For weeks, Louisville City has had a commanding league over all the other clubs and cruised to lifting the Player’s Shield for best regular season points total. They were hardly bothered by Charleston Battery, who owned second place over that same time frame. The rest of the Eastern Conference seeds were a fairly settled affair, but there was plenty of room for drama, as the 3rd through 8th seeds were subject to change as a result of the final games.
And there certainly was drama. The 3rd through 5th seeds all switched up as a result of Decision Day fixtures. This had real consequences, as the USL’s playoffs use a single-game winner-take-all format, not a MLS style best of three.
Loudoun United 0 – 1 North Carolina FC
Oalex Anderson hasn’t had the most scintillating season compared to his previous two at the club, but his 58th minute goal catapulted NCFC from 5th to 3rd. The Cakalacky side will host their first ever USL Championship playoff game as a result.
Louisville City 1 – 0 Hartford Athletic
Somebody had to play the dreaded LouCity, and Hartford drew the short straw. The good news is despite the loss Hartford only slipped one spot, from 3rd to 4th. They’ll still get to host a playoff game, which is only fair considering the incredible turnaround they engineered. Halfway through the season they were dead last not only in the East, but the league. But in their last fifteen league games they won ten, lost four and had one draw, claiming 31 of 45 possible points. Only one team performed better: Louisville City.
Pittsburg Riverhounds 0 – 0 Phoenix Rising
Take two teams in the middle of the playoff scrum and pit them against one another on Decision Day. You expect fireworks, goals, something. Well this was a nil-nil draw. Even worse for the Riverhounds, it was a one-sided nil-nil draw. They owned the possession (63.1%), shots (17 to 8), on-target shots (4 to 1) and corners (10 to 0). For their profligacy, they got dropped from 4th to 5th and will have to travel for their first playoff game.
New Mexico United 2 – 1 Rhode Island FC
We saw that Loudoun lost, and joining them in that column was the mercurial Rhode Island, who dropped to New Mexico. They’re taking the 6th and 7th seeds respectfully.
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 – 1 Detroit City FC
I’m not gonna lie, Detroit City dodged a bullet. The scenario was simple: win and you’re in. It got complicated with a draw or loss, which would give Indy Eleven a chance to jump over them into the 8th spot with a win away to Orange County. Luckily, Indy did not win, and Detroit City live to play at least one more fixture.
The Playoff Picture
