As the Pacific Division title got wrapped up in the Western Conference by Phoenix Rising FC, the playoff race below them continued to take new turns, while in the Mountain Division the weekend’s results gave us plenty to look forward to down the stretch. Here are five things week took away from the past two days.

SACRAMENTO STRIKES OUT IN PLAYOFF PURSUIT

Going into the weekend’s games, the question of which side would claim the fourth and final playoff place in the Pacific Division remained an open question. On Saturday night in a 3-1 victory against Tacoma Defiance at Heart Health Park, Sacramento Republic FC provided the latest answer with some outstanding finishing that provided another upward shift in the roller coaster ride this season has been so far for the club.

An early goal by Cameron Iwasa set the tone, and from there Republic FC held Tacoma at bay as goalkeeper Carlos Saldana was solid in his debut for the club before Luis Felipe Fernandes delivered a decisive blow with his highlight-reel blast from 35 yards to wrap up the scoring and all three points.

“Goals get points, and tonight I thought we got in behind them a number of times and we actually threatened,” said Republic FC Head Coach Mark Briggs. “We put ourselves in positions where we can score goals. And that's what happens – you have to put yourself in positions to score goals. You have to take chances. And then Luis hit a banger from 30, 35 yards to seal the win. Overall, I’m extremely pleased. It was a huge win. It keeps us right there, it keeps us in good momentum. We’ve got another big game on Wednesday, and we’ve got to take each game one at a time.”

Consistent chance creation has been one of the challenges for Sacramento this season. On Saturday it recorded its sixth three-goal outing of the season, but that’s been countered by four instances of games where the side hasn’t registered a shot on target. As Republic FC heads to Oakland looking for just its second back-to-back wins of the season, it will have another big question to answer.

LATE LAPSE COSTS ROOTS SC AGAIN

If Oakland Roots SC missed out on a postseason berth at the end of this season, it could look to the past two weekends as the reason why. After conceding a late goal against Orange County SC on September 25 to fall 2-1 at Championship Soccer Stadium, this past Saturday the same happened again as Las Vegas Lights FC battled back for a 2-2 draw at Laney Stadium to keep the hosts from what would have been a vital three points given the way the rest of the weekend played out.

What will make this past weekend sting more than the Orange County setback, though, is the fact that Las Vegas was on a 10-game losing streak coming in and by the time CC Uche’s goal arrived in the 89th minute had been playing down to 10 men for 16 minutes, which should have been enough for Oakland to put the game away. Massive credit to Lights FC, which carried the initiative in search of its equalizer in the closing stages despite being a player down, but Roots SC is going to need to produce a big response against Sacramento now on Wednesday night in what is a pivotal game for the NorCal rivals.

SWITCHBACKS BATTLE BACK ONCE MORE AGAINST EL PASO

When El Paso Locomotive FC and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC meet for the fourth and final time this regular season on October 13 at Southwest University Park, the Mountain Division-leading Locomotive FC will be favored on home turf, and rightly so. But if this season has taught us anything about the Switchbacks, it’s that the squad Head Coach Brendan Burke has put together won’t back down from that challenge, as it proved again on Saturday night when a late equalizer earned the side a 1-1 draw at Weidner Field, the third consecutive game this season where the top two teams in the Mountain at this moment have ended level.

“Brendan has brought in quality, he’s brought young players that are hungry, he’s brought experienced players that have played in the MLS, and I think he has a great group of guys,” said Switchbacks midfielder Jose Francisco Torres. “There’s no negativity in this group – whoever plays does a good job, we train well, we train hard, we push each other to the limits. Tonight was a tough game, I told them it was going to be like a playoff game. [El Paso’s] the top team, but I think we can battle with anybody in this league.

“I think we did a great job, we controlled most of the game, but the game is about scoring. They waited for one opportunity, and they got it – but we didn’t drop our heads and we kept driving, there was four minutes [left] in the game and we kept driving and thank god we got the goal.”

There has been no more resilient team in the Championship this season than Colorado Springs. The side has rallied to earn 23 points from losing positions, the most in the league, with two of those coming from two of its three games against El Paso, the other ending in a scoreless draw. As Colorado Springs nears its first playoff berth since 2016, that capacity to drive until the final whistle could prove invaluable whether at home or on the road.

PHOENIX RIDES RAWLS TO SEE OUT VICTORY

It’s no surprise that Phoenix Rising FC’s league-leading attack has provided much of the impetus for the club’s success this season – Rising FC not only leads the Championship with 59 goals this season but has the highest Expected Goals mark by a significant margin at 57.87xG – but there have been times where the side has needed to call on goalkeeper Andre Rawls to be a difference-maker as well.

That was the case on Saturday night as the Colorado Rapids loanee produced a five-save shutout to close out a 1-0 win against Orange County SC at Championship Soccer Stadium that sealed the Pacific Division title for the visitors as well as their first regular-season road win at OCSC since 2016. Rawls has now posted five shutouts this season. The performance included what Rising FC believed was the key moment in the game as Rawls made a double-save to keep out chances for Dillon Powers and Michael Orozco following a long throw-in from the left.

“The moment of the match for me was Andre’s double-save right at the start of the second half because if they score, it changes everything for us,” Schantz told ArizonaSports.com’s Jake Anderson. “It changes our outlook, our mentality, what our plan was at the 80th minute, the 90th minute. We were prepared to win 1-0.”

TOROS MAKE ATTACKING BREAKTHROUGH, STAY ALIVE

There are events beyond its control that must fall Rio Grande Valley FC’s way if it’s to claim a playoff berth in the Mountain Division, but the emphatic attacking performance that was this time rewarded by a 3-0 win against Real Monarchs SLC on Saturday night at H-E-B Park was a big step in the right direction as the Toros boosted not only their playoff chances but their confidence ahead of the final five games of the season.

“I think we came with a lot of energy and decisions, good mentality,” said Toros Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera. “We, obviously, weren’t happy losing in New Mexico because bottom line the team played well but you have to put the ball in the net. And we didn’t do it. So, we needed this win the way it happened. We needed to score goals and we needed to come back to the clean sheet and it was a very, very successful game for us and it’s a great motivation for what is coming in October.”

At the center of that success was recent addition Jonas Fjeldberg, who not only produced one of the best goals of the week – and maybe the season – to cap the Toros’ victory but has been an impressive presence since his arrival on loan from FC Cincinnati. The Norwegian attacking midfielder has produced two goals, one assist and five key passes in 252 minutes of action and has looked consistently bright in the attacking third. If that continues, the Toros might still have a shot to pass the more favored New Mexico United and Austin Bold FC.