 victory was part of a four-game winning streak early in the season.

SWITCHBACKS SWITCH, LOOKING FOR DISORDER

One of the noticeable trends in the USL Championship this season has been teams switching to three-center back lineups with a pair of wingbacks, with the latest side to test out the idea being Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC last Saturday night against Rio Grande Valley FC. After taking a 5-2 victory at H-E-B Park, you could certainly call the experiment a success as the Switchbacks found attacking pockets consistently, something that could only add to the success the side has achieved in front of goal this season.

“Three at the back is something we came into the season wanting to play and wanting to be able to shift into,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Brendan Burke. “The formation was a little forced at RGV, honestly, but we liked what we saw; it gives us the ability to open up. I think it’s great that all the forwards have a comfort level playing out wide or inside. It makes it very hard to predict who’s going to line up where.”

The Switchbacks head east on Saturday night to take on a Charlotte Independence side that was well organized in limiting the chances it offered Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in its last outing. Including the experience of former Austria captain and Premier League title-winner Christian Fuchs among others, the Independence will be looking to control tempo as a means to contain Hadji Barry and the rest of Colorado Springs’ potent attack. With a system switch, whether the visitors can pull Charlotte’s midfield and back line out of position with its off-ball movement could make for one of this weekend’s more interesting matchups.