USL Championship & CPL round-ups, May 3-5

All eleven USL Championship games took place on Saturday this week, starting with the visit of Tampa Bay Rowdies to AutoZone Park, home of Memphis 901. The home crowd of 2,382 (plus two away fans they kept showing on the video feed) were given early cheer by the lack of Cal Jennings in the Rowdies' starting eleven, head coach Robbie Nielson opting to go with Manuel Arteaga up front on his own, and they got an even bigger bonus eleven minutes into the game when Forrest Lasso was given his marching orders for bringing down Marlon as he advanced on the Rowdies goal. It took Memphis just eight minutes to make the extra man count, Marlon - who was dangerous throughout - firing home an absolute thwacker from outside the box to give 901 the lead. They made it two in the 23rd minute when Marlon led a fast break and fed Luis Fernando for his first of the season, but Rowdies managed to get back into the game in first-half stoppage time when Arteaga finished from Blake Bodily's cross after some sustained Tampa Bay pressure. The second-half was all Memphis, though, and Marlon scored his second just five minutes after the break, the job finished by Dylan Borczak with 26 minutes still left on the clock. Both sides have US Open Cup action in midweek and Rowdies, for one, might enjoy the quick return to action.

With Charleston Battery having beaten Las Vegas Lights 6-0 last week, and Hartford Athletic having suffered a similarly disspiriting defeat at Louisville City, there were fears that the scoreboard operator would have trouble keeping up with the game as the sides met at Patriots Point on Saturday. In reality, a much improved performance by the visitors saw Battery restricted to just the single goal, scored by - who else? - Nick Markanich in the twelfth minute. Markanich's twelfth of the season - one more than he scored in three times the games last year - sent the 3,785 in attendance home happy, extending Battery's unbeaten streak and opening a six point lead at the top of the Eastern Conference, although Louisville have three games in hand. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds revival continued apace at Highmark Stadium with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over The Miami FC on Saturday. Former Tottenham Hotspur man Kaziah Sterling, brought in to replace the deparated Albert Dikwa, was the man on the scoresheet, tapping in on sixteen minutes to make it three wins out of three for Riverhounds after a five-match winless start to the season. Dikwa's move to Rhode Island FC hasn't yet begun to pay dividends for player or club, with just three goals in seven matches, and they drew another blank at North Carolina FC on Saturday, a 0-0 draw reflecting a lack of decent chances for either side in front of over 3,000 fans.

It was also scoreless at Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia, where Loudoun United welcomed Detroit City. The home youngsters enjoyed the better of the play but were unable to find a way past Nate Steinwascher in the Rouge goal, with Detroit strikers similarly profligate at the other end. City still sit handily third, eight points behind Charleston but with three games in hand. After a strange home defeat to Memphis 901 last week, Birmingham Legion looked like they were about to repeat the formula against FC Tulsa on Saturday, Protective Stadium becoming less a fortress and more of an AirBnB. The Oklahomans took the lead in the 21st minute when Philip Goodrum got on the end of an Edwin Laszo free-kick, and doubled that twelve minutes into the second-half when Stefan Stojanovic scored from close range. That's not to say Legion hadn't had their fair share of chances, but it took another quarter of an hour to get a goal back, Enzo Martinez in the right place at the right time to slot home. Martinez, Dawson McCartney, and Kobe Hernandez-Foster all went close to finding an equaliser as the clock ticked down but it was Stefano Pinho who found space at the back post to head in a corner and give Birmingham a deserved share of the points.

2-2 was also the final result at Toyota Stadium in San Antonio, with all four goals coming in the last 25 minutes. Oakland Roots had taken the lead, interim head coach Gavin Glinton leading his charges for the first time after Noah Delgado was fired last weekend and seeing Miche-Naider Chery head in from a corner, but San Antonio FC fired straight back, Juan Agudelo finishing from close range to level things on 73 minutes. The home side went one better six minutes later when Kevin Lambert headed home from a Jorge Hernandez corner, a cue for Oakland to pour forward, putting the home defence under pressure that led to Lambert handballing in the area, giving Johnny Rodriguez the chance to level from the spot. It was a defeat to Colorado Springs Switchbacks, previously without a win all season, that cost Delgado his job at Oakland, and they quickly made it two from two with a 2-0 win over El Paso Locomotive on Saturday. A bumper crowd of over 8,000 saw Ronaldo Damus open the scoring in the 22nd minute and the home side never looked troubled after that, despite Locomotive's trademark better form away from home. Damus completed things a minute from time with a penalty given shortly after Amando Moreno had a good chance to level the scores, dispatching his spot-kick past a forlorn looking Jamahli Waite.

Frank Yallop's Monterey Bay FC have a US Open Cup date with local rivals Sacramento Republic this week and warmed up in the worst possible way with a home defeat to Indy Eleven on Saturday. A decent crowd of 4,500 were on hand to witness an uneven affair that saw Monterey control the game yet the visitors have the better chances. One of those - a right-footed shot from Elliot Collier - finally found the net two minutes from time, condeming the Union to a second consecutive defeat. Their opponents on Tuesday were in action in Arizona, where a scoreline of Phoenix Rising 1 Sacramento Republic 1 was probably a fair result. The home side enjoyed the better of the game but it was Republic who took the lead just past the half-hour when Rodrigo Lopez fired a free-kick into the bottom left corner. To make things worse, Panos Armenakas had just missed a penalty for Rising, hitting the post with a kick given for a foul by Jared Timmer, but Phoenix came out for the second-half in confident mood, going close through Emil Cuello seven minutes in. Sacramento had chances to extend their lead, with Trevor Amann particularly lively, but it was the home side who scored next, Remi Cabral firing in from outside the box to restore parity in the 66th minute, after which there were few concrete chances. The weekend's final game came from Cashman Field where Las Vegas Lights were warming up for the visit of Los Angeles FC in the Open Cup in midweek. It appears no-one told New Mexico United - and Daniel Bruce in particular - that as the Kings of Chaos raced into a 2-0 lead by the half-hour mark, Bruce scoring with both feet, one from close range and one from outside the box. Gassou Samake did pull one back just before half-time, though, something the 1.061 home fans thought must have been wasted as the visitors were awarded a penalty three minutes into the second-half. Luckily for them, Raiko Arozarena was able to save Mukwelle Akale's spot-kick but there was to be no equaliser, either, despite good chances for Joe Hafferty, Coleman Gannon, and Edison Azcona as time ran out, although United will also point to close efforts from Akale and Jacobo Reyes.

Week four in the Canadian Premier League began in Calgary, Alberta, on Friday night as Cavalry FC welcomed Vancouver FC to ATCO Field for the second time this season, the home side having won 1-0 with ten men in the Canadian Championship a couple of weeks ago. The visitors had won their first two league games this season but were defeated 3-0 by York United last week and looked equally out of sorts against a confident Cavalry eleven. Almost 3,000 fans were on hand to see Tobias Warschewski open the scoring in the 26th minute, with Charlie Trafford doubling Cavs' lead twelve minutes later. Vancouver had few chances to level and it was no surprise when Warschewski added a third, converting a penalty on the hour to end any hope of an Eagles comeback. They did manage to score a consolation through Moses Dyer with nine minutes left to play but it was the home side who took the points for their first league win of the season. Vancouver's local rivals Pacific FC were in action on Saturday, hosting York United at Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island. Again, just over 2,000 fans were in attendance to see an even game which leaned heavily in favour of the home side in terms of goal chances. They converted two - a Reon Moore tap-in on fifteen minutes following Thomas Vincensini's save from Aly Ndom's header, and an own goal by Max Ferrari thirteen minutes from time - to go joint top of the CPL with ten points from four games so far.

With Forge FC's game with HFX Wanderers scheduled for Tuesday (and subsequently postponed due to Canadian Championship commitments), the final game of the round came on Sunday at TD Place in Ottawa, where Atletico Ottawa joined Pacific at the top of the table with a 2-0 win over Valour FC, which was at least five goals fewer than the Winnpeggers conceded when they were in the nation's capital in the cup last week. To be fair, Valour gave a much better account of themselves and even had a few chances of their own before succumbing to first-half goals from Ruben del Campo and Gabriel Antinoro, a near-4,000 crowd sent home happy ahead of Wednesday's Canadian Championship quarterfinal clash with Pacific.