USL League One, NISA & MLS Next Pro round-ups, May 17-19

After last weekend's Jägermeister Cup action, it was back to regular business in USL League One this weekend, starting with a pair of games on Friday night from opposite sides of the country. Charlotte Independence have been one of the form sides so far this season but they more than met their match in unbeaten Union Omaha at American Legion Memorial Stadium. A home crowd of 1,438 were given something to cheer when Juan Carlos Obregon Jr scored his eighth of the season to give Independence the lead in the 36th minute, but the visitors were an entirely different prospect in the second-half, levelling when Pedro Dolabella capitalised on some poor defensive passing nine minutes after the break, and then going ahead in almost identical cirumstances through on-loan youngster Missael Rodriguez just past the hour. Charlotte had three chances to get back in the game after that but the mood of the crowd soon matched the heavy rainclouds above the stadium when Rodriguez scored his second with a quarter of an hour left on the clock, and Union completed the job in stoppage time when Lajos Kunga made it 4-1. Over in California, Central Valley Fuego are still waiting to kickstart their new era under Jermaine Jones and will have to wait another week as One Knoxville came to town and left with the points in front of just 706 fans at Fresno State Soccer Stadium. The Scruffy City outfit took the lead in the twelfth minute through Angelo Kelly-Rosales, but Fuego were never out of the game, even when Kempes Tekiela doubled Knoxville's lead eleven minutes into the second-half. It will be a case of "we go again" for Jones but it's clear they're missing something vital. Knoxville, on the other hand, look every bit like title contenders, but there's still a lot of soccer to be played.

With Omaha and Knoxville both winning on Friday night, Greenville Triumph knew what they had to do to regain top spot in their own right on Saturday when they made the six-hour trip to Richmond Kickers. The sides met in Greenville three weeks ago in the Jägermeister Cup, with Kickers winning a penalty shootout after a tied game, and Triumph ensured they gained revenge for that nominal defeat with a win by the odd goal, but it took until the 85th minute for Lyam MacKinnon to find the net at the end of a game that really could have gone either way. Saturday's other game came from Statesboro, where South Georgia Tormenta jumped over Charlotte into fourth with a thumping 4-0 over a Chattanooga Red Wolves that were very much second-best on the night, even if the scoreline did flatter the 2022 champions somewhat. The first-half was a fairly even affair, with just Sebastian Vivas's goal for the hosts separating the sides at the break, but Tormenta ran in another three without reply in the second-half for a 4-0 win, with Phillip Spengler, Niall Watson, and Vivas again the scorers.

The weekend's final game took place on Sunday afternoon in eastern Washington state, where Spokane Velocity welcomed unbeaten Forward Madison to One Spokane Stadium, another 4,000-plus crowd on hand to cheer the expansion side on. As it turns out, they had little to cheer as Madison gave the hosts a lesson in both clinical finishing and heroic goalkeeping, Forward's German 'keeper Bernd Schippman equal to everything the Velocity attack threw at him. At the other end, Jimmie Villalobos fired home a bullet to open the scoring in the 22nd minute, Devin Boyce making it 2-0 a minute before half-time with a terrific effort from the edge of the box. Just past the hour, a wonderful pass from Christian Chaney found Aiden Mesias in space and he finished to make it 3-0. Velocity will have better days but Madison are looking like a strong contender for post-season honours.

Week seven in the NISA league began with another Los Angeles derby on Friday night, Irvine Zeta the visitors to the JSerra Field home of Capo FC in the city's southern reaches. It was the visitors who left with the points with goals either side of half-time from Fernando Mejia and George Almeida. The action shifted eastwards on Saturday but the scheduled game between Michigan Stars and Club de Lyon was postponed due to flight cancellations from Florida to Detroit. There were no such issues in Boyds, though, as Maryland Bobcats handily beat Savannah Clovers at Maureen Hendricks Field thanks to goals from Darwin Espinal and Abdou Thiam. It was Bobcats first home game of the season and the 2-0 win sees them move with three points of Stars at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Over in MLS Next Pro, independent club Carolina Core may not have been able to follow up on their last game, a first win in club history away at Atlanta United 2, but they did escape with the shootout win from Inter Miami II after a 1-1 draw in regular time. English striker Jacob Evans gave Core the lead after a quarter of an hour, but the visitors were dealt a blow when Kai Thomas was red carded for a last man foul on Ryan Carmichael. Still, Core remained well organised and kept Miami at bay until eleven minutes from time, when Israel Boatwright diverted Ian Fray's acrobatic volley into the net to level. In the shootout, Core converted all four of their kicks, while Carmichael and Santiago Morales missed for the hosts. Elsewhere, The California derby between The Town FC and Los Angeles FC 2 finished 0-0, with Town winning on spot-kicks, and Philadelphia Union II went top in the East with a 3-1 win at New England Revolution II.