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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 13

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 06/06/22, 4:00PM EDT

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Memphis, Birmingham on the rise ahead of Wednesday’s Southern Harm

Welcome back to the USL Championship Power Rankings, where we’ve got a new No. 1 this week ahead of one of the most underrated rivalries in the league resuming on Wednesday night.

Memphis 901 FC claims top spot, up one spot after its fifth consecutive victory this past Saturday night that saw the side bag its second five-goal haul of the season. Now sitting in top spot in the Eastern Conference, 901 FC’s upward trajectory has continued after last season’s first postseason berth.

The next challenge for Head Coach Ben Pirmann’s side will be a serious one, though. 901 FC heads to face Birmingham Legion FC on Wednesday night at Protective Stadium for the first edition of what’s one of the underrated rivalries in the USL Championship. Dubbed “Southern Harm” by the two sets of supporters, the on-field rivalry predates Legion FC and 901 FC’s arrival in the Championship in 2019, going back to the days of the Birmingham Hammers and Memphis City FC in the amateur ranks.

Since their first meeting on May 4, 2019, the series has produced fireworks. That inaugural contest produced two brilliant long-range strikes by Cam Lindley for Memphis and Daniel Johnson for Birmingham, and a stoppage-time equalizer from the penalty spot for Legion FC by Chandler Hoffman.

The most recent edition is probably etched on the memories of both fanbases, with Raul Gonzalez’s scissor-kick finish in second-half stoppage time for 901 FC sending the hosts into wild celebrations and breaking the hearts of the visitors at AutoZone Park.

If we get anything close to that on Wednesday night, we’re in for another treat.

Now, here’s how the rest of the picture looks across the league.

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

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary

1 Memphis 901 FC
(9-2-1)
Week 14: @ BHM
1
Last Week:
2
An underrated element of Memphis’ attack? Its creative diversity. Eight players have recorded at least two assists this season, while six have at least 10 Chances Created. That’s hard to contain.
2 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(9-2-0)
Week 14: @ LA
3
Last Week:
5
The Switchbacks knocked the rust off with Friday night’s victory against Lights FC, with Elvis Amoh leaving Las Vegas all shook up with his great first-half finish.
3 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(6-3-5)
Week 14: @ MIA
3
Last Week:
6
If not for a superb goalkeeping performance by FC Tulsa’s Austin Wormell, we’d be talking about the Rowdies having a four-game winning streak with victories against Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Louisville.
4 New Mexico United
(6-2-4)
Week 14: ---
4
Last Week:
8
New Mexico has won four in a row thanks to Alex Tambakis’ crucial penalty save in Orange County, and both Chris Wehan and Justin Portillo are heating up creatively in front of goal.
5 San Antonio FC
(9-3-0)
Week 14: @ MB
4
Last Week:
1
There’s no shame in falling on the road in Sacramento, but San Antonio’s must be unhappy with the fact that not one of its chances seriously threatened to breach Republic FC’s defenses.
6 Detroit City FC
(7-2-4)
Week 14: v. SAC
2
Last Week:
4
Another solid point on the road, this time in Pittsburgh. Given the short-handed nature of the squad – congratulations to the Hoppenot family! – that’s a good weekend of work.
7 Louisville City FC
(8-3-3)
Week 14: ---
4
Last Week:
3
LouCity’s still in second place in the Eastern Conference, but Sunday’s defeat at Tampa Bay was its third in the last four league games. We’re expecting that to change, and soon
8 Sacramento Republic FC
(5-3-4)
Week 14: @ DET
4
Last Week:
12
Sacramento’s defense was awesome against San Antonio on Saturday night. Now Republic FC needs to figure out how to take its stellar home form on the road this weekend in Detroit.
9 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(7-3-3)
Week 14: @ CHS

Last Week:
9
The Hounds had enough chances to earn a valuable victory against Detroit City FC. They didn’t capitalize and ended up paying the price thanks to Maxi Rodriguez’s second-half equalizer.
10 El Paso Locomotive FC
(6-6-3)
Week 14: @ PHX
3
Last Week:
7
What a night for 16-year-old Diego Abarca. First professional goal, first appearance on SportsCenter’s Top 10, Man of the Match award. Hopefully, the first of many in years to come​.
11 Oakland Roots SC
(4-4-7)
Week 14: v. RGV
8
Last Week:
19
Consecutive victories in the past week have made Roots SC’s six-game undefeated run look a lot brighter at 3-0-3 and pulled the side to the verge of the playoff places.
12 The Miami FC
(5-4-5)
Week 14: v. IND, v. TBR
2
Last Week:
10
Miami’s undefeated streak reached four games, but it needed a big performance by goalkeeper Connor Sparrow in Tulsa to continue this past Saturday. This weekend’s rivalry clash with Tampa Bay is a massive contest.
13 Birmingham Legion FC
(5-4-4)
Week 14: v. MEM
4
Last Week:
17
Legion FC set itself up really well for Wednesday night’s visit from rival Memphis 901 FC with victory in Phoenix. If it can come through against the Eastern leaders, things will be really motoring.
14 San Diego Loyal SC
(6-3-4)
Week 14: v. HFD
1
Last Week:
15
A two-goal comeback powered by Thomas Amang flipped the script from SD Loyal’s recent performances. It’s still looking for a first win since April, though, ahead of a key home stretch.
15 Phoenix Rising FC
(7-6-0)
Week 14: v. ELP
4
Last Week:
11
Three defeats in the last four league games doesn’t feel like the Rising FC we’ve been accustomed to. That form puts a lot of pressure on Saturday’s home game against Locomotive FC as the teams enter level on points.
16 Indy Eleven
(6-4-2)
Week 14: @ MIA
2
Last Week:
18
Indy was tremendous in the first half against Charleston, and then almost contrived to let it all slip away late on. When that attack is going, though, it could really go, especially now Manuel Arteaga’s off the mark.
17 Rio Grande Valley FC
(6-8-0)
Week 14: @ OAK
1
Last Week:
16
The Toros produced a brilliant late comeback to take victory against Atlanta United 2 on the road in midweek, and then couldn’t find a way past the Galaxy II’s Eric Lopez at home on Saturday night. There’s no middle ground, is there?
18 Monterey Bay F.C.
(4-8-0)
Week 14: v. SA
5
Last Week:
13
Tough day at the office for Monterey Bay on Saturday night against Oakland ahead of a chance to prove how far the side has come this weekend as San Antonio FC visits for a clash on ESPN Deportes.
19 LA Galaxy II
(5-6-3)
Week 14: v. COS
2
Last Week:
21
Los Dos finally picked up a victory on the road, and all it took was Eric Lopez to produce an outstanding performance in goal against Rio Grande Valley FC.
20 Orange County SC
(3-5-5)
Week 14: @ LV
6
Last Week:
14
Gut-punch of a week for the defending title holders, first conceding twice in stoppage time to fall against Oakland and then having their own comeback denied against New Mexico
21 Hartford Athletic
(2-7-2)
Week 14: @ SD
1
Last Week:
22
Nice work by the Athletic to get a point out of its trip to El Paso, but the double-digit gap to the playoff positions means a real run of wins needs to start soon the playoffs are to be a possibility.
22 FC Tulsa
(4-8-2)
Week 14: ---
1
Last Week:
23
Austin Wormell stepped up impressively in his first two starts of the season to get Tulsa a pair of home draws against Tampa Bay and Miami. The wins are going to have to start to come soon, though.
23 Las Vegas Lights FC
(4-6-4)
Week 14: v. OC
3
Last Week:
20
The strange thing about Lights FC’s prolonged winless streak is it doesn’t feel as though the team is playing particularly poorly. The breaks that it saw earlier in the season just aren’t happening now.
24 Loudoun United FC
(2-8-2)
Week 14: v. NY, @ ATL

Last Week:
24
After a week off, Loudoun gets a chance to boost its position with games against the Red Bulls II and Atlanta United 2. Let’s see how it goes.
25 New York Red Bulls II
(1-10-2)
Week 14: @ LDN
2
Last Week:
27
The Red Bulls II staked themselves to a two-goal lead and then let it slip away against San Diego Loyal SC. Still, credit for getting a point against a solid Western Conference foe.
26 Atlanta United 2
(2-10-1)
Week 14: v. LDN
1
Last Week:
25
There were some great individual displays last week for Atlanta, most notably Robbie Mertz, but conceding nine goals in two games isn’t going to lead to positive results.
27 Charleston Battery
(1-9-2)
Week 14: v. PIT
1
Last Week:
26
The Battery’s defense absent Leland Archer got sliced up by Indy Eleven on Saturday evening, and now they’re at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

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