USL Recap, Week 11

Week 11 did not disappoint in action! Let's see what happened across the USL.

Scoreboard East

Scoreboard West

Five Stories

Whitecaps 2 Unbeaten Streak Ends

For a second straight week a USL streak bit the dust, as Real Monarchs ended Whitecaps 2 unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory. Late substitute, Frederick Amankona, scored off a free kick in the final minute of stoppage time for Real Monarchs. The Monarchs defense then handed their hosts their second shutout of the season. Vancouver's ten match unbeaten streak will remain the season's longest for another week, and may be broken if Louisville can record a positive result this weekend.

Parker Wins it for Wilmington

More late match heroics takes us to the Port City. In the dying moments of the match, Kyle Parker scored his second goal of the season to give the victory to the Hammerheads, who have now won two in a row. Wilmington has already surpassed their win total from a season ago, and look ahead now their toughest challenge yet as a match against league leaders, Louisville City, looms next Saturday.

Switchbacks Reach the Top

After having spent weeks in either second or third place, Colorado Springs find themselves at the top of the Western Conference table. A pair of first half goals sealed the victory for the Switchbacks over top half club, Saint Louis FC. Going unbeaten in their last five has made Colorado Springs the team to beat in the West. A crucial match versus Los Dos, who handed the Switchbacks a painful loss earlier in the season, awaits.

Orange County Climbs the Mountain, and Then Some

The Orange County Blues and Seattle Sounders FC 2 ended their first half Saturday night level at nil. Whatever the coaches said at halftime must have worked, as seven goals were recorded in the second half. Andy Craven scored his first two goals of the season in quick succession right near the start of the half. Then the bottom fell out for S2, as the Blues pulled one back, right before S2 was reduced to 10 men with a Jordan Schweitzer red card. The Blues then equalized a short time later, and recorded three more over the rest of the half en route to a resounding 5-2 win. One amazing stat from this match: This is the first multi-goal game for Orange County, as a team, all season long.

T2 Wins at Home, On the Road

Portland Timbers 2 took their home show on the road on Saturday, hosting Swope Park Rangers in a league match in Meridian, Idaho, a suburb of Boise. Idaho is in the Timbers’ MLS homegrown territory, and this match seemingly served as a test to see whether possibly moving the T2 franchise to Boise is viable or not. A sold out crowd of 4,352 at Rocky Mountain High (insert lame John Denver joke here) School watched T2 defeat SPR 2-1, with goals from Neco Brett and Victor Arboleda. Based off the success of this match, we could very well see more USL games in Idaho in the future.

Standings East

Louisville further cements their spot in first. The rest of the top four is unchanged from last week. Could we begin to see a battle for high playoff seeding in East shape up in the coming weeks? Wilmington makes a jump back into the playoff picture after a thrilling win over Harrisburg. Toronto FC II, Pittsburgh, and FC Montreal all sit in the cellar for another week, is there a club out of these three that can catch the rest of the East?

Standings West

Colorado Springs Switchbacks find themselves as the new table leaders, taking advantage of a Whitecaps 2 loss. The rest of the top three remain unchanged. RGVFC and Timbers 2 both move up after crucial wins this week, as Saint Louis FC and Sacramento both drop a few spots. At the other end of the table, the bottom four remain the same, as the losses keep piling up for the Roughnecks and Sounders 2.

What are your thoughts from the recent week? Which stories did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!