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·07 de março de 2025

USL Championship Preview – East Part 2

Imagem do artigo:USL Championship Preview – East Part 2

Below we cover the final six teams from the USL Eastern Conference, once again moving geographically from south to north.

Indy Eleven

Imagem do artigo:USL Championship Preview – East Part 2
  1. Founded: 2013. The club is actually named after the Civil War 11th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, not the numbers of players on a soccer field. The number eleven also has meaning in the famous Indianapolis 500 car race, which features eleven rows of vehicles and was first run in 1911.
  2. Home Field: IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium (12,000 capacity)
  • 2024 Season: 14W – 11D – 9L. Finished 4th in the Eastern Conference; 7th overall. They were the highest ranked team in the playoffs with a negative goal differential.
  • Notable Figures: Martin Rennie was the longest tenured head coach in the team’s history, managing 99 games until his dismissal in 2021.
  • Offseason Moves: They lost Augustine Williams, 2024’s top scorer, to Pittsburgh, but were able to retrain keeper Hunter Sulte (on loan from Portland Timbers). With the signing of Swedish player Oliver Brynéus the number of countries that have played for Indy is now 53. Very worldly!
  • First Match: They kick off the 2025 season traveling to Miami FC on March 15th.

Detroit City FC

Imagem do artigo:USL Championship Preview – East Part 2
  • Founded: 2012
  • Home Field: Keyworth Stadium (7,250 capacity)
  • 2024 Season: 15W – 11D – 8L. Finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference; 4th overall. Upset by the Tampa Bay Rowdies in PKs in the quarterfinals. That stung.
  • Notable Figures: Goalkeeper Nate Steinwascher played his entire career with Detroit City, starting in their youth academy in 2012 and retiring after their playoff loss to Tampa Bay last November.
  • Offseason Moves: Forward Elvis Amoh moved to Indy Eleven, but they then managed to pluck seasoned USL forward Sebastián Guenzatti in return. Fair exchange in my opinion. They also grabbed midfielder Jay Chapman from Hartford Athletic. Chapman, while on loan with Charleston, helped the Battery make the postseason.
  • First Match: Will visit Miami FC on March 8th with a 7pm ET kickoff.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Imagem do artigo:USL Championship Preview – East Part 2
  1. Founded: 1998. Like all other professional sports teams from Pittsburgh, the Riverhounds play in black and yellow.
  2. Home Field: Highmark Stadium. This is the joint-smallest stadium in the USL (Charleston, Loudoun, Orange County are all the same size). There is a busy railway line behind the stadium, and train whistles are commonly heard at games.
  • 2024 Season: 12W – 12D – 10L. Finished 7th in the Eastern Conference; 12th overall. They had the fewest goals conceded of any postseason team (28), but also one of the lowest goals scored tallies (41). Lost to Charleston Battery 1 – 0 in the quarterfinals.
  • Notable Figures: Justin Evans was the first player drafted by the club back in 1999. In his six seasons in the black-and-gold (interspersed with stints at San Jose Earthquakes and Chicago Fire) he became the all-time leader across the following stats: appearances (101), minutes (9,034), fouls (180).
  • Offseason Moves: That was good business to poach Indy Eleven top goalscorer Augustine Williams. Outside of this veteran, most signers were of young prospects, the most exciting of which is Norwegian Brigham Larsen, a 6’4″ forward fresh off three outstanding seasons at UNC-Charlotte.
  • First Match: Travel to North Carolina FC for a 7pm ET start on March 8th.

Loudoun United FC

Imagem do artigo:USL Championship Preview – East Part 2
  1. Founded: 2018. Loudoun was originally the reserve team of D.C. United. This relationship ceased in 2023.
  2. Home Field: Segra Field (5,000 capacity). This is the joint-smallest stadium in the USL (Charleston, Pittsburgh, Orange County are all the same size).
  • 2024 Season: 11W – 9D – 14L. Finished 11th in the Eastern Conference; 19th overall. They had a +5 goal differential, and if they were in the West, would have qualified for the playoffs. As it stands, this was their sixth consecutive year without a postseason appearance.
  • Notable Figures: Ryan Martin is the longest tenured head coach in the USL (he started in June 2019). Considering how poor their performance has been, this is somewhat surprising. Top scorer from 2024 Zach Ryan won a NCAA Championship with Stanford Cardinal.
  • Offseason Moves: It was a staid offseason for the Pegasus. Sixteen players will return for 2025, an unusual note of stability in what is often a volatile league.
  • First Match: Their first three matches are on the road. March 8th they’ll visit Birmingham Legion for an 8pm ET kickoff.

Hartford Athletic

Imagem do artigo:USL Championship Preview – East Part 2
  • Founded: 2018. Played their first season in 2019.
  • Home Field: Trinity Health Stadium (5,500 capacity)
  • 2024 Season: 12W – 8D – 14L. Finished 10th in the Eastern Conference; 16th overall. Did not qualify for playoffs, even though they had the same points as the West’s #7 seed Oakland Roots. Hey, at least it was better than 2023, where they ate from the Wooden Spoon.
  • Notable Figures: None of their first three signings (Wojciech Wójcik, Jose Angulo and Alex Dixon) are still with the club. They have the same number of head coaches as they have seasons played in the USL (7). Have only made the postseason once in their history.
  • Offseason Moves: It was a tumultuous winter, and we’re not talking about the Connecticut winter. Only nine players have returned from the 2024 squad. Two keepers were released; they signed Monterey Bay’s Antony Siaha (he’s outstanding… nice work). As of publication the club still has not updated their defensive roster, so I guess we’ll see who’s there come game time!
  • First Match: Like many teams from northern latitudes, they’re traveling south. They will meet new club Lexington SC on March 8th at 7:00pm ET.

Rhode Island FC

Imagem do artigo:USL Championship Preview – East Part 2
  1. Founded: 2019. Due to COVID their stadium groundbreaking was delayed over two years and  their inaugural season was pushed back from 2022 to 2024.
  2. Home Field: Tidewater Landing Stadium (10,500 capacity)
  • 2024 Season: 12W – 15D – 7L. Finished 5th in the Eastern Conference; 7th overall. Their final game of the season was an 8 – 1 win over the hapless Miami FC (the largest margin of victory for the season). They also set the USL record for most draws. Their postseason was a true Cinderella story
  • Notable Figures: Coach Khano Smith was the captain of the Bermuda National Team. The first team goal scored was actually an own goal from New Mexico United defender Chris Gloster.
  • Offseason Moves: Defender Stephen Turnbull was transferred to Birmingham for $300K+, and bid farewell to four other players. New defenders Dani Rovira (Pittsburgh) and Hugo Bacharach (Minnesota United)
  • First Match: They sit out the March 8th weekend, and travel to Charleston on March 15th to start their season.
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