By JOHN BOSCHINI
With Orlando City off until the middle of August, it's now or never for the Richmond Kickers and the Wilmington Hammerheads to mount a challenge on the American Division regular-season title. The results were mixed over the weekend with neither team making significant progress or falling completely out of the picture.
Richmond lost 2-1 to the Los Angeles Blues on Friday to see its deficit on Orlando remain at nine points. The Kickers still have two games in hand but now has only five games to make up the remaining ground. Wilmington is now tied with Richmond on points and games played but is enjoying a far better run of form.
A 1-0 loss to Charlotte on Friday was avenged in convincing fashion with a 3-0 rout Saturday. The Hammerheads have won five of seven in July and look like the most legitimate challengers to Orlando.
Rochester cemented its hold on first place in the National Division with a 3-0 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Harrisburg sits three points behind with an identical goal differential after a 1-1 tie with Los Angeles, which lurks six points behind with two games in hand.
Here is a look back at all the action in the USL Pro.
Los Angeles Blues 2, Richmond Kickers 1: A first-half double from Jonathan DeLeon gave the Blue a halftime lead that they never relinquished. The Mexican midfielder scored in the fourth minute and a minute before halftime for his first brace of the season.
Sascha Goerres got a goal back for Richmond with 20 minutes left but couldn't find an equalizer despite forcing six saves from Ronnie Pascale.
Charlotte Eagles 1, Wilmington Hammerheads 0: Walter Moore put Charlotte ahead within the first 10 minutes and the Eagles never relinquished their lead.
Wilmington didn't offer much in the way of offensive pressure, forcing Brock Duckworth into only two saves and managing only seven shots in total.
Rochester Rhinos 3, Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0: The Rochester Rhinos put in a dominating performance at home in front of a national audience to put Pittsburgh's playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.
Issac Kissi and Connor Tobin put Rochester up 2-0 by halftime and the Rhinos never looked in danger of letting their lead go. Andrew Hoxie put home a penalty in stoppage time to punctuate the victory.
Los Angeles Blues 1, Harrisburg City Islanders 1: The Los Angeles Blues came from behind to score a vital road point against the Harrisburg City Islanders.
Jason Pelletier put the home side up before the 20th minute but Cesar Rivera equalized before halftime. Neither team managed many chances in the second half and settled for a share of the points.
Dayton Dutch Lions 2, Charleston Battery 2: Dayton's resurgence has come too late for a realistic shot at the playoffs but the Lions are still dangerous enough to play spoiler for the top teams.
Nicholas Patterson bagged a brace but George Davis IV and Happy Hall scored to bring Dayton from behind twice. Dayton has only lost twice in July but is still 14 points off a playoff berth.
Wilmington Hammerheads 3, Charlotte Eagles 0: Luke Mulholland and Andryi Budnyy put Wilmington ahead before halftime and Tanner Wolfe put the result beyond all doubt two minutes into the second half.
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What did you think of the weekend's results? Did Richmond or Wilmington do enough to put pressure on dormant Orlando? Is Dayton building on something special for next season? Can Charlotte mount a playoff charge?
Share your thoughts below.
Congrats to the Long Islander RoughRiders 3-2 winners yesterday!
USL PDL Eastern Semi-finals played Friday on Long Island (NY)
Long Island RoughRiders 3-1 over NH Phantoms
Jersey Express 2-1 over Carolina Dynamo
Saturday at 5pm at St. Anthony’s High School in S. Huntington Long Island we now have a huge NY vs NJ matchup in order to see who represents the East at the USL Final Four!
http://www.liroughriders.com/home/546766.html
You forgot to mention the biggest game of the week: EPL side newcastle lost to Orlando 1 nil. Reading some of the stories out of England, they were very embarassed to lose to an American “third” division team!
The Rhinos & Western NY Flash are
both in good form right now!
I would like to see a mixed double.