USL Championship Hangover - Weekend of 4/20
Phil Baki tries to make sense of the USL Championship weekend that was. Let’s get our bearings and clean ourselves up, this is the Championship Hangover.
USL Championship continues to just deliver banger after banger, both in the goals department and in the matches themselves. We started to see some early contenders separate themselves from the pack, some late fightbacks and some goals from distance. The Hangover the weekend of 4/20 might be more of a haze but either way let’s dive right in.
Detroit City 3-1 Oakland Roots
I think it’s time we all just accept that Detroit City under Danny Dichio is a very good team. Their fifth win on the spin to open the season, this time at home against Oakland Roots, was probably their most comfortable so far and it highlighted so many of the things that Detroit do well on a consistent basis. They press well and they break with directness and decisiveness. Ben Morris latching onto a loose pass 7 minutes in simply would not have resulted in a goal for DCFC last year. This year he runs right at Niall Logue in defense for the Roots and finishes well low into the corner.
The next break it was time for Maxi Rodriguez and Yazeed Matthews turn to play two quick passes which sprang Alex Villanueva down the left. The speed with which they turn the innocuous into something dangerous is often replicated but rarely duplicated. Now whether you think the contact from Bryan Tamacas is enough for a penalty probably varies on whether your phone number begins with 313 or 510 but another transition led to the third for Detroit.
Rodriguez actually stands on the ball to trigger Oakland’s press and create a transition opportunity. He drops the ball into the channel down the right for Morris to latch onto. Then Morris combines with Victor Bezerra whose turn it was to be clinical in front of goal. Dichio is doing serious things with this squad and in the absence of Elvis Amoh, Morris and Bezerra showed that they can be just fine without him.
As for Oakland, I am a well-documented Noah Delgado stan. That being said, I think the El Paso result juxtaposed with this Detroit loss showed two teams who try to do similar things tactically to Delgado’s Roots. In El Paso, Bryan Tamacas was joining the attack as an underlapping center back and they were able to create overloads that gave El Paso problems especially in the second half. In Detroit, those routes were largely denied and it was Detroit who threatened in wide areas against Roots flying winbacks. They just get beat flat-out at their own game by a Detroit team that is just clicking.
It was not all bad for Roots. Memo Diaz is having probably his best stretch for the team since he joined, his high energy style so needed in a team that will sometimes just have to work harder than their opposition. Daniel Gomez was quite good in midfield and Justin Rasmussen grabbed the consolation goal Johnny Rodriguez was unable to keep up the momentum from his brace in El Paso and ended the night without a genuine shot, having just two blocked efforts on the night. Maybe that tells the story of a Roots team that looked to be sprouting in El Paso but has been pulled up in Detroit.
Loudoun 0-1 Louisville City
Dear reader, there is another fairer, gentler universe out there where I’m talking about one of the most impressive wins of the early season but for whatever reason the gods deigned to deny us the pleasure of a 2-1 Loudoun win over Lou City. Beyond that, for it to be an own goal that undone them was the cruelest possible fate. Make no mistake though, beloved reader, this was a great performance from Loudoun.
No one has made Lou City’s offense look this human all year. The fact that Louisville only fashioned two shots on target and zero big chances is a huge credit to Ryan Martin and co. For perspective, Lou had four big chances in that Charleston loss! Drew Skundrich and Tommy McCabe are far from the flashiest midfield combination but them combined with Florian Valot and Abdellatif Aboukoura just works.
The best chances of the match came in the first half, with Jacob Erlandson just mistiming his jump on a Valot delivery from a set piece and Ryan being denied by Danny Faundez one-on-one after being put through by the pressing of Riley Bidois. It will go down as an opportunity missed for this Loudoun side but they simply have to take credit from this and try to focus on the positives ahead of a tough stretch that includes Sac Republic and Detroit City over the next two weeks.
Image courtesy of Loudoun United
For Lou City, this likely goes into the “Champions find a way when they aren’t playing well” category. This is an old cliche but on an afternoon in Northern Virginia when the offense just isn’t firing in the way it typically does, you will take the own goal giving you all three points. The defensive question marks should probably remain in a match where Loudoun created the better chances. Offensively, despite still playing well, the trio of Wilson Harris, Adrien Perez and Ray Serrano had just one shot on target combined.
A clean sheet on the road is good for this team to take as a sign they are defensively capable of more. Kyle Adams, Arturo Ordonez and Sean Totsch were more active than is typically required but they did deal with a lot of Loudoun’s attacks before they became genuine threats, holding them to just eight shots through 90 minutes. Lou don’t lose any credibility in this performance even if it does raise a couple questions, and thanks to the big toe of Valot, they don’t lose any points either.
Hartford Athletic 1-3 San Antonio
Name a better rivalry than Brendan Burke vs. the referee. You simply can’t. Burke made it abundantly clear in his post match comments that he felt the referee played the largest part in his side’s defeat to San Antonio and anyone within earshot (which included anyone watching the broadcast as field mics continue to pick up this aspect of Burke’s touchline demeanor) won’t be surprised that was the case. But does he have a case? Or were San Antonio deserving winners on the night?
First and foremost, I think Hartford have genuine issues in defense. They have relied on Jay Chapman and Anderson Asiedu to be the shield in front of that back four and San Antonio found ways around midfield throughout the night. The Two Lukes (that is Lucas Silva and Luke Haakenson) were so involved all night and that meant Jorge Hernandez was unlocked as well. Kevon Lambert put in the hard yards to free all of them up and the ability to create from wide areas gave Hartford absolute fits. Chapman and Asiedu were outnumbered consistently and that didn’t change when Joe Schmidt came on in Chapman’s place at half time due to an injury to the Canadian. This makes the front four so much less effectual when the opposition pose so much of a threat as the commitment to opportunities to break is just less. Marcus Epps grabs a good goal against his former team but they end the game outshot in the box by a margin of 14-8.
The first goal is a demonstration of just why Hartford’s system out of possession can be so vulnerable. Juan Agudelo broke that first line in midfield on the dribble and switched play to Silva. It’s a brilliant ball in from the Brazilian but Joey Akpunonu (albeit deployed as a right back when traditionally a center back) is slow to get out and close down the cross which Machop Chol headed home. Akpunonu had nowhere to hide either after he headed a Shannon Gomez cross into his own net. Joey Farrell and Thomas Vancaeyezeele didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory either though. The penalty concession aside, that center back pairing won just two aerial duels the entire night and in general I don’t think it is a good enough unit to be at the top of the East.
San Antonio’s offense clicked in a way it simply hasn’t the last couple weeks. Like I said, the Lucas Brothers (yes I’m workshopping nicknames in this article, this is my creative space) played a critical role in getting SAFC back in the W column. Silva was out wide, dribbling, crossing and just genuinely being a menace. Haakenson was popping up in the box far more this time around. Silva, Haakenson and Hernandez combined to create 10 chances between them and in general they found a way to play around that formidable midfield pivot for Hartford.
I will hear from the SAFC fans if I don’t mention as well that Lucho Solignac grabbed his first goal back in black (or white I guess in this case) from the penalty spot to ice the match as a contest. The penalty itself I think is harsh on Farrell and at this point I’m just begging PRO Referees to stop giving Brendan Burke excuses because in general I think Hartford still have work to do to be taken seriously.
Tulsa 1-4 Charleston Battery
Poor Tulsa. They had some really decent results coming into this one, advanced in the Open Cup and then run into the absolute Terminator that is taking shape in Charleston. It wasn’t even a particularly bad performance from Tulsa. Questions will be asked of Joey Roggeveen in goal who remains locked in a battle for the #1 shirt with Michael Creek that is apparently fully up for grabs. They even staged what looked like it could be a fightback when Harvey St. Clair was fouled by Aaron Molloy in the box to set up a Justin Portillo penalty conversion.
They tried to get things going on the break but Charleston’s press absolutely suffocated most of what they were trying to do. Tulsa’s front four had only seven touches in Charleston’s penalty area. That said, they were still a bit wasteful and the absence of Phillip Goodrum is showing pretty plainly at this point. Diogo Pacheco misses a wide open net in confirmation that this simply was not their match.
Charleston are problematic. They continued their unbeaten run to start the season and made it four wins out of five, the third match in a row where they’ve scored 3 or more and another statement that they may be the team to beat out East.
MD Myers’ brace came either side of goals from Juan Torres and Nick Markanich, which is the most mild way I could possibly describe the Torres goal. The blast from halfway that gave Charleston a 2-0 lead was simply stunning and only in USL Championship would it not even be the best goal of the day. Myers though is where I want to focus the attention. Markanich has rightly grabbed plenty of attention early on but the question all offseason was whether Charleston had effectively replaced the firepower of Augi Williams at the #9 spot. While he’s got a long way to go to put himself in that conversation, Myers is certainly starting some rumors. Five goals and an assist through seven appearances is a ridiculous return and he’s now scored in three in a row. His finishes spell out an effective center forward, finishing a one-on-one chance after he was put through and then converting a header late on from a lovely Molloy cross. Charleston have loads of weapons up and down this team but Myers is looking like he might be that guy to lead the line.
Miami 0-1 Birmingham Legion
Look away, Miami fans. The spiral that was predicted at the beginning of the season is well and truly underway for the under-resourced South Beach squad. Four league losses in a row since that draw in Orange County and an exit in the Open Cup at the hands of USL1 South Georgia Tormenta means that their form is closer to what was expected at the beginning of the year. Outshot by a Legion side that never really got out of second gear 20-6 and ultimately undone by an unfortunate slip by Khadim Ndiaye in goal, this was not a performance to remember for Miami.
The attacking quartet of Frank Lopez, Allen Gavilanes, Rocco Genzano and Roberto Molina had a heck of a time getting involved in the game as Legion’s midfield played by far their best match of the season. AJ Paterson was a one man wrecking crew in the #6. Won all five of the tackles he attempted, 10 of his 12 duels and was not dispossessed on the night. Andrew Booth and Danny Barbir were simply not able to occupy Legion enough to trouble them in a real way all night. This made for difficult work from Miami’s forwards who saw their best chance and only “goal” of the night given as offside. Hard times ahead for a Miami team that just does not seem to have enough about them to consistently compete.
On the Legion side, like I said, it felt like the only reason they broke a sweat on Saturday night was because they were simply in Miami. In addition to Paterson patrolling the midfield, Kobe Hernandez-Foster had his best outing in a Legion shirt this year and Enzo Martinez too was properly solid. The balance in midfield made the most sense it has all year, with Hernandez-Foster the silk, Paterson the steel and Enzo a swashbuckling mix of both. Prosper Kassim was a proper nuisance out on the wing and Stefano Pinho was on hand to finish off the simplest chance of the match having just fluffed his lines a few minutes prior. Legion looked good but this was too much of a stroll in the FIU Soccer Stadium to make any real calls about what that means for the team ahead of a Southern Harm Derby in Birmingham next Saturday.
North Carolina 2-3 New Mexico United
Undoubtedly the match of the weekend, North Carolina and New Mexico served us up a classic on Saturday. The punches and counterpunches came quick, with each of the first four goals scored within 3 minutes of another. Ultimately it was a Sergio Rivas goal late on that was ultimately decisive for the visitors.
North Carolina will be absolutely kicking themselves given that they have struggled offensively early this year and they would have wanted to win only their second match where they’ve scored more than one goal. The fact that each New Mexico equalizer was conceded in the immediate aftermath of their goal will double the frustration. The fact that they missed two big chances in the second half will gall even further. To concede the winner just as the clock ticked across 90 minutes is devastating.
On the positive side, Julian Placias took his opening goal extremely well and the youngster looks set to continue scoring loads for - hold on confers with figure with a headset - Westerlo in the Belgian Pro League. Jeez, the news really doesn’t get better for NCFC does it? On an actual positive note, Rafa Mentzingen looked really bright for this team as did Ezra Armstrong and Collin Martin. In terms of question marks…is it time to start asking about Rodrigo Da Costa? Just a single goal and single assist through seven appearances isn’t what NCFC will have looked for when they signed him, even if he is a bit unlucky not to end this one with another assist on a big Placias chance. On second thought maybe it’s fine he’s leaving. (This is 100% a joke)
New Mexico United keep doing this and there is nothing I hate more than people leaning into a nickname. They were called the Kings of Chaos once upon a time by the venerable Duke Keith of El Paso Locomotive broadcast renown. He unfortunately gave them an identity to rally around and they always seem to live up to it, much to my chagrin. Outshot in an even game on the road, the better chances went NCFC’s way and yet they find a way to win. That makes it three in a row in the League after getting dismantled in Charleston. The right side was the key in this one, Arturo Astorga, Marco Micaletto, Nicky Hernandez and Mukwelle Akale all exploiting good positions down the right and just inside to support Greg Hurst who coolly converted the maddest penalty Paco Craig will ever give away, before hooking home a great improvised chip just after NCFC had grabbed the lead back. Hurst firing is great news as he is just one goal away from his total the entirety of last season and three away from his best season in the USLC. Could we be seeing the return of the Hurst that grabbed 13 goals in a COVID shortened 2021 season for Union Omaha? If so, the sky's the limit for this New Mexico side.
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-1 El Paso Locomotive
Sometimes a game almost defies description. How do I possibly wrap up a package that included Tampa Bay somehow missing three big chances in one sequence in the box only to go behind to a Locomotive goal from 75 yards? It’s a farce by definition. That said, I do think both teams walk away from this feeling ok.
Tampa Bay were the better team in a lot of areas as you would probably expect from them at home against a team that has yet to register a win in 2024. They had 64% of the ball, outshot Locomotive 21-9 and by the numbers this should have been a blowout. The reason it wasn’t was because Locomotive, for the first time this year, effectively defended the wings and forced things into more central areas which neutralized the threat of Eddie Munjoma and Blake Bodily to an extent. This meant Tampa was playing a lot more balls into the channels which meant shots were either eventually from far out or from poor angles. On 29 minutes, that ball into the channel for Arteaga works a treat and Perez is eventually found. After a series of minor miracles, Tampa were kept out.
The equalizer eventually came from Danny Crisostomo finding his way out wide into an area where you’d typically find Bodily. His cross for Arteaga is a peach and there are few #9s in the League you’d like more on the end of something like that. On the night, Tampa definitely will feel like they could and should have had more. I will put the disclaimer that Forrest Lasso is magically not booked in this one and could have easily conceded a penalty when shoving Amando Moreno in the first half but I digress…
For El Paso, the moment of the Nevarez stunner was a flash of blinding light in the darkest start of a season in the club’s history. If nothing else, the team showed a ton of fight in Tampa and that goal is one of the best ever scored by a Locomotive player. The bigger concern for your author is twofold. The first is that Jahmali Waite is being asked to do far too much. He makes another seven saves on Saturday night and a couple are blinders. If it is basically anyone else in net, this match is a blowout.
The other concern is up top. Justin Dhillon works his absolute socks off but my mind is still trying to comprehend why Brian Clarhaut has signed Joaquin Rivas and Tumi Moshobane to play in midfield. The connective tissue with the forwards is just not there. Lumping it to Dhillon so he can get a flick to Moreno is just not a coherent way to build up and they are feeding on absolute scraps as a result. They finish the match with just five touches in Rowdies’ area and they simply have to find a way to rework this midfield shape with the attack to make it make sense.
Memphis 901 1-2 Monterey Bay
I wish I had something really profound to say about Memphis’ tactical setup but their loss on Saturday essentially came down to them just being bad at putting the ball in the net. In fact, the one goal they did score, there wasn’t even a single Memphis player looking at the ball. They were all sprinting to the referee to a appeal for a penalty as Monterey Bay contrived to score perhaps the funniest own goal of all time. They turned 18 shots into only four on target and Nighte, Dylan Borczak, Bruno Lapa and Marlon all contrived to create some absolutely brutal misses.
I will confess, the penalty seemed extremely harsh on Carson Vom Steeg but Memphis allowed their heads to absolutely go for the next 10-15 minutes as MBFC were well on top during that period immediately following the penalty. That combined with the poor finishing up top was enough to undo them.
Monterey Bay played decent for being on the road and they have had this penchant for doing enough to win. Still just one loss on the books for Yallop and co and they’ve looked capable particularly during these last three League wins, of being able to hang with anyone. There is a mental toughness about this side and Trager demonstrates it. He barely had a kick before he steps up to the penalty spot in the 68th minute. He dispatched it coolly and Alex Lara got the chance to undo his hilarious own goal just two minutes later as he converted from Jesus Enriquez’s corner to win it for MBFC. This team is operating in a way that makes them greater than the sum of their parts but not in a way that makes them feel like they’re getting away with anything. In fact they look like a boxer, capable of going all the way to the end just like this.
Las Vegas Lights 1-2 Rhode Island
While we’re making simple statements, just how good is Noah Fuson for this Rhode Island side? He finally grabs his first goal for the club on Saturday in addition to being a menace in the buildup to Stephen Turnbull’s opener and it feels like this could be the point where he begins to take that spotlight a bit more directly. He is a player who is exciting every time he is on the ball and his influence was not lost on Lights either. There came a point in the game where essentially Vegas just wanted him not to get the ball so he ends the match with only 24 touches and made a game changing impact with so little.
Head Coach Khano Smith gets his first win. Image courtesy of Rhode Island FC
For the rest of Rhode Island, this is a very good result as Vegas have been a much tougher prospect than the last few years might suggest but the reality for this group is that they pretty much should have at least drawn (if not lost) based on the quality of chances they surrendered in the latter stages and I would be curious if this is more of a mental thing for an expansion side that has just now got its first win. Credit to Khano Smith and everyone involved for getting this over the line, they will just want to make it a bit less interesting in the dying moments as I’m sure some Rhode Island fans were on the phone to their cardiologist when Riki Alba had a ball fall to him six yards out.
For Vegas this has been a bit of a return to earth after a really good run of form. They switched it up a bit in this one as JC Ngando and Valentin Noel reprised their roles in midfield with Coleman Gannon playing his unique pressing midfielder role. Solomon Asante came in and I do think the team missed Joe Gyau a bit from the beginning and he didn’t ever really get up to speed. We did have a Charlie Adams sighting as Dennis Sanchez went to change the shape at half time by dragging off Fabien Garcia of all people.
Despite the loss, Vegas can really only point to their own poor finishing toward the end of the game as they had more than enough chances to win the game let alone salvage a point. The task facing Vegas doesn’t get any easier either as they head to Charleston Battery next.
Colorado Springs Switchbacks 1-1 Indy Eleven
This match is bizarre for many reasons. Ronaldo Damus gets his first goal for Switchbacks but the end result takes some of the sheen off and Indy walk away certainly thinking more was possible having played against ten men for more than half an hour.
Up until the red I actually thought Switchbacks looked pretty good. It was by far the best period of play we’ve seen this year from Maalique Foster who seemed to be enjoying himself in the cold conditions.Yosuke Hanya is unlucky to not get an assist because his cross is briefly deflected by Hunter Suite in the Indy goal prior to Damus heading home. Hanya drove into space and just continued to ask to be challenged. As he wasn’t he was able to get the cross off and it was eventually spilled to Damus who improvised a header well to open his account in Colorado.
The less said about the Ackwei challenge the better, it is a nailed-on red card and it more or less ruined what should have been a great night for CS who have really struggled for identity early this year. This is the most coherent they have looked and I think the volume of chances created (prior to going down a man) was promising for this CS side.
For Indy, they have a ways to go to convince me they are more than at best a fringe playoff team. This was a golden opportunity to snag three points in a match they had been outplayed in for long stretches. While they did have 8 shots in the second half they fashioned just a single big chance while playing up a man for 30 minutes and missed it. The whole gig in attack is Jack Blake or Sebastian Guenzatti and then Augi Williams. Neither of Blake or Guenzatti had huge impacts on the night so it all felt a bit flat. Aedan Stanley delivers the ball that grabs Indy a point off the head of Williams but if it is him and Cam Lindley putting in the good performances, it’s safe to say action at the top end of the pitch isn’t going to be what they need. McAuley has some work to do to show that this team is comfortably a playoff outfit.
Orange County 0-2 Sacramento Republic
It finally happened. Orange County had five shots and no big chances and no goals. I said they couldn’t keep getting away with it and they have not with Sac Republic grabbing two goals in the first half and then coasting their way to a comfortable win in the OC.
For Orange County the balance in midfield that has served them so well this season had absolutely no answer for Nick Ross and Luis Felipe. This was exacerbated by a returned and motivated Rodrigo Lopez who was finding pockets of space all night. Ashish Chattha was being absolutely swarmed all night down the right and trying to handle Lopez and Jack Gurr down that flank was too tall a task (as it would be for basically anyone.) The changes that Morten Karlsen tried to make did little to alleviate the overarching issues. Christian Sorto and Ethan Zubak coming on meant a switch to something resembling a 442 that Sacramento had similar ease playing around. Duran Ferree, who started in place of Colin Shutler, kept it respectable on a couple occasions where it looked likely that Sac might grab another.
Sacramento is as tough an opponent as you can possibly get but for my money Karlsen has some serious work to do to make OC’s offense more functional in a repeatable way.
Sac Republic wanted a straightforward result. Inside the first minute Lopez was in the right half space and the game was basically over. He delivered an amazing cross right onto the forehead of Trevor Amann who has five goals already this season. Lopez was involved again in the buildup to the second, finding similar space down the inside right channel before linking with Jack Gurr who teed up Aldair Sanchez who was a bit fortunate to score with the scuffed volley. This was more like it from Sacramento who have been a bit casual with certain opposition. In this case they grabbed hold of the lead and never felt likely to give it up in what was a very controlled performance.
The key for Sac Republic going forward is shaking this tendency to let teams hang around unnecessarily or unexpectedly. If they can develop more of this killer instinct where they put teams away and then strangle the game, there won’t be many teams who will like their chances in a one-off match with them.
Phoenix Rising 1-3 Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Phoenix. Phoenix, Phoenix, Phoenix. What to make of this side? Having gone behind they hit back immediately through Remi Cabral who looks to be hitting his stride a bit. They created plenty, even without Panos Armenakas who has been so central to their playmaking. They contrived to miss chance after chance and they are ultimately made to pay as the football gods demand. Erickson Gallardo was pretty good but you’d be hard pressed to find a difference maker in there given Varela and Formella just did not do enough. And all that being said you would simply think that a couple more of their 15 shots from inside the box would have gone in.
You’ll find that managers will often say I can manage you up until the point where you shoot and then you’re on your own. Well on the evidence of that, Danny Stone may be pointing out that he’s doing plenty to get this team from one box to the other but the inconsistency will be there if Phoenix continue to be wasteful and find ways to concede really silly goals at the other end.
Maybe all the talk of Stone and Phoenix is moot. Was this a Lilley-ing for the ages we witnessed? Pittsburgh had much the same in terms of big chances and they were just the more clinical side for once this season. Kazaiah Sterling got off the mark for Pittsburgh on a lovely assist from Edward Kizza that was also assisted from some diabolical ball-watching from Phoenix. There was nearly big controversy as the referee pulled play back for a penalty on a sequence during which Pittsburgh had already scored. Yeah the less I think about that the better and same for Sterling who skied the penalty on the goal that wasn’t. Pittsburgh went back to this ball in between the full back and center back on Kizza’s goal on the hour mark. Etou is played in by Robbie Mertz and Phoenix are caught flat-footed once again. A couple half-hearted offside appeals are all they could muster as Kizza slotted home from six yards. Then Babacar Diene grabbed the dagger off a pass from checks notes Phoenix defender Laurence Wyke. Huh, that’s a shame.
Pittsburgh can take a lot from a match in which they scored their big open play chances and were able to keep Phoenix at bay. That said, I am quite concerned about Phoenix and the state of their defense. They just seem to switch off at times and switching off was the difference between them and Pittsburgh on Saturday.
- Phil Baki