USL Championship & CPL round-ups, April 26-28

The USL Championship weekend started on Friday night in Providence, where a sell-out crowd of 4,000 came to see 2023 champions Phoenix Rising play expansion side Rhode Island FC. Neither side has been pulling up trees so far in 2024, with the home side recording just one win - away at Las Vegas Lights last weekend - to Rising's two. It was the champions, though, who drew first blood when Remi Cabral scored from close range in the seventh minute, and they doubled that advantage on 34 minutes through Cabral again, this time following a fast break. At that point, Rhode Island had managed just one shot on target but they were given a chance to get back in the game when Renzo Zambrano was adjudged to have handballed in the Phoenix box, last year's MVP Albert Dikwa stepping up to take the penalty kick. Rising 'keeper Rocco Rios Novo guessed right, though, and saved his defender's blushes, keeping the score at 2-0 going into the half. The home side were much more adventurous in the second-half, but couldn't find a way past the Rising defence until a minute from time when Clay Holstad put them within striking distance of a draw. However, it took Phoenix less than a minute to restore their two goal advantage, Federico Varela getting on the end of Gabi Torres's cross, and Rising saw the game out for a 3-1 win.

Saturday's early kick-off came from South Carolina, where Charleston Battery welcomed Las Vegas Lights to Patriots Point, a crowd of over 4,500 backing the home side to continue an impressive run of form which has seen them race to the top of the Eastern Conference. Striker Nick Markanich has been in electric form so far this season, with seven goals in eight games before Saturday, and it took him just four minutes to add to that, firing Battery ahead with a well-taken finish. Halfway through the first-half, Markanich capitalised on a defensive error to set up MD Myers for his sixth of the season and double Charleston's lead, Lights no doubt wishing they'd not gotten on the plane from Nevada. Markanich made it 3-0 on the half-hour and then completed his hat-trick with a penalty seven minutes later after Jean-Claude Ngando brought down Emilio Ycaza in the box. 4-0 at the half, then, and it was five just four minutes after the break when Markanich got a fourth. Ycaza then hit the bar and Markanich departed just past the hour, having taken his season tally to eleven, but Charleston were still not done for the day. With nine minutes to go, Aaron Molloy shot home from Mark Segbers through ball to complete Lights' terrible day at the office and make Battery early favourites for the USL Championship title. Their main rivals at this point seem to be Louisville City and Detroit City, the latter of whom had won five out of five in the league before Saturday's visit to Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Riverhounds had started the season in poor form but managed to grab a 3-1 win in Phoenix last weekend, Bob Lilley starting to work his magic on a new look side for 2024 after losing five starters over the winter. The game at Highmark Stadium was a midfield battle, a smattering of Detroit fans among the 6,099 crowd seeing their side earn just a single shot on target. Pittsburgh fared little better with just three, although two of those - a close-range heaqder from Patrick Hogan and a penalty (given for a foul on Junior Etou by Devon Amoo-Mensah) - found the net for a 2-0 half-time lead. Maxi Rodriguez saw City's sole effort saved by Eric Dick in the Pittsburgh goal and the game petered out towards the end, with a red card for Detroit captain Stephen Carroll in stoppage time putting the cap on a miserable day for Le Rouge.

The Miami FC entertained 2022 champions San Antonio FC in another "must win" game for new head coach Antonio Nocerino, his rebuilding job in south Florida not going according to plan. A crowd of just over a thousand rattled around the 20,000 capacity FIU Football Stadium, the patience of even those loyalists tested when Luke Haakenson put the visitors ahead in the eleventh minute, but to their credit Miami came back at the Texans, Luisinho forcing a save out of Pablo Sisniega and Allen Gavillanes firing wide soon after. They got back on level terms in the 24th minute when Luisinho scored from close range and continued to take the game to the visitors, earning their reward with a goal from Michael Lawrence that put them into a rare lead on the stroke of half-time. San Antonio dominated things late on in the second-half but were unable to find a way through the Miami defence, Nocerino's side securing their second win of the season after five straight defeats. Indy Eleven have had better weeks ahead of their clash with promoted side North Carolina FC at Michael Carroll Stadium on Saturday, days after Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett announced he was reneging on a stadium deal to try and bring MLS to the city. Still, that fired up their fans, over ten thousand of whom saw them beat a spirited North Carolina side 2-1. The visitors were by far the better side in the first half, going close through Ezra Armstrong twice, but the scores held at 0-0 going into the break. The Blue Boys broke that deadlock three minutes into the second-half when Mikey maldonado put through his own net, a lead that lasted for just three minutes before Louis Perez headed home Rafa Mentzingen's cross to level. The next twenty plus minutes were light on chances but a free-kick in the visitors' half was floated onto the head of Douglas Martinez for a 2-1 lead to the home side, an advantage they managed to hold despite good chances for Perez and Oalex Anderson to equalise.

Tampa Bay Rowdies and New Mexico United had enjoyed very similar seasons before their clash at the Al Lang Stadium in St Petersburg on Saturday, and after the Rowdies 3-0 win in front of over 6,500 fans, they both find themselves on thirteen points from seven games. More than a few of those in attendance would have been anticipating a closer battle but United were restricted to just two efforts on target, a shot from Danyon Harris in the first-half and a header from Greg Hurst in stoppage time at the end of the game. By that point, the Rowdies already had their three goals, with Cal Jennings finding the net twice in the first sixteen minutes for his fifth and sixth goals of the season, and Manuel Arteaga scoring a penalty given when he was fouled by Marco Micaletto in the New Mexico box. It also finished 3-0 between Birmingham Legion and Memphis 901 at Protective Stadium, but not to a home team who would have been heavy favourites before the match, especially as the visitors had won just one match all season. It was just one of those afternoons for the Legion, dominating possession and having more chances but falling prey to some clinical finishing by former Legionnaire Bruno Lapa after just four minutes. Memphis doubled that in the seventeenth minute when Lucas Turci scored from outside the box following a corner, with Lapa adding a third nine minutes into the second-half.

Having lost just one game - the televised clash at Charleston Battery - all season, Louisville City set about chasing down their nemeses when they welcomed Hartford Athletic to the Lynn Family Stadium. The weekend's biggest crowd of 10,887 saw an example of "anything you can do..." as City ran up six goals without reply, equalling Battery's feat from earlier in the day. It was poor Athletic's third defeat on the trot after a promising start and they didn't even register a shot on target, with just three shots off target all night to their credit. By contrast, City converted 60% of their chances, from Elijah Wynder's fifth minute opener to Tola Showunmi's 93rd minute sixth, with Adrien Perez, Aiden McFadden, Jorge Gonzalez, and Ray Serrano all netting in between. Weirdly, top scorer Wilson Harris suffered a rare blank, something Hartford can only be thankful for. Winning home games is something El Paso Locomotive can only dream of but hope springs eternal and another decent crowd filed into Southwest University Park on Saturday to see them face FC Tulsa. The visitors had won just once before the weekend - an away win in Las Vegas last month - and the game was about as even as you could get, possession and chances shared but the vital statistic - the sole goal - going in favour of the Oklahomans when Boubacar Diallo grabbed the winner in the 53rd minute. Locomotive have won only one match at home in the last ten months (against eventual 2023 runners-up Charleston Battery) and will be looking forward to next week's trip to Colorado Springs...

Speaking of Colorado Springs Switchbacks, they travelled to Hayward, California, to face Oakland Roots on Saturday night, winless after six games. Whatever head coach James Chambers said to his charges beforehand must have worked wonders on the Switchbacks as Zach Zandi forced Roots 'keeper Paul Blanchette into a save in the first minute, the visitors also having good chances for Ronaldo Damus, Speedy Williams, and Justin Rassmussen not converted. Roots had chances of their own but the game remained scoreless through to the 71st minute when a Malique Foster free-kick was knocked home by Juan Tejada to give Colorado Springs a 1-0 lead. A Christian Herrera save prevented Johnny Rodriguez from levelling a minute later and it was Switchbacks who scored again, Foster assisting Aidan Rocha with six minutes left to play. Roots went close through Miche Naider-Cherry in stoppage time and the visitors even had a chance to make it three late on, Blanchette turning away Quenzi Herman's top corner effort for a corner. At the other end of the table, Orange County SC looked to bounce back from last week's home defeat against Sacramento Republic by welcoming another northern Californian side - Monterey Bay FC - to the Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine. 4,588 fans kept the faith and were rewarded as early as the sixth minute when Thomas Amang fired home to give OC the lead. Monterey played the better soccer afterwards, with Colin Shutler forced into making saves from Tristan Trager, Carlos Guzman, Kai Greene, Jesus Enriquez, and Guzman again to keep the score at 1-0 going into the break. It was the home side's turn to go close in the second-half, with Amang and Sorto calling Gerold Siaha into action in the visitors' goal, but it wasn't until the 82nd minute that OC got their insurance goal, Ethan Zubak finishing off a quick break to lift them above the visitors in the table.

Both sides trail leaders Sacramento Republic, however, who made slightly hard work of the visit of Loudoun United to Heart Health Park. A crowd a thousand short of the 11,500 capacity saw Republic take the lead in the tenth minute when Russell Cicerone headed in for only his second of the season, but the visitors struck back in the 28th minute through Wesley Leggett's left-footed shot. Loudoun even had the better of the chances before the break and did their best to frustrate Republic afterwards, lasting through to four minutes from time before Kieran Phillips finished a fast break to put Sacramento ahead, and it was Phillips who scored the third and final goal for Republic two minutes into injury time to complete the job for Mark Briggs' side.

Week three in the Canadian Premier League started on Friday night in Toronto, where York United hosted Vancouver FC. The home side had lost both games before Friday's clash, with Vancouver winning both of their league games but losing in the Canadian Championship in midweek to Cavalry FC. To the surprise of more than a few, even amongst the 843 home fans in attendance, it was the home side who eventually took the lead after a low-energy first-half (and much of the second), star striker Brian Wright sweeping home from close range in the seventieth minute. Wright set-up Dennis Salanovic for York's second thirteen minutes later, and then finished the job himself after a defence-splitting run and pass from Clement Bayiha. The first of Saturday's two games came from Nova Scotia, where HFX Wanderers - also pointless from their first two games - met glamour side Atletico Ottawa. The game was ruined as a spectacle by a very harsh red card for Wanderers' Lorenzo Callegari in the nineteenth minute, although it took the visitors twenty minutes to take advantage, going ahead through Ruben del Campo's shot from outside the box into the bottom corner. They doubled that advantage eleven minutes into the second-half when Kristopher Twardek's ball into the box found Manny Aparicio, the former Pacific FC man scoring his first for his new club. To their credit, Halifax were up for the fight, though, and managed to put Ottawa under pressure but the numerical advantage finally proved too much, allowing Ballou Tabla to finish a quick break for a 3-0 away win.

Forge FC went into Saturday's second game, at home to pointless Valour FC knowing that a win would put them top of the table, at least until Sunday's game gave Pacific FC a chance to join them. They made very hard work of it, though, the visitors - resplendent in brown, patterned shirts some might call "disgusting" - having several chances in the first half. Just past the hour, though, Tristan Borges fired home from seventeen yards after a mazy run by Daniel Parra, but the job wasn't completed until the final minute when Noah Jenson scored almost a carbon copy of Borges's goal to give Forge a 2-0 win and first place at this early stage. A win for Pacific FC away in Calgary, though, would have rendered that win slightly moot, but Cavalry FC are no pushovers, especially on home turf at ATCO Field. The game had plenty of chances but few of them found the target, let alone a way past goalkeepers Marco Carducci and Shawn Melvin, and the game finished 0-0, the first of twelve CPL games to finish scoreless this season.