Sadly, the Legion’s Dunnavant Valley game against New Mexico United was a washout; let’s hope it can be duplicated later in the season. The first opportunity for that will be this weekend, although the game against Rhode Island FC is officially scheduled for Protective Stadium. Selfishly, I hope that’s the case as this author is flying to Europe Wednesday for a couple of weeks. That will be the only scheduled home game while I am away. New Mexico could get shoehorned in there somewhere, but it’s already a fairly busy schedule for both teams.
The extra rest was useful, though, as the Three Sparks have 2 games this week, one of which will make up the game in hand they have on everyone else in the East except Indy Eleven. Further, the first of those two games is at Louisville City, who were on a bye last weekend, so their time off is nullified.
A quick post this week, since we are heading out of the country and have a ton of stuff to do before then. Quite a bit of movement in the rankings again and it is also worthy of note that there are only two teams without a loss in the last 5 games. Those are New Mexico and Orange County SC. As the second half of the season is now underway both conferences are tight. Excluding the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Sporting JAX at either end, the East is spread out over just 15 points and the West is even more jammed up with everyone except cellar-dwellers Monterey Bay FC within 11 points (17 including them). It’s going to be a wild ride.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Last 5 | Forge Factor | Note | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico United | 1 | 0 | 7-4-3 | TTWWW | 24.138 | New Mexico United’s game at Birmingham Legion was postponed due to inclement weather. | v. Colorado Springs |
| 2 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 5 | +3 | 7-5-4 | WLWWW | 20.175 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks beat The Miami FC 2-0 and beat Charleston Battery 2-1. | @ New Mexico |
| 3 | Sacramento Republic | 6 | +3 | 6-4-5 | WLWTW | 19.412 | Sacramento Republic beat Oakland Roots 3-1. | v. JAX |
| 4 | Detroit City | 2 | -2 | 8-5-3 | TWWWL | 17.596 | Detroit City lost to Las Vegas Lights 0-1. | @ Miami |
| 5 | Las Vegas Lights | 9 | +4 | 6-7-3 | WLLWW | 17.341 | Las Vegas Lights beat Detroit City 1-0. | v. Phoenix |
| 6 | Orange County | 4 | -2 | 8-2-7 | WWTTW | 16.705 | Orange County beat Monterey Bay FC 2-1. | v. El Paso |
| 7 | Rhode Island FC | 8 | +1 | 6-5-4 | WTLWW | 16.088 | Rhode Island FC beat Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1-0. | @ Birmingham |
| 8 | Lexington SC | 3 | -5 | 6-6-4 | WWLWT | 15.235 | Lexington SC beat Oakland Roots 2-0 and tied with FC Tulsa 0-0. | v. Monterey Bay |
| 9 | El Paso Locomotive | 16 | +7 | 6-6-4 | TLWLW | 11.045 | El Paso Locomotive beat Sporting JAX 2-0. | @ Orange County |
| 10 | FC Tulsa | 11 | +1 | 6-4-5 | LWLWT | 10.828 | FC Tulsa tied with Lexington SC 0-0. | @ Pittsburgh |
| 11 | Brooklyn FC | 10 | -1 | 3-9-4 | TLWTL | 10.563 | Brooklyn FC lost to San Antonio FC 0-1. | @ Charleston |
| 12 | San Antonio FC | 17 | +5 | 7-3-7 | LWTLW | 10.346 | San Antonio FC beat Brooklyn FC 1-0. | v. Indy |
| 13 | Loudoun United | 25 | +12 | 2-5-9 | TLTTW | 10.336 | Loudoun United beat Indy Eleven 1-0. | v. Hartford |
| 14 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 18 | +4 | 10-2-5 | LWLTW | 9.840 | Tampa Bay Rowdies beat The Miami FC 3-2. | v. Louisville |
| 15 | Louisville City | 13 | -2 | 7-6-3 | TWTWL | 9.522 | Louisville City were on a bye this week. | v. Birmingham, @ Tampa Bay |
| 16 | The Miami FC | 14 | -2 | 5-7-6 | LTWLL | 8.439 | The Miami FC lost to Colorado Springs Switchbacks 0-2 and lost to Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-3. | v. Detroit |
| 17 | Hartford Athletic | 20 | +3 | 4-4-8 | TLTLT | 7.128 | Hartford Athletic tied with Phoenix Rising 0-0. | @ Loudoun |
| 18 | Charleston Battery | 7 | -11 | 8-6-3 | WWLTL | 7.090 | Charleston Battery lost to Colorado Springs Switchbacks 1-2. | v. Brooklyn |
| 19 | Monterey Bay FC | 15 | -4 | 4-10-3 | LWTLL | 6.794 | Monterey Bay FC lost to Orange County 1-2. | @ Lexington |
| 20 | Phoenix Rising | 24 | +4 | 5-6-6 | TLLWT | 6.395 | Phoenix Rising tied with Hartford Athletic 0-0. | @ Las Vegas |
| 21 | Sporting JAX | 19 | -2 | 1-12-5 | LTWTL | 6.046 | Sporting JAX lost to El Paso Locomotive 0-2. | @ Sacramento |
| 22 | Birmingham Legion | 22 | 0 | 2-5-8 | LTTLT | 5.883 | Birmingham Legion’s game v. New Mexico United was postponed due to inclement weather. | @ Louisville, v. Rhode Island |
| 23 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 23 | 0 | 7-7-2 | TLLWL | 5.038 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds lost to Rhode Island FC 0-1. | @ Tulsa, @ Oakland |
| 24 | Oakland Roots | 12 | -12 | 5-6-6 | TWLLL | 3.113 | Oakland Roots lost to Lexington SC 0-2 and lost to Sacramento Republic 1-3. | v. Pittsburgh |
| 25 | Indy Eleven | 21 | -4 | 6-6-3 | LWLLL | 0.500 | Indy Eleven lost to Loudoun United 0-1. | @ San Antonio |
