USL League One, NISA & MLS Next Pro round-up, April 12-15

The USL League One weekend started on Friday night with a clash of two teams with 100% records in One Knoxville and Union Omaha, albeit from just the one game for the visitors. Knoxville actually lost their last match, in the US Open Cup to Greenville Triumph, and there was little to separate the sides before Steevan dos Santos's opener for Omaha in the 70th minute. Any chance of Knoxville getting back in to the game was undone by a red card for Jalen Crisler six minutes from time and it is Union who retain that 100% record going into their next match. That will be at home to Charlotte Independence on April 20th, with the visitors no doubt buoyed by their defeat of Greenville Triumph on Friday night. Juan Carlos Obregon Jr's 51st minute strike was the difference between the sides as the Jacks handed Triumph their first defeat of the season in any competition.

Saturday's brace of games began in Wisconsin, where Forward Madison welcomed Richmond Kickers to the Breese Stevens Field they share with professional frisbee team Madison Radicals. A crowd of almost 4,000 cheered Derek Gebhard's opener for the home side on 28 minutes, but the Kickers managed to draw level five minutes into first-half stoppage time when Maximiliano Schenfeld fired home. It was the visitors who moved ahead in the 64th minute through Adrian Billhardt, a lead that lasted all of eight minutes before Fabian Davila made it 2-2. There was still time for Madison's Timmy Mehl to see red in the 86th minute but there were no more goals.

Central Valley Fuego have undergone a rebuilding process under new head coach Jermaine Jones, taking control of a club for the first time but not having an easy time of it in Fresno. Their visitors on Saturday were Chattanooga Red Wolves, who had only played one game before this week due to issues with their pitch in Tennessee. A worryingly poor crowd of just 397 saw the visitors take the lead in the 14th minute through Ropapa Mensah, and then double their advantage four minutes later with a Lucas Coutinho goal. Fuego did get one back before half-time when Zahir Vasquez found the net but Mensah scored again midway through the second-half to restore the two-goal lead. A Qudus Lawal goal ten minutes from time brought the home side back within draw distance but Mensah finished his hat-trick with a 91st minute penalty to leave things looking chilly for Jones in California.

The weekend's final game was the Sunday visit of expansion side Spokane Velocity to the gridiron marked pitch of Lexington SC in Georgetown, Kentucky. The visitors had Josh Dolling back to lead their attack and took the lead in the 19th minute when Ahmed Longmire scored, an advantage that lasted seven minutes before Yannick Yankam levelled for the Boys in Green. Azaad Liadi then put the home side ahead but Luis Gil grabbed an equaliser to send the teams into the break at 2-2. That was how it stayed, despite chances for both sides, and Velocity sit a respectable fourth in their first season.

The troubled Georgia FC club finally got their season underway in the NISA league at the weekend, having already moved towns and changed names since they were first announced as an expansion club over the winter. Their first opponents at Silverbacks Park in Atlanta were Club de Lyon, the Daytona beach club who had their own issues last season (something never too far away in this competition). Former Charleston Battery striker Patrick Okonkwo got Georgia's first ever goal when he gave them a half-time lead, but the Lions hit back through Tolani Ibikunle. The game finished 1-1 despite a second yellow for Georgia's ex-Phoenix Rising man Lamin Jawneh, but both the club and the league will be happy to have gotten through this one. Savannah Clovers have also had a troubled winter, with the league stepping in to guarantee the club's payroll until a transfer of ownership can be completed. They opened their 2024 home campaing on Saturday against a Maryland Bobcats side that look utterly professional in comparison, and the 3-0 win for the away team perhaps reflected their differing pre-seasons. Darwin Espinal opened the scoring with a nice goal in the 69th minute, followed by goals from the returning Elijah Amo and midfielder Drew Wivell to complete the rout.

Saturday also saw Los Angeles Force take on another of the new arrivals, Arizona Monsoon, at Long Beach Coummunity College. Monsoon lost their only game of the season so far, a US Open Cup tie against lower-tier opposition, and were thoroughly overwhelmed by the home side's superior organisation, coneding as early as the first minute when Bryan Ortega scored. They held out until just after the break, though, before Japanese midfielder Mouhamadou War grabbed a brace, the 4-0 scoreline completed by Victor Blanco eleven minutes from time. The weekend's final game featured two new expansion clubs and another Los Angeles derby match as Irvine Zeta took on Capo FC. Zeta have been in terrific form so far this season, with two Open Cup wins and an away draw at LA Force, but Capo managed to keep them fairly quiet on Sunday, Jonathan Estrada's first half opener for the home side cancelled out by Gustavo Chavez in the 85th minute.

The sole game featuring an independent side in the third-tier (mostly) MLS reserve league MLS Next Pro at the weekend delivered plenty of goals, with Chattanooga FC defeating Inter Miami II 6-2 at Finley Stadium. Former FC Dallas youth prospect Jalen James - who was scoreless in nineteen games for USL League Two side Lexington SC last season - grabbed a first-half hat-trick to add to a brace from ​English striker Alex McGrath and one from Ethan Koren, Miami replying through Alejandro Flores and Ryan Carmichael. Elsewwhere there was another 6-2 win - for New York City FC II over New England Revolution II - and a 5-5 draw between New York Red Bulls II and Chicago Fire II, as well as a 5-0 win for Philadelphia Union II at Atlanta United 2, and a 4-0 home win for Sporting Kansas City II against Houston Dynamo 2.