The past weekend in the USL Championship gave us the game of the season – y’know, until the next one – between two of the league’s powerhouse clubs, a decisive rivalry victory, a major rebound for the Western Conference, and another home masterclass by the Golden Boot leader and his supporting cast.

Here are the three big storylines we took away from Week 23’s action, our picks for who’s up and who’s down coming out of the weekend, and thoughts on everything else we saw around the league.

TOP THREE STORYLINES

1. LOUCITY, REPUBLIC FC OVERDELIVERED

There’s always a concern that one of the most-hyped games on the calendar won’t live up to the hype.

If anything, however, Saturday night’s clash between Louisville City FC and Sacramento Republic FC overdelivered when it came to performance and drama at Lynn Family Stadium.

• QUIET OPENING: The first half went about as you might expect. LouCity struck early through Wilson Harris – the side’s eight goals in the opening 15 minutes are tied for the most in the league this season – before Republic FC settled in and made it a reasonably even battle.

• GOAL EXPLOSION: The second half absolutely did not. Taylor Davila’s goal for LouCity 34 seconds after the break began an avalanche of scoring which saw Sacramento rewarded for its expert dissection of Louisville’s back line. Nick Ross’ first two-goal game in the Championship bracketed Kieran Phillips’ finish to put the visitors on top before Jansen Wilson broke the offside trap to level again for LouCity.

• CALMEST HEAD: That seemed like it might be it, especially when Republic FC’s Danny Vitiello brilliantly denied Niall McCabe a potential winner with five minutes to go. Somehow, though, LouCity prevailed as Sean Totsch proved the coolest head in the building to find a backheel assist on Harris’ second goal of the night in the fourth minute of stoppage time, a grandstand finish for an instant classic.

It was everything you could hope for in a contest, and the exuberance with which LouCity celebrated at the final whistle was understandable.

“It hasn’t even really set in,” said Harris. “We take every game one at a time, and this was a really big one. I’m just super happy. It’s such a huge win for the club.”

Don’t think for a minute that Sacramento isn’t smarting, either. They let a big result – and a piece of USL Championship history as their road undefeated streak came to an end – slip away here.

If we get to see a rematch in November, it will be well worth tuning in.

2. RHODE ISLAND HARPOONS HARTFORD

There is nothing like getting one over on your rival.

That made Rhode Island FC’s 3-0 victory against Hartford Athletic on Saturday night at Beirne Stadium maybe the most satisfying result of the season so far for Head Coach Khano Smith’s side, propelling it up the Eastern Conference standings while leading Hartford a massive hill to climb in the playoff race.

• TWIN TOWERS: Rhode Island’s opening two goals came off almost identical set piece opportunities, with Grant Stoneman and Frank Nodarse heading home the respective free kick deliveries to take RIFC to 10 set piece goals this campaign.

• SHIFTING GEARS: From there, the hosts were able to take advantage of Hartford’s desperation to get back into the game. RIFC had fewer passes in the attacking half and attacking third than Athletic in the second half but outshot the visitors 13-2 as their ability to spring the traps was evident.

• ICING ON TOP: Noah Fuson’s close-range goal closed out the game in second-half stoppage time off another nicely created Rhode Island move, leaving the only fireworks Hartford produced over the 90 minutes the ones their fans brought and set off during the second half – likely knowing at that point they wouldn’t be celebrating a goal.

“Really good night, special night,” said Smith after the game. “We talked about it as a team, making it a night to remember. And putting a bigger gap between us and [Hartford], so we felt like we achieved it. But so many people put in so much work into this day.”

Smith made a calculation in Rhode Island’s contest last Wednesday night against Indy Eleven, making a season-high six changes in his lineup. While it didn’t pay off, the resulting performance to earn the first win in the series between the New England clubs was almost certainly worth it.  

3. NEW MEXICO FINDS ITS RHYTHM

New Mexico had gone through a tough week at home in Week 22, and it looked as though that might continue on Sunday evening against Indy Eleven after a listless first half that saw the side trail at the break.

That made the second-half performance United produced even more eye-opening as they rallied for a 3-1 victory to extend their lead at the top of the Western Conference to six points.

• PEP IN THEIR STEP: You can’t underrate Head Coach Eric Quill’s ability to push the right buttons when required. Whatever he told the side during the break – and I imagine it was similar to what was said at halftime of the side’s victory against New York City FC II in the U.S. Open Cup earlier this year – changed the trajectory of the game.

• FIRING UP: Everything seemed sharper, with Daniel Bruce shining. The English forward’s clever heel-flick to set up Harry Swartz for the equalizer was followed by a brilliant dummy in midfield that allowed Sergio Rivas to remain onside – freezing the Indy defense – as he broke onto a pass from the back line to put United ahead.

• CLINICAL FINISHING: After recording only three shots in the first half, New Mexico created three big chances in the second half and put them all away with Greg Hurst capping the performance with 15 minutes to go.

New Mexico has now earned 15 points from losing positions this season, the most in the USL Championship this campaign, and has equaled its single-season high for victories with 13 games to go in the campaign.

As most of the rest of the Western Conference faltered, United earned a result that put it back in control of the top seed.

Three Up

Juan David Torres – Nick Markanich has been getting the headlines in Charleston – and rightly so – but the Colombian has now notched two goals and three assists in the past three outings and continues to show the ability for the spectacular with his shooting.

Jordan Farr – The Tampa Bay Rowdies’ shot-stopper put in a vintage performance to notch his 40th regular season shutout in the USL Championship to earn a point on the road against Phoenix Rising FC.

Stefano Pinho – How can you not love the sort of finish the Brazilian delivered against Monterey Bay F.C. on Saturday night? If it gets the Herculez Gomez seal of approval, it’s got to be a winner.

Three Down

Lucas Turci – The Brazilian hadn’t been sent off in more than two years before Nick Markanich put him in hell on Saturday night. Two bookable offenses both caused by the Golden Boot leader sent Turci for an early shower in 901 FC’s defeat.

The lower two-thirds of the Western Conference: The eight teams around the playoff line went a combined 1-2-5 this week and scored five goals, two of which were by last-placed El Paso Locomotive FC. Let’s pick it up a bit, folks.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – After last week’s surge, two scoreless performances this week stalled the Hounds. They’ve got 10 games to find a way into the postseason.  

THE REST OF THE ACTION

#TULvOC: Tulsa missed its opportunity to jump into the playoff positions, but Orange County SC will be heartened by how much better it performed. The visitors need more of that to secure a postseason spot.

#PITvSA: What a story it would be if the past two Players’ Shield winners were both to miss this year’s playoffs. That’s the trajectory both Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and San Antonio FC are headed, especially the latter after another dull display in attack.

#CHSvMEM: Nick Markanich just can’t be stopped right now – and even with his accomplishments he’s still seemingly got a chip in his shoulder – but add in Juan David Torres and MD Myers coming into form and the Battery look formidable.

#NCvCOS: We haven’t seen North Carolina produce an attacking performance like the one it delivered against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC in a minute. That made this one of the results of the weekend and might have seen NCFC turn a corner at a very opportune moment.

#ELPvMIA: Finally, Locomotive has its first home win of the season. Yes, it came against the most obvious opponent for it to happen against, but 8th Notch deserves something to celebrate.

#MBvBHM: Birmingham Legion scored a couple of bangers – top finish by Kobe Hernandez-Foster as well as the previously referenced strike by Stefano Pinho – to get on top of Monterey Bay and then made life harder than it needed in the second half. This is how it’s going to be, huh?

#OAKvLDN: We told you Oakland and Loudoun was going to be a really good matchup, and it was. Big win for the Roots at home to move back into second place, and now the pressure is on Loudoun to respond.

#LVvDET: Take a bow again, Ben Morris, but we’re going to need to see a bit more in attack from Detroit in the next couple of games to feel good about their playoff chances. Las Vegas could have won this and are looking nicely set.

#PHXvTBR: We agree with Joseph Lowery in having no idea how this game ended scoreless. We did like the way Tomás Ángel was fitting into Rising’s new single-striker system though, and how the Rowdies adjusted on the fly when they saw how it was giving them problems. Really good management on both sides.