The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 13No more unbeaten teams
This was the week of goalkeepers; Anthony Siaha, Danny Vitiello and Rocco Rios Novo all had great weeks, combining for 31 saves and 1 goal allowed in 4 games. That’s massive.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Note |
| 1 | Indy Eleven | 1 | 0 | 7-4-2 | 22.28 | Indy were outshot 24-6 by Pittsburgh. They still won 2-1. 6 straight wins in the league and 8 overall. That gets you top spot in the rankings. They come to the Magic City Sunday. |
| 2 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 2 | 0 | 5-5-1 | 21.10 | Delentz Pierre’s golazo 90 seconds in was all the Switchbacks needed to beat Oakland Roots 1-0, although they gave a few good chances. 5 straight wins now. Memphis next. |
| 3 | Loudoun United | 10 | 7 | 5-6-2 | 20.21 | Loudoun made it look easy in the 3-0 win over Tulsa. That’s their 3rd straight clean-sheet win while scoring 8 goals. On a bye this week. |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 11 | 7 | 6-2-4 | 19.42 | Jordan Farr got the rare goalie assist in the 1-0 win in Sacramento. The Rowdies were by far the better team in this key matchup. Oakland coming up. |
| 5 | North Carolina FC | 4 | -1 | 3-4-5 | 18.24 | North Carolina FC were on a bye. They go to Louisville this week. |
| 6 | Louisville City | 7 | 1 | 9-1-2 | 17.80 | Lou City pummeled Detroit City 5-1 in midweek but needed a late softish PK call to beat Miami 2-1 at the weekend. 35 goals scored in 12 games with a +24 goal difference. They host north Carolina next. |
| 7 | Birmingham Legion | 9 | 2 | 5-4-3 | 17.21 | The defense remains solid, but did the Legion’s comfortable 3-1 win in El Paso fix the scoring issues? Perhaps. We may get a chance to see this Sunday against Indy. |
| 8 | Memphis 901 | 3 | -5 | 5-6-1 | 14.98 | Memphis couldn’t find a way past a typically tough San Antonio defense and ended up losing 0-1 and down a man as well. Colorado Springs this week. |
| 9 | New Mexico United | 6 | -3 | 7-3-1 | 12.58 | Failing on two penalty attempts is not good. New Mexico blew their chances to beat Monterey Bay and go down 0-1. They get Hartford this week. |
| 10 | Charleston Battery | 8 | -2 | 8-1-4 | 12.53 | Are the Battery slipping? They tied 0-0 with Monterey Bay. JUst 2 goals in the last three games, although they did come up against the incredibly in-form Anthony Siaha. Pittsburgh next. |
| 11 | El Paso Locomotive | 5 | -6 | 2-9-2 | 12.45 | El Paso’s first home game under Wilmer Cabrera didn’t exactly go as the previous week’s win over the Battery. They lost 1-3 to the Legion and it wasn’t that close. San Antonio Wednesday. |
| 12 | Oakland Roots | 12 | 0 | 4-7-2 | 12.08 | Oakland should consider themselves a little unlucky in the 0-1 loss in Colorado Springs. They were at times the better team and had a PK called off. Tamps Bay coming up. |
| 13 | Las Vegas Lights | 15 | 2 | 3-7-3 | 9.37 | The Lights’ 10 shots on goal were all stopped by Rocco Rios Novo. Any other day they probably win this one. They draw 0-0 instead. Miami coming up. |
| 14 | Phoenix Rising | 13 | -1 | 4-5-4 | 9.07 | No attack, but phenomenal goalkeeping. The 0-0 draw in Las Vegas was pretty lucky. Orange County next. |
| 15 | Sacramento Republic | 14 | -1 | 5-1-6 | 8.71 | Sacramento’s unbeaten season is over. They lost 0-1 at home to Tampa and can thank 8 saves by Danny Vitiello for preventing a far worse result. Monterey Bay next. |
| 16 | Monterey Bay Union | 23 | 7 | 5-5-4 | 8.63 | Keeper Anthony Aiaha carried the Union to 4 points from the conference leaders in one week and gave up no goals. That gets them a boost in the rankings but prior results are holding them down still. Sacramento this week. |
| 17 | Rhode Island FC | 16 | -1 | 1-3-8 | 8.14 | Rhode Island scored in the 4th minute of the first ever Route 6 derby but couldn’t make it hold up in the 1-1 draw with Hartford. Still just 1 win this season but a struggling Detroit is next. |
| 18 | San Antonio | 19 | 1 | 4-3-5 | 7.69 | A great performance between the sticks by Kendall McIntosh and a Juan Agudelo goal were enough to beat Memphis. El Paso Wednesday, Tulsa Saturday. |
| 19 | Orange County | 21 | 2 | 5-4-3 | 5.95 | Orange County has had some scoring issues over the previous three games but looked to have fixed that in a fairly close 3-2 win over Detroit. Off to Phoenix next. |
| 20 | Hartford Athletic | 20 | 0 | 4-6-1 | 5.03 | Hartford probably had the slightly better chances in the 1-1draw with Rhode Island but the result was pretty fair in a very feisty game. The Athletic heads to New Mexico Saturday. |
| 21 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 18 | -3 | 3-5-4 | 3.86 | 24 shots. 9 on target. Just 1 goal. The Riverhounds’ scoring woes continue in the 1-2 loss to Indy. Their 11 goals are tied for the worst in the league. They go to a stingy Charleston this week. |
| 22 | Detroit City | 17 | -5 | 5-3-2 | 2.38 | Detroit scored first twice this week, but went down 1-5 to Louisville and 2-3 to Orange County. No wins in the last 5 games; that 5-game perfect start is long gone. Rhode Island coming up. |
| 23 | The Miami FC | 24 | 1 | 2-10-1 | -0.77 | Miami kept it close and were ultimately unlucky to lose 1-2 to Louisville on a weak PK call. 5 straight losses and they are stuck in the Eastern basement. A chance to get back on track in Las Vegas this week. |
| 24 | FC Tulsa | 22 | -2 | 2-5-4 | -5.35 | Tulsa’s 0-3 loss to Loudoun was their third straight scoreless loss. They have given up 9 goals in that stretch. They may not do any better against San Antonio this weekend. |
