USL Championship: Phoenix Rising is first to clinch playoff berth
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Sep 27, 2021
1. Tampa Bay (18-6-1), 55 pts.
2. Pittsburgh (14-7-6), 48 pts.
3. Miami FC (13-7-6), 45 pts.
4. Charlotte (12-9-4), 40 pts.
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5. Charleston (8-9-7), 31 pts.
6. Hartford (9-12-3), 30 pts.
7. NY Red Bulls II (5-16-5), 20 pts.
8. Loudoun United (3-18-2), 11 pts.
Tampa Bay opened up a seven-point lead thanks to a 2-1 win at Hartford, the Rowdies' seventh straight victory. Sebastian Guenzatti scored two goals in the third straight game to give him 16 goals on the season, second in the USL Championship. Danny Barrera's goal in stoppage time for Hartford snapped the Rowdies' shutout streak at 891 minutes.
Tampa Bay head coach Neill Collins:
“Those guys in there are disappointed about losing that goal because they know they could have prevented it. It’s the standard they’ve set. Hartford really asked a lot of questions and were unfortunate not to get a goal earlier. When you get that close, you really want that clean sheet. I think they’re already thinking let’s go on the next streak. It’s great we were able to achieve that record and know we’re on to what they next record might be.”Central Division
1. Louisville City (14-5-6), 48 pts.
2. Birmingham (14-7-5), 47 pts.
3. FC Tulsa (12-10-3), 39 pts.
4. OKC Energy FC (8-8-10), 34 pts.
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5. Memphis 901 (8-8-8), 32 pts.
6. Atlanta United 2 (7-12-8), 29 pts.
7. Indy Eleven (8-13-5), 29 pts.
8. Sporting KC II(4-14-8), 20 pts.
Louisville City's lead over Birmingham is down to one point after a 1-1 tie at Memphis 901. Both goals came in the first seven minutes: Kyle Murphy with his 15th goal of the season in the second minute and LouCity’s Cameron Lancaster with a seventh-minute equalizer, his 14th goal of the season.
Mountain Division
1. El Paso (13-2-8), 47 pts.
2. Colorado Springs (12-7-7), 43 pts.
3. San Antonio FC (11-7-7), 40 pts.
4. Austin (9-7-9), 36 pts.
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5. Rio Grande Valley FC (9-9-7), 34 pts.
6. New Mexico United (9-8-7), 34 pts.
7. Real Monarchs (4-16-5), 17 pts.
Colorado Springs moved to within four points of first-place El Paso with a 3-1 win over Austin before 6,355 fans. Hadji Barry scored his 24th goal of the season for the Switchbacks to move to within one goal of the USL Championship record held by Lancaster in 2018.
Pacific Division
1. Phoenix (17-3-5), 56 pts.
2. San Diego (12-10-4), 40 pts.
3. Orange County SC (10-8-7), 37 pts.
4. Oakland (8-11-6), 30 pts.
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5. Tacoma (8-10-6), 30 pts.
6. LA Galaxy II (8-11-5), 29 pts.
7. Sac Republic FC (7-10-8), 29 pts.
8. Las Vegas (5-19-2), 17 pts.
Phoenix became the first team to qualify for the 2021 playoffs with a 2-1 win at Tacoma. Spaniard Santi Moar scored the game-winner in the 90th minute, giving him six straight games with a goal.
