Week 1 Preview: all you need to know

As if offseasons aren’t long enough they are even worse when you don’t make the playoffs. The Legion has not played an official game since October 26th. That’s a gap of 133 days. Even worse, the Three Sparks have not played at home since October 13th.

That’s a long time without a fix. The enforced detox finally ends tomorrow evening, however. There is a chance of rain late Saturday but that should not deter you from making a pilgrimage to Protective Stadium. The 2025 USL Championship season is upon us.

The most important part

The Legion will be playing Loudoun United (7:00pm, ESPN+) in the home opener. As with all USL teams, Loudoun is much changed from last year and so it’s difficult to assess how this game will go.

We have already looked at how the Legion will shape up in our season preview, but note that Enzo Martinez will be out on red card suspension for his ejection in second-half stoppage time of that 5-0 shellacking of the Oakland Roots to end the 2024 season. That’s in addition to the injured AJ Paterson and Tyler Pasher. The Three Sparks are short several important pieces right out of the gate. Enzo of course will be back next week and Tyler looks to be closing in on game fitness; AJ may be out quite a while yet though.

Loudoun United is very much a question mark and frankly doesn’t look to have done much to improve its roster this year. They have only made two senior signings: Moses Nyeman, a 21-year-old midfielder who was previously with the club during its DC United days, and Ben Mines, a 24-year-old midfielder from Indy Eleven who signed with the club just yesterday. They have made a couple of academy contract signings (Ethan Pendleton and Aaron Hurge) but otherwise have been totally inactive. United has just 18 guys on the senior roster. That’s pretty thin. If anything, their best move in the offseason was upgrading their kits.

They do have stability on the bench though: head coach Ryan Martin is the third-longest tenured coach in the Championship after Pittsburgh’s Bob Lilley and our very own Tommy Soehn and has led the team since May 2019.

Prediction: Loudoun United finished 11th in the East last year, although, like the Legion and Hartford Athletic above them, they would have made the playoffs in the Western Conference. I don’t see them doing much better this year; look for the Legion to start 2025 with a home victory (which were few and far between last year), and possibly by multiple goals.

Best of the rest

It being the season opener weekend, you would think that the league would fill its schedule with as many attractive matchups as possible. Well, it really didn’t. In fact, not every Championship team is even playing this weekend; Indy Eleven and Rhode Island FC already have a bye. All Championship games are on Saturday though; if you want an early taste of USL action League One kicks off tonight as our near neighbors/nemeses South Georgia Tormenta host Richmond Kickers (6:00pm, ESPN+).

Speaking of League One, Union Omaha today announced the signing of Legion OG Prosper Kasim. All the best to him.

Here’s the USL Championship action you want to check out:

Lexington SC v. Hartford Athletic (6:00pm, ESPN+)

Lexington self-promoted to the Championship this season in a not too surprising move given the shiny new stadium the club built. The League One team was pretty weak in 2024, finishing 9th and out of the playoffs. The women’s Super League team is currently dead last, so the club desperately needs something to shout about. They weren’t afraid to splash the cash to upgrade the squad, and could be quiet contenders. Hartford wasn’t overly active in the offseason and could be an early victim for the newcomers.

Charleston Battery v. Louisville City (6:30pm, CBS Sports Golazo)

Easily the best fixture of the weekend. Both teams lost key players (Nick Markanich, Wilson Harris) from last year’s rosters but both replaced the losses with solid additions or existing depth. There’s a statement of intent to be made here by both sides. This could be a bloodbath and should be an entertaining watch on delay (of course).

Sacramento Republic v, New Mexico United (9:00pm, ESPN+)

Two western powerhouses going at it early. Not quite as appealing as the Battery-Lou City game, but definitely next best on the slate. SacRep gets the home advantage, but that may not mean much in this one.

Las Vegas Lights v. Tampa Bay Rowdies (9:30pm, CBS Sports Golazo)

Of the two interconference games on the schedule this is clearly the more attractive and makes for a great nightcap. The Rowdies are always coccmpetitive and the Lights suddenly became that way last year under new ownership (Jose Bautista). However, the club lost head coach Dennis Sanchex to New Mexico and made the unusual choice of replacing him with Antonio Nocerino, who previously managed…The™ Miami FC. A step back? We shall see.