In 2023, Pittsburgh’s Albert Dikwa scored 10 goals in his final 11 games to win the Golden Boot. Oakland’s Peter Wilson blazed the same trail last year, ending the season with eight goals across the last six games of the schedule. Consistent scoring is nice, but red-hot form carries the day, and there isn’t a hotter striker in the USL than Lexington’s Phillip Goodrum.
Goodrum has seven goals in his last three games, and while he’s five back of first-place Rubio Rubin atop the scoring heap, anything is possible. More importantly, the Lexington No. 9 has re-shaped the playoff race in the West, where only nine points separate the number one seed from the last hanger-on for a playoff spot. We’ll see which forwards can find their form and push on for individual honors, but the competitive landscape across the USL only got muddier after Week 30.
Who’s up and who’s down after a busy weekend? I’m ranking all 25 teams in the Championship to find out.
1. El Paso Locomotive
Trending: No change
Result: 1-1 draw v. Tulsa
Few teams in the USL were as afflicted by international call-ups as the El Paso Locomotive in Week 30. Star striker Rubio Rubin was the biggest miss, but Carl Sainte, Nicolas Cardona, and Noah Dollenmayer – 60% of last weekend's starting back line – were all absent on Friday night. In that sense, a match against FC Tulsa was a stiff test for red-hot El Paso’s depth.
It was an up-and-down night for the replacements, particularly at the back. Veteran Palermo Ortiz and 17-year-old Kenneth Hoban anchored the right chunk of the Locomotive’s back line, supporting replacement wingback Ricky Ruiz. Their level of connection varied on both sides of the ball. Disjointed decision-making let Tulsa break through Hoban and Ruiz to open the scoring, while Ortiz’s risky intervention choices regularly created trouble. None were effective when El Paso tried to build out from the back.
Beto Avila finds the quick equalizer for @eplocomotivefc! 🚂 pic.twitter.com/Tf24WzP5Cu
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) September 26, 2026
The upside? Beto Avila was strong as a Rubin simulacrum. Avila is at his best when he’s either breaking away in transition or receiving with his back to goal, and the Locomotive tried to activate both sides of his game. The No. 9 tied the match in the 17th minute off a breakaway, for one thing; as an outlet on the end of longer initiation patterns, he was equally ready to contribute and bring teammates into the game.
