The bracket for the 2021 USL Championship Playoffs, presented by TwinSpires was set on Saturday night, offering a collection of eight games across the Eastern and Western Conference Quarterfinals that offer a high level of intrigue in both conferences.

As we start the build-up to Friday night’s kickoff, here are five notable storylines to keep in mind.

First-Time Meetings

The combination of the regionalized schedule the past two seasons has given us, plus changes in conference and the arrival of new clubs in the postseason means we have four matchups that will be the inaugural meetings between teams aiming to advance to the Conference Semifinals.

In the Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division winner the Tampa Bay Rowdies will square off for the first time with FC Tulsa, as will Central Division winner Louisville City FC against Miami FC. Then in the Western Conference, Mountain Division winner El Paso Locomotive FC will host Oakland Roots SC for their first meeting, as will San Antonio FC as it hosts San Diego Loyal SC.

That accounts for half the games in the bracket, which could lend itself to a little additional unpredictability. With no prior experience on the field between the coaching staffs, individual knowledge of players and their tendencies from those who might be familiar – such as, say, Memo Diaz of Oakland Roots SC as he goes up against his former club – plus plenty of film review from this season is going to be in order this week for preparations.

Which New Arrival Could Break Through?

We have four first-time participants in this year’s postseason with Miami FC and Memphis 901 FC joining the party in the Eastern Conference and San Diego Loyal SC and Oakland Roots SC in the Western Conference. All have put in impressive seasons to get this far – especially Memphis’ surge through the final stretch of the season and Oakland delivering on the final Saturday when their rivals for the final place in the Pacific Division could not – but now all four head on the road to open the campaign.

So, the question is this: Which one could be the most likely to emerge victorious from its playoff debut?

The longshot here would appear to be Roots SC. As far as they’ve come this season, going to face El Paso Locomotive FC, which is undefeated in its last 25 games at Southwest University Park, is a daunting task, and you could say the same for Miami as it heads to a Louisville City FC side that has lost only twice in the postseason at home in its history. Don’t underestimate Miami’s talent, but the side is 6-11-7 away from home so far in its Championship history.

That leaves us with SD Loyal – which on its day has shown it can compete with the best of the league in Phoenix Rising FC, but has also shown an inconsistency that resulted in its third-place finish – as it heads to a San Antonio FC side that has been good but not great at home, or 901 FC, which ended the campaign on an 8-2-1 romp and went 5-6-5 away from home overall this campaign as it heads to face a high-powered Charlotte Independence. The odds will probably say San Diego, but Memphis could easily put a scare into Charlotte as it did when it took a 2-1 win when the teams last met in 2020.

Switchbacks, Toros Back After Lengthy Layoff

While there are four first-time arrivals, this postseason also sees the return of Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and Rio Grande Valley FC to the playoff field after a lengthy absence. The last time the Switchbacks and Toros were in the postseason was in 2016, which marked the first appearance for RGVFC and the second for Colorado Springs.

This season has seen a sea change at both clubs. For the Switchbacks there was the opening of the new, magnificent 8,000-seat Weidner Field in downtown Colorado Springs that brought the club to an even wider audience and allowed it to record its highest attendances in club history with regular sellouts. That audience was treated to one of the most entertaining teams in the league under new Head Coach Brenden Burke, with the Switchbacks finishing third in the league on 60 goals as Hadji Barry tied the single-season scoring record with 25 tallies individually. They’ll head to Orange County SC upset-minded while looking for a first postseason win since their inaugural season in 2015.

Rio Grande Valley FC already had a fine stadium, but the major change this offseason came in the technical side where the club retained its partnership with Houston Dynamo FC but for the first time took control of its playing personnel. There was a familiar face put in charge of that rebuild, too, with the club’s first Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera – who led the side’s successful opening campaign before moving on – back to lead the team on the sideline, and he pulled together a solid group of experience and youth as Elvis Amoh led the team with 11 goals and Christian Sorto notched seven assists and Rodrigo Lopez six helpers on the way back to the playoffs. The task ahead of the Toros is a daunting one as it heads to a Phoenix Rising FC side that is undefeated at home this season – including a 3-1 win against the Toros – but for both Colorado Springs and RGVFC this year has been a building block to future success.

Familiar Faces in New Places

The last time Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and Birmingham Legion FC squared off in the USL Championship Playoffs, it was a very good night for Neco Brett. Then a player for the Hounds, the Jamaican scored four goals in a 7-0 rout to equal the most individual goals in a postseason contest in the Championship Playoffs’ history.

As the sides meet again to round out the opening weekend on Sunday night, Birmingham will be hoping if not for the exact same level of production, but certainly a big night for their standout forward. Since that performance for Pittsburgh in 2019, Brett has spent the past two seasons in the Magic City and has in short order become the club’s all-time leading scorer with 27 goals in 48 games, including finishing fifth in the league this season with 18 tallies.

Brett isn’t the only notable player set to face his former club next weekend. Paco Craig will be part of the Miami FC squad that travels to face Louisville City FC on Saturday, where he was three times voted to the Championship’s All-League Team and twice helped the team claim the league title, and he arrives off a stellar campaign with Miami. So will Speedy Williams, who spent four successful seasons at LouCity earning two of his three league titles and All-League First Team honors last year before his offseason move.

Time to Shine for Goalkeepers

If there’s one position that can make a substantial difference in the postseason, it might be goalkeeper, where you’re not only the last man in defense, but also the potential hero in a penalty shootout scenario. And while there might be surprises along the way this year – never forget that the first Championship Final MVP was Orlando City SC back-up goalkeeper Sean Kelley, who came off the bench after a red card to Miguel Gallardo and then came through in a penalty shootout to earn the Lions the title – there are some prime candidates to shine this campaign.

At the top of the list is obviously Tampa Bay Rowdies goalkeeper Evan Louro, who with his standout squad recorded 14 shutouts this season to finish one off the single-season league record. Louro’s save percentage for a player who doesn’t see as many shots as others is solid at 71.3 percent, and he’s the lone goalkeeper in the postseason field to have made multiple penalty saves this season, stopping 2 of 6.

Another that jumps out is Phoenix Rising FC’s Andre Rawls, who doesn’t have the same shutout numbers as Louro with only six in 21 appearances but has an outstanding 75.6 save percentage on all shots – good for second-best among goalkeepers with at least 20 appearances behind Birmingham Legion FC’s Matt VanOekel at 75.7 percent – but also has the best save percentage on shots from within the penalty area at 74.2 percent, when no other goalkeeper with at least 20 appearances has cracked the 70 percent mark.

Then there are the players who’ve been there, done that in the past, like VanOekel or El Paso Locomotive FC’s Logan Ketterer, whose ability both in-game and in shootouts makes him a potential ace at this time of year. With every game the end to someone’s season, having a goalkeeper that can make the saves that count can make a big difference.