Championship Game: all you need to know

So it’s down to one game in the USL season. We missed both games in our predictions last week, bringing us to a creditable 10-4 for the playoffs to date. We were a tad surprised the Switchbacks beat Las Vegas, rather less so that Rhode Island took it to the Charleston Battery. Still, it makes for an interesting final.

#2 Colorado Springs Switchbacks v. #5 Rhode Island (11:00am, CBS)

Let’s get the big issue out of the way first: the 11:00am CT kickoff time seems really dumb. But bear in mind that CBS is heavily into college football so an afternoon game is pretty much out of the question. Also, CBS is airing the NWSL championship game at 7:00pm (Washington Spirit v. Orland Pride). So there isn’t much space on the schedule for the USL. Still, a 10:00am local time kickoff is crazy for a professional game, let alone a final.

Rhode Island, who started the year as kings of the draw (they had a league-high 15 for the year), are on an 8-0-2 run. Their last loss was September 14th, 0-1 in Orange County. That run also includes two games in Charleston, the first one being a 1-1 draw and last week a convincing 2-1 win. Even though Zach Herivaux was clearly offside on the opening goal, the Ocean Staters were definitely the better team on the day, pummeling Adam Grinwis’ goal with 17 shots and 7 on target. Ben Pirmann’s side seemed to have little response to an all-out attack.

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks are on a 5-game win streak themselves. They won the Western Conference Championship on a Juan Tejada goal and a heroic goalkeeping performance by Christian Herrera who kept all 4 Las Vegas shots on target out of his net (the Lights had another 10 shots off target). Tejada has just 3 goals all season in 36 appearances and was hardly the man Las Vegas were keeping an eye on. That would have been Ronaldo Damus, who has scored 13 times this year. He was limited to just 2 shots total and 1 on goal in 70 minutes.

The Switchbacks are pretty much a one-trick pony. Rhode Island, in contrast, has J.J. Williams and Albert Dikwa, who both have 11 goals and are on hot streaks right now, and right behind them is Noah Fuson with 9 goals. There is some speculation that Fuson will not start Saturday, but that’s quite a bench piece for Khano Smith to have in his pocket.

Despite the obvious home-field advantage for the Switchbacks, I’m anticipating a Rhode Island win. If they manage it, they will be the second straight team (also second all-time) to become champions playing entirely on the road, matching Phoenix Rising’s feat in 2023. They would also be the second-ever expansion team to win (after Sacramento Republic in 2014, although the league was still USL Pro at that point).

Back in the Old Country

Both Birmingham City and league leaders Wycombe Wanderers had their games postponed for the international break last week (it’s getting to the point that EFL League One really needs to honor the international schedule). As a result Wycombe remains 2 points ahead on one additional game played. The good news is that Wrexham lost 0-1 to Stockport County last Saturday, so they not only failed to make up the 2-point difference with the Blues but also have now played two additional games. Stockport (who beat Wrexham for last year’s League Two title) move up to fourth, 3 points behind Birmingham, but they have played three more games. The top two are beginning to move away from the pack.

This Saturday (6:30am, no US TV) Birmingham heads to Shrewsbury Town, who are last in the league. Still getting snubbed by Paramount, and the next scheduled US airing won’t be until December 3rd, when the Blues host Stockport, which should be a good game at least even if it is a Tuesday afternoon. This week Wycombe plays at Lincoln City (6th), Wrexham plays Exeter City (9th) and Stockport plays at Burton Albion (2nd last). The Wrexham game is of course being televised on Paramount+ and with a 9:00am kickoff kind of represents a lead-in for the USL Championship game.