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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 28

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 09/15/25, 5:00PM EDT

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Louisville City isn’t the thrill-machine it was a season ago, but it’s producing even better results

There was something thrilling about watching Louisville City FC a season ago.

That’ll happen when a team is fundamentally a goalscoring machine, averaging more than 2.5 goals per game and setting single-season records for home wins and home goals.

It resulted in eye-popping underlying numbers, including a league-best 65.9 Expected Points mark per American Soccer Analysis, the fourth-highest ranking on record in the database.

This season has not been that.

Louisville has become one of the best defensive teams in the league. It currently sits with the fewest goals conceded (18) and second-lowest Expected Goals mark (22.21xGA), with the addition of Josh Jones to an already stacked center back corps making the side far more difficult to break down.

There are still moments of the spectacular – see the run of three consecutive four-goal performances to start August – but this is a team that seems more balanced and more capable of delivering in key moments. That was on show this weekend as the club’s remarkable record of never having suffered defeat at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC’s Highmark Stadium continued in a 2-0 win.

It wasn’t a particularly spectacular display – Kevon Lambert’s finish definitely wasn’t a Goal of the Week candidate – but it was effective. With the Charleston Battery faltering at home to Oakland Roots SC, Louisville’s lead in the Players’ Shield race is now six points with six games to play.

“I thought the guys executed the changes in the second half excellent,” said LouCity Head Coach Danny Cruz. “I thought the guys that came on did a fantastic job changing the game. I thought in the second 45 we were very, very good.”

So, no, it’s not the high-flying side we marveled at a season ago.

It might, however, be the side that not only becomes just the second team to win the Players’ Shield in consecutive years in the USL Championship’s history, but that earns the long-awaited third league title in November.

Here are this week’s rankings.

Biggest Movers

7 SA 7 DET

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary
1 Louisville City FC
(17-1-6)
Week 29: vs. LV
Last Week:
1		 This might end up in retrospect being the weekend that LouCity clinched the Players’ Shield. Somehow, they always find a way to get a result at Highmark.
2 Hartford Athletic
(10-9-5)
Week 29: vs. PIT		 1
Last Week:
3		 Hartford Athletic started 19 different players across its USL Jägermeister Cup Semifinal and USL Championship trip to Monterey Bay and won both games. Impressive work.
3 FC Tulsa
(13-4-7)
Week 29: @ OAK		 1
Last Week:
4		 Tulsa’s only one point off equaling its single-season best points total after its win in New Mexico. Still got six games to go in the campaign.
4 Sacramento Republic FC
(10-5-8)
Week 29: @ COS		 2
Last Week:
2		 Overall, this was a good week for Republic FC in getting to the USL Jagermeister Cup Final and remaining solidly second in the West. That eight-point gap to Tulsa is looking very wide, though.
5 Charleston Battery
(16-5-3)
Week 29: @ ELP
Last Week:
5		 The Battery’s home winning streak is over, but Cal Jennings is starting to heat up again. He’s got four goals in the past four games to take control of the Golden Boot race.
6 Lexington SC
(8-8-8)
Week 29: @ DET		 1
Last Week:
7		 Lexington probably deserved better as positively as it played against Orange County SC. The good news is San Antonio was the only team that passed them by taking victory.
7 North Carolina FC
(11-9-3)
Week 29: @ TBR		 2
Last Week:
9		 A win’s a win but playing up a player for 75 minutes at home we were expecting a bit more from NCFC against Locomotive. It almost came back to bite them late.
8 Loudoun United FC
(11-9-4)
Week 29: @ PHX		 2
Last Week:
6		 Down to 10 players, Loudoun just got overwhelmed in the second half by San Antonio. It’s a shame, because the hosts looked solid throughout the first half.
9 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(8-8-7)
Week 29: vs. SAC		 2
Last Week:
11		 Juan Tejada’s two-goal performance for the Switchbacks was his first in the USL Championship since 2019, when he was playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Funny how that works.
10 El Paso Locomotive FC
(8-7-8)
Week 29: vs. CHS
Last Week:
10		 The loss aside, there was a good amount to like about how El Paso dealt with being down to 10 players in North Carolina. Locomotive’s still in a good spot.
11 New Mexico United
(10-10-3)
Week 29: @ MB		 5
Last Week:
16		 United’s emphatic victory in midweek against Detroit City was punctured a little by its late setback against Tulsa. Greg Hurst’s going to want a couple of the chances he had on Saturday back.
12 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(8-9-7)
Week 29: @ HFD
Last Week:
12		 The Hounds didn’t make their moments count and LouCity did on Saturday. That’s been the story of Pittsburgh’s season a little too frequently overall.
13 San Antonio FC
(9-8-6)
Week 29: vs. OC		 7
Last Week:
20		 If there was a team that needed the second-half display it got on Saturday night, it was SAFC. The question now is whether they can build on it over the next two home games.
14 Phoenix Rising FC
(7-7-10)
Week 29: vs. LDN		 1
Last Week:
15		 Rising’s fightback in Sacramento was tremendous, but it left us wondering where that was in the first half when they took only one shot.
15 Detroit City FC
(8-8-8)
Week 29: vs. LEX		 7
Last Week:
8		 Le Rouge hadn’t conceded four goals in a game in more than a year before its trip to New Mexico last Wednesday. Pretty stunning defeat.
16 Orange County SC
(8-9-5)
Week 29: @ SA		 2
Last Week:
14		 Orange County hadn’t recorded a lower Expected Goals mark all season than its 0.11xG total on Friday in Lexington. Very fortunate to get away with a point.
17 Rhode Island FC
(7-11-6)
Week 29: @ MIA		 1
Last Week:
18		 We’re still worried about RIFC’s attack but they got the win they had to have and seem to have a more favorable run-in than Indy. All to play for with six games to go.
18 Oakland Roots SC
(7-12-4)
Week 29: vs. TUL		 1
Last Week:
17		 Roots coming away with a draw in Charleston continued the side’s strong performances against the East this season. It’s still going to take a lot to make the playoffs from here, though.
19 Indy Eleven
(7-12-5)
Week 29: vs. BHM		 6
Last Week:
13		 The Boys in Blue could have made their run-in far less stressful with a win in Rhode Island. There just wasn’t enough there in attack until the last-gasp chances in stoppage time.
20 Birmingham Legion FC
(4-9-10)
Week 29: vs. TBR; @ IND		 1
Last Week:
19		 This is a big week for Legion. Win both games – at home to Tampa Bay, on the road at Indy – and there might be life in this playoff race after all.
21 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(6-13-4)
Week 29: @ BHM; vs. NC
Last Week:
21		 Paul Marie’s making an immediate impact for Tampa Bay, but they had to make that two-goal lead stick against the Switchbacks. As with Birmingham, this two-game week is going to be critical.
22 Las Vegas Lights FC
(6-11-7)
Week 29: @ LOU
Last Week:
22		 Raiko Arozarena is tied for the league-lead with 10 shutouts this season and was stellar again at home to Miami. Not the result the Lights needed, though.
23 Miami FC
(5-13-6)
Week 29: vs. RI		 1
Last Week:
24		 Nicólas Campisi matched Raiko Arozarena save-for-save on Saturday night to end Miami’s losing streak. The winless streak, however, is now 12 games.
24 Monterey Bay FC
(6-13-6)
Week 29: vs. NM		 1
Last Week:
23		 Seven points out with five games to go, we’re officially calling it – Monterey Bay isn’t going to the postseason.

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Tag(s): Power Rankings  San Antonio FC  CO Spring Switchbacks  Orange County SC  Phoenix Rising FC  Sacramento Republic FC  FC Tulsa  Charleston Battery  Louisville City FC  Pittsburgh Riverhounds  Tampa Bay Rowdies  Las Vegas Lights FC  Birmingham Legion FC  North Carolina FC  Indy Eleven  El Paso Locomotive FC  New Mexico United  Loudoun United FC  Hartford Athletic  Miami FC  Oakland Roots SC  Detroit City FC  Monterey Bay FC  Rhode Island FC  Lexington SC 

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