And so begins the 10-week countdown for the USL Championship season.
As August nears a close, the runway to climb up the table is getting shorter and shorter. The chase for the playoffs is officially on. To mark the occasion, all 24 clubs were in action during primetime on Saturday night.
Who stood out, and what did it mean for this week’s power rankings? Let’s dig in.
1. Louisville (No change)
Result: 2-1 loss at Hartford
Adrien Perez was a big addition for LouCity over the winter, bringing guile and skill on the right wing to begin 2024. This weekend, Perez made his first start since June 1st - not that Louisville had missed a beat without him. This club has eight wins and 32 goals since then. Still, it was a refreshing sight to get the former San Diego Loyal man back into the XI with the home stretch fast approaching.
That next-player-up consistency defined Louisville's gameplay against a sloppy Hartford side. Any time a hole emerged, the nearest visitor was ready to break in. That could've been Amadou Dia making a forward-like run on the break or Taylor Davila stepping into the half space to whip in a tight-angle across; no matter the outlet, that brand of all-hands offense made the LouCity 3-4-3 terribly difficult to defend.
That was the status quo for the first 30 minutes, a run where Danny Cruz's unit ran up a 6-0 shot margin. Then came a Perez red, because fate is a cruel mistress. Though Louisville scored shortly after going down a man, their counterpressing game was irrevocably weakened with one less forward on the field. Hartford, meanwhile, grew ever more confident against a LouCity team that lacked an anchor to break out of their own zone.
What's more important: the promise of Perez's return and the cool dominance with 11 men, or the ultimate collapse after 60 minutes of shorthanded soccer? Given the buffer Louisville has built, it's probably the former, but that won't make the loss any less irksome.
2. Charleston (No change)
Result: 6-0 win v. Orange County
In the wake of last week's loss in Louisville, Charleston is at a bit of an inflection point. Making a run at the Players' Shield is probably too tall a mountain to climb, but a second-place finish is all but assured unless disaster strikes. Thus, Ben Pirmann decided to experiment a bit this Saturday.
To do so, he inserted Jay Chapman into the pivot and Jackson Conway into the forward line.
Chapman put in a stellar 45 minutes last week, spraying passes and nearly helping Charleston to get even with their Kentuckian hosts. Conway, meanwhile, has struggled to earn minutes behind MD Myers but boasts a solid USL resume dating back to his Atlanta United 2 days. The latter's dogged side-to-side running and hold-up play proved useful, albeit in a game where the Battery could've sleepwalked to three points.
Barely four minutes into the game, Juan David Torres dropped from the left wing for a touch, drawing the Orange County defense with him. In the process, he opened a seam on the opposite side, one that Nick Markanich willingly took. Any defense that isn't trying to put Markanich under lock and key is erring, and OCSC fell into the trap. Torres found his wing partner with a cross, a defender shoved him over to earn a red, and it was 1-0 off a penalty just like that.
Things got tremendously ugly for the guests from there. Arturo Rodriguez looked like a conductor between the lines, and Markanich ended up with a hat trick. Myers even entered off the bench to grab a second-half brace for kicks and giggles. Charleston got the best of both worlds in the end, experimenting usefully and ending up with an easy victory all the while.
That's what Battery fans will hope to see for the rest of the regular season.
3. New Mexico (+1)
Result: 1-0 win at Colorado Springs
Eric Quill has now coached 45 regular season games in New Mexico, picking up 76 points in the process.
His success rate has only picked up in the 14 months since he joined United in the middle of 2023, culminating in a two-year extension through the end of 2026 that was announced this week. Between New Mexico’s first-place pace and their run to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, Quill has shown himself to be an incredibly adept game manager who can instill an attractive style of soccer.
