USL Championship GW7 – Results | OneFootball

In the East, the top six remained unchanged, but Miami catapults from eleventh to seventh, pushing all others down a peg. Hartford, despite a win, languish at the bottom.

In the West, the Oakland Roots swapped places with Lexington SC. FC Tulsa climb up two spots to second overall (this is mainly because San Antonio did not play, expect a correction midweek when they take on the Switchbacks).

Don’t be fooled by Colorado’s big move… read below to find out why. Sacramento and Phoenix stay rooted in tenth and eleventh respectfully by dint of their draw.

Detroit City FC 3 – 1 Rhode Island FC

Rhode Island did not get off on a good foot… defender Frank Nodarse saw a straight red in the 6th minute for striking a Detroit player in the face during a free kick. That put his team behind the eight ball for the remainder of the match. Detroit capitalized with two quick back-to-back goals in the 17th and 19th minutes from South African striker Darren Smith. Smith has notched an impressive six league goals in 470 minutes of play, and scored another one against Westchester in Wednesday’s Open Cup tie, bringing his season total to seven.

Hartford Athletic 1 – 0 Birmingham Legion FC

I was refereeing a game in glorious spring day sunshine when I got a brief chill. This wasn’t a morbid premonition, thankfully. It happened when Hartford’s Deshane Beckford scored a goal. Their second on the season. Honestly, Legion’s keeper should have handled the shot better. But Hartford were marginally dangerous and had four other shots on frame as well that Legion’s keeper Matt van Oekel did save. Turns out that two week break did the team some good. Too bad they cannot rely on having any more two-week breaks for the rest of the campaign. Birmingham were simply too meek on the attack to really threaten the hosts.

Oakland Roots 2 – 0 Orange County SC

Oakland struck early after a weak back pass was pounced on by Peter Wilson in the 10th minute. His initial shot was blocked back to him, and he then delivered the ball to Wolfgang Prentice, who threaded a shot through the flailing Orange County defenders. The Roots played compact centrally, allowing OCSC the width and possession, but they pounced on every mistake. In the 29th minute they stole the ball and drove into the box. The resulting cross sailed across the goal, but right onto the foot of an unmarked Jürgen Damm. He sat patiently, then looped a perfect pass directly onto the forehead of Wilson, who angled it in. Oakland incurred five yellows in defending their lead, and they catapulted from last to seventh in the league tables.

Phoenix Rising FC 2 – 2 Sacramento Republic FC

And a fierce contest it was. Sacramento drew their first (of five) yellow in the 5th minute. They then channeled that aggression more positively, with four shots in the next fifteen minutes, two of which struck the woodwork, one saved and the last finding the net of Juan Herrera’s foot. They then doubled their lead off Dominick Warner’s lovely volley in the 33rd and looked to be cruising into victory. But Jearl Margaritha struck back for Phoenix three minutes later to deflate the visitor’s momentum. The second half was a tense and chippy affair, with Damian Rivera pulling the Rising level with a precise strike to the right corner. Rémi Cabral assisted both Phoenix goals, continuing his excellent form this season.

Loudoun United FC 2 – 1 Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Loudoun’s first goal was the result of some crisp passing up the left side, and a beautiful cross from Zachary Ryan onto Wesley Leggett’s head. Pittsburgh’s cam from a moment of sheer brilliance from Jorge Garcia’s first USL goal, a screamer of a shot to the upper right corner. This match might have stayed level if not for Luke Biasi. The Riverhounds defender’s second yellow shifted the balance towards Loudoun, and they took full advantage. Once again, it fell to Abdellatif Aboukoura to clinch the winner in the 81st when his shot proved too strong for the Hound’s keeper to parry.

Indy Eleven 1 – 3 Charleston Battery

This was clearly the triumph of individual performance over team, but it did not involve Cal Jennings as our preview mentioned. Instead it was Matt Myers, fresh off his Open Cup hat-trick, who netted twice in the first ten minutes to send Indy reeling and put the Battery on the victory track. That’s five goals scored in 83 minutes in the past two games for the 24-year old forward; astounding numbers at any level. Arturo Rodriguez would add a third shortly into the second half, and Indy’s Elvis Amoh would steal back a consolation goal seconds before the final whistle blew.

Lexington 0 – 0 Monterey Bay

What a tepid performance from two sides who had no excuses. Both had no mid-week fixtures to tire them out. Fans were “treated” to a sub-par effort from Monterey Bay, who lost any offensive luster and only managed a single shot on goal. Host’s Lexington were at least more lively, taking 15 shots and forcing keeper Nicolás Jiménez into four saves to keep the scoreline blank.

Miami FC 2 – 1 North Carolina FC

Against their usual run of form, Miami came out on the front foot and nabbed two goals in the first 30 minutes (also their first first half goals this season). It’s safe to say NCFC handily botched this one… no reasonably competent team should be losing to Miami FC.

Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 – 2 Louisville City FC

Louisville City did indeed have the quality, and after this game remain the only undefeated team in the USL. Tampa’s crowd went wild after Ollie Bassett scored in the 58th, but was then tempered down to a sullen harrumph after Louisville’s Taylor Davila and Sam Gleadle struck just five minutes apart.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 1 – 1 El Paso Locomotive FC

What a curious match this was. Early in the game, in the span of 120 seconds, each side traded a goal. Then Colorado seemingly lost interest in attacking. A consequence of this shift was the rapid accumulation of yellow cards as they retreated deeper into a defensive mode.

Las Vegas Lights FC 1 – 4 FC Tulsa

What a shame this fixture wasn’t streamed for a wider audience to enjoy. And what a crap prediction that this would be a low-scoring affair. FC Tulsa absolutely obliterated the host Las Vegas Lights. In one game, they equalled the goal tally from all previous match games combined. And did it with 37% possession and an impressive 50% on frame shot accuracy. Between the posts Tulsa keeper Johan Penaranda made four saves to make it comfortable for his side.