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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 11

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 05/19/25, 5:00PM EDT

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With Cal Jennings on board the Charleston Battery’s attack continues to scale up

As Nick Markanich went on his record-setting goalscoring spree a season ago, it was part of a Charleston Battery attack that pushed on dramatically from Head Coach Ben Pirmann’s first season at the helm in 2023.

The Battery averaged two goals per game in the regular season, averaged 15.2 shots per game and 1.73xG per game and had a 17.7 percent shot conversion rate. That attacking output put them second in the league to Louisville City’s remarkable 86-goal campaign, which came in at the second-highest mark in league history all-time.

But here’s the thing – the Battery aren’t just replicating that pace this season, they’re pushing even higher. While the side is slightly down with an average of 1.49 shots per game so far in the regular season, after Saturday’s 4-0 victory against San Antonio FC, Charleston is averaging 2.4 goals per game. They’re also up in Expected Goals per game at 2.08xG and in shot conversion rate at 24.2 percent.

With Cal Jennings taking the reins as the centerpiece for the club’s attack – and now sitting on nine goals and two assists in nine appearances to lead the Golden Boot race – the Battery might be even more potent than they were a season ago.

“Honestly, from start to finish, every single player that played tonight was top,” said Pirmann after his side’s win against San Antonio. “They moved the ball incredibly well, quickly, selflessly, with intent and with purpose, and then hunted them out of possession. When you do that, you can just sit back and watch, and hopefully it goes our way. We played a very thorough match tonight and that was very well deserved.”

For his part, Jennings continues to be one of the most prolific goalscorers the Championship has seen. His brace on his 28th birthday moved him to 74 regular season goals in his career, tied for eighth all-time with Corey Hertzog in the league’s list while doing so at a strike rate of a goal every 130.7 minutes, third in league history among players with at least 40 tallies.

“I don’t always expect [goals] on my birthday, but I was coming out here tonight just trying to find the kid in me, enjoy the game and be happy to come away with two,” said Jennings. “I think I have scored on my birthday before, but it doesn't always fall on a Saturday.”

As the Battery continue to roll with six wins on the bounce in league play, they’re again looking a serious contender for silverware this season.

Here are this week’s rankings.

Biggest Movers

Rank

 

Team

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Summary

1 Charleston Battery
(7-2-0)
Week 12: @ DET

Last Week:
1
The Battery have reeled off six consecutive league wins for a second consecutive season and are now the league’s leader in goals and Expected Goals. This week’s visit to Detroit should be fun.
2 El Paso Locomotive FC
(4-2-4)
Week 12: @ LV
3
Last Week:
5
Wilmer Cabrera said in midweek he wanted to see some assists out of son Andy after his goalscoring feats, so Andy provided two in Friday night’s win to run the undefeated streak to four games.
3 Sacramento Republic FC
(3-2-4)
Week 12: ---
3
Last Week:
6
Republic FC took the game to Las Vegas – its 11 instances of winning possession in the final third were the second highest by any team this season – and finally got rewarded in front of goal.
4 Detroit City FC
(4-1-5)
Week 12: vs. CHS

Last Week:
4
Le Rouge got pegged back late in Birmingham for their third consecutive draw. On the balance of how the game played out, they probably can’t have too many complaints.
5 Miami FC
(3-4-1)
Week 12: vs. BHM
3
Last Week:
8
Miami FC has won three of its last four and its victory on Saturday against Loudoun might have been the most impressive of them. They’ve already equaled last year’s win total eight games in.
6 Louisville City FC
(5-0-4)
Week 12: @ MB
3
Last Week:
3
Louisville could have put its visit to Hartford to bed before it conceded a late equalizer, but when you don’t hit the target once in the second half it leaves the door open.
7 Loudoun United FC
(7-3-0)
Week 12: ---
5
Last Week:
2
Bit of a bump in the road for United going into a bye week. Up next, a crucial run of games against Louisville (Jägermeister Cup), Charleston and Detroit.
8 North Carolina FC
(5-3-2)
Week 12: ---
3
Last Week:
11
Mikey Maldonado has taken another big step forward all-around this season, and his long throw-ins are an absolute weapon for NCFC to cause chaos in opposing penalty areas.
9 New Mexico United
(6-3-0)
Week 12: @ OAK
3
Last Week:
12
Kris Shakes answered the bell impressively in net with Alex Tambakis sidelined through suspension. Great performance to allow United to pull away for victory.
10 FC Tulsa
(5-3-1)
Week 12: ---
3
Last Week:
13
Tulsa’s back line holding Lexington SC to only two shots set a new club best for the fewest shots faced in a game in the Championship. Really impressive return to the win column.
11 Rhode Island FC
(3-3-3)
Week 12: vs. PIT
6
Last Week:
17
A six-point week on the road was exactly what Rhode Island needed, and how about that finishing on Saturday night? Three arrows, brilliantly delivered by Holstad, Herivaux and Fuson.
12 Indy Eleven
(1-3-4)
Week 12: @ KNX
5
Last Week:
7
Indy’s midfield couldn’t keep pace with Locomotive on Friday night, with the hosts regularly one step ahead and able to capitalize while continuing the defensive struggles for the Boys in Blue.
13 Phoenix Rising FC
(3-3-4)
Week 12: ---
5
Last Week:
18
JP Scearce and company are making the center of the Rising half a no-go area for opponents. That’s real progress for a side that was leaking too many goals previously, but that’s now won two in a row.
14 Monterey Bay FC
(4-3-4)
Week 12: vs. LOU
5
Last Week:
9
Eight touches in the opposing penalty area was a season-low for Monterey Bay, which is now winless in its last five games across all competitions. Need to find some attacking impetus again.
15 San Antonio FC
(5-4-1)
Week 12: ---
5
Last Week:
10
Yes, Mitchell Taintor was absent, but that’s still no excuse for the defensive display we saw on Saturday. Charleston’s 4.68xG mark was miles ahead of the second-highest single game total this season.
16 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(2-3-5)
Week 12: @ OC
4
Last Week:
20
It wasn’t pretty – and we could have done without Christian Herrera’s late walkabout – but the Switchbacks saw out a win and a shutout. That’s progress.
17 Oakland Roots SC
(3-6-1)
Week 12: vs. NM
3
Last Week:
14
Oakland didn’t back down in North Carolina but they never quite had enough to close the gap. Tough outing ahead of a big home game with New Mexico.
18 Orange County SC
(3-5-1)
Week 12: vs. COS
2
Last Week:
16
It’s got to be a strange thing being Orange County this season. Either you score multiple goals (10 in four games in which they’ve scored) or get shut out.
19 Birmingham Legion FC
(1-4-4)
Week 12: @ MIA
4
Last Week:
15
Legion Head Coach Mark Briggs was right about how far Legion needed to go after Wednesday’s game. We did see progress on Sunday, and a deserved point against Detroit.
20 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(2-5-2)
Week 12: @ RI
1
Last Week:
19
Once again the Hounds can’t afford slow starts, especially on the road. That’s going to be the message going into Wednesday’s Open Cup game against Philadelphia.
21 Hartford Athletic
(1-5-2)
Week 12: ---
2
Last Week:
23
What if I told you Hartford recorded a higher Expected Goals mark (0.47xG) than Louisville City (0.36xG) after going down to 10 players? Big equalizer for Kyle Edwards.
22 Las Vegas Lights FC
(3-3-3)
Week 12: vs. ELP
1
Last Week:
21
For a second time this season, the Lights couldn’t beat the press and it resulted in a heavy defeat, this time to Republic FC. This is why we’re not that high on this group yet.
23 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(1-7-1)
Week 12: @ LEX
1
Last Week:
24
Another night of what-ifs for the Rowdies, starting with Woobens Pacius’ strike off the crossbar in the second half. When your opponent scores three darts that have a combined 0.05xG mark, though, you just have to shake your head.
24 Lexington SC
(1-5-4)
Week 12: vs. TBR
2
Last Week:
22
Lexington’s two shots against FC Tulsa were tied for the fewest by a team in a game this season. They’ve scored only once in their last six outings across all competitions.

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