Super League Power Rankings: Week 7

Assessing the six clubs that hit the pitch during the USL Super League's weekend slate and refreshing the rankings

Seven weeks down, just about 10 more to to go in the USL Super League’s fall schedule. Every team in the division has at least four matches on their resume, and an overriding sense of parity has defined the early days. There’s a real “anyone can beat anyone” sense to the Super League so far, and it’s made for an exciting start.

Who’s up after the last few weeks of action? Let’s dig in.

1. Brooklyn FC (+2)

Results: 2-0 win v. Dallas, 1-0 win v. Lexington

Wednesday’s suffocating win over Dallas seemed like an untouchable defensive triumph, but Brooklyn one-upped themselves with an even stingier outing against Lexington this Saturday. Jessica Silva formally took over on the sideline last week, and the former Canadian youth guru and FC Metz polymath leveled up her defense in short order.

Silva’s lineup choices stood out in the back end of the double matchweek. Isabel Cox, who had previously nailed down the left wing, started at striker. Forward Jessica Garziano became a No. 8 in Brooklyn’s 4-1-4-1. Carlyn Presley, who had appeared as a sub in the club’s first three matches, took over out wide.

You can’t argue with the impact. Presley made two recoveries in the final third before subbing off at halftime, and Cox put up three shots while playing as the No. 9. Midway through the period, Presley and right winger Mackenzie George changed sides, and the effectiveness never waned. Yes, Brooklyn scored only after returning to a more typical look in the back 45 minutes, but the first half was still successful.

What worked in defense? For one, left back Leah Scarpelli (whose “Scarps” kit is one of the cooler things in the Super League) and right back Sasha Pickard both picked their spots to step inside against Lexington’s all-important Madi Parsons. Parsons didn’t put a shot on net and created no chances, a testament to the way the full backs denied her movement into the half spaces.

Brooklyn’s defensive recoveries from the press into low block are always pristine, and the Lexington win was no different. You see an example above.

As the guests try to work around the right side of the home defense, Pickard steps up to force the ball back. Lexington resets and finds a hole, but Sam Kroeger is there in her No. 6 “safety net” role. When Kroeger steps, the other two center mids for Brooklyn push low in order to maintain the midfield’s structure, and it all culminates in an Allison Pantuso step from center back to force a turnover.

That ability to swarm and to hunt down opponents in packs is definitional for this team. Brooklyn’s 4-1-4-1 is incredibly organized without the ball, excellent at shifting into a fluid 4-1-5 with it, and makes this team the best in the Super League at the moment.

2. Carolina Ascent (No change)

Result: 0-0 draw v. Tampa Bay

You can’t have many complaints at the moment if you’re Philip Poole. His defense is stifling; Carolina is allowing 0.4 goals per game. The Ascent have been potent on set pieces, as seen on tallies from Renee Guion and Vicky Bruce. Carolina is in first place for a reason.

That said, this club’s attack may be less effective than it looks on the face of things. Carolina is very, very direct with the ball compared to their Super League competitors. They’ve only put up 0.63 non-set piece xG per 90 minutes as a result.

Indeed, no team in the division tries less passes in an average game. When it works, it works: a 2-0 win against Spokane a week back was a masterclass in vertical offense, and Mia Corbin was the star of the show. By contrast, Carolina only held 35% of possession against Tampa Bay in a scoreless draw this weekend, and Corbin took 18 of her 41 touches in the defensive half.

Now, #9’s ability to drop to the halfway line and contest second balls was occasionally effective. Simply dropping low - on the end of a long ball or not - had a gravitational effect on the Sun’s shape. There was a 54th minute chance where Corbin drew the Tampa Bay pivot out and opened up substitute winger Ashlynn Serepca for a shot in that exact manner.

The ability of the Ascent midfield to press on the end of long balls was the real story of their game, and it’s a route to more consistent offense.

Carolina made 14 recoveries in the attacking half - four coming from Taylor Porter alone - as a signifier of that trend. Their inability to turn elevated recoveries into quick chances was the problem; you saw a 20th minute interception by Porter quickly turn into a pass toward the box and shot for Audrey Harding, but it was the exception that proved the rule.

But again, Carolina is in first, and I’m an idiot with a blog. This team is for real.

3. Dallas Trinity (-2)

Result: 2-0 loss v. Brooklyn

I discussed Dallas in my recap piece last week after a suffocating loss to Brooklyn. Trinity scored six times in their prior match before laying an egg in the Big Apple. To further point from that piece, let’s consider Hannah Davison’s long passing from the center back spot, going game-by-game.

1. Six long passes (9% share) in a draw at Tampa Bay

2. 12 long passes (13% share) in a draw versus DC

3. Eight long passes (14% share) in a win versus Lexington

4. 12 long passes (18% share) in a loss at Brooklyn

The more Dallas can keep the ball on the ground and use Davison to unlock Sam Meza in the midfield, the better off they are. Brooklyn didn’t allow them to do so. I’m excited to see how Trinity re-shape their approach in build next time out to re-emphasize controlled possession.

4. Spokane Zephyr (No change)

Results: 1-0 win v. DC, 2-2 draw at DC

So far this year, Zephyr’s main strength is an ability to generate chances through McKenzie Weinert and Emina Ekic out wide. Balancing their contributions with solid defending and a diversified offense is the challenge, and we saw progress on both fronts in the nation’s capital on Sunday.

To start, Weinert was particularly good in the rematch draw against DC. Her ability to stretch over the opposing left wing back was key early on, and she found room to receive on the end of Sarah Clark and Taylor Aylmer’s right-footed switches quite often. When Weinert traded flanks partway through the first half, it allowed her to hit a right-footed switch of her own toward Ekic to set up Spokane’s corner kick goal.

Zephyr was at their sharpest - and DC their least organized - when the wing play became a Trojan horse for other threats. Alyssa Bourgeois and Taryn Ries (two key passes apiece) both found opportunities to tuck inside for crucial touches in the half spaces. Both interfaced nicely with Emma Jaskaniec to boot.

Jaskaniec was a bit less consistent, but she brings a refreshing heft at the No. 9 spot. One sequence in the 20th minute saw her drop low after a set piece to win the ball, run back upfield on the break, and dummy a pass to Ekic. That’s what Spokane needs from their striker, even if such sequences have been a bit exceptional on balance.

Neither Jaskaniec nor Jodi Ulkekul were high-volume receivers in a hold-up sense. Meanwhile, Weinert and Ekic took just nine touches in zone 14. Zephyr didn’t get a single shot from the 47th to 86th minutes, albeit while forcing an own goal on the end of a nice Braun-to-Canales-to-Weinert play. It was a very stop-start showing.

Some of the issue was DC’s effective ability to possess the ball against the Spokane shape, a 4-1-4-1 that wasn’t always on the same page in that midfield line of four. That’s as good a bridge as any into…

5. DC Power (+2)

Results: 1-0 loss at Spokane, 2-2 draw v. Spokane

Few teams have been as up and down as DC, and it’s probably a bad sign that they’ve only scored once in the run of play through six matches. Both of their goals against Spokane this Sunday came from the penalty spot, and their non-penalty xG was something like 0.8. Even so, Frederic Brillant’s decision to settle into a true 3-5-2 felt like it enlivened Power in a marked way.

Combination play between the wing backs and wingers drove the DC performance, and there was variety in the interactions. That Brillant’s side held 52% of possession, got 22 touches in zone 14, and still mustered a tepid non-penalty expected return was a testament to the halting progress.

Two main patterns prevailed for DC in build. If they kept their ball-side attacking mid and wing back further upfield, it forced the Spokane winger on that side to drop lower, double up, and thereby give Power the time to pick out a pass. See the “#1” play in the graphic for an example. Such a sequence allowed defender Claire Constant to hit Jorian Baucom over the top for the match-opening penalty.

If DC wanted to be more active, they could allow that attacking pair to make countervailing runs, marked as “#2” above. Say the attacking mid drops while the wing back pushes high; you’re hoping to draw out an opposing defender and force Spokane into rotation by doing so. Plays in that mold were less effective, given that DC’s wing backs didn’t create a single chance between them - credit Alyssa Bourgeois and Taryn Ries for Spokane as well - but they at least kept the guests honest.

In the press, DC almost adopted a 5-2-1-2 with Baucom dropping from the striker spot to man mark Spokane’s holding midfielder. It was a smart gambit that limited flow, even if it didn’t protect the home side from Zephyr’s effective wide play. Still, though, using Baucom as a defensive wrecking ball and letting her stay more central in attack is exactly what this team needed to do to improve.

6. Fort Lauderdale United (No change)

Result: 3-1 win at Lexington

Like Dallas, I hit on Fort Lauderdale in the recap last week. If we get one more domineering performance like United put up against Lexington, get ready for a jump in the rankings. There are two possibilities for Tyrone Mears right now: either Addie McCain’s hat trick and Fort Lauderdale’s wing play is really legit, or they simply took advantage of a disorganized foe. I’m excited to find out the answer.

7. Tampa Bay Sun (-2)

Result: 0-0 draw at Carolina

It’s been 191 regulation minutes since Tampa Bay scored. The alarm bells aren’t ringing quite yet, especially in the wake of a brutal double-header against Carolina and Brooklyn. The Sun even had solid ideas against the Ascent in what became a scoreless draw.

Still, this team badly needs a more consistent presence at the No. 9 spot. Tampa Bay got a good-not-great 18 touches in the box, but that volume took a whopping 527 passes to attain. Jordyn Listro and Natalia Staude did really, really well to drop in as the right-sided member of the Sun’s back three yet again, but the resultant 3-2-5 wasn’t sharp enough when Tampa Bay hit the final third.

What’s the issue? For me, it’s spacing. In the example above, right winger Sydney Nasello (in yellow) has come all the way across the pitch to get a touch on the left sideline. Meanwhile, fellow attacking mids Erika Tymrak and Carlee Giammona trail her. Striker Riley Parker (in white) is low, vaguely center-left, and definitely not in position to contest a possible cross.

What you aren’t seeing is any modicum of pressure on the Carolina back line. No one is forcing their foursome to bend. No right-sided player is making a run to provide balance or potentially receive on the end of a switch. It’s a lot of left-sided sound and fury that’s signifying nothing.

When Tampa Bay got that right-sided movement, particularly from Staude, good things happened. Staude helped to cause a chance-creating scramble in the 7th minute while advancing, and her run to meet the end of a pass from a tucked-in Tymrak later in the half was one of Tampa Bay’s best opportunities. We need to see more of that in the wake of another sub-0.5 xG performance.

The upside? This defense isn’t bending. Listro was a magnet to second balls, making eight recoveries, and showed some verve stepping up in the tackle. Vivianne Bessette kept Audrey Harding in her back pocket. That excellence is giving Denise Schilte-Brown time to figure out the possessive phase.

8. Lexington SC (No change)

Results: 3-1 loss v. Fort Lauderdale, 1-0 loss at Brooklyn

Look, Lexington put 0.19 xG on the board away in New York over the weekend. They didn’t put a single shot on net. I’m not here to argue that things went well.

That said, their 4-4-2 was as structured as we’ve seen all year, and Claire Winter looks like the sort of player that can change the face of the Lexington midfield. Winter’s signing was announced on Friday, and she inserted directly into the lineup wearing the #42 kit. The midfielder had a cup of coffee with the Orlando Pride earlier this season, previously having filled out her passport with numerous overseas stops.

On her debut, Winter anchored a double pivot next to Shea Moyer and went 36 for 46 on her passing attempts. Their was an instant composure in the 29-year-old’s game, seen in the spread of her passes: 18 of her attempts went forward, 13 backwards, seven to the left, and eight to the right. Winter’s agility on the turn prevented Brooklyn from forcing Lexington into gaffes with frightening regularity.

When Winter and Moyer aligned high and low in the same channel, good things happened. Brooklyn’s 4-1-4-1 tends to push their No. 8s high to close down, and those moments of split-pivot play gave Lexington multiple links in the possessive chain to circumvent that pressure. You see the look mapped out above, with Lexington’s localized overload highlighted.

Offensive joy after breaking the first line of pressure was a different story. Lexington simply didn’t have connectivity where it counted in the offensive half, and they put up that wildly low xG sum. Still, though, they’re finding additional rungs as they climb the attacking ladder, and that counts for something in the still-early 2024 season.