For decades North American sports leagues have droned on incessantly about parity while singularly failing to achieve it, whether by draft systems, salary caps or other means. That was also true of the USL Championship, especially during the MLS 2 period, but this season the league is getting very close to achieving the (dubiously valid) objective of parity without trying very hard to do it.
As the league stands, with the exception of 2 outliers (Louisville City and the Charleston Battery) at the top of the East, 22 teams are separated by just 16 points. Of the 8 teams below the playoff line, only 2 (the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Hartford Athletic) are more than 1 game out of contention. 2 are below the line on tiebreakers only. Here’s the really wacky part though: only 4 teams in each conference have a positive goal difference. 2 teams are at 0 GD, leaving 14 with negative GD. The Las Vegas Lights are above the playoff line with a -11 GD, worst in the league. Nuts.
The most important part
All of that is a roundabout way to introduce the fact that the Colorado Springs Switchbacks may be sitting bottom of the West but they are by no means to be dismissed because of that. Indeed, their points per game is an even 1.00. The Legion, currently 8th in the East, has a PPG of just 1.06, not exactly massively better. The Legion’s -5 GD is worse than the Switchbacks’ -4, although the Three Sparks have played 2 more games.
One of those 2 extra games was played last week, as the Switchbacks were on a bye. They therefore come to the Magic City rested. The Legion played last Friday so also have had a marginally longer than normal rest, as well as having home field advantage and coming off a potentially season-defining win. Tomorrow’s game kicks off at 7:00pm (ESPN+).
The Legion also has the Switchbacks’ top scorer from last year’s championship-winning squad, of course. Ronaldo Damus bagged 14 goals in the regular season in 2024, good enough for 6th-equal. This year he is currently 5th-equal with 8 goals (with 2 more in the Jāgermeister Cup). His overall scoring rate—on a notoriously low-scoring team—is a goal every 173.6 minutes as compared with every 192.6 minutes last year, a hair under 10% faster. And judging by his aggression observed in training earlier this week, he is definitely up for this one. Briggs’ comment on that was: “I think Ronaldo’s always up for games. I think any time you play against your former team there’s a little bit of incentive, a little bit more spice. So I’m sure he’ll be ready for game time but I just want to see the Ronaldo that we saw on Saturday [Friday] night…He’s got a chip on his shoulder at the moment and he’s got something to prove. He’s got goals and aspirations.”
As far as scoring danger is concerned for this season, the Switchbacks have been a two-headed monster. Justin Dhillon has 5 goals and Marco Micaletto has 4.
Or at least, they were. Dhillon left abruptly in mid-June citing personal reasons. The team has lost all 4 games since his departure (although the Jäger Cup loss was on penalties). The 3 goals Colorado has scored since then were all by different players, not Micaletto, who hasn’t scored since the team’s last win, a 1-0 home victory over the Oakland Roots. Dhillon’s place at striker looks to have been filled by Juan Tejada, who has been with the Switchbacks since 2023; he has 2 goals in all competitions this season.
The Switchbacks play mostly with a 4-back system, either 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1. That’s a setup the Legion should be easily able to recognize and should also be susceptible to the team’s new counter-attacking style.
Prediction: As desperately as the Switchbacks need to turn their season around, I don’t see it happening this weekend. The Legion looks like it is clicking on all fronts and the relatively anemic Colorado attack is unlikely to cause the kind of defensive slipups the team has been prone to. The Three Sparks are also very motivated and in a positive frame of mind. The team does have a history of failing against teams lower in the standings, though. It’s time to fix that as well. Chalk it up as a win for the good guys.
Best of the rest
Two games are being played tonight; everyone else plays Saturday. There is one Jäger Cup game this weekend ahead of the final round of games next weekend. 2 games were played Wednesday, including a 1-0 win for the Rowdies over Hartford, which was probably the best result for the Legion and all the other teams ahead of the 2 Eastern cellar-dwellers. Here are the games we think you should have on your to-do list:
Detroit City FC v. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (Friday, 6:00pm, ESPN+)
Does this series have a name? If not, I think it should be called the Rust Belt. The best result here for the Legion would be a draw; second-best would be a Detroit win. But Le Rouge has been in free fall since the successes early in the season and the Riverhounds, well, they’re as boringly reliable as ever.
North Carolina FC v. Indy Eleven (Friday, 6:30pm, CBS Sports Golazo Network)
Tonight’s other game is also important for the Legion. Again, a draw is the result; an Indy win second-best. There’s really not much to differentiate these two teams and any outcome is possible. Indy is on a 2-game win streak; NC on a 2-game losing streak.
Louisville City v. FC Tulsa (Saturday, 7:00pm, ESPN+)
Lou City still has only one league loss this year. Tulsa is top of the West and has not lost in its last 8 games. They are about as entertaining to watch Pittsburgh but they have quietly become the team to beat in the West. This could be a very good game.
El Paso Locomotive v. Phoenix Rising (Saturday, 8:00pm, ESPN+)
This is the Jäger Cup game, and will be Phoenix’s final group game. They need a win to have any chance at a wild-card spot, although they max out at 8 points and elimination is likely. El Paso has played just 2 games and can likewise max out at 8. Slim chances on both sides, then, but this should be a good game anyway.
