The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 4A few contenders begin to emerge in a mostly even league
Yet more draws this week; so far 19 of 45 games played have ended in a draw, 14 of them 1-1. Parity reigns supreme. New Mexico still hasn’t played 3 games, so the Forge Factor is still on the sidelines for another week.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Notes |
| 1 | Sacramento Republic | 2 | +1 | 3-0-1 | SacRep scored early and often to humiliate Louisville City 5-0, and it could have been far worse. A contest between an in-form team and one that isn’t. Somehow I doubt they will score that many in San Antonio. |
| 2 | San Antonio | 1 | -1 | 3-0-1 | San Antonio scored early and late, sandwiching a rare Jordan Farr error in the 2-1 win in Monterey. They played exactly the same as they always do, but nobody can figure them out. Sacramento get their chance this week in a huge game. |
| 3 | Birmingham Legion | 3 | 0 | 3-0-1 | The Legion extended their win streak to 3 with an uncompromising and disciplined effort in Tampa, capped by a Neco Brett brace. But will Matt van Oekel be out long? The Rising come to town this week. |
| 4 | San Diego Loyal | 4 | 0 | 2-1-1 | The Loyal were down 2 goals in the impressive new facility in Phoenix but clawed their way back late to tie it up 2-2 in probably the best game of the weekend. Back home next sagainst Tulsa. |
| 5 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 10 | +5 | 2-1-1 | Romario Williams scored in the 5th minute and the Switchbacks then rode Christian Herrera’s goalkeeping for the 1-0 win. 3 points from a rather underwhelming performance. Riverhounds at home this week. |
| 6 | Charleston Battery | 6 | 0 | 1-0-2 | Charleston Battery were on a bye this week. |
| 7 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 11 | +4 | 1-0-3 | The Toros headed up to a cold and windy Detroit but came away with a 1-0 win, their first of the season. They dominated the first half and survived in the second, largely on Tyler Deric’s goalkeeping. A bye this week. |
| 8 | Indy Eleven | 7 | -1 | 1-0-2 | Indy had 80% of the ball and did absolutely nothing with it in the 0-0 home draw with Las Vegas. Unbeaten in 3 games but so far they are not as impressive as most preseason predictions. Oakland visits this week. |
| 9 | Monterey Bay Union | 8 | -1 | 1-2-1 | Monterey weren’t badly outplayed in the 1-2 loss to San Antonio, they just came up against a steamroller. The Union are definitely a much improved side this season despite some iffy results. The host New Mexico in another tough test. |
| 10 | El Paso Locomotive | 16 | +6 | 1-3-1 | The Locomotive followed up their shock win in Louisville with a 2-2 draw in Tulsa. A Lucho Solignac brace was offset by da Costa’s brace, including a lucky equalizer off a Benny Diaz fumble. Back home this week with Orange County visiting; can they win at home? |
| 11 | FC Tulsa | 14 | +3 | 1-1-3 | A Tuesday-Friday double-game week. A tiresome 0-0 draw with Pittsburgh was followed by a rather less tiresome 2-2 draw with El Paso highlighted by a Rodrigo da Costa brace including a late equalizer. Heavily outshot in both games. Already on 5 games, they head out to San Diego. |
| 12 | Orange County | 17 | +5 | 0-1-3 | A Milan Iloski free kick gave Orange County the early lead, but it was nullified late in first half stoppage time. Overall the game was pretty even and the result was fair. Still without a win, they head to El Paso in a matchup of teams that have something to prove. |
| 13 | The Miami FC | 18 | +5 | 0-1-3 | Miami took the lead again but gave it up with a Florian Valot own goal to draw 1-1 with Memphis. Another game with little in the way of quality attack; 5 shots on goal in the past 2 outings. Tampa next in a meeting of struggling sides. |
| 14 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 13 | -1 | 1-0-3 | The Riverhounds are unbeaten but have just 6 points from 4 games, beating only Memphis. The 0-0 draw in Tulsa was marked by very few good scoring chances. Pittsburgh put up 18 shots with just 30% possession but only 3 on target. Off to Colorado Springs Saturday. |
| 15 | New Mexico United | 12 | -3 | 1-1-0 | New Mexico had very few good scoring chances in Oakland, fell behind and then lost Justin Portillo to a red card and that was it. Two not very convincing games this season and they head to Monterey this week, who are more or less in the same boat. |
| 16 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 9 | -7 | 0-2-2 | The Rowdies have just 2 points from 4 games and been outscored 0-5 in the last 2 games. This team’s roster is solid top to bottom. Something isn’t clicking and they need to fix it fast. Florida derby next. |
| 17 | Louisville City | 5 | -12 | 2-2-0 | OK, so they have some injury issues, but getting outscored 0-8 over two games is unheard of in this team’s storied history. Worse, they have looked uninterested and inept in doing so. They play Detroit this week in a possible chance to right the ship. |
| 18 | Oakland Roots | 20 | +2 | 1-1-1 | The Roots had to find temporary digs for the game against New Mexico after postponing last week against Memphis. Suspect turf in the goalmouths but that didn’t affect them as they cruised to a 1-0 victory over New Mexico, riding a 19-minute man advantage to close it out. Indy up next. |
| 19 | Hartford Athletic | 21 | +2 | 0-2-2 | Richard Sanchez should never have allowed Iloski’s free kick into the net, but made up for the error with some good saves later. Elvis Amoh tied the game before half time, and that’s how it ended. A tough cofernce battle next in Charleston. |
| 20 | Phoenix Rising | 22 | +2 | 0-1-2 | Phoenix opened their packed new stadium with a doozy. Manuel Arteaga scored twice for a big lead, but San Diego are too good to let that stand and the game ended 2-2. Still bottom of the West and they head to Birmingham this week. |
| 21 | Loudoun United | 15 | -6 | 1-2-1 | Loudoun gave up an early goal but then had the bulk of the attack for the rest of the game but couldn’t find the net. 2 straight losses after a very positive start, but the bloom is not quite off the rose yet. They get a break this week. |
| 22 | Detroit City | 19 | -3 | 1-3-0 | Detroit City could have been down far more than 1 goal in the first half if not for Nate Steinwascher’s heroics in goal. They turned it around in the second half but couldn’t get the tying goal. They travel to Louisville in what could be a very interesting game. |
| 23 | Las Vegas Lights | 23 | 0 | 0-0-3 | The Lights had just 3 shots and none on goal, but probably had the better chances in the relatively dreary 0-0 draw in Indy. All games this season have ended tied up. A bye this week then they go to Memphis for a chance to break into the win column. |
| 24 | Memphis 901 | 24 | 0 | 0-2-1 | Area Code FC finally got a point, drawing 1-1 in Miami but they needed the hosts to gift it to them with an own goal. Bill Hamid kept them in it with a fingertip save but that’s about as good as it got. Another team off this week. |
