Week 11 Preview: all you need to know

There’s more to enjoy than you might think…

The most important part

Well, it was a tough loss for the Three Sparks Wednesday evening, and they get the weekend off before traveling to Sacramento next week.

However, that does not mean that all is quiet for the club. In fact, between tonight and Monday there are THREE Legion games to enjoy, although they are all on the road.

First, Legion WFC kicks off its 2024 campaign in Greenville, SC with a match against the Liberty (6:00pm). They follow that up tomorrow with a quick 60-mile trip to Asheville, NC to play Asheville City (6:30pm). And if that wasn’t enough for a week they play in Athens, GA next Wednesday (6:00pm). Teams in the W League have long rosters, so this isn’t quite as taxing as it might otherwise seem.

The W League is growing rapidly; despite losing 8 teams (including North Alabama SC, whose League 2 team also moved out) the league is up to 81 teams this season from 65 last year. The league is divided into four conferences (Eastern, Central, Southern and Western) of three divisions each. The Southern is broken down into South Central, Southeast and Lone Star. Lone Star is exactly what the name suggests; Southeast is all Florida and South Central is everyone else. This is a major realignment from 2023 resulting from the expansion. Legion WFC remains in the South Central division, which remains at 7 teams, but the names have changed. Both Greenville and Asheville were in the South Atlantic division last year, finishing sixth and second respectively. Greenville won the division in 2022 and Asheville were fifth.

Further, the two opponents have already played a game against each other, Greenville winning 3-0. Which could mean anything at this stage. The Liberty, by the way, is the women’s team under the same umbrella as the Greenville Triumph, who are currently leading League One. Asheville City’s mens’ team plays in League Two in the same division as Legion 2 but hasn’t played a game yet.

Monday evening (7:30pm) Legion 2 are back in action at Tennessee SC (in Nolensville, a Nashville suburb). One of the better-known amateur clubs in the state, they finished fifth in the South Central both its seasons in the league to date. Again, at this point they are an unknown quantity.

Again, all these games are (or should be) available for streaming on SportsEngine Play.

Best of the rest

There are nine games this weekend in the Championship, two games being already in the books for Week 11. Teams with a bye this week are Detroit City, San Antonio, New Mexico United and…Sacramento Republic. So the Legion plays the Charleston Battery on short rest; they get long rest against the other conference leader but so does the opponent. Scheduling sucks.

Here are our picks for the weekend from an admittedly not so great bunch:

Colorado Springs Switchbacks v. Rhode Island FC (Friday, 8:00pm, CBS Sports Golazo)

The Switchbacks are on a 3-game win streak. Three weeks ago that would have been an almost unthinkable statement. Granted, those wins have been against similar weak teams, but even so. Rhode Island is coming off a fairly impressive 2-2 draw with SacRep and will be looking for its second win. This could in fact be a very entertaining game.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds v. North Carolina (Saturday, 6:00pm, ESPN+)

This one will be 9 v 10 in the East. With a win, Pittsburgh will jump above the Legion. North Carolina is coming off a solid 2-0 win over Loudoun United on Tuesday. Pittsburgh has evidently gotten over its very poor start to the season and the boys from Cary are finding their feet. A close-fought match is very much on the cards here.

Tampa Bay Rowdies v. FC Tulsa (6:30pm, CBS Sports Golazo)

The Rowdies had a strange week to say the least and will be hosting FC Dallas this coming Wednesday in the Open Cup. While we would all have preferred that game to be here, seeing them knock out an MLS team would be great. Will they rest players ahead of that tussle? Tulsa are probably hoping so.