According to fivethirtyeight.com’s playoff projections, there are 12 teams that are sitting at an 85 percent chance or better to be part of the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs going into this weekend’s action, while others like Saint Louis FC and Nashville SC have a chance to greatly bolster their chances on home turf on Saturday night.

But while numerous clubs have seen their playoff chances sit in the 90 percent range for a while now, there are others who are hoping a late-season run can allow them to overcome inconsistency and setbacks in the first two-thirds of the season to beat the percentages and find their way into the postseason field.

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For those teams, and their fans, here are five clubs that accomplished just that in the USL’s modern era to book a postseason place.

2013 – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

2014 – Harrisburg City Islanders 

The run put Harrisburg in good position, but the drama wasn’t over as the four-game winning streak was followed by a four-game winless streak that saw the side fall three times. A 4-2 victory in the final game of the regular season against the Charlotte Eagles, however, sealed the No. 8 seed, and helped springboard a run to that year’s USL Cup before the side fell to Sacramento Republic FC.

2016 – Orange County SC

Back-to-back defeats to Sacramento Republic FC saw Orange County’s chances dip back to 20 percent with three games of the season to go, and while Orange County picked up a victory against Real Monarchs SLC in its next outing to jump past a 60 percent chance to reach the playoffs a 1-0 home defeat to Rio Grande Valley FC saw those odds slump once again. One final home game against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC saw Orange County not only need to win, but also overtake the Portland Timbers 2, which had the same record but an edge in goal differential to put in in eighth place as the night began.

Things started off well for Orange County, which took the lead against Colorado Springs and then got news that Phoenix Rising FC had done the same against Portland, but by halftime T2 had taken a 3-1 lead and was looking done and dusted with a two-goal edge in goal differential and in goals scored. A glimmer of hope arrived for OCSC with 18 minutes to go when Chris Cortez scored for Phoenix, but with less than five minutes remaining Portland was still in the playoffs. Then, Trinidad & Tobago international Trevin Caesar came alive for Orange County, scoring twice in three minutes to put his side up by three goals, and ahead on goal differential. A fourth goal in stoppage time by Orr Barouch sealed things as Orange County went from almost a 4-1 underdog to a playoff place in the span of 90 minutes.

2017 – New York Red Bulls II

That streak came to an end with a 4-2 loss to Cincinnati, but the Red Bulls II rebounded strongly in their next outing to win their fifth game in the previous eight contests by defeating Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at home.

The Red Bulls II then headed to Florida for a pair of games, and while it fell 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the first game of the trip a hat trick by Stefano Bonomo in a wild 6-5 victory against Orlando City B pushed the side back into the playoffs as it went 6-2-2 over the home stretch to make its final outing of the season academic. The momentum New York built paid off in the playoffs as it defeated both the Charleston Battery and Tampa Bay Rowdies on the road as the No. 7 seed before falling to eventual USL Cup champion Louisville City FC in the Eastern Conference Final after a penalty shootout.

2017 – OKC Energy FC 

Victories against top playoff contenders Reno 1868 FC and Real Monarchs SLC at Taft Stadium followed soon after, but Energy FC’s chances took another downturn as it won only one of its five games following the win against the Monarchs – including a defeat to in-state rival Tulsa Roughnecks FC – to again put itself under pressure to reach the postseason. Energy FC managed that, however, as it reeled off five wins in its last six games – including victories in four consecutive games to close the regular season that saw Angulo find the net seven times.

Energy FC carried the momentum of its 9-3-3 close to the regular season into the postseason, where it advanced to the Western Conference Final before falling to the Swope Park Rangers.