Four of the top 10 scorers in the USL Championship play for clubs outside of the playoff positions. Only Charleston’s Colton Swan and Detroit’s Darren Smith ply their trade for top-four sides. There’s plenty of season left for those trends to change, but it’s remarkable how disconnected success and the presence of a talismanic scorer have been in the 2026 season. Having a star attacker isn’t a bad thing, of course; teams like Phoenix (through Ihsan Sacko) and Las Vegas (via Johnny Rodriguez) proved as much this weekend. Still, it takes something more to really push into the Players’ Shield race.
Which teams found that extra gear in Week 20, and how did the competitive landscape change? I’m ranking and analyzing all 25 clubs in the Championship to find out.
1. Charleston Battery
Trending: No change
Result: 1-1 draw v. Sacramento
“Adaptability” isn’t the first word you’d associate with the Charleston Battery – largely because they’ve been successful without needing to adapt. Still, Ben Pirmann is so good on the sideline because he knows when and how to pull a string at Patriots Point. That held true in a tough Week 20 outing for the Battery.
Saturday’s matchup against the Sacramento Republic was the rare instance where Charleston struggled to set the tempo. Sacramento’s 4-4-2 essentially camped all 10 defenders in the opposing zone and used face-up pressure against Joey Akpunonu and Sean Suber to rush the Battery off of restarts. Even when Charleston’s possessions started higher upfield, you’d often see Douglas Martinez and Nathan Messer sit low at fullback to retain a sense of steadiness.
At their best, Charleston found ways to leverage that aggression toward their own ends. If, say, forward Miguel Berry dropped into the right halfspace or winger Maalique Foster hewed inside, it’d force Sacramento tight and open a sweeping pass into Martinez up the sideline. Likewise, a healthy smattering of pure long balls kept the guests honest.
