It’s the year of the midfield scorer in USL League One. The three leading contenders for the Golden Boot – Charlotte’s Luis Alvarez, Westchester’s Conor McGlynn, and Fort Wayne’s Taig Healy – all play as No. 8s or No. 10s for their clubs. 10 players across the division have scored at least five times, and only three of them are out-and-out strikers.
That trend is a reflection of how League One is evolving in 2026. Yes, there are still plenty of hyper-vertical teams that live and die by the counter, but plenty of clubs are trying to keep the ball on the ground, work through lines, and let their midfielders contribute at the end of protracted possession sequences.
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Which clubs were able to get their style across in Week 16, and what should we be taking away from a busy league slate? I’m digging into all the action to help find out.
Richmond’s new era
Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor was Lynn Family Stadium. Brian Ownby started his USL career with the Richmond Kickers, but he became a USL legend by helping to build the Louisville City dynasty at the Championship level. His job as the interim coach in Richmond is to start the ball rolling toward a similar level of sustained success. Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Fort Wayne – the club’s first game in the wake of Darren Sawatzky’s exit for Sporting Cascades – was an ignominious kickoff to the new era, but we already started to see a difference in posture from the Kickers.
