hil 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.

Another weekend, another block of absolutely banging Championship matches. There was stuff for everyone here. Liquid attacks, staunch defending, some upsets and some teams emerging as unexpectedly serious. Let’s talk about what this weekend meant for each of the teams involved:

Hartford Athletic 1-0 Birmingham Legion

I’m not sure I have ever seen a less competitive half of football than the first half in Hartford. Athletic were absolutely all over Birmingham in this one and should have been well out of sight by halftime. New boy Mamadou Dieng slotted in extremely well to the attacking quartet of him, Deshane Beckford, Marcus Epps and goalscorer Michee Ngalina. The group of them could have had six by half time as that was how many Opta-defined “big chances” they created. That was all made possible by an absolutely dominating midfield performance again from the pivot of Jay Chapman and Anderson Asideu. Brendan Burke’s ability to get those two to balance the hell-for-leather attack has been the key to seeing out a couple of narrow wins early in the season while the offense sorts out its finishing. The midfield pair combined for six interceptions and 16 possession recoveries where they were simply the black hole where Legion’s possession in the first half went to die. They let Legion back into the match in the second half as they were forced to drop off a bit but the look of this Hartford team should be extremely troubling to the rest of the League if Chapman and Asiedu can keep this level going for any length of time.

As for Birmingham, the first half will be extremely troubling in just how easy it was for Hartford to play through and around them. It was clear that Tommy Soehn didn’t quite trust the team he put out in the first half as he hooks Mujeeb Murana at half time for Jake Rufe (who he subsequently hooked 3 minutes from time but shrug emoji.) The risk of deploying a back 3 with such attacking wingbacks against a Hartford team with this much ability to hurt you down the flanks was immediately apparent and I don’t think Legion ever quite got to grips with what Hartford was throwing at them. That said, AJ Paterson and Alex Crognale, along with seven saves from Matt van Oekel, did well to keep the deficit respectable. Diba Nwegbo continues to be a bright spot going forward and is among the best dribblers going in the League. On the flip side, he’s dribbled past three times himself so this is the sword that Soehn’s Legion are living and dying by. It was a miracle they were still in it at the end but they end up a crossbar away from stealing a point so it is not all doom and gloom for Birmingham.

Detroit City 2-1 Loudoun United

I’m going to be brutally honest, last year if anyone had recommended that I spend what little spare time I have watching Detroit City v Loudoun I would have blocked them and called the police. The fact that I was the one recommending it this year feels crazy but these teams have really come that far. The way that they have done it is so impressive as well because neither of these sides hit the self-destruct button on their roster over the offseason. They made targeted additions to their team that enhanced the current squad and made it overall more functional. There are several examples of this but for my purposes I will use the examples of Florian Valot for Loudoun and Elvis Amoh for Detroit City.

Valot was a player who sort of popped up at times for Miami last year but his role and impact at Loudoun is just exactly what they needed. Playing on the right side of their midfield but drifting inside or out depending on what the situation dictated, he adds an intelligence, quality and maturity to this Loudoun side that they desperately lacked at times last year. On Loudoun’s goal (which was easily the most uncomfortable of the weekend as it happened during a Detroit Supporters’ moment of silence…) Valot’s brains were on full display. Detroit has the ball on the opposite flank and Valot is covering his assigned space near the halfway line. As Stephen Carroll plays the ball back to Nate Steinwascher, Valot triggers the press as Wesley Leggett closes down Steinwascher. Valot occupies a space between Abdoulaye Diop and Devon Amoo-Mensah and quickly realizes as Diop receives the ball from Steinwascher that he’s going to be at risk of selling the pass short. The ball lands at Valot’s feet who finds Leggett to put Loudoun ahead but his quality in this side combined with his smarts will be an asset for Loudoun all year.

As for Elvis Amoh, I think you can make a case that he is responsible for one of the largest turn-arounds of an offensive unit we have seen. Now the addition of Alistair Coote has had an impact here as well but Amoh’s presence has instantly made Detroit’s wide players more connected and has brought Maxi Rodriguez back into the picture as a more consistent offensive contributor. Amoh linked up with Coote and Rodriguez on numerous occasions and the patterns of Detroit’s attack just make so much more sense this year with him in there. Danny Dichio is just the sort of manager to get a song out of a striker like Amoh as well and they look to be downright choral already. Last year in Hartford, Amoh was often decried for a perceived languid presence or a lack of effort. On Detroit’s winner, Amoh’s continued running deep in to the match catches Hugo Fauroux out as he takes a loose touch in his own box. Amoh eats up the space and the tackle puts the ball directly at the feet of Rodriguez who sent the Detroit faithful home happy. All down to Amoh who looks absolutely reborn in Rouge.

Lou City 3-1 Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Two paths diverged in the wood and Lou City and Pittsburgh both seem to be headed different directions. Louisville got some confirmation that their reload after finishing fifth in the East is settling nicely while Pittsburgh have the wheels coming off the proverbial cart.

I don’t think that it is unfair to say that this game should have been over as a contest inside ten minutes. Louisville were finding so many routes through Pittsburgh and the left flank combination of Jake Morris and Ray Serrano was finding so much joy past Dani Rovira that Bob Lilley hooked the fullback after just 27 minutes for Langston Blackstock. The change did little to stem the tide and Pittsburgh’s inability to deal with quite simple danger led to their undoing. A long ball over the top from Sean Totsch bounces around and eventually Adrien Perez finds Serrano whose ball for Wilson Harris is deflected but they really create their own luck. They won’t be thrilled that its Totsch of all people who gives the ball away for Pittsburgh’s equalizer but the goal never seemed to unsettle Louisville. Serrano was just a menace and earns a penalty before scoring the dagger deep in stoppage time. The system that successfully created four big chances and twelve shots inside the Pittsburgh area is working like a charm and the future is looking quite bright.

For Pittsburgh, the bright spot has to be that Edward Kizza was involved. He was basically invisible in the first couple matches and his improvement is going to be so central to their improvement if it is to happen this season. He has 41 touches in this one, by far his largest involvement since the season started. The downside is just how easy they are to play through. Kenardo Forbes, Robbie Mertz and Jackson Walti were barely able to get control of the game and they end up getting bypassed far too often here. There is also something off with this backline especially given Lilley’s decision to hook a player less than half an hour into the match. Daniel Griffin is the only player in that defensive unit who can confidently say they were very good, but the questions for this Riverhounds unit continue to mount and Kazaiah Sterling can only answer some of them. The stability and balance questions will continue even once he is fully integrated. But, as I’m sure many in Pittsburgh will say, in Bob we trust.

Indy Eleven 1-1 Sacramento Republic

Sean McAuley might be a tactical wizard. His system was not effective nor was it ineffective. It achieved precisely what it meant to. In drawing with Sacramento Republic (of whom I’ve been absolutely effusive with praise) Indy showed that they have the chops to hang with the big boys this year. Limiting a side that has Russell Cicerone, Cristian Parano and debut season sensation Trevor Amann to a combined six shots and just one of those being on target is impressive in and of itself but the ability to hit on the break was there all night long against a very solid defensive unit. The goal was a lesson in how they can hurt teams. The ball is won back in their attacking half before Max Schneider (who is looking a very tidy offseason addition from St Louis City 2 indeed) played a ball around the corner. Augi Williams, who is still among the best pure #9’s in the league, uses his body to sell Conor Donovan on a bite before he lets the ball run. Before Danny Vitiello can say “Nani???” the ball is past him for the Indy equalizer. The goal they conceded was unlucky but credit to McAuley for finding a way to get this group onto the pitch at the same time and get it functional so quickly.

Augustine Williams celebrates his score. Image courtesy of Indy Eleven

I am still extremely high on this Sacramento team and this result does far more to raise Indy’s stock than hurt Republic’s. That said, they did look a little blunted with Amann not at his sharpest and being nullified largely by Indy. The own goal is ultimately forced from good play down the flank and you can expect that linkup to continue both on the left and right all season. On paper, the team have the weapons to answer these questions but they will need to get Cicerone and Parano firing sooner than later. Mark Briggs will arrive at the answer and perhaps it will just be a matter of time. This is also a team getting Rodrigo Lopez reintegrated from a long injury and that will have Damia Viader back at left back before long. They will do well to get going offensively but I’m far off raising alarm bells for a team this good.

North Carolina 1-1 Tampa Bay Rowdies

In a strange coincidence, the only goal from Tampa Bay was also an own goal although I think the Rowdies will feel a little luckier than Sacramento. Mikey Maldonado scored one of the flukiest own goals you’re ever likely to see. Aside from that, the home side were again solid against a high-powered opponent. I think for NCFC you can see just how dangerous Oalex Anderson and Rodrigo Da Costa will be but they just weren’t able to find the right final pass. In the end it was a cross that evaged all of them and fell to Rafa Metzingen that proved to make the difference between one point and zero for North Carolina. The plan was well executed and they limited a supercharged Rowdies attack to just three shots on the night. Many were bigging up NCFC’s return to the Championship and a slight improvement in front of goal will likely prove that out given the defensive performances thus far.

Tampa Bay’s approach was ultimately the same as what they did against San Antonio but what worked that night at Al Lang was snuffed out by NCFC at WakeMed. Manuel Arteaga and Cal Jennings combined for 47 touches on the night and just one shot. Damian Rivera and Danny Crisostomo have yet to show me what they can do in midfield and to me Rowdies are relying too heavily on Blake Bodily and in this case Jordan Doherty to do the creating down the flanks. What I can say is that this was a much improved performance for Forrest Lasso who I asked questions of on the last USL Show. He took that personally and was absolutely immense. He won basically everything and the one ball he couldn’t reach found the back of the net. Defensively, this was fine from the Rowdies but the red flags are up in midfield if I’m being completely honest with myself.

Charleston Battery 4-0 New Mexico United

Reader, let me be honest with you, I loved every minute of this absolute hiding Charleston gave New Mexico. Ben Pirmann’s side had previously been held to a couple draws by the aforementioned resiliency of North Carolina and a stiff Oakland Roots resistance. The floodgates opened at Patriots Point on Saturday night. While not a perfect overall performance as they looked a bit vulnerable on the break at times, it was essentially a perfect performance with the ball. They created a ton, ending the night having created five big chances from 13 total shots inside New Mexico’s area. This makes me feel less bad when the goals include a couple of absolute bangers. The first is simple enough, with a quick throw in catching New Mexico out before Matt Myers heads the ball down for Nick Markanich to fire past surprising Alex Tambakis-replacement Kristopher Shakes. The next goal from Arturo Rodriguez is evidence of just how good Charleston’s press was on the night and evidence of his quality. Rodriguez looked all too calm bending this one into the top corner from the edge of the box. The third is Aaron Molloy doing exactly what you’d expect, banging in a free kick of his own. That was on top of dictating play the entire night, six possession recoveries and a goal line clearance to top off a man of the match performance. Juan Torres was unlucky not to score with a scything shot late on but substitute Jackson Conway put away the rebound to send Battery fans home with a hatful of goals. This felt like the statement Charleston needed to get their season off the ground in earnest.

Charleston supporters celebrate. Image courtesy of Charleston Battery

As for New Mexico, it is genuinely hard to have anything particularly nice to say about that performance. Not just because I support El Paso but because genuinely nothing jumps off the stat page. The two counters they created were ultimately wasted and they were only able to fashion seven total shots on the night. Charleston touched the ball 38 times in New Mexico’s penalty area, United managed just nine at the other end. Charleston’s press gave United absolute fits. Of their front four of Greg Hurst, Mukwelle Akale, Jacobo Reyes and Sergio Rivas, only Rivas managed more than 25 touches the entire night. Pirmann’s decision to deploy a striker in support of Nick Markanich worked wonders and Mark Segbers and Nathan Dossantos completely undid anything that New Mexico tried to do. United will point to a solid performance against Pittsburgh and a staunch defense at Rhode Island but Saturday night in Charleston can only be classed as a regression for Eric Quill and his squad.

Las Vegas Lights 1-0 El Paso Locomotive

As I said, I’m a Locomotive supporter but I’m not letting them off the hook. I’ll get to them in a second. Las Vegas Lights are a serious proposition under Dennis Sanchez. Are they going to take over the West or challenge at the top? Likely not, but they put a significantly serious midfield and defense together that gave Locomotive fits all night. The entire back four deserves flowers as Fabien Garcia and Emrah Klimenta limited Justin Dhillon and Shawn Smart and Eddy Berumen caused issues at both ends down the flanks for Locomotive. This space though should belong to just one man and that is JC Ngando. Ngando was unreal for Lights. I had called him out as a potential problem for a Locomotive midfield that was struggling to find itself early in the season and Ngando was the type of player in possession that they will be happy to see the back of. 71% pass completion doesn’t make the eyes pop but three chances created, three for three dribbling, 13 final third entry passes, five interceptions and 11 possession recoveries meant he was the destroyer and creator of everything. Locomotive could not get much going down the middle of the park and were undone in that area over and over again. The Amiens and Vancouver Whitecaps product is going to be an ISSUE for a lot of teams this year.

As for Locomotive, this was a team depleted. Five matches in the span of 12 days, a schedule inflicted by a shared Minor League Baseball stadium and a self-inflicted, mid-season, cross-border friendly with shared ownership club FC Juarez, meant that Locomotive’s starters were shattered about 20 minutes into this contest. They were beaten to so many 50/50 balls and the few times that the attack functioned as it was meant to, the final ball was just off. A player a step slow here, a ball overhit by a yard there. It’s clear that whatever talent and system is meant to exist in El Paso is being completely undone by the schedule. Playing starters at all against FC Juarez was borderline criminal and the club reaped what it sowed in Vegas. Tumi Moshobane and Justin Dhillon were toiling up top but consistently unable to assert themselves. Noah Dollenmeyer was getting absolutely cooked by Gaoussou Samake and was lucky to not concede more. As a supporter I’m hoping that the system becomes more coherent as the team gets some life back in their legs but so far into Brian Clarhaut’s second season, I’m simply not seeing the vision.

San Antonio 2-0 Colorado Springs Switchbacks

San Antonio FC have such a way of making the relatively simple look so ridiculously hard. They played Colorado Springs off the park on Saturday and yet had to wait 75 minutes for the opening goal and didn’t get the finisher until stoppage time at the end of the game. The good news for SAFC fans, this felt more like it after a disappointing draw at home to Loudoun and late heroics after being battered by Tampa Bay. The penalty not withstanding, SAFC created three big chances. The issue? That they missed two of them. Juan Agudelo’s missed penalty ended up not mattering, Lucas Silva popped up with another goal and Javier Hernandez looked solid once again in attack. The defensive unit operated just as designed, limiting Colorado Springs to just two shots on target, and ensuring that Ronaldo Damus touched the ball the least of anyone on the field. Kevon Lambert and Kameron Lacey developed a very nice partnership in midfield as well, which freed the rest of the team up to do as it pleased. Normal service looks to be resuming in San Antonio.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks just don’t feel like a particularly well-functioning team. Quenzi Huerman and Yosuke Hanya were bright spots but Steven Echevarria and Speedy Williams had issues in midfield. As mentioned, Ronaldo Damus is just not getting up to speed as a dangerman in Colorado and Maalique Foster has been basically anonymous to start the season. If not for Christian Herrera, this is probably a much worse loss for Colorado Springs. They feel like they are without an identity at the moment and they will need to grab a hold of one quickly to avoid dropping off in the West.

Orange County 2-2 Miami

OCSC is deciding that they are the team of the chaotic result this year. Having knocked off Pittsburgh Riverhounds with just two total shots last week, they were on the wrong end of a high-efficiency performance as Miami scored two of their five total shots en route to a credible point in Southern California. Orange County will rue a couple of big missed chances but it was the way they switched off for Miami’s goals which is likely more troubling. They have relied on some big moments from goalkeeper Colin Shutler this year but the first goal is evidence that one lost challenge in midfield can undo all of that. As soon as Miami win it they look to spring an attack and OC is perhaps unlucky that the ball falls to Allen Gavilanes both times they switch off. There is further concern that a high percentage of their goals are coming from set pieces. They’ll need to find ways to create more from open play, especially against an opponent like Miami which will defend with all it has.

Miami FC have defied expectation this year by simply not defying expectation. They are a team that accepts exactly what they are and they do a damn good job of limiting teams that play against them. There is a slice of luck about Gavilanes’ second but the luck is being created by Miami. They are clearly well drilled in that they maintain their defensive shape until the instant they win the ball back. From there they become rather unpredictable and this was exemplified by OC’s inability to track Gavilanes for either goal. The efficiency likely can’t sustain at this sort of ⅖ conversion rate but if they can exercise the discipline and then immediately flip the switch, they are going to be an extremely difficult team to play.

Phoenix Rising 1-0 Oakland Roots

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and one of the most hilariously bad Griddys ever to be hit, as the old proverb goes. Phoenix, despite the slight nature of the scoreline against Oakland, took a big step in the right direction on Saturday night. Everything about the Phoenix set up made more sense but I want to speak specifically about the involvement of the full backs, Edgardo Rito and Juan Azocar, in Phoenix getting going. Rito and Azocar were absolutely cut out of proceedings by Monterey Bay but they got their mojo back against Oakland. Getting a pass out wide to Azocar is what ultimately brings about the Phoenix goal. Panos Armenakas gets it wide, Azocar links up with Dariusz Formella before playing a first time cross for Armenakas to hammer home. This spread of play, the ability to switch the focal points of attack and for Armenakas to have options other than himself all led to Phoenix’s victory. Cue the Griddy which will surely be the death of us all.

Oakland, as with their draw against Charleston, can take some heart from this match although moral victories won’t do much in the way of point accumulation for Noah Delgado’s side. Despite not being stellar, Oakland nearly snatch a draw here on a few occasions and again proved that they will be anything but a soft touch in the West. Paul Blanchette did a bunch of Paul Blanchette things, including colliding with the post an almost troubling number of times. Gagi Margvelashvili also looks the business at the back and Camden Riley was very good in central midfield. It’s up top where my concern for Oakland lies, with Jeciel Cedeno and Miche-Naider Chery not showing me enough to prove they are the answers up top and Johnny Rodriguez unable to make a solid impact yet this year. Delgado has something here but it looks like Roots may struggle for consistency just as they have the last couple years.

Monterey Bay 2-2 Rhode Island

Much like Detroit City-Loudoun, this was a matchup that almost sounds like a joke when you say it out loud but was one of the best matchups of the weekend between two teams that are looking increasingly serious in their respective conferences. For Monterey Bay, I’m having to offer more and more apologies. Rafael Baca looks like one of the signings of the season so far in the #6 role and he allows Mobi Fehr to do loads of good in front of him. Alex Dixon was predictably bright in support of the attack. Carlos Guzman and Walmer Martinez are becoming a side of defense that I simply would not be interested in attacking down and Guzman grabs the equalizer on a set piece which was so important as they did not let Rhode Island carry any momentum from the opener into halftime. As the game wore on, a Tristan Trager late goal again proved the difference and this MBFC team will be fascinating if they can start getting him involved from the first whistle. Or is he meant to be that super sub for Frank Yallop? Monterey also looked to have grabbed the winner soon after but the offside flag nullified them for the second time on the day. All in all, things are looking bright in the land of the best aquarium I’ve ever been to.

Rhode Island were behaving seriously in the offseason and they are every bit that serious on the field. They were unlucky not to batter New Mexico last week in their inaugural match at home but they showed again Sunday just how good they could be, even though a bit of their new club naivete shone through. Nothing will be better for RIFC fans than seeing new boy Albert Dikwa get back to what he did best for Pittsburgh last season and that is score a lot. The rest of the team just seems to be clicking well under Khano Smith and extra flowers go to Jojea Kwizera and Marc Ybarra who made the midfield tick all afternoon for Rhode Island. For all of that, I could have spent this entire column waxing lyrical about Noah Fuson’s assist for Dikwa’s first. He chests the ball down in midfield and takes a couple touches. Does he pick the easy pass to Joseph Brito just ahead of him? Does he take the even easier option to play it backwards to Ybarra who is asking for it? No, he sees a gap less than a ball’s width between Guzman and Martinez in MBFC’s defense and plays a pass that splits that gap like a cheap log. It helps that the ball is landing at Dikwa’s feet as he takes a single touch to settle the ball before giving the eyes to Antony Siaha and slotting it between the goalkeeper’s legs for the opener. Fuson was bright against New Mexico but if he keeps this up he’ll be one of the Newcomer of the Year candidates having just arrived from Columbus Crew 2.

- Phil Baki