Ever since being named the club’s Newcomer of the Year in 2014, Justin Portillo has been an essential part of the Charleston Battery’s midfield. In Saturday’s season-opening victory against FC Cincinnati at MUSC Health Stadium, the former Reading United AC and K-W United FC player illustrated again how essential as he pulled the strings from his central midfield role.

Portillo completed 85 percent of his passes, and notably created four chances including his assist on Forrest Lasso’s opening goal in the contest. But as indicated below by his passing chart and heat map, Portillo’s ventures into the final third of the field to take set pieces were really the only time he moved that far up-field against FCC. 

Employed as a deep-lying playmaker, however, Portillo took advantage of the additional time and space to pick out the runs of attacking midfielder Ataullah Guerra, forward Romario Williams, and fullbacks Mikey Ambrose and Quinton Griffith.

That ability to pick out the right pass at range could pose problems for the Charlotte Independence this Saturday. Exacerbating the problem could be the suspension of both 2016 MVP Finalist Enzo Martinez and midfielder Jun Marques Davidson, who certainly would have had the experience to try and keep Portillo in check. Charlotte Head Coach Mike Jeffries will have to hope someone from his squad can step up and try to cut off the supply line when the teams meet at Transamerica Field.

Here are some other things to watch this weekend…

- Saturday’s game between Sacramento Republic FC and Orange County SC includes two standout playmakers in the league, with Sacramento’s Danny Barrera and Orange County’s Carlos Alvarez both likely to play a key role in their team’s success at Papa Murphy’s Park. Barrera – who finished second in the USL last season with nine assists – had a positive first game back as he created five chances in Republic FC’s 2-1 win against Seattle, while Alvarez recorded a sweet assist on Duke Lacroix’s opening goal in a 2-0 win against Reno 1868 FC.

- Toronto FC II employed a similar 3-5-2 formation to the club’s MLS side in its 1-0 victory against Phoenix Rising FC, with Oyvind Alseth employed on the right side of the trio as he matched up with Phoenix’s Mike Seth. Going up against a Tampa Bay Rowdies side this Saturday that has the dangerous combination of left winger Leo Fernandes and left back Luke Boden, Alseth will need a strong performance if TFC II is to get points on the road for a second consecutive week.

- The New York Red Bulls II open their new venue at Montclair State on Saturday, and will want to be far sharper in their passing than they were in their season-opener against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The Red Bulls II completed just 65 percent of their passes at Highmark Stadium, with the back four of Ethan Kutler (21/33), David Najem (28/47), Tim Schmoll (27/40) and Hassan Ndam (20/34) all sitting below 68 percent. Connecting more consistently will be key against the Kickers, who will take any chance they can to strike quickly off turnovers.