USL League Two Recap: June

Published in

Northern Lights Football

6 min readJun 29, 2022

With the playoff races heated up and kicked into high gear, this recap will be in a different format and cover the entire month of June (to this point) across USL League Two’s Central Conference.

Deep North Division:

Starting in the brand new Deep North division of USL2’s Central Conference, five of the six teams are either true expansion teams or coming back from a two year hiatus. That leaves the defending USL League Two National Champions the Des Moines Menace as the only team in the division who played in 2021. The Menace have shown that they are the returning champs and the team to beat in 2022. Through nine matches DSM is 8–0–1 with 25 points and a lock on the division title. The only non-win for the Menace was a nil-nil draw with FC Manitoba, on the second game of a two games in three days swing that saw DSM travel 1,740 miles round trip to play FCM and Thunder Bay Chill.

Below the Menace there is a two team battle for the second playoff spot, while the fourth and fifth place teams are are not out of the mix yet. Peoria City is 4–2–3 with 15 points and a 2–1–0 record in their last three matches. While Peoria has not had success against Des Moines, accounting for both of their losses, but lead by leading goal scorer Adria Sabater Olivas they have been able to win some tight games in their first season. Below Peoria lies the Thunder Bay Chill at 3–1–2 with 11 points. The Chill’s only loss to date was at home to Des Moines, however TB still have six matches to play with their next four coming in a period of six days.

The bottom half of the division has FC Manitoba (2–4–2, 8 points) leading expansion side St. Croix SC (2–5–2, 8 points) by goal differential. Neither side is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, but with each side only having 4 (FCM) and 3 (SCSC) matches to play, their playoff hopes are slim to none. Rounding out the division is another expansion side in Minneapolis City SC. After nearly winning the NPSL’s Midwest Region in 2021, the Crows first foray into USL2 has not been a successful one as they sit with a record of 0–7–2 and just two points. MPLS is 0–4–0 in their last four with their only points this month coming at the beginning of July.

Great Lakes Division:

Over in the Great Lakes Division there is a four way race for the division’s two playoff spots. On top of the division is Kalamazoo FC at 6–2–3 with 21 points and three matches to play. KZOO went 2–2–2 in the month of June, losing both matches to fifth place (of six) Lansing City Football, while drawing with Oakland County and Midwest United.

Two points back is AFC Ann Arbor at 6–2–1 (19 points) with five matches left to play, giving them two games in hand over Kalamazoo. Ahead of tonight’s clash with Flint City Bucks, the Mighty Oak have gone 3–1–1 in June and outscored their opponents 14–8. Five points back from AFCAA is the Flint City Bucks (4–2–2, 14 points). FCB has six matches left to play, giving them a game in hand over AFCAA and three in hand over KZOO. The Bucks have struggled as of late, losing two of their last three, with their last win coming on June 10th.

One point back from FCB is Oakland County FC (4–5–1, 13 points) who has turned their season around as of late. After starting the season with three straight losses and four matches without a win, OCFC has gone 4–2–0 since June 5th. Keith Larson has been a key to Oakland County’s turnaround, leading the team in goals (7) and points (9) while Alexander Dalou leads the side in assists (3).

The bottom two spots in the division are taken by expansion sides Lansing City Football (5th, 3–6–0, 9 points) and Midwest United FC (6th, 1–7–1, 4 points). After starting 0–4 LCF has won three of their last five matches, including wins over playoff battling Kalamazoo and Flint City. MUFC has not been as lucky, with their only win coming at the end of May, and being on a three match losing skid and six match winless streak.

Heartland Division:

We head back west to the new look Heartland division, now stretching from Chicago to St. Louis to Wichita having dropped the northern clubs, who are now in the Deep North. Sitting atop the Heartland is a traditionally strong side of Chicago FC United. CFCU is 7–1–2 with 23 points and has outscored their opponents by a whopping 28 goals. Pablo Palacin Serra leads CFCU with 10 goals, Billy Hency has 8, and Kahveh Zahiroleslam has 7 of Chicago’s 48 goals.

St. Louis Lions are in second with a record of 6–0–2 (20 points) and have two games in hand over Chicago. STL went 4–0–1 in the month of June with the Lions lone draw coming against first place Chicago FC United. STL has a chance to win the division with the two games in hand and only one more match against CFCU.

Kaw Valley (6–3–1) is one point back from St. Louis, having played 10 matches so far. The Cranes played a whopping seven matches in June going 5–2–0 over the course of the month with those losses coming to Chicago FC United and Chicago City SC. KVFC finishes the season with two matches against St. Louis Lions, which could decide the final playoff spot in the Heartland.

Chicago City SC (4–2–2, 14 points) also have an outside shot at getting in the playoffs, provided they finish their final six on a good run. After a six match unbeaten streak CCSC has lost two straight matches putting a slight damper on their season. FC Wichita (3–7–0, 9 points), Springfield ASC (1–7–1, 4 points), and Chicago Dutch Lions (1–8–0, 3 points) round out the division. Wichita has won two of their last three after breaking a six match losing streak. Springfield has lost all five matches they have played in June and are on a five match losing streak and a seven match winless skid. Chicago Dutch Lions have gone 0–6 in June as part of an eight match losing streak where they have been outscored 38 goals against to 10 goals for.

Valley Division:

Last but not least is the Valley Division, which has one of the tightest playoffs races in the league. After a win last night Kings Hammer jumped from third to first and dropped South Bend to second and Fort Wayne to third. KHFC (6–2–2, 20 points) is on a six match unbeaten run, having not lost in June. South Bend Lions (6–2–1, 19 points) have gone 3–1–1 in June with their only loss coming on June 17th to Kings Hammer. Third place Fort Wayne FC (6–3–1, 19 points) have matched in state rival South Bend’s month of June, also going 3–1–1 during the month, with the only difference being their sole loss was to South Bend.

The bottom half of the division is topped by fourth place Toledo Villa (4–5–0, 12 points). Villa’s month of June has been very rocky, going 3–3–0 with five matches to play until the end of the season. Villa has not beaten a top three team yet this season and have four of their last five against the top three. Cleveland Force (1–6–3, 6 points) and Dayton Dutch Lions (1–6–1, 3 points) round out the bottom of the division. The expansion Force have struggled this month and are currently on a six match losing streak and seven match winless skid and have three of their last four against top four sides. DDL (1–6–1, 3 points) have not played since June 15th and their next match will not be until July 7th. In the five matches they played across the first half of June the Dutch Lions went 1–4–0, losing their first four and being outscored 17–4 by their opponents.