USL Super League: Week One Takeaways

The ups and downs for all six clubs that played their first-ever USL Super League matches over the weekend

The USL Super League is officially underway, and Week 1 was a promising showcase for the six clubs that debuted. If you had fears about the quality of play, they were dispelled quickly. The average club completed 86% of their passes; that mark is 79% in the USL Championship and 76% in the NWSL. Opening weekend was also devoid of any noticeable defensive gaffes.

At the same time, it’s clear that chemistry is still developing. Most of the weekend’s goals came from set pieces and not in the run of play. Only two teams hit the double-digit shot mark. The technical skills are there, and they’ll shine that much brighter once the Super League’s clubs find their grooves.

After the opening round of play, what stood out across the board? Let’s dig in for each club.

Carolina Ascent

The Ascent lead the Super League in attendance by surpassing the 10,000 mark at American Legion Memorial Stadium, and they boasted the stingiest defense to boot. Opposing DC put up just four shot attempts on Saturday night in the league’s inaugural match.

Philip Poole, Carolina’s coach and a tenured assistant with the US Women’s National Team, Wake Forest, and the Charlotte Independence, set his side up in a 4-4-2 press as the Power built out. No team was bolder in their positioning. The Ascent back four pushed up to the halfway line to compress their opponents, and their midfield was similarly heightened.

The result? DC could either try to spring over the press, or they could meekly bat the ball around in their own area. They chose the latter.

Carolina forced a greater share of backwards and sideways attempts than any of the Super League’s debutantes this week. Even when the Power did try to break down the middle, Taylor Porter and Sarah Troccoli - the two players at the heart of the midfield in the 4-4-2 - were willing battlers in the pivot.

Going the other way, Audrey Harding’s hold-up skills and curling runs into the right channel were a nice asset for Carolina. The final ball was lacking, but the Ascent had more ideas than a few of their peers to be certain. If Carolina can keep up the defensive solidity, they’ve got a key base to build from as they integrate Harding and co. further ahead.

Dallas Trinity

For my taste, Dallas was the standout team of Week 1. Their 4-3-3 press was wonderfully stout, and it gave opposing Tampa Bay absolutely nothing in dangerous areas. The Trinity felt more composed without possession than any other club in the league, and their blossoming central defensive duo was particularly solid.

Jenna Winebrenner, formerly a part of the Kansas City Current, and Hannah Davison, an ex-Rangers star in Scotland, looked like longtime partners at the back. They had a natural sense of give-and-go, with Winebrenner serving as a staid backstop on the left as compared to the more adventurous, right-sided Davison.

Both were ready to step up if and when the Sun broke lines. As a result, Tampa Bay completed just one pass from zone 14 into the box. The partnership also liberated Davison’s ball carriage; she tried 18 passes in the attacking half and successfully helped to keep position in the counterpress quite often.

As good as Dallas looked while allowing seldom little danger, they managed to come away with just a single point. The problem? Blown coverage on a second-half corner kick.

You see the setup above. The Trinity ran a mixed coverage with three defenders zonal at the front post, one zonal nearer to the back, and four man-to-man matchups higher in the box. It’s a fairly standard setup, but the hints of unfamiliarity showed up in execution.

Tampa Bay’s design wasn’t overly complex, and the crucial run came toward the far side. There, a Sun player juked to the back side of Davison, who was assigned that particular mark. Boxed out, #2 was no longer in good position to contest a header.

Meanwhile, Gabriela Guillen was caught in no-man’s land at the far post. Her reaction was a step slow, and the Sun runner could thus get a free header toward the vacant post to level things out.

Disastrous? No. It’s the exact sort of play a debuting team ought to anticipate. If Dallas can clean up those momentary lapses, they look like a possible title favorite in the early going.

DC Power

Under Frederic Brillant of prior MLS fame and Utah Royals assistantship, DC Power traveled to Carolina and came away with a draw. Blame the environment or inaugural jitters, but the Power started slowly and relied on a superb performance from Claire Constant in central defense until they could find their way into the match.

Constant, a Haitian international, made more than 100 appearances at the University of Virginia before turning pro. After a stint in Portugal, she’s now back in the United States with a club not far from her old stomping grounds. She looked like the anchor of DC’s nascent back four on Saturday.

Pick a statistical category, and the 24-year-old was probably near the top of it. No starting center back was better in the air or more willing to engage in a duel. Beyond the stat sheet, Constant proved quick on the turn and aware against Carolina’s attack. The Ascent let their forwards flow fairly freely, but Constant rarely allowed herself to get wrong-sided.

There’s room to grow elsewhere for Brillant’s unit. Right-wing combination play starting Mariah Lee was their best source of offense for my taste, but access to the center of the pitch was wanting. Jorian Baucum showed the tools up top you’d expect from someone with 25 goals in 32 games for Hibs, but she was left to chase passes too often. Whether this team needs a ball-demanding No. 10 or just lacks rhythm is something to watch.

Fort Lauderdale United

Felicia Knox put in a tour de force performance amidst Fort Lauderdale’s 4-2-3-1 to kick off United’s existence. Going from southern Florida to Spokane is as bad a road trip as you can get in professional soccer - try getting from Seattle to Spokane, much less from Broward County - but the former all-SEC midfielder was crucial to her club’s “tale of two halves” performance.

In the early going, the guests came under fire against the Zephyr’s varied offensive reads. Spokane wasn’t afraid to play over Fort Lauderdale’s press, and they possessed the quick-thinking and quick-moving attacking players to maximize their verticality. United didn’t do enough to stop the ball up top.

Enter Knox. In the first half, she totaled five successful defensive interventions. All of them came around the halfway line, evidencing her standout skills as Fort Lauderdale’s piece that could deny the Zephyr before they hit the final third.

Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale grew into the game and found steadiness. Their wingers started making canny far-post runs. Possessive plays felt more intentional. Sh’nia Gordan and Adrienne Jordan showed particular chemistry on the right; Gordan knew when to take up narrow attacking positions to open Jordan’s overlapping, allowing the latter to put in seven cross attempts.

Knox didn’t back down either, stepping up in the counterpress to help maintain the zone. She combined for 10 defensive attempts and recoveries in the back 45 minutes, 70% of which came in the attacking half. Her contributions gave Fort Lauderdale the base from which they equalized to come away with a hard-earned point.

Spokane Zephyr

Jo Johnson’s Zephyr showed off the most exciting offensive style of Week 1. They led the league with a 15% long pass share, showing a willingness to spring upfield quickly. No team went long on goal kicks as often, either.

Whether over the top or on the ground, access to the attacking zone wasn’t a problem. Admittedly, the pay-off while there rarely arrived - Spokane went 14 for 28 on passes in the attacking zone - but the Zephyr felt like the club with the most weapons in the USL.

Spokane’s shape was crucial to their success. McKenzie Weinert, a loanee from the Seattle Reign, flashed a complete skillset at the No. 9 spot. Emina Ekic was raring to cut toward the box from the right wing, and she showed all the guile that made her a standout in Melbourne.

Without possession, the Zephyr (or just Zephyr, a la Phoenix Rising? Drop the the?") pressed in a 4-1-4-1 with Taylor Aylmer as the single pivot behind two more elevated No. 8s. Sophie Braun was the likelier of the pair to drop low in support, and she earned three clearances for her efforts. At the same time, both Braun and fellow No. 8-No. 10 hybrid Marley Canales were ready to burst over the top on the run.

That they had the space to do so was a credit to Weinert’s navigation of space. The way in which she dropped low and dragged defenders out of position was critical. Fort Lauderdale had to respect Weinert’s threat - she was equally likely to hit a right-footed switch toward Ekic, charge ahead for a left-footed shot, or slalom through the opposing midfield with deceptive acceleration.

Lots of promise in Washington, to be sure. If this is the Week 1 version of the Zephyr, then I can’t wait to see what they look like come December.

Tampa Bay Sun

The good for Tampa Bay: Ashley Orkus is a brick wall in goal. The three-time SEC Goalkeeper of the Year stood on her head against Dallas, registering six saves versus seven shots on net. Her quick-twitch reflexes kept Tampa Bay in a match they should’ve lost.

Denise Schilte-Brown, the longtime coach at USF, set her side up in the most complex formation of the weekend. Without the ball, Tampa Bay defended in a standard 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 look. When they regained, right back Jordyn Listro - herself a Canadian international - would try to push up the wing. Meanwhile, left back Kristie Edmonds would slink deep to become a third central defender. Effectively, the Sun wanted to attack in a 3-5-2

Now the bad: as the average position map indicates, Tampa Bay couldn’t pull off their system. Dallas matched their back three with a high 4-3-3 press that ultimately proved suffocating. The Sun completed the least passes of any team in Week 1. More than 55% of their passing attempts came from the defenders or Orkus. Listro didn’t attempt a single shot, create a single chance, or serve a single cross in that defender-turned-mid role.

What Listro’s tactical responsibility actually was is an open question. She often stepped narrow into the midfield and allowed Sydny Nasello to provide width on the right; this wasn’t a classic “wing back” deployment. Whether Tampa Bay intended that from Listro or simply felt under fire by the Trinity will become clearer in the weeks ahead.

Despite those struggles, Ashley Clark was bright in an expansive left wing role. She put in nine crosses from that side, and her pace in recovery kept the Sun whole against a very tricky Enzi Broussard on that side for Dallas. As with every club in the USL this weekend, growing pains and promise were both on show.

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Cover photo credit: Fort Lauderdale United