Happy Monday, USL League One fans! It’s our second attempt at pre-season power rankings. This is where we rank the teams based on pre-season moves so far. A few teams made some moves since our first 2024 edition, so let’s go through the changes. As a bonus, we’ll focus on one impact player for each squad and how their success might mean the success of their side.
1) Lexington SC
Last ranking: 1
Remaining needs: none
A few hours we published the initial rankings, Lexington announced Cameron Lancaster as its newest signing. The 31-year-old striker is one of the biggest names to join the league in its relatively short history. Lancaster scored 89 goals in 185 USL Championship appearances, including playoffs. Twice, he broke 20 goals in a season. We’re told he had several offers around the USL, and turned down some notable opportunities for Lexington. And last week’s assessment hasn’t changed: Lexington was already stacked with talent.
IMPACT PLAYER: of course, we’ll go with Lancaster here. The biggest question surrounds his ability to remain healthy. He made six appearances in 2022, and missed 11 matches in 2023. But when in the squad, he continued to produce last season at Louisville: six goals, including a goal-streak of three matches mid-season. With all the hype, there’s going to be a good deal of pressure. But if he’s healthy, in a manageable rotation with Ates Diouf, Azaad Liadi and Khalid Balogun? We could see this squad smashing league records for goals this season.
2) Forward Madison
Last ranking: 2
Remaining needs: defensive depth
Over the last few weeks, the Mingos filled in some pieces and are suddenly stacked in the midfield. Jimmie Villalobos joined on loan from One Knox, adding another playmaking threat to go along with Nazeem Bartman, Cherif Dieye, Derek Gebhard and Devin Boyce. On top of this, striker Agustín Dávila joins from Uruguay. The 25-year-old has experience from the first and second tiers in his home country as well as spells in Ecuador and Spain. We won’t know how he’ll fit in until we see him in the United States, but he sounds promising. Especially considering he’d be alongside Christian Chaney and Juan Galindrez.
IMPACT PLAYER: Madison needed to boost its goalscoring. Juan Galindrez is a player who is known to score quite a few goals in this league. Fans may remember his two seasons with Chattanooga Red Wolves with 23 total goals. If he can fit into the Madison system, the goals problem could be solved.
3) Chattanooga Red Wolves
Last ranking: 4
Remaining needs: defensive depth
Soon after the last rankings, Chattanooga announced the return of Ricky Ruiz. He experienced a breakout season there, once moved into the midfield for the 2021 season. Ruiz contributed 4 goals and 9 assists, before taking his talents to RGV FC Toros of the USL Championship for two seasons. At RGV, he contributed 5 goals and 7 assists over two seasons.
The team also added striker Stefan Cvetanovic, who scored an astounding 141 goals with Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Cvetanovic became the all time leading goal scorer in NAIA. He also scored the game winning goal in the infamous US Open Cup upset of Tulsa FC while playing for Tulsa Athletic. Will that translate to success at the professional level? Worth a try, right?
IMPACT PLAYER: Jonathan Filipe‘s late season contributions in 2023 (2 goals and 7 assists in 13 matches) seemed to light a fire under a squad that had been languishing near the bottom of the table all season. And while the efforts did come a little too late, his signing for 2024 shows that his efforts were not unnoticed. He’ll continue to back up 13-goal-scorers (each) Ropapa Mensah and Chevone Marsh, along with Ruiz. He’ll also have some improved midfield support in Lucas Coutinho and Stefan Lukic. Sky’s the limit.
4) Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC
Last ranking: 6
Remaining needs: defensive depth
Since the last ranking, NOCO picked up playmaking midfielder Isidro “Chelo” Martinez. With Forward Madison last season, Chelo missed six matches and still led the squad with 43 chances created. He also finished the season the 9th highest rated league player on FotMob.
He’ll join other recent additions David Garcia, a center back fresh off his playoff run with last year’s champs NCFC, Jake Keegan, the league veteran striker who joins on loan from One Knox, and Ethan Hoard, a first-year pro who apparently scored a lot of goals while a trialist to earn his contract. Finally, the team re-signed Noah Powder, who, despite only making 18 appearances, put up 3 goals and 5 assists in 2023. Unfortunately, they lost the services of striker Brahima Ouattara, announced on Friday as longer joining the squad for undisclosed reasons.
It’s always a challenge to refill a smaller market side after losing several of the league’s best players in the off season, and despite the loss of Outattara, it seems NOCO may have done it.
IMPACT PLAYER: veteran striker Irvin Parra returns for his comeback and based on reports we’ve heard out of pre-season, is ready to go. We expect he’ll be hungry, and with the likes of Chelo, Billy King, Marky Hernandez, Lucky Opara and Bruno Rendon backing up the forwards, chances should be plenty.
5) Union Omaha
Last Ranking: 7
Remaining needs: midfield depth, defensive depth
Since last ranking, Omaha added Josué Gómez, a 29 year old striker with experience in both USL Championship and Liga MX. This ostensibly fills the massive hole left by the departure of Noe Meza, a striker to play alongside Steevan Dos Santos. They also added midfielder PC from El Paso, who should augment Nortei Nortey in the defensive midfield. We’re curious if there will be a big signing announcement tomorrow to boost the defensive and midfield depth.
IMPACT PLAYER: Nortey appears to be reaching his career peak, anchoring a solid midfield in Northern Colorado last year, and serving as backup captain. That was a side that conceded a league best 37 goals, and defense was a huge part of that as the shots allowed were on the lower end as well. He was brought in after Omaha lost several stalwarts of its defensive midfield, including Conor Doyle and JP Scearce. If Nortey and PC work to provide suitable replacements, Omaha just might bounce right back to the top.
6) One Knoxville SC
Last ranking: 5
Remaining needs: midfielder, backup goalkeeper
Since last rankings, Knoxville scooped up Charlie Machell, the former captain of rival Lexington SC. This adds another a veteran presence in the midfield, either in front, alongside or in tandem with Angelo Kelly-Rosales. We also found out Jake Keegan was loaned out to Northern Colorado, and Jimmie Villalobos to Forward Madison.
We haven’t gotten much of a pre-season look out of the squad, but heard good things out of a friendly 2-2 draw with Chattanooga. At this point, we’re confident, but still in wait and see mode. We know the defense should be solid, but does this rebuilt offense have the ability to score all those goals that were missing in 2023?
IMPACT PLAYER: we’re hearing coach Mark McKeever is speaking very highly of Rich Ballard, a right-winger joining from a multi-year career in USL Championship. If he’s the missing piece to create more chances, and get the ball in front of his fellow forwards, perhaps those goals will come this year.
7) Charlotte Independence
Last ranking: 3
Remaining needs: forwards, midfielders, defensive depth
Charlotte has been unusually quiet in the pre-season in regards to the remaining unsigned free agents and any newcomers. Defenseman Hugh Roberts is so far the only new signing, re-joining the team after a long career at the USL Championship level, including with Charlotte from 2019 through 2021. The team also announced the return of left back Fabrice Ngah and key midfielder Miguel Ibarra.
While we see a fairly solid core, there are still some missing pieces in the front. Most notably, Dane Kelly and Khori Bennett have yet to be replaced. This leaves the offensive core as Tresor Mbuyu, Gabriel Obertan, Joel Johnson and Ibarra. Three of these four are over the age of 30. Depth will be critical to maintain an offense through a full season.
IMPACT PLAYER: midfielder Omar Ciss featured in every match in 2023, shifting to a more defensive role halfway through the season. He also contributed 2 goals and 4 assists, along with 34 chances. Entering his third season with the Jacks at just 22, his value continues to rise. A good season would not only help his squad, but likely see him presented with higher level opportunities next year.
8) Greenville Triumph
Last ranking: 9
Remaining needs: forward and midfield depth
Greenville went shopping outside the league, bringing in a group that ranges from former MLS (Sebastian Velazquez) to USL Championship veterans and first-time professionals. So far none of their new signings are from elsewhere around the league. It’s not a total rebuild, with ten returnees, but with an equal number of newcomers, we’ll be in wait-and-see mode to see if it all comes together.
IMPACT PLAYER: is it time for Lyam MacKinnon to truly shine? The winger put up 7 goals and 4 assists in 2023, four of which came in a single match, a 5-1 drubbing of Chattanooga in June. He’s 24, his value keeps increasing and with Jacob Labovitz gone, he may be called to fill in on both the wings and up front until some of the newcomers get settled.
9) Richmond Kickers
Last ranking: 8
Remaining needs: depth
Richmond brought in Adrian Billhardt, a central midfielder who was an integral piece to Tormenta’s 2022 championship winning side. That season, he had 5 goals and 5 assists, and created 55 chances for the high-octane side. While his well-earned call-up to Detroit City FC did not work out, he should fill in a missing piece of Richmond’s midfield press. We remain cautiously optimistic about Richmond’s chances this season, as the combination of returning talent, newcomers and a seemingly better depth situation than last season could turn into a surprise run.
IMPACT PLAYER: based on all of the above, we’d have to go with Billhardt. If he’s the missing piece, his impact should be noticed in the form of more chances and more goals. Nil Vinyals led the side last year with 66 chances, mostly from the left and the center. Billhardt should fill in similar numbers from the right.
10) Spokane Velocity
Last ranking: 11
Remaining needs: defensive depth
Things are coming together in Spokane, and while we’ll want to wait and see for any expansion side, we’re at least getting vibes more akin to 2023 Knoxville than 2023 Lexington. Pre-season action gave us a good idea on what to expect for formation (4-2-3-1) and a starting 11, which wasn’t terribly surprising in a matchup against Tacoma Defiance.
Josh Dolling got the nod up front, flanked by Colin Fernandez and Luis Gil, backed by Morgan Hackworth, Grayson Dupont and Jack Denton. Derek Waldek and Roman Métanire took the left and right backs, with Ahmed Longmire and Marcelo Lage in center. Carlos Merancio was in goal. Again, we don’t expect brilliance right out of the gate, but we’re also not discounting a playoff run. The most exciting thing here right now is a professional soccer season begins in Spokane in just five days.
IMPACT PLAYER: Derek Waldeck had a breakout season last year with then-expansion side One Knoxville, contributing team-leading six assists. He also held down one of the best defenses in the league. Spokane scooped him up as one of two inaugural signings, where similar things will be expected.
11) South Georgia Tormenta FC
Last ranking: 10
Remaining needs: none
After a massive overhaul in which only six players returned, there are a lot of unknowns here. That includes replacing those responsible for 38 of the 2023 squad’s 53 goals. From the looks of things, the bulk of those duties will fall on Sebastian Vivas and Niall Watson, along with Pedro Fonseca and Jackson Khoury.
The latter two return, and were third and fourth in goals in the 2023 squad, respectively. Vivas joins from Argentina, the co-Golden Boot winner in the Argentine third division Primera B Metropolitan. Watson joins from England’s National Leagues. We’ve seen players like this achieve great success, and we’ve also seen them fall short. We’ll go with another wait and see for Tormenta.
IMPACT PLAYER: Fonseca seems to be in the running for captain this season after two solid seasons in a row, with Real Monarchs in 2022 and Tormenta in 2023. As mentioned, he was third in goals, and he and Khoury co-lead in assists. They won’t have Sterling and Akale to feed, but the continuity in the midfield and on the wing could help bring Vivas and Watson into the fold a lot faster.
12) Central Valley Fuego
Last ranking: 12
Remaining needs: forward depth, midfield depth, defensive depth
Slowly but surely, Fuego is rolling out a full roster. It’s full of newcomers to both the team and the league, and presents a lot of unknowns going into the seasons. We’re not predicting Fuego to finish last by placing them last in the pre-season rankings, but compared to all the other sides, there’s a whole lot of uncertainty in coach Jermaine Jones’ rebuild. Jones commented on a CBS interview that he came in and dismissed every single player he could. He only kept only Jose Carrera-Garcia, Qudus Lawal and Omar Lemus because they were under contract. No pressure on those guys.
IMPACT PLAYER: for the second year in a row, it’s Carrera-Garcia. He’s the franchise player, appearing in most of the promotional materials and on billboards around Fresno. But with a new superstar coach open about his scorched earth rebuild, he’ll have to work even harder. “Trust the process” has been his mantra through everything, so a fresh start surrounded by new players may be what he needs to break back out and lead his team out of the basement.
Correction: a previous version of this story indicated Chattanooga Red Wolves and Tormenta FC needed backup goalkeepers. Tormenta has two professional keepers on roster, Ford Parker and Drew Romig.; Chattanooga has two professional goalkeepers on roster, TJ Bush and Tim Trilk. We also incorrectly stated Tormenta had five players returning, when they actually have six. Those sections have been corrected.