USL Championship Preview – West Part 2 | OneFootball

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·6. März 2025

USL Championship Preview – West Part 2

Artikelbild:USL Championship Preview – West Part 2

Below we’re covering the other six teams from the USL Western Conference, this time focusing on the teams further east.

New Mexico United

Artikelbild:USL Championship Preview – West Part 2
  1. Founded: 2018. They led the USL in 2019 with the highest average attendance.
  2. Home Field: Isotopes Park (13,500 capacity). The Isotopes are a minor league baseball team; the field has an unusual configuration.
  • 2024 Season: 22W – 5D – 13L. Finished 1st in the Western Conference; 3rd overall. New Mexico were really good last year, and won their first ever playoff match 2 – 1 over Phoenix. Unfortunately, they lost the next game 1 – 0 to Las Vegas Lights
  • Notable Figures & Offseason Moves: Unsurprisingly for a team that won its division, New Mexico made only minor changes to their roster and resigned their critical contributors. One big change was losing head coach Eric Quill to FC Dallas of the MLS. He was replaced by Dennis Sanchez, who came from the team that eliminated them in the playoffs: Las Vegas Lights. The team only have four midfielders at time of publication. Very curious.
  • First Match: Travel west to Papa Murphy’s Park to take on Sacramento Republic at 7:00pm PT.

El Paso Locomotive FC

Artikelbild:USL Championship Preview – West Part 2
  • Founded: 2018
  • Home Field: Southwest University Park (7,500 capacity). They share this with the Pacific Coast League’s El Paso Chihuahuas (baseball).
  • 2024 Season: 8W – 8D – 18L. Finished 12th in the Western Conference; 23rd overall. This was only the second time in the club’s history they failed to qualify for the postseason.
  • Notable Figures & Offseason Moves: Eleven players departed after last year’s disappointing season; nine new players have come in. Some notable signings include forward Frank Lopez, who was Miami FC’s top scorer in 2024, and veteran defender/winger Memo Diaz, from the Oakland Roots.
  • First Match: They host the defending USL Champs Colorado Springs at 7pm MT on March 8th. These two have evenly split their last ten matches with three wins each and four draws.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks

Artikelbild:USL Championship Preview – West Part 2
  • Founded: 2014
  • Home Field: Weidner Field (capacity: 8,000)
  • 2024 Season: 15W – 7D – 12L. Finished 2nd in the Western Conference; 5th overall. Colorado had the unique privilege (and advantage) of playing all their postseason games at home. They dominated the hapless Oakland Roots, but had a more challenging time with Orange County, needing extra time to win 2 – 1. A 1 – 0 victory over Las Vegas gave them the Western Conference title, and they actually cruised to the Cup podium with a 3 – 0 shellacking of Rhode Island. Quite a season.
  • Notable Figures & Offseason Moves: The Switchbacks have lost some attacking punch, as top scorer Ronaldo Damus, along with key contributor Devon Williams, had their loans expire.
  • First Match: They travel south to take on last year’s Western Conference whipping boys El Paso Locomotive.

San Antonio FC

Artikelbild:USL Championship Preview – West Part 2
  • Founded: 2016
  • Home Field: Toyota Field (8,300 capacity)
  • 2024 Season: 10W – 9D – 15L. Finished 9th in the Western Conference; 20th overall. USL Champions in 2022, missing the playoffs did not sit well with fans.
  • Notable Figures: Defender Mitchell Taintor has been team captain since 2023.
  • Offseason Moves: SAFC parted ways with coach Alen Marcina after the 2024 season. He’d been at the club for five years (165 games, 81W – 42D – 42L). Carlos Llamosa replaced him to become the club’s third head coach in their history.
  • First Match: They will host Monterey Bay FC on March 8th at 7:30pm CT.

FC Tulsa

Artikelbild:USL Championship Preview – West Part 2
  • Founded: 2015 (as the Tulsa Roughnecks. It was rebranded in 2020)
  • Home Field: ONEOK Field (7,800 capacity)
  • 2024 Season: 9W – 11D – 14L. Finished 10th in the Western Conference; 21st overall. 
  • Notable Figures: Keeper Johan Peñaranda was nominated for USL Save of the Year in 2024. Last year’s top scorer Stefan Stojanovic also returns.
  • Offseason Moves: The club brought midfielder Giordano Colli over from Perth Glory FC in the Australian A-League, where he was a former Player of Year and won Goal of the Year. Former Memphis defender Abdoulaye “AB” Cissoko and North Carolina’s Lamar Batista will shore up the back line and are part of an eight-player upgrade from last season.
  • First Match: Will head to the desert to take on Phoenix Rising on March 8th at 6:00pm PT. But true fans are salivating over the March 18th U.S. Open Cup match which will see them play local rival team Tulsa Athletic.

Lexington SC

Artikelbild:USL Championship Preview – West Part 2
  • Founded: 2021. They are the newest club in the USL, replacing last season’s third place club, Memphis 901 FC, who folded in November after failing to secure funding for a new stadium.
  • Home Field: Lexington SC Stadium (7,500 capacity)
  • 2024 Season: Did not compete.
  • Notable Figures & Offseason Moves: Well, they did sign an entirely new team. So, lots of moves. Striker Cameron Lancaster also happens to be the top all-time goal scorer for regional rival Louisville City FC. That’s a bit awkward. It will be interesting to see if a club even around 100 days to put together a team can be competitive.
  • First Match: Lexington will be the first game of the 2025 season when then host Hartford Athletic at 7pm ET.

Read about the other Western Conference teams.

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