There’s plenty of season yet to come in the USL Championship, but Week 23 went a long way in shaping the respective conference races. In the East, Louisville City notched the most resounding result of 2025 against the rival Charleston Battery. Out West, FC Tulsa continued to be the kings of the comeback. To declare that Louisville and Tulsa are on a title-game collision course would be overeager in a USL that’s defined by playoff havoc, but it’s rare for two clubs to so thoroughly run the table at this stage in the season.
How did the conference favorites get it done, and what other performances stood out across the Championship? I’m ranking all 24 clubs to find out, so let’s dig in.
1. Louisville City
Trending: +1
Result: 4-1 win v. Charleston
Arturo Ordonez is one of the best players in the USL, an all-leaguer in both Pittsburgh and Louisville. Still, it had been since June 20th since the former USL Defender of the Year started a league match. Between injuries and the ascendancy of rookie Josh Jones, you started to wonder if Ordonez, improbably, was surplus to supply. Instead, the star center back reminded the league why he’s so elite against Charleston.
Ordonez’s performance was inseparable from Danny Cruz’s gameplan and his own relationship with Taylor Davila. Cruz knew that the Battery make their money driving through Juan David Torres and a dropping MD Myers, so he asked his two central stalwarts to deny passes into their feet by operating like a pincer between the lines of the 5-4-1. It worked like a charm; Ordonez’s marking clogged lanes, and he put in three takeaways with a 75% duel win rate. A line ahead, Davila proved to be the king of crucial interceptions around the halfway line. Charleston couldn’t activate the No. 10 in their 4-2-2-2 look until it was far too late.
@loucity.com gets the opening goal after just 122 seconds on Phillip Goodrum's 10th of the #USL-C season. It's the earliest goal #LouCity has scored in the league this campaign. Massive start for the hosts. #LOUvCHS
— Nicholas Murray (@njemurray.bsky.social) 2025-08-10T00:14:09.407Z
Ordonez also made his presence felt on the ball. Louisville knew they could isolate the opposing fullbacks with high-low interchanges among their wide players, and they trusted their star center back to hit long passes that could take advantage of that movement. Just three minutes in, Ordonez lofted a ball toward an advancing Aiden McFadden to do just that, allowing the wingback to flick a header on to Phillip Goodrum for the go-ahead goal.
That sequence went exactly to plan, and you could say the same about every facet of this match. LouCity’s 5-4-1 press never let the Battery get a foothold. It was 4-0 by halftime, a colossal statement if there ever was one. It’s hard to point to one single player as the turnkey for the result, but Ordonez stands out. To re-enter the lineup and do what he did is endlessly impressive, yet another success for a club that’s now the undisputed title favorite in the USL.
2. FC Tulsa
Trending: +1
Result: 3-2 win at Monterey, 5-2 win at New Mexico
Every game matters in the USL, particularly in a conference as tight as the West in 2025. Still, some games matter just a bit more. FC Tulsa clearly brought the spark away to Monterey this Wednesday, but they knew that Saturday’s tilt against New Mexico United was their real chance to make a statement in Week 23.
Luke Spencer returned to his usual 3-4-3 at Cardinale Stadium, immediately reaping the benefits of having an extra presser against a two-man Monterey center back corps. Within 12 minutes, Taylor Calheira had forced an errant pass that Alex Dalou would hammer home to take a lead. No team is as good at turning defensive grit into chances.
