The USL men’s season wraps up this weekend (the Super League has a month left on its schedule). After One Knox took the League One title fairly handily last week with a 2-0 win over Spokane Velocity the Championship is up this weekend. The game will be aired on national CBS and as a result will be played pretty early (presumably to keep away from college football).
Neither finalist has made it past the quarterfinals before so just as last year a first-time champion will be crowned. Here’s a quick rundown of how they got there:
FC Tulsa v. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (Saturday, 11:00am, CBS). Tulsa breezed into hosting the Championship game with a 3-0 win over New Mexico United. The Scissortails made the visitors look utterly second class and the result was never in doubt. Despite having only 32.9% possession Tulsa pounded Kristopher Shakes’ goal with 18 shots, 9 of which were on target. New Mexico managed 9 shots but never got on frame. Unsurprisingly, Taylor Calheira scored the first 2 goals, Jamie Webber adding the third.
The Riverhounds played a typical game for both teams against Rhode Island and advanced to the final with a tight 1-0 win. The only goal was scored by Robbie Mertz in the 55th minute and when midfielder Marc Ybarra was sent off for a second yellow card 5 minutes later Rhode Island’s chances looked dim. They did not give up though; 6 of Rhody’s 12 shots (Pittsburgh had just 6 total) came after the red card and pushed the Riverhounds hard to the final whistle but their attempt to reach the final two years running came up short.
This one looks like it is Tulsa’s game to lose.
