USL League One is back for another season of professional soccer! The division three league featured a ton of great matchups last season and 2024 is sure to feature more of the same - contributors from The USL Show, Walkin90, Talkin Flock, League One Updater, Crane Kicks Lex, El Fuego Pod, Linners & Wosers, the Spokane Soccer Show and our very own One League Under the C weighed in on the games they are hyped to watch this year - according to them, here are 20 games you MUST NOT MISS. Circle the date!

Lexington SC vs Northern Colorado Hailstorm

March 9th, 4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET at Toyota Stadium

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC kicks off its 2024 USL League One campaign on the road for the third straight year in a row, this time against Lexington SC who has significantly strengthened their team during their offseason. Both Lexington and Hailstorm fans should be excited about this match because it carries on the tension that left off after the 4-3 victory for Lexington back on August 5th, 2023 in the 2023 season. Hailstorm found themselves winning one, losing four, and drawing two in the later parts of July and all of August. The match against Lexington was supposed to be a turning point for Hailstorm but a Lalo Delgado red card, a Diouf masterclass, and some questionable calls turned this regular season game into the most heated of the season. It will be exciting to see the clash between the power team that Lexington has put together and Hailstorm's rebuild after losing arguably the two best players in the league.

Riccardo Cominelli - Linners & Wosers / Area Sports Net

SG Tormenta FC VS Central Valley Fuego

March 9th, 4:30 pm PT / 7:30 pm ET at Tormenta Stadium

The season opener for both teams has a lot of questions they will need to answer, and this will be their first chance. Tormenta lost many talented players, including Mukwelle Akale, Kazaiah Sterling, Pablo Jara, and TJ Bush, to USL Championship and other USL League One teams. If a team finds unearthed gems or brings players from the Academy, it would be Tormenta and build around Jackson Khoury. Fuego brought in former USMNT midfielder Jermanie Jones as Head Coach, and he decided only to keep four players in the squad. They have started signing and announcing players, but we will enter this year with little knowledge of what this team will be until the first couple of matches.

Kyle Carr - Walkin’ 90 Pod / Talkin’ Flock

Lexington SC VS Chattanooga Red Wolves

March 15th, 4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET at Toyota Stadium

An early-season matchup between two teams that have made some vast improvements over last season should give us a good idea as to which team’s experiment is working and which might still need some tweaking. Lexington has all the hype, but Chattanooga returns some dangerous goal-scorers now backed by a far more potent midfield. They will present a second early-season test for Lexington, just one week after Northern Colorado.

Alex Ashton - League One Updater

Spokane Velocity FC vs Richmond Kickers

March 16th, 2:00pm PT / 5:00pm ET at ONE Spokane Stadium

The new kids on the block start their inaugural season on the road, playing at former playoff and Player’s Shield Champions, Greenville Triumph - then come home to play their first league match ever against former Players’ Shield Champions, Richmond Kickers. Its a rough start but you never forget your first and I expect ONE Spokane Stadium to be a fantastic atmosphere. The club has taken its time and done this right, they have the stadium in place, tickets sold, a great roster set and a great coach with Leigh Veidman, who has experience at this level of play. Plus, Protagonist Soccer will be there covering… you can’t go wrong!

Josh Duder - Protagonist Soccer / One League Under the C

One Knox SC vs Lexington SC

March 23rd, 3:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm ET at Regal Soccer Stadium

What a way to kick off the home start to season for One Knox with a derby. Both One Knox and Lexington will be coming into season 2 with high expectations after an “alright” debut season. One Knox comes in with the best defense in terms of Goals allowed per 90 with 1.2 but also a defensive mentally of “it’s either your or the ball” while being top in the league in both yellow and red cards. Lexington however comes in with the total opposite approach of betting on their attack and putting as many attackers as they can. Lex last season, led the league in Penalties awarded and were a Top 5 team in chances created. The beauty about this derby is both teams since they have come into the league have been polar opposites of each from recruiting philosophies to how they play even on how they recruit youth players. To add to all of this, Charlie Machell who was the first ever captain for Lexington is now in One Knox and I have to believe is looked at as public enemy number 1.

Elliot Barr - River City 93 / CIKI Pod / Walkin’ 90

Central Valley Fuego vs Forward Madison

March 29th, 7:00pm PST / 10:00pm EST at Fresno State Soccer Stadium

Of all the League One teams, Forward Madison is the one that feels most personal. In 2023, Madison acquired Fuego hometown legend Christian Cheney thus stomping on the hearts of Fuego faithful and splintering supporter groups into Fuego supporters and Cheney fan clubs. So when Madison comes to town it becomes a raucous match and becomes a must not miss event in our season.

Chris “Lefty” Brown - El Fuego Pod

Lexington SC vs Greenville Triumph

March 29th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Toyota Stadium

This will be the first League One match featured on the CBS Sports Golazo Network. Both teams are coming off of a pre-season with staff and major player turnover. Pre-season predictions from independent outlets have Lexington as an early favorite to be the League One Champions this season after missing out on the playoffs in their inaugural season. Greenville is coming off of a disappointing season, for their standards, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual 2023 runner-up Charlotte Independence. This early matchup will be an exciting test to see how both teams are able to adapt to their systems, coaches and teammates on a new platform.

Gio Cañas - The USL Show / Greenville Triumph and Liberty

Lexington SC vs Spokane Velocity FC

April 14th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Toyota Stadium

This battle will be between two teams trying two very different roster builds. Lexington is still trying to play the kids, although they have figured out you need some veteran presence to make it work. They are all fast, no breaks, and although they have some talented offensive players, they will need to play both sides of the ball well to succeed. Spokane seems to have unlimited money, and is splashing cash. They still haven’t made a ton of announcements, so we’re in a wait and see type of preseason mode for them. The Built vs. Bought Derby (yes I’m naming it) should shape out to be a wild one.

Eboni Christmas - Walkin’ 90 Pod

Union Omaha vs Charlotte Independence

April 20th, 12:00pm PST / 3:00pm EST at Werner Park

Two of the top teams from last season will meet early in the year and in maybe one of the earliest scheduled games at Werner Park I can recall - it feels like Los Buhos don’t get going at home until later in the season (they played their first few games at Caniglia Field last season). According to FootyStats, this will only be their 8th meeting overall and they are neck-and-neck with 2 wins a piece and 3 draws between them. This may be a great litmus test to check if both Front Offices have done a good job at retaining talent and filling in where important pieces have left.

Josh Duder - Protagonist Soccer / One League Under the C

Spokane Velocity FC vs Central Valley Fuego

April 27th, 3:00pm PST / 6:00pm EST at ONE Spokane Stadium

The new kids on the block and the legendary Jermaine Jones will meetup to kickoff the first ever USL1 in-season tournament. This matchup pits 2 sides that pundits across the league have low expectations for, lining the cup competition up to be a way for them to get some glory. Fuego was known for their crazy high scoring matches last year, and Spokane is the biggest mystery of the preseason, so this matchup is looking like the perfect one to kickoff what could hopefully become a full pyramid USL cup competition in the future.

Jon Hunt - Bluegrass Soccer Cast / Protagonist Soccer

Lexington SC vs Forward Madison

April 28th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Toyota Stadium

The two clubs who arguably improved the most this offseason will tangle four times this season, twice in league play and twice in the USL League One Cup. This fixture will be the first Cup competition for both sides, so it’ll have a little extra excitement attached from the opening whistle. It’ll also be the beginning of what could and should be a season-long grind of ties between two of the league’s best rosters, and could also be a preview of a playoff match – perhaps even the final.

Rob Chappell - Madison 365 / Talkin’ Flock

One Knox SC vs Forward Madison

May 9th, 3:30pm PST / 6:30pm EST at Regal Soccer Stadium

Last year, these teams met three times and all were hard-fought, physical battles, two ending in nil-nil draws. The final matchup in Madison resulted in three red cards including Mauro Cichero’s violent stoppage time “tackle” on Kyle McDowell. The boys from One Knox are looking to renew this budding rivalry and continue their point streak against Forward Madison, having never lost to the ‘Mingos.

Kevin Carnes - The Scruffs’ Drummer

Northern Colorado Hailstorm vs Charlotte Independence

May 25th, 6:00pm PST / 9:00pm EST at Future Legends Complex

Finally, after two seasons playing in temporary homes and starting three seasons on the road, Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC will have a home. This is arguably the most important game of the season for Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, pending actual league play and how it plays out, because Hailstorm will officially have a home to play their games at. The game will take place at TicketSocket Park and it’s against the 2023 USL League One runner-ups. Last year, Hailstorm was able to win its first game at Future Legends Complex (where TicketSocket Park is located) by defeating Central Valley Fuego 4-1. This year Hailstorm will look to start their history at home with a win and what better way to do it against one of the top teams from last year.

Riccardo Cominelli - Linners & Wosers / Area Sports Net

Greenville Triumph vs Lexington SC

June 29th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Paladin Stadium

Lexington is coming into the season with a new coaching staff, headed up by Darren Powell, and a mostly revamped roster that has been turning heads in the off-season. That being said, Greenville has gone through a similar metamorphosis of their own, with former assistant coach Rick Wright becoming John Harkes’ successor and looking to put his personal stamp on the 2024 squad. Last season LSC was unable to achieve a win against Greenville in any of their three matchups, with two of the games featuring a last minute goal from Triumph defender Jamie Smith, driving a dagger into the hearts of LSC fans hoping to come away with a win. That, combined with this being the only matchup for the two sides for the freshly installed in-season tournament, should add some spice to this particular face-off..

Tyler Crane - Crane Kicks Lex / The USL Show

Richmond Kickers vs Forward Madison

July 3rd, 5:00pm PST / 8:00pm EST at City Stadium

The Henny Derby is always a special occasion. This year the series will be decided relatively early, with the first meeting in Madison April 13 and the second in early July. This will also be Forward Madison’s first time on national linear TV, as the match will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. I trust our friends in Richmond – the only ones with higher average attendance than Madison – will represent the league well.

Rob Chappell - Madison 365 / Talkin’ Flock

Lexington SC vs One Knox SC

August 10th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Toyota Stadium

Players switch teams frequently but it is rare when the team captain joins his former rival club. This will be Charlie Machell’s return to Lexington to play against his former club. One Knox and Lexington have had some exciting and physical matches in their inaugural seasons, with One Knox prevailing in the season series and taking home the Bourbon Barrel. When teams from Knoxville meet teams from Lexington, regardless of the sport, it’s always worth watching. This year, there’s extra spice.

Kevin Carnes - The Scruffs’ Drummer

Spokane Velocity FC vs Union Omaha

September 4th, 6:00pm PST / 9:00pm EST at ONE Spokane Stadium

This game will be one of two nationally televised games and ONE Stadium should be absolutely rockin’ that night. Duder better show up for that one. I’m also trying to get my friend Chuck Booth to travel here for it and write about it for CBS Sports if his editors will let him. The other amazing thing about this game is we’ll get to see Luis Gil take on his former team. You’d have to imagine Union Omaha will be favored but the stakes will be super high so anything can (and probably will) happen.

Benji Wade - Spokane Soccer Show

Lexington SC vs One Knox SC

September 14th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Toyota Stadium

The final of 4 matchups for the 2024 The Battle of the Barrel, this has the makings to be an intense matchup in a rivalry that already has picked up 2 red cards in 3 matches. With former Lexington SC captain Charlie Machell down in Knoxville now, the rivalry just got a lot more spicy, and may be one of the best this season in USL1. Last (and most obvious), the Bourbon Barrel trophy (which has yet to actually be seen) could be on the line with the winner being determined by the aggregate score of the 4 matchups. I would have your popcorn ready for any matchup between these 2 sides, but especially this one where the winner will take home bragging rights.

Jon Hunt - Bluegrass Soccer Cast / Protagonist Soccer

Greenville Triumph vs SG Tormenta FC

October 26th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Paladin Stadium

Something tells me that this matchup, in that last weekend of the regular season, will have important playoff implications. Interestingly enough, Triumph haven’t beaten Tormenta at home since August 5th 2020 and Tormenta has really had their number for the past few years - according to FootyStats, Tormenta lead the all-time series with 9 wins; Triumph have 6 wins and there have been 3 draws. Both clubs will have undergone rebuilds in the preseason (Greenville with a new head coach and Tormenta with a roster overhaul) and by the end of the year we will see which former champion will have been capable of making a return run to glory.

Josh Duder - Protagonist Soccer / One League Under the C

Northern Colorado Hailstorm vs Forward Madison

October 26th, 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST at Paladin Stadium

Two teams who will be hoping to battle for at least a home playoff game and potentially more. Depending on the playoff scenario, Madison would want to exact revenge on their 2023 playoff loss by making NoCo’s plans difficult. Northern Colorado lost Trevor Amann, Arthur Rogers, and Rob Cornwall, but Zayed has reloaded with some talented signings like former Mingo Chelo Martinez.

Kyle Carr - Walkin’ 90 Pod / Talkin’ Flock

Edited by Joshua Duder
Special thanks to all contributors - we couldn’t do things like this without you!