Lenin once said that there are decades where nothing happens and weeks where decades happen. Week 6 in the USL Championship wasn’t quite so decisive, but it might’ve produced the most emphatic outcomes we’ve seen in 2026.
Goals abounded, and multiple upset results helped re-shape the USL’s competitive landscape. All the while, player protests for the still unresolved CBA talks continued unabated at the outset of each half during every game of the matchweek. Amidst it all, what headlines emerged? I’m power ranking all 25 clubs in the Championship to help find out.
1. Tampa Bay Rowdies
Trending: No change
Result: 2-2 draw v. Oakland
Tampa Bay is uniquely good at putting their opponents under sustained pressure. Even in matches where the field tilt is closer to a 50/50 split, the Rowdies (who rank in the USL’s top five for final-third passes and recoveries alike) have been able to generate long spells of control where it counts. That remained true in Week 6, even as the Oakland Roots asked real questions of Dom Casciato’s system.
Russell Cicerone is at the heart of Tampa Bay’s ability to own the final third. The star forward has been a menace off the left wing all season long – not only as a scorer, but also as a presser good for 0.8 final-third recoveries per 90. On Saturday, Cicerone dually disrupted Oakland’s tempo and provided killer instinct in the attacking zone.
3’ | Right off the jump 😎 Marco Micaletto opens the scoring! #TBRvOAK | 1-0
— Tampa Bay Rowdies (@tampabayrowdies.bsky.social) 2026-04-11T23:58:08.266Z
Tampa Bay’s opening goal came quickly, and it centered around their ferocious 4-4-2 press. With the Roots pinned and unable to clear, midfielder Lewis Hilton intercepted, worked the ball forward, and eventually teed up Cicerone for a shot. There, he produced a rebound that Marco Micaletto would finish; on the stroke of halftime, Cicerone would get his own goal by crashing the far post off a cross.
