USL Week 12: Review, Preview, and How To Watch
USL Week 12: Expansion Moves Continue, Conference Leaders at Full Stop
This past week in the USL the news focus was once again on expansion of all kinds. Just last month the league “lost” both stalwart Sacramento Republic FC as well as Nashville SC both to the dream of joining MLS.
This week Phoenix Rising, themselves looking to move up to the bigs, lost manager Frank Yallop to the dream of building a brand new USL franchise in Fresno. Yallop will serve as the new team’s general manager. But given his resume, there’s no reason to believe that any such club wouldn’t find itself eventually making its own bid to join MLS in the near future.
And on Thursday, the Baltimore Sun reported that the league office is putting together an ownership group and a proposal for a new venue. The ultimate aim is for a Baltimore USL franchise to take the field in 2020.
No Moves at the Top
Right now in 2017, however, things were a bit more static on the conference tables for this week.
In the west, Real Monarchs of SLC rolled on defeating Orange County SC, 1-0. Monarchs remain tied at the top of the table with San Antonio FC each with 30 points. SA FC drew at nil last week as home team to Swope Park Rangers but are one match behind on the calendar.
In the east, first place Charleston Battery played a highly entertaining match at home against third place Louisville City FC. But each took home just one point on a 4-4 draw. Second place Tampa Bay Rowdies also drew last week away to Charlotte Independence. The result was no movement at all at the top of conference table.
Here’s a look at a couple of interesting match-ups for the weekend.
FC Cincinnati (H) v. Charlotte Independence FC
Last Time Out: Independence lost at midweek away to Louisville City FC, 1-0. Charlotte played almost the entire second half with 10. FC Cincinnati lost, 0-1, away to Rochester Rhinos.
Players To Watch For: Cincinnati Keeper Mitch Hildebrandt concedes one goal per start. Of course that is only his average over the 11 matches played so far. He has also tallied three clean sheets. This match is the beginning of a 3 game home-stand for FCC. If Hildebrandt starts good against Charlotte he and his team might make June interesting.
How To Watch: Click below for the live stream, Sat. June 10, 7p ET.
LA Galaxy II (H) v.Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Last Time Out: Last Saturday the Switchbacks defeated OKC Energy FC at home, 1-0, to notch their first win in a month. Meanwhile Galaxy II lost their second in a row, 0-3 away to Seattle Sounders FC 2.
Players To Watch For: Switchbacks’ Keeper Moise Pouaty is one of the league’s leaders in saves made. That’s almost always a bad thing. However his team holds an even 0 goal differential for the year. That’s a good thing because adding it all up means CSS FC can score at the other end. If Colorado Springs’ defense shows up continuing Galaxy’s bad run ought to be a no-brainer.
How To Watch: Click below for the live stream, Sat. June 10, 5:30p ET.
Next: MLS Week 14 Stat Leaders