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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 2

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 03/21/22, 4:00PM EDT

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LouCity moves into top spot after Las Vegas upsets the odds against Phoenix

Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of the Championship’s Power Rankings, where there’s a new No. 1 this week after maybe our first big surprise of the campaign on Saturday night.

Just how surprising was Las Vegas Lights FC’s 2-1 victory against Phoenix Rising FC at Cashman Field? Well, Lights FC became the first team with less than a 20 percent win probability in fivethirtyeight.com’s pregame predictor to win a game this season. That’s on a small sample of 27 games so far but consider this – the same level of upset only happened twice in the final two months of the regular season and playoffs during the 2021 season, a span of 202 games.

Both of those results – FC Tulsa’s 1-0 win at Louisville City FC on September 3 (17% odds), and Oakland Roots SC’s 4-3 victory at San Diego Loyal SC on October 24 (18%) – also came on the road, while Lights FC was a home underdog at 17 percent, or according to their pregame line a +560 to win at the Westgate Las Vegas.

Lights FC can now try to accomplish something its only done four times previously in its history and record back-to-back league victories as it visits EL Paso Locomotive FC on Wednesday night. Pull that off, and it could be quite a party on Saturday night back at Cashman Field. 

Atlanta United 2 Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Detroit City FC El Paso Locomotive FC Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven
LA Galaxy II Las Vegas Lights FC Loudoun United FC Louisville City FC Memphis 901 FC The Miami FC Monterey Bay F.C. New Mexico United
New York Red Bulls II Oakland Roots SC Orange County SC Phoenix Rising FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Rio Grande Valley FC Sacramento Republic FC San Antonio FC
San Diego Loyal SC Tampa Bay Rowdies FC Tulsa

Biggest Movers

9 LV 8 PHX

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary
1 Louisville City FC
(2-0-0)
Week 3: @ NY, vs. IND		 1
Last Week:
2		 Two games, two shutouts, and an Expected Goals Against mark of 0.87xGA. That’s exactly the start Head Coach Danny Cruz will have been looking for.
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(1-0-1)
Week 3: @ ATL, vs. HFD		 1
Last Week:
3		 You could feel the excitement at AL Lang Stadium when Juan Tejada finally found the net after a long absence from the scoresheet. His energy is a big plus for Tampa Bay.
3 San Antonio FC
(2-0-0)
Week 3: @ RGV		 1
Last Week:
4		 San Antonio didn’t make it easy on itself against the Galaxy II, but they’ve got six points ahead of Sunday’s South Texas Derby against Rio Grande Valley FC.
4 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(2-0-0)
Week 3: @ DET		 2
Last Week:
6		 All-time goalscoring leader Dane Kelly setting up all-time assists leader Kenardo Forbes for a goal – and a spectacular one at that – was a tremendous role-reversal we should see again this year.
5 San Diego Loyal SC
(2-0-0)
Week 3: @ TUL, @ PHX		 6
Last Week:
11		 San Diego’s two home victories have both been backed by solid performances. Now we get to see how they fare on the road in New Mexico in what’s a must-see game.
6 New Mexico United
(2-0-0)
Week 3: v. OC		 4
Last Week:
10		 Ending its biggest rival’s lengthy home undefeated streak had to be a great feeling for New Mexico’s players, staff and fans, and Neco Brett’s signing is already paying off handsomely.
7 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(2-0-0)
Week 3: @ BHM
Last Week:
7		 Hadji Barry hasn’t scored yet, and that’s perfectly fine. His performance on Saturday was a good one, and those chances will start to fall soon enough.
8 Orange County SC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: @ NM		 1
Last Week:
9		 Sean Okoli’s game-winner on Saturday night was the latest goal in a regular season game for Orange County since the start of the 2017 season and the league’s partnership with Opta, and what a relief it was for the hosts.
9 Phoenix Rising FC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: v. SD
 8
Last Week:
1		 Rising FC had goalkeeper Ben Lundt to thank it had a chance to salvage something from its trip to Las Vegas, otherwise we could have been looking at a repeat of Lights FC’s 5-2 win in 2018.
10 FC Tulsa
(1-1-0)
Week 3: v. SD, @ SAC		 6
Last Week:
16		 Tulsa had to hold off Legion FC’s attack to earn three points in front of a good crowd at ONEOK Field ahead of Joaquin Rivas and Ronald Rodriguez heading out for World Cup Qualifying this week.
11 Sacramento Republic FC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: v. TUL		 3
Last Week:
8		 Republic FC had its chances but couldn’t put them away in the manner San Diego did. There’s still plenty to build on here.
12 The Miami FC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: v. LDN		 7
Last Week:
5		 Miami FC has a strong squad, but it came up short against Louisville. A home game against Loudoun might be more challenging than it might have seemed two weeks ago, too.
13 Detroit City FC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: v. PIT		 5
Last Week:
18		 A first goal for Antoine Hoppenot and a first win for Le Rouge in the Championship. Keyworth Stadium was rightly jumping at the final whistle on Saturday evening.
14 Loudoun United FC
(2-0-0)
Week 3: @ MIA		 5
Last Week:
19		 Two wins out of two and the highest Expected Goals mark in the league? There are bigger tests to come, but this is just the change in fortune Loudoun was hoping for so far.
15 Birmingham Legion FC
(0-1-1)
Week 3: v. COS		 2
Last Week:
13		 Birmingham has faced two difficult games to start the season, but it’s still going to be disappointed to only have one point to show for its start.
16 El Paso Locomotive FC
(0-2-0)
Week 3: v. LV		 4
Last Week:
12		 El Paso has the look of a team that’s going to be consistently good this season, but it really needs that first win to get some confidence against Las Vegas on Wednesday.
17 Las Vegas Lights FC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: @ ELP, v. MEM		 9
Last Week:
26		 Lights FC is off and running after Saturday’s win. Now, can it back up that victory with another win against a perennial playoff club on Wednesday in El Paso?
18 Rio Grande Valley FC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: @ LA, v. OAK		 4
Last Week:
14		 The Toros had almost done enough to take a point from its trip to Orange County and will be disappointed it didn’t. Two goals in two games for Frank Lopez is a good start, though.
19 Memphis 901 FC
(1-1-0)
Week 3: @ LV		 3
Last Week:
22		 You couldn’t ask for two better goals than Memphis scored in its win against Oakland to keep fans coming back for more, something 901 FC President Craig Unger is helping out with as well.
20 Charleston Battery
(1-1-0)
Week 3: @ ATL		 5
Last Week:
15		 The Battery cracked the post early, but there’s going to need to be a little more finesse with the direct and physical style they want to play to create more chances consistently.
21 Oakland Roots SC
(0-2-0)
Week 3: v. MB		 4
Last Week:
17		 Oakland showed far more life in front of goal against Memphis than in its opener. Roots SC will hope getting back home to Laney Stadium this weekend helps pick up a first three points of 2022.
22 Indy Eleven
(0-2-0)
Week 3: @ LOU		 3
Last Week:
19		 The last thing Indy needed was to go behind within a minute against the defending Eastern Conference title-holder, and now the Boys in Blue get the LIPAFC this weekend on the road.
23 Hartford Athletic
(0-1-0)
Week 3: @ PIT		 2
Last Week:
21		 Hartford won the xG matchup against Riverhounds SC on Saturday, but after Kenardo Forbes’ strike it was always going to be hard to come back down a man.
24 Monterey Bay F.C.
(0-2-0)
Week 3: @ OAK
Last Week:
24		 Welcome to the USL Championship, Monterey Bay F.C., here’s a four-goal halftime deficit. The fight back in the second half is something to build on, at least.
25 LA Galaxy II
(0-2-0)
Week 3: v. RGV
Last Week:
25		 Los Dos created enough to take something from its home opener against San Antonio but couldn’t get the decisive goal in the second half​.
26 New York Red Bulls II
(1-2-0)
Week 3: v. LOU		 1
Last Week:
27		 The Red Bulls II looked really good up a man against Atlanta in midweek, and then early on against Loudoun United on Saturday, but they’ve got to cut out the red cards.
27 Atlanta United 2
(0-2-0)
Week 3: v. TBR, v. CHS		 4
Last Week:
23		 Two games, two defeats, and no goals yet. This isn’t the start Atlanta was looking for to the campaign.

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Tag(s): Power Rankings  San Antonio FC  CO Spring Switchbacks  LA Galaxy II  Orange County SC  Phoenix Rising FC  Rio Grande Valley FC  Sacramento Republic FC  FC Tulsa  Charleston Battery  Louisville City FC  New York Red Bulls II  Pittsburgh Riverhounds  Tampa Bay Rowdies  Las Vegas Lights FC  Birmingham Legion FC  Atlanta United 2  Indy Eleven  Memphis 901 FC  El Paso Locomotive FC  New Mexico United  Loudoun United FC  Hartford Athletic  San Diego Loyal SC  Miami FC  Oakland Roots SC  Detroit City FC  Monterey Bay F.C. 

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