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Covering the latest scores, news, and developments from the USL Championship, the second-highest professional men's soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation.
Every Monday, host Vince Galvano will take a deep dive into all current events related to the league.
Louisville City stands head and shoulders above the rest, and the race for the USL playoffs continues. Welcome
Vince:to all talk, all USL, talk USL. Cover all the latest scores, news, and developments in the 2nd highest division of the United States men's professional soccer system, the USL championship. I'm your host as always, Vince Galvano. October, people. October 7th, happy Monday episode number 32, matchday 31.
Vince:And that's right, Lucidie are your USL championship players' shield winners. For the first time in club history, it's Morris's stoppage time equalizer that earns 2 time title winner, a 2 two draw at rival India 11, moving the side clear of Charleston and New Mexico. This from USL championship dot com, winning its first rival at Michael a Carroll Stadium in front of 11,000 fans. The result, the draw on last minute thanks to Morris, moves loose city clear of current Western Conference leader New Mexico United as well as Eastern Conference rival rival Charleston Battery on 69 points after the battery dropped points on a Saturday night draw against Detroit at Patriots Point. With Louisville holding head to head tiebreakers over both sides from their regular season series, What an achievement.
Vince:I mean, where where do you begin to to win at your rivals covering this match
Vince:a little bit? Just looking at it.
Vince:I mean, let let's put things into perspective for Louisville City, and we'll cover the rest.
Vince:We'll cover the goal of the week.
Vince:We'll cover the other matches, but obviously this one, the big headline here, no such thing as a coincidence. Putting this in perspective, without a win, you know, it was unlikely that loose city would clinch the player's shield this weekend. Well, why? Why was that? Charleston being Charleston most likely have won.
Vince:Right? But that didn't happen. They dropped points against Detroit. So a draw was all that was needed, and the fact that loose city managed to do it in stoppage time against their rivals in d eleven, who mind you they play it on CBS National Television
Vince:back earlier this season on April 6th, the showcase match. Here we are months later on the reverse side
Vince:of things at Michael a Carroll Stadium, part of
Vince:the capacity crowd, 11,000 people. They were down to 1, and it was Morris and stoppage time, hobbling on one leg basically to make it, you know, a dream come true for Louisville with money games in hand
Vince:on our way
Vince:to the playoffs, but, yeah, they are the 2024 Players Shield winners. Incredible stuff. Congratulations to
Vince:loose city. I mean, breaking down the game, you have to actually go back to earlier this week when Louisville took on Miami, and they won its, you know, championship record 14th home game of the season this past Wednesday. 3 nothing win. Scott Tosh recording his sec his 6th goal of the season. Gudrun added to his second goal at Lose City.
Vince:The first, if you recall, came in the 3 one victory against Charleston in early August. You're talking about crucial games coming up against, you know, New Mexico, coming into Charleston, getting the victories there. His 7th goal this season, his 2nd goal for loose city for Philip Goodrum, and then it was Ray Serrano with the icing on the cape cake to put the game well out of reach in 83rd, his 7th goal of the season as well. Deville, McFadden, and Gledel respectively with the assist of each of the 3 goals. Deville and McFadden both have 6 assists on the season.
Vince:Gledel with 3. The these numbers
Vince:are just so high for for loose city. And then, boom, they start against India 11. 12 minute off a short corner. This is this is
Vince:the match they could do if they win. 12 off off the short corner, Dia get get gets on ahead of the ball on the far post, puts loose city in the lead, and it's first half stoppage time, Augie Williams scoring his 75th goal of his career, tying Guinzati for the 5th leading scorer in USO championship history taking a nice coy touch and rifling at near post and then Augie Williams adding to his tally in the second half in the 68 minute to break Guinzati's record of a long fall flick to Jack Blake and space on the left, and Blake plays a delicious ball across the a team, and it was Indiana leading, looking like it was gonna walk away with 3 points, especially off the double save in the 78th minute by Hunter Salt, but hobbling Jake Morris, drawing Luke City level 4 minutes into second half stoppage time and a dramatic result proved enough to clinch the club's 1st USL championship. Player shield. Player shield, mind you, what is this? You're like, well, it's awarded for the league's best regular season record, also meaning the number one overall playoff seed and home field advantage all the way through to the USL championship final should loose city advance there a bit different than European side of soccer is because you have your separate competitions in the United States it's very typical you have your regular season and then you have your postseason and what you do in your regular season determines how you fall, where you fall, where you place for the postseason
Vince:tournament And to to finish 1st to get
Vince:the home field advantage. Wow. Congratulations to lose city amid a records, you know, record setting season, the boys in purple looking to win their 1st lead title since going back to back in 2017,
Vince:2018. Just man, Morris. 81st minute substitute appeared to be injured in
Vince:his ankle and collision shortly after coming onto the field. Lucidie was out of subs. Morris finds a way to press forward deep into the 5 minutes added across landing on Dylan Morris, the far post passed to the middle of the box where the ailing Morris stepped toward it, hobbled toward it. No. No.
Vince:Step toward it and scored. It wasn't a full 3 point city has achieved much of the season, but one point earned from the draw was enough to secure the shield. Yeah. I mean, city tried 32 shots in the night, a season high to generate 3.21 expected goals compared to Indy's 0.79. Squad has now tallied 17 points from losing positions this season, 3rd most in the league.
Vince:And Lucy drawing Saturday for only a 3rd time this season. Think about that, improving to 22 wins, 6 losses, and 3 draws on the year. That went total matches, the 2 20 22 squad's record total for victories in a single season for the club, a mark that loose city will try to best starting next Saturday. That coverage coming from loose city communications on their official website. Amadou Diya having a quote after the end of the game.
Vince:There was a couple of quotes obviously, but I picked this one out. He says in quote, it's never say die attitude like Danny's been talking about all season, coach. Always believing until the last final whistle. Honestly, Danny never mentioned the player shield once this week. All this week was about was beating our rival across the river and that's it.
Vince:It's a big rivalry. Fans get into it. We get into it. We know it's going to be intense. We wanted all three points.
Vince:The whole goal this week was 9 points from those 3 games, but we'll settle with 7 and the players shield that gap. Of course, you'll be settling with that. Congratulations to Luz City, and let's see if they can break the 2,022 squad's record for total victories in a single season next week, next time around, still some more things to play for and a lot to play for, obviously, with trying to get into that coveted 8th place spot for the playoffs. But before we do that, let me just remind you that Talk USL is everywhere. Podcasts are available, can be found in all social media platforms with the handle at Talk USL.
Vince:If you wanna support the podcast, give it a review on whatever platform you're using to listen. Make sure to tell your fellow friends, family, most importantly, just fellow USL fans to give it a listen. I'd really appreciate it. Also, you can reach out to me at talkuslchampionship@gmail.com, and, yeah, at talkusl on all social platforms. Your support as always to my listeners out there greatly, greatly appreciated.
Vince:Goal of the week last time around match day 30, Stefano Pino, Birmingham taking on Pittsburgh, September 28th last weekend of September, the Brazilian produced a brilliant piece of individualism as he turned his defender just inside the top right edge of the penalty area before sending a curled left foot finish into the left corner to level at Highmark Stadium. Enough of the vote, more than 50% of
Vince:the vote, Stefano Pina winning goal of the
Vince:week for match day 30. Also, last week, we recorded early on Sunday, and we had 2 additional results because usually these recordings do take place on Sunday, posting as soon as possible for Monday for all
Vince:my listeners out there. Now Oakland took on Tulsa last weekend. We talked about this. Right? Was Orange County gonna be
Vince:the only team to get points? But no. Tulsa, they were able to defeat Oakland on the road. It was a 7 minute goal from Aaron Beboe to help live FC Tulsa to a one nothing victory over Oakland roots with the result. Mario Sanchez, head coach, and FC Tulsa improved to
Vince:34 points, 8 wins, 11 draw
Vince:11 losses, 10 draws, while Oakland roots remaining at 40 points. FC Tulsa capped last weekend in the hunt for a playoff seed, slotting 9th in the conference and one point back off the playoff line while Oakland roots closes the month of September scoreless. Hold holding to a 6th place seed after being shut out, o and 9 in September. That was b c, Ryder, b say reader, excuse me, of fctulsa.com. We'll we'll cover Tulsa as well, but also wanted to cover really quickly Sacramento taking on New Mexico from last weekend.
Vince:This was in front of a, you know, 3rd straight sellout crowd for Republic, and it's earned its biggest win of the season for nothing victory over Western Conference leader, New Mexico United. Luz Felipe leading the way with a goal and assist while Kieran Phillips scored his 10th goal of this the campaign. It was the 4th consecutive win for the indomitable club and locked in a new career high for a single season clean sheets for goalkeeper Danny Vitiello. Congratulations to him. That came from Sacramento's official website from Grace O'Gotta Butler.
Vince:We also have the nominees for September's player of the month, but we'll cover that later in the episode. I do wanna get to the rest of the action as well as covering the table, and then we'll get into the player
Vince:of the month. So we talked loose city. I wanna get
Vince:back to Tulsa. And before we get back to I'm really this also has to do with Tulsa, unfortunately. October 3rd, some sad, sad news. Modu Jadama passed away at the age of 30, the the Gambia. Jadama made a significant impact during his time with the club at FC Tulsa, a former USL championship player.
Vince:He also had stints with, the Portland Timbers in the MLS. This is, reporting to Fox 5 Atlanta. He was reportedly killed in a car crash on tulsan.com. They paid tribute to him talking about how he first arrived in Tulsa in 2017. Quickly became a core member of the squad starting at center back in 28 of 30 appearances with the then Tulsa Roughnecks FC.
Vince:His professional journey saw him make his MLS debut on June 9, 2018 with the Portland Timmers before playing for Portland Timmers Reserve and Atlanta United Reserve 2nd teams respectively. He returned to Tulsa in 2021, starting in 22 of 24 matches with FC Tulsa while actually recording an assist during play also in Hartford Athletics Instagram as well as socials, they put out a statement saying we are saddened to learn about the tragic passing of former Hartford athletic player, Modu Janama. Modu played for Hartford athletic during the 2022 season, leaving a lasting impression on the club and its fan making 30 appearances, that season. 28 in the USO championship, 2 in the open cup. So, yeah, very, very sad to hear, especially at the young age of 30.
Vince:Obviously, just, thoughts and prayers going out to anyone in his family, as well as, former teammates and former staff members that that worked closely with him over his time playing professional in the United States. Tulsa, taking on El Paso, have to get back into the action here. And it was it was a crucial game for Tulsa. I mean, obviously, for both sides, you'd think maybe El Paso might have a chance, but, they managed something. They managed to to nick 3 points against Tulsa on the road.
Vince:It was a handball in the 17th minute against Seegrest, and here we go. It's penalty kick, and Pena Rana makes the save. He saves the penalty kick of El Paso with his foot. And then on the rebound, it falls Coronado. He hits it straight at the goal off the foot again of Penaranda, but the ball is over the line.
Vince:And El Paso get the only goal of the game, the 71st minute Bourgeois lunging onto the ball, missing it, crunching Escoto in the in in the process, giving the referee no choice but to award the free kick to El Paso, and hand Bourgeois his marching orders as he sent off for a double yell. The captain for Tulsa, mind you, with the result head coach Mary Sanchez and FC Tulsa closed the week still at 34 points, while a pass locomotive FC improving to 28 points. FC Tulsa currently remains 9th in the conference, while El Paso keeps its playoff hopes alive carrying 28 points at the bottom of the Western Conference. Speaking of keeping playoff hopes alive, Monterey Bay on the road against Phoenix on Friday, October 4th. Monterey Bay, 33 points going into this, earned its first win in the Jordan Stewart era with a 2 one victory over Phoenix, rising stadium against the club for which Stewart played the final season of his playing career as Moby Fair, ending the club's scoring drought with a right footed strike and Carlos Guzman playing a role, and Monterey Bay Union's 2nd score of the night to push Monterey Bay over the top and keep its playoff hopes alive with 3 matches left to play.
Vince:Although the goal was awarded as an own goal to Rocco Rios Novo of Phoenix, we should mention that Phoenix did manage to get one back in the 84, thanks to the right footed shot from Formella, his 6th goal of the season. Steven Vargo of montereybaysc.com with some of the coverage there as well. It's a couple of, interesting tidbits. I always like these bullet points at the end of these press releases. Maury, Donor's first half assist was his 10th of his career in Crisp and Kelp, moving along all alone into the club lead for assist all time while also becoming the 1st player in club history to reach double digits in the category.
Vince:Alex Lara making his 100th career appearance in USL championship and his return to the lineup tonight. Mind you, Monterey Bay missing some crucial players above the which, you know, Jesse Maldonado, Grant Robinson, Trista Traeger, the lower leg injuries. So the fact that they were able to take down Phoenix on
Vince:the road, testament
Vince:to, you know, last chance efforts keeping their prospects of the playoffs alive. Charleston taking on Detroit. This one part of a capacity crowd, approximately 5,000 fans at Patriot's Point. A cagey start to that matchup between 2 of the league's best defenses going into this one. Charleston made much more advances early on against Detroit.
Vince:Neither side, though, recorded a shot in the opening 15 minutes. It was Arturo Rodriguez who had the only shot on target of the first half between either team. The visitors, though, managed to strike first shortly after play resumed for the second half via Stephen Carroll in the 49th minute. The complexion of the match quickly changed, however, as Detroit's Connor Rudz was shown a straight red card for challenging Grinwiss off of
Vince:a deflected shot. He just stormed Grundwiss. I mean,
Vince:the ball is in line. He went
Vince:to go grab it, and in
Vince:comes Connor Rupps. Just a 2 footed slotting challenge straight into the head of the goalkeeper. No net about it. Red card, he's off. Detroit reduced to 10 men for virtually the remainder of the second half because that
Vince:came out in the 57th minute, that red card. Charleston,
Vince:then it quickly pride, the pressure. Heavy pressure on Detroit with the one man advantage well down one nothing. And Juan David Torres produced an opportunity for the to level the score when he drew a foul inside the box in the 70th minute, awarding Charleston a penalty and who else but Nick Marcanic stepping up to the spot and burying the goal in the 73rd minute to tie the game one one in a historic moment. As always, each time Marcanic scores his 28th goal of the season officially breaking the club's all time record for most goals scored in a single season, all competitions, all comps mind you. He broke the tie with Paul Conway's mark of 27 set back in 2001.
Vince:So a record held for 23 years, 2 years after Marconik was born actually. How about that? The goal also adds to Marconik the existence, existing lead record for most goals in a single championship season. Charleston continuing to attack Detroit with momentum on their side.
Vince:Charleston wasn't long before when Torres again delivered for
Vince:the battery. This time scoring a goal of his own in the 84th minute. Torres initiated the play, attempted a nice run giving go with Jackson Conway inside the box. Conway's pass back to Torres deflected, but the ball still fell favorably for the Colombian to strike the ball to the far post and beat Steinwacher. The goal, Torres' 6th of the season, but in stoppage time, Detroit managed to pull level with a strike from distance and off the post by Laurent Kissidoux bringing the score to 22.
Vince:Charleston pushed for a 3rd goal in the dying embers of the match but saw their efforts come up empty. Leland Archer nearly won it off a header from a corner kick in a 100 and second minutes. That's how much out
Vince:of time is on. But as
Vince:a 10th hit off the post and the final whistle blew the battery in Detroit, share the points in the end, A two two result after a physical and gritty afternoon at Patriots Point. Saturday's draw moving the battery record to 17 wins, 5 losses, and 9 draws. It was the battery's 18th point one from
Vince:a losing position. No team has recovered more as of, you know, so far. With 28 goals, though, I'm
Vince:in the McCormick family. In first is a top goal score across all American domestic leagues this season, and obviously most likely won that golden boot come the end of the season for USL championship that on charlesonbattery.com. Hartford taking on allowed an at home Trinity Health Stadium. Two sides looking to get that 8th place spot, qualify for the playoffs. This was going
Vince:to be always a good game with a lot on the line. A slow first half for both sides. Hartford Athletic Dawn in this gorgeous October orange kit, really looking fresh. Slow first half, but
Vince:the highlight was without a doubt the save from Hugo Ferreault on the 41st minute to keep the game at nil nil, saving the point blank effort from Mamoudou Diagne. I mean, holy smokes. You thought it just looks like it was gonna be a goal, but he came out rushing off his line, spreading his his his arms out and just making a really nice stave. And it was a chippy start at the second half. Harcourt defender, Beverly
Vince:McConjilla received a a red card. Hartford defender Beverly McConjilla received the yellow card in the
Vince:74th minute for a handball inside the Hartford box leading to a loud and penalty kick, and it was Loudoun's Keegan Tinggi who buried the penalty kick with ease and opened the scoring with his first goal of the season. Less than 7 minutes sorry. Less than 10 minutes later, Loudoun's Abdilatif Aboukura played a beautiful through ball to WesleyJet who struck a strong left footed shot past the Hartford goalkeeper in the 83rd minute of play. The 8th goal by Legette this season gave Loudoun a 2 goal lead and helped the red
Vince:and white secure a massive three points on the road. Wow. Huge, huge three points for Loudoun against Hartford on
Vince:the road. We'll see where they are in terms of points to the table when we cover the standings towards the tail end of the episode. Miami taking on Pittsburgh. Yeah. And and and this one, a hat trick from the loaning Salt Lake City, from Real Real Salt Lake, Burton Jackson firing home his first hat trick of 20 24 season.
Vince:You know, it gave playoff aspirations to boost with a 4 nothing victory over Miami. Jackson playing in his 4th match since arriving on loan from Real Salt Lake scoring 3 goals in a 33 minute stretch. Spanning halftime, Edward Kitsa added to his team leading 9th goal of the year for the hounds who are 9, 10, and 12 in all in, USL championship. And goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta posted his 1st professional shutout by making 4 saves to blanket Miami. The hat trick by Jackasson, the former pit standout, is the 13th in hounds history and the first since Albert Dieker scored 3 in a 3 one win at Memphis 901 back in March 2000 and 23.
Vince:The win propels the hounds to 9th place in the Eastern Conference, 2 points behind 8th place, not in United FC with 3 matches remaining, including a head ten meeting with Loudoun. And the second goal, if you haven't checked it out, could be a goal of the week, from Burton Jackson coming from the sideline. I don't know if he meant to cross it or shoot it, but I think he might have meant to shoot it. Goalkeeper was off his line. He shot it near post.
Vince:And just from the sideline, it looked like he was gonna cross and he rifles it into the net. Nobody was expecting it. The Hounds return home for what on paper is their toughest remaining match for the visit from the Charleston
Vince:Battery next Saturday, October 12th at Highmark Stadium. Battery have already clinched
Vince:the number 2 seed in the Eastern Conference after the draw with Detroit. And Rhode Island FC taking on Tampa Bay, Round East, Tampa Bay, mind you, did not play last week, because of hurricane Helene. And Rhode Island, it seems they just take a week off or things are, you know, unfortunate things are happening out where elsewhere and, Rhode Island, they they they score 3 goals in this one for all three points. Haribo, 21st minutes. Foussaint, 69th minute.
Vince:And then Artiaga coming back for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the 70 1st, scoring his 6th goal of the season to make it 21 for temp so for sorry. 21, cutting the deficit in half. Rhode Island still in lead, and then it was Williams in 85th to seal a deal. Their goal, Foussaint with a goal and assist in this one. 6 goals and 9 assists for him this season.
Vince:So where does Royal FC stand after this, you know, impressive win with 3 matches left to play, including 2 home matches at Burn Stadium? They remain 2 draws away from the USL championship record. They also sit 5th in the Eastern Conference with 46 points through 31 games. Given their recent run of form, it's not hard to imagine the draw kings as they are known narrowly avoiding what it seemed for so long to be their desk. So where does Royal NF C stand after the impressive win?
Vince:Well, with 3 matches left to play, including 2 home matches, sitting 5th in the Eastern Conference with 46 points from 31 games. We'll see if they can manage just, you
Vince:know, 2 home games coming up, see if they get more points, and hopefully host in the postseason.
Vince:Memphis taking on Oakland at AutoZone Park. Memphis 901 FC fighting 2 in one one draw against Oakland. Bruno Lapa gave Memphis an early lead, extending the club's unbeaten streak at home to 12 games. Alvaro Quezada setting up the goal with a pinpoint cross from the edge of the box. And Lapis set a nice one timer into the bottom right corner.
Vince:This was in the 4th minute. Lapin now has 3 goals in last two games, bringing the total of his season tally to 11 goals. That was from Caleb Hilliard, local memphis.com. Oakland, though, they leveled it. Thanks to Camden O'Reilly, scored in the 36th minute there.
Vince:And, yeah, I mean, if you recall as well, he had recently served a suspension for a red card returning to action against FC Tulsa on the 30th September. It was against San Antonio where he registered the red card.
Vince:So I must certainly feel good knowing that, not even just 2 games after, really, you're able to to make sure that you you walk away with something against Memphis to score
Vince:a goal, especially as a defender. San Antonio taking on Sacramento. This was a big one. Toyota Field on, the Rondo, which is the USL official newsletter by, chief editor Nicholas Murray. Talking about San Antonio, a couple nice headlines.
Vince:1 down the dumps in June, and San Antonio started the season strong. But in June, they suffered its 1st 5 game losing streak in club history, part of a run of 8 defeats in 9 games that sunk the side below the playoff line. Then it was just, you know, attacking woes. The attacking over performance, we were concerned about in May. Well, the regression we said could happen came to pass.
Vince:San Antonio's attack has been its biggest weakness with an expected goals mark sitting the 3rd lowest in the league at just under 28 goals, and they have 28 goals, and then also letting points go. Late game magic that saw San Antonio escape from numerous scrapes elude them. San Antonio's dropped 20 points from winning positions to season second most in the league, more than its last 2 seasons combined, and the highest season total in club history. That's that was from Nicholas Mora, Moray on the
Vince:Rondo. So the the hey.
Vince:Desperate times call for desperate measures. This one, Toyota Field, they go down. I mean, it's it's the game starts off with a bang for Sacramento. Phillips got the show on the road in
Vince:the 4th minute from a poor clearance by Kendall Burks off the cross. He just picks it up and rifles it
Vince:home, and all of a sudden you're thinking, no. San Antonio, this this could be it. But in the second half, they got their stuff together. It was a great press to start the second half, and it was an interception from Carter Manley, who then drives with the ball to the top of the box on the dribble and then drills it low and hard to equalize in the 49th minute. And then it was Jorge Hernandez as the pressure starting to mount in the 80th minutes or 84th minute should say.
Vince:He plays an early ball, an early cross into the box, and defender Timmer swings his leg for the clearance and instead drives it into his own net to give San Antonio FC all three points. San Antonio back to winning ways after back to back losses and upcoming is El Paso or last place in the Western Conference. I'll be it fresh off of a victory, but so is San Antonio an opportunity here for San Antonio to capitalize on the momentum to win to one victory for them at home in Toyota Field. Then the the the last game will cover because Birmingham won't be able to cover because the episode is being recorded on Sunday here in Europe. Las Vegas taking on Orange County Soccer Club.
Vince:The previous meeting, mind you, between these two sides ended in a 32 lights win back in California a couple weeks ago, 5 weeks ago to be exact. Lights erased in early tune up the deficit to steal 3 crucial points on the road, but this time it's the visitors. It's this time it's Orange County. You know, they're gonna get they're gonna get something out of this game, and they start by getting a goal to the good in the 16th minute. Kristoff Christopher Hagard, first goal of the season.
Vince:Nice right footed shot sent to
Vince:the box. Thanks to, a corner
Vince:that was assisted by Ethan Zubac. 10 minutes later, Corey Bennett levels it up, thanks an assist from Solomon Asante, and that would do it for the scoring of the night. Both teams walking away with a point, and this is how things stand at the moment in the table, and we can start with the Western Conference. Las Vegas, they sit high and mighty as well as New Mexico, top of the Western Conference. New Mexico, 57 points.
Vince:Las Vegas tied in 2nd place with Sacramento, 47 points. That is Colorado Springs switchbacks, quite a bias weekend. They sit 4th place or we should say 3rd place, really, 46 points. Then you have Memphis with 44 points, Oakland roots, soccer club with 41 points in 6th place. And then you talk about that that the 8th place spot tied right now on points.
Vince:Phoenix rising in 7th place. Orange County, 8th place albeit both 36 goals. I'm sorry. 36 points to the good Phoenix with a better goal differential than Orange County. So they sit there at 36 points, 2 points ahead of FC Tulsa and San Antonio are tied on 34.
Vince:They're 2 points outside of playoff spots. And then San Antonio, I'm sorry, Monterey Bay that are just one point behind them, 33 points, and then El Paso at 28. So El Paso, 28, Monterey Bay, 33, San Antonio FC Tulsa, 34, and that 8th place spot Phoenix, Orange County are tied in points, 36. That's the magic number. And the Western Conference side of things.
Vince:Moving over to the the east, Miami, we know are bottom of
Vince:the table, 11 points. Right? Worst team in
Vince:the league. We know that. Yeah. North Carolina have 36 points sitting in 11th place. Hartford's in front of
Vince:them with 1 point, 37. Pittsburgh, 39 points, 8th place. Loudoun United, 41 points. Birmingham Legion still have to
Vince:play against North Carolina today. They sit with 42 points. I mean, everybody at the bottom half of the table will be hoping that Birmingham Legion, they lose. But, I mean, you also do realize that it's North Carolina playing against the North Carolina. You need those points desperately.
Vince:If they win that match, they'll put them level with with Pittsburgh on points and ahead of Hartford Athletics. So 41 is a magic number in the Eastern Conference, and that's held by Loudoun United. They have 30 games played. Pittsburgh with 31 games played. Hartford with 30 games played.
Vince:Hartford, again, 4 points outside of the 8th place spot. Pittsburgh, 2 points outside. North Carolina still to play today against Birmingham Legion. Again, this is being recorded on Sunday, out for Monday. So we'll see what happens there.
Vince:We'll cover it, obviously, next time around. In the 11 sitting mid table, 44 points. Then in front of them, it's Rhode Island in 5th with 3 back to back wins. Yeah. They sit 46 points tied with Tampa Bay Rowdies, which is astonishing in terms of points.
Vince:Tampa Bay out of form at the moment. Only one win in their last five. And up next is Blue City, who are trying to break that 2022 total wins record on a regular season. So 46 points for Tampa Bay. Detroit in 3rd place with 49, and then it's Charleston, Blue City, right up there.
Vince:Charleston with 60 points from 31 games played. And Lew City, Player Shield winners, 69 points from 31 games, 79 goals scored, and only 40 conceded with the goal differential of 39, the highest across all teams in the USL championship. Looking at what we have for the player of the month September. Oh, we have 2 goalkeepers and 2 outfield players. USL announcing this on Thursday, the nominees for the USL championship player
Vince:of the month, which is presented, by
Vince:the way, Konami eFootball for September, which also had a big update in September, honoring 4 of the top performers. This is, essentially who they are. Kieran Phillips for Sacramento Republic FC Phillips leading all players with 5 combined goals and assists in September's bagging 3 goals and 2 assists to move into double digit goals in the league this season as he averaged a goal contribution every 38.4 minutes over 5 appearances in the month of September and posting a plus 1.58 goals added mark. Sacramento Republic FC there with a player, Kieran Phillips. We'll see what happens there.
Vince:The other outfield player, well, it's Maxey Rodriguez of the Detroit City FC. Rodriguez helping lead the Rouge to an undefeated month as he recorded 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 appearances after a goal contribution every 68.8 minutes while tying for the league high was 4 big chances created. Crazy there for,
Vince:you know, just to max where he's counting bringing it back where it
Vince:counts most for Detroit to rescue them, ensure that they are gonna make the playoffs no problem. Reyna Ribeiro, the Hartford Athletic goalkeeper, the Brazilian posting 4 shutouts in 4 appearances to keep the side undefeated as he pursues a place in the 1st season as he ranks 2nd league with 20 saves, posting a league high plus 299 goals added mark and preventing any negative 2.89 goals prevented mark. The other goalkeeper, well, it's Orange County's own Colin Shuttler who posted 3 shutouts in 3 appearances to help o c s c move back above the playoff line with a 3 game undefeated streak recording 12 saves and, 2.9 goals added mark with a negative 2.98 goals prevented mark there. So you can vote now on uslchampionship.com. The award winner and complete voting results will be announced, this Thursday, October 10th.
Vince:The fan vote will run through, Monday, October 7th. So the episode the day when the episode's out at 12 PM EST, 9 AM Pacific. So get your votes in. Albeit, if you're if you're listening in the morning time, get on to uslchamps.com. Vote for your player if he's representing your team.
Vince:I'm gonna put a vote in right now, and we'll see what happens. We will see what happens. At the moment, by the way, guess who's leading the votes? And and mind you, the fan vote comprises 51% of the poll, while the technical committee takes 25%, and the USL National Media Panel takes 24%. But at the moment, it is Kieran Phillips in 2nd place.
Vince:Yeah. I I caught you there. 30% of the fan vote. Colin Shutler, 58% of the fan vote. Maxi Rodriguez, 9% of the fan vote.
Vince:And then Ribeiro with, 3% of the fan vote. So if you're a Hartford fan or Detroit fan, you wanna get those those numbers up for your players, totally understand. But, yeah, Orange County, they really show show up for their players, especially on usl championship.com, but it's it's also a credit to Colin Schutler's performance this far. All 4 great contenders here. We'll see what happens, and we'll make sure we'll make that announcement when it comes official in the next episode.
Vince:Next week, this is how things will be going on. So Birmingham Legion, North Carolina, which will be happening, today as I'm recording, October 6th, 6 PM Eastern, 3 Pacific. Birmingham. We'll see what happens. North Carolina need the win there, but things will get even more spicy.
Vince:A lot of midweek contests, maybe even record an episode this middle of the week. We'll see. Loudon taking on in the 11th Tuesday, October 8th at 7 PM EST. Then Wednesday, a lot of games Wednesday. Five games Wednesday starting with a big one.
Vince:North Carolina taking on FC Tulsa 7 PM EST. 4 Pacific. Another big one. El Paso taking on San Antonio FC. 9 PM Eastern.
Vince:6 Pacific. Wednesday, October 9th. Phoenix rising in action against New Mexico on the road. 9 PM Eastern. 6 Pacific.
Vince:Sacramento taking on Monterey Bay FC. Wednesday, I mean, we might even have to record Thursday just to cover all those games because also Sacramento taking on Monterey Bay, we know, but Orange County in action as well. Wednesday 10 PM EST, 7 Pacific against Colorado spring switchbacks. But the weekend's also among us. Don't forget for next time around, Saturday, October 12th, we'll have a a lot of games.
Vince:No games on Friday, but all games coming on Saturday besides 2 on Sunday. But here they are, 4 PM EST, 1 Pacific, Detroit hosting in the 11. They'll be Pittsburgh taking on Charleston at home, 7 PM EST, 4 Pacific, Saturday. Hartford takes on North Carolina, 7:30 EST, 4:30 Pacific. Blue City takes on Tampa Bay Rowdy's 7:30 Eastern, 4:4:30 Pacific as well.
Vince:In the 8 PM, time slot, you have Colorado Springs hosting San Antonio 8 PM, 5 Pacific at the same time, Memphis hosting Sacramento Republic. Half an hour later, it'll be FC Tulsa hosting New Mexico United, and then in the the headline match on Saturday night, 10 PM EST, 7 Pacific, Oakland roots hosting Phoenix Rising. The 2 games on Sunday, Rhode Island hosting Loudoun United at Burns Stadium. That'd be 4 PM EST, 1 Pacific. And then Birmingham Legion taking on Las Vegas Lights, 6 PM EST, 3 Pacific on Sunday, October 13th.
Vince:So much, especially in the midweek. Really juicy contest. We'll really understand on Thursday with the the the the player of the month obviously being announced or more so what the standings are looking like. Maybe I put out a, an emergency pod. Maybe not an emergency pod, but a shorter episode on Thursday.
Vince:Otherwise, we'll cover as usual on Monday. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to listen. The season is just getting started. It feels like even though it's been for over 30 games for all these clubs. Talking to post season, talking to playoffs.
Vince:Keep your eyes peeled. The action never stops. Can't wait. And if anything, just reach out to me talkusel championship@gmail.com@talkusel on social platforms. Give me a review.
Vince:I would love to hear from you guys. If you have any questions, make sure to cover it. As always, take care, and bye for now.