Last week’s heartbreaking conclusion to the USL Cup game in San Antonio needs to be out of the Three Sparks’ minds as they head north for the first of two games in quick succession. This also represents a great opportunity for the team. It’s been quite a while since back-to-back wins were recorded by the Legion but the two opponents – Rhode Island FC and The™ Miami FC – are both in close proximity and easily catchable. This is a big chance to jump that playoff line.
The most important part
First up is the trip to Rhode Island (6:30pm, ESPN+). Rhody is two points ahead of the Legion and playing, well, erratically. They have two straight solid wins in league play, 3-1 over Lexington SCX and a huge 4-0 win over the Charleston Battery, but then last week struggled to a 0-0 draw with Hartford Athletic in the USL Cup, winning 4-3 on penalties.
It’s a homecoming for Gevork Diarbian, who is from Cranston, RI (9 miles from the stadium) and played his college soccer at Providence College. And yet another meeting with various Legion alumni, including head coach Khano Smith, striker J.J. Williams and midfielder Zach Herivaux. Should be fun.
Like the Legion, Rhode Island is pretty committed to the 4-2-3-1, with J.J. as the lone man up top. Behind him is a solid attacking midfield, the biggest threat being right wing Jojea Kwizera, who leads the club with 3 goals. Left wing Dwayne Atkinson is also dangerous, on 2 goals. Attacking pivot Clay Holstad should also not be ignored.
That being said, Rhode Island is notorious for not scoring much. They do seem to put one or two big results every season; they beat Louisville City twice in 2024 (5-2 and 3-0) and the Tampa Bay Rowdies 5-0 and 3-0 last year (although the Rowdies were pretty bad in 2025 if you recall). Hopefully they are done with that for 2026.
The Legion should be going into this with a ton of motivation. Not only do they know what’s coming up Thursday but they will want to prove that the apparent lack of attacking play last week was an aberration. We shall see.
Oh, if you want to attend the watch party, it will be at On Tap in Vestavia Hills.
Best of the rest
The Legion game is again the only one being played Sunday. The other 9 games on the schedule are all Saturday. That also means there are 5 teams with a bye this week, namely Sacramento Republic, New Mexico United, Las Vegas Lights, Rhode Island FC and Brooklyn FC. SacRep and Rhody both went to a shootout in the Open Cup on Tuesday so a weekend off is a welcome break for them, the Californians especially, who ended up going 12 rounds before losing to Minnesota United. Here are our recommendations from a wide open slate:
Detroit City v. Louisville City (5:00pm, CBS Sports Network)
Lou City is back on top of the East, but only by virtue of a 1-0 win over Sporting JAX in which they scored 5 minutes into second-half stoppage time. They are on a run of weakish results all told. Detroit is 3rd in the East and has had two weeks to brood over a 1-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds; they did not play in the USL Cup last week (the only team not to do so).
The™ Miami FC v. Brooklyn FC (6:00pm, ESPN+)
Not only is Miami next up on the Legion schedule, but Brooklyn stands between the Legion and the playoff spots. So checking out Miami and hoping for a positive result is key here (a draw would likely be best). The two teams are separated by 2 points in the standings, so this could be a fairly close game.
Tampa Bay Rowdies v. Indy Eleven (6:30pm, ESPN+)
The Rowdies will be looking to keep pace with Louisville. If Detroit takes points from Lou City, they have a chance to go back top of the East. Indy is now well-known to Three Sparks fans and catching up to them means rooting for the Floridians in this one.
Sacramento Republic v. Orange County SC (9:00pm, CBS Sports Golazo Network)
The OC continues to lead the West; SacRep is 5th and has consecutive 1-1 draws with the Las Vegas Lights and Brooklyn in league play before whipping Spokane Velocity 4-0 in the USL Cup. This has the makings of a very entertaining fixture.
Back in the Old Country
The Blues won their second straight game last weekend, 2-1 over Bristol City to end the home schedule in reasonable style. That made for the first back-to-back wins since February 7th. A win tomorrow (6:30am, no US TV) would be the first 3-game win streak in league play all season (they managed that including an EFL Cup game back in August). That would be a good way to conclude an otherwise disappointing season before the offseason shenanigans begin. There is a good chance of making that happen; the opponent is Portsmouth, who are 18th, 10 slots below Birmingham City.
The Birmingham City Ladies also finish the season tomorrow – perhaps. They were shocked last week by Ipswich Town 0-3. With the win Ipswich avoid relegation and the Blues were denied automatic promotion. That set up a huge end to the season with three teams vying for two automatic promotion slots. Birmingham City dropped to second in the table, 1 point behind Charlton Athletic and tied on points with 3rd-place Crystal Palace but with a 7-goal advantage in goal difference. Here’s the kicker: the Blues’ season finale is at Charlton Athletic. A draw guarantees nothing for either team. Crystal Palace (who can’t be caught for the 3rd spot) will be at home against Portsmouth. That’s bad news: Portsmouth are dead last and relegated. In standard Decision Day scheduling, all games will be played at the same time. The games are streamed on YouTube (@BarclaysWSL2) although I am not sure if they are available in the US (at least not without a VPN); kickoff is at 9:00am.
The eventual 3rd-place finisher goes into a playoff against the bottom team in WSL. That will be Leicester City. The playoff won’t be for a few weeks though; the WSL season ends May 16th, so whoever ends up in that position will have to wait. Leicester are on a 9-game losing streak and have not won since December 7th. They were most recently thrashed 0-7 by Arsenal two days ago. Given that Leicestrer’s mens team is already relegated from the EFL Championship, it has not been a good year for that club.
