This weekend in the USL Championship gave us the highest-scoring game of the season, another piece of club history for Las Vegas Lights FC, and another reason to believe we’re headed for a chaotic November in the Western Conference.

Here are the three big storylines we took away from Week 26’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. ANOTHER PIECE OF HISTORY FOR THE LIGHTS

Chalk up another first this season for Las Vegas Lights FC.

Despite going down two goals inside the opening 20 minutes against Orange County SC on Saturday night at Championship Soccer Stadium, the Lights rallied for a 3-2 victory – the first time the club had won a league game in which it trailed at any point by two goals.

• SLOW START: The Lights were pinned back early as Ethan Zubak finally brought OCSC’s scoring drought to an end at 463 minutes before adding a second tally eight minutes later to get the hosts out to a flyer.

• BENNETT’S BRACE: Las Vegas rallied behind striker Khori Bennett, who won and then converted a penalty kick before halftime before adding his second of the night just past the hour-mark.

• WELCOME, COVIL: Joe Gyau hit the woodwork as the visitors looked for a winner, but they found it with three minutes to go as a double defensive carom off a cross by Vaughn Covil resulted in an own goal for the winner.

“We’ve shown different moments throughout the year where we were resilient and can adapt and overcome moments of adversity,” said Lights Head Coach Dennis Sanchez. “Obviously, we want to have a better start, but I love that the guys stayed, calm and collected and stayed true to our game plan. And we found a way to win, so couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Las Vegas has only rallied to take victory 13 times in its history, with Saturday’s win being the fifth time they had done it away from home.

Sitting in sixth position in the Western Conference standings – and only three points off second – it doesn’t seem at this point a question of whether the Lights will make the playoffs for the first time, but whether they’ll host their first postseason outing.

2. RHODE ISLAND LAYS THE GROUNDWORK

Maybe the most striking thing about Rhode Island FC’s 2-0 victory against Birmingham Legion FC – giving Head Coach Khano Smith a season sweep against the club where he was an assistant coach for four-plus seasons previously – was the control the hosts had over the game.

• DICTATING TERMS: RIFC controlled the majority of possession, but as importantly the hosts dictated where the game was going to be played. As a result, 78.6 percent of the game was played either in midfield or Legion’s defensive third as Rhode Island consistently applied pressure that eventually told in the second half.

• TURNING UP: Leading the way was Stephen Turnbull, whose goal proved the winner but who also played a key role in limiting Legion’s opportunities down the left flank. Despite Birmingham’s aim to try and find success from that area, they went without as Turnbull won 4 of 4 tackles and 6 of 7 ground duels to limit the impact of Moses Mensah as he tried to push forward from full back.

• STIFLED AGAIN: Legion has been going through a tough time of things in attack of late, but the way Rhode Island closed them down was remarkable. The visitors recorded four shots overall, only two of which forced a save from RIFC goalkeeper Koke Vegas, to set the groundwork for an important victory.

“I thought it was a real professional performance,” said Smith. “They stuck to their roles. Not many mistakes and defended when they needed to. Obviously, we had a lot of the ball and we spoke at halftime about being patient and not losing that patience. Wait for the right opportunities to open up.”

Rhode Island is up to fifth place in the Eastern Conference after its win. The postseason looks within reach, but so too does a home playoff game for a side that’s coming into its own.

3. ROOTS MAKE THEIR MOVE AGAINST UNITED

If you want an idea of how messy the Western Conference bracket could get in the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs, you only need to look at Oakland Roots SC’s victory against current conference leader New Mexico United on Saturday night.

• CAGEY AFFAIR: With limited chances for both sides, it came down to which was able to connect with an opportunity. Roots eventually found it through Dom Dwyer’s first goal for the club – 4,101 days after his last goal in the USL Championship’s regular season – to give the hosts a 1-0 victory at Pioneer Stadium.

• MOVING FORWARD: Roots’ win moved the side to third place in the West, only a point behind rival Sacramento Republic FC, and extended the club’s undefeated streak to five games. That’s the longest the side has recorded this season.

• HE SAID IT: “It says that we are very, very capable, and we know we can play with anybody. It's going to be about continuing to combine things and put things together. But you've seen them – their ability to defend, their ability to bounce back, come through some tough results and regroup. So, you know, I think we're getting there.” – Roots interim Head Coach Gavin Glinton

Unlike the Eastern Conference, where Louisville City FC and the Charleston Battery have shown a higher level than their contemporaries, the West has been far more up and down. As a result, there are only three points separating second and sixth place going into the final two months of the season.

Wherever the final standings end up, though, the postseason could deliver some serious fireworks.

Three Up

Frank López – The Cuban veteran bagged his 50th regular season goal to end Miami’s 17-game winless streak with a 1-0 victory against Monterey Bay F.C.

Juan David Torres – The Colombian has been a revelation since joining the Battery after a preseason tryout. His cracking free kick with seven minutes to go earned Charleston a draw in San Antonio as he moved to 10 combined goals and assists this season.

Jansen Wilson & Wilson Harris – The attacking pair each had a brace in Louisville City’s remarkable 6-4 victory against North Carolina FC, which provided us one of the wildest games in USL Championship regular season history.

• READ MORE: How LouCity, North Carolina gave us the wildest game of the season so far

Three Down

Monterey Bay F.C.’s playoff chances: Our friend John Morrissey’s playoff projections still have Monterey Bay getting into the playoffs as of now. After a defeat like that in Miami, we have our doubts.

San Antonio’s late-game urgency: The 2022 title winners desperately needed a response after being pegged back by Charleston late at Toyota Field. They didn’t produce a shot and seemed happy enough to settle for a draw, dropping their playoff chances further.

North Carolina FC’s back line: NCFC had conceded only nine goals in 12 home league games this season prior to Saturday night. Then absolutely nothing went right against LouCity.

THE REST OF THE ACTION

#DETvHFD: Both Detroit City’s Ben Morris and Hartford’s Mamadou Dieng have found solid form of late with five goals apiece in August. Their goals left honors even here as Le Rouge’s winless streak at Keyworth Stadium in league action reached eight games.

#INDvPIT: You’ve got to feel sorry for the Hounds, who managed so well after Patrick Hogan’s early red card and took the lead on a great finish by Danny Griffin, only to see three points snatched away at the death by Indy’s Romario Williams. That’s a gut-punch.

#MIAvMB: We said leading into the weekend something had to give in this matchup. Huge for Miami FC, which gets its first win since April thanks to Frank López’s finish, and massively disappointing for Monterey Bay as it drops to 10th place in the standings.

#LDNvPHX: Rising’s scoring drought is finally over at 447 minutes thanks to Jearl Margaritha. That could only prove the winner, though, thanks to Phoenix goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo once again delivering at the other end. Loudoun could have got something from this game, but the Argentine was outstanding.

#NCvLOU: We can only imagine what it must have been like for LouCity Head Coach Danny Cruz watching that remotely. Absolutely wild stuff from the two sides with LouCity’s firepower again proving the difference.

#SAvCHS: Charleston looked the more enterprising side. San Antonio needed to find a way to win, but just didn’t look like finding a way after Juan David Torres’ thunderbolt. That’s 20 points dropped from winning positions this season for SAFC.

#TULvCOS: The Switchbacks continue to show that when they’re on their game, they can be a very difficult proposition with a four-goal performance at ONEOK Field. Tough one for Tulsa, who’ll need to rebound positively.