The past weekend in the USL Championship saw the top three sides in the Eastern Conference draw a line underneath them, and the preseason favorite to top the Western Conference deliver its biggest win of the season while closing the gap to the current conference leader.

Here are the three big storylines we took away from Week 19’s action, our picks for who’s up and who’s down coming out of the weekend, and thoughts on everything else we saw around the league.

TOP THREE STORYLINES

1. ROWDIES COMPOSED IN STATEMENT WIN

With both Louisville City FC and the Charleston Battery having won on Friday night, Saturday’s showdown between Indy Eleven and the Tampa Bay Rowdies meant the winner would have a claim to be able to challenge the top two in the Eastern Conference, and the loser was going to have a hill to climb to get back int the conversation.

Despite travel challenges in getting to Indianapolis, the Rowdies came through with one of their most impressive performances this season and a 2-0 victory that they more than deserved. With Cal Jennings getting his 12th goal of the season and Damian Rivera adding a late insurance marker, Tampa Bay delivered a statement result.

“Yesterday was a tough travel day for us,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “Thanks to the support from the staff from the Rowdies and the Rays we got a flight up here because it was very difficult. The support we received was brilliant. I thought the performance of the players matched that. They worked hard, and I thought we controlled a lot of the game and I think we deserved to win it.”

• MATCHING UP: Of any of the Eastern Conference contenders, the Rowdies could be argued to have underdelivered in terms of results in relation to performance. Against Indy, Jennings’ deft finish provided an important breakthrough that allowed the visitors to make sure their 18-8 advantage in shots and 9-2 advantage in shots on target paid off.

• HOLD THE LINE: As importantly, there simply didn’t seem to be a weak link in the Rowdies’ lineup. Indy had chances, as a side with its quality will always find, but Tampa Bay managed those situations well while forcing Indy goalkeeper Hunter Sulte into numerous good saves.

• HE SAID IT: “We spoke about this at the start of the season, that we have to win these big games. Last couple of seasons we probably didn’t win as many as we’d like. We’ve now beaten New Mexico, Sacramento, Indy today, and Louisville at home. It’s important in these big games that we perform and get the results.” – Neilson

The Rowdies get another crucial game this weekend as they play host to the Battery with a five-point gap between the sides in the top three. With the form both clubs are in currently, this should be a treat to watch.

2. SACRAMENTO FINDS ITS RESET

After its defeat at home against Oakland Roots SC in June, there was a pregame desire from Sacramento Republic FC to effectively set the record straight in the rematch on Sunday afternoon in front of a national television audience.

Behind a dominant first-half display that saw the side bag three goals for the first time this season in the opening 45 minutes, Sacramento delivered just that. In doing so on the way to a 5-2 victory at Pioneer Stadium, it re-ignited its bid for the top spot in a Western Conference that remains muddled between third and 11th place.

• UPPING THE ANTE: Republic FC has been a team that at times builds its way into games. Not so on Sunday, when its energy was in evidence from the opening battles. When Kieran Phillips took advantage of an Oakland mistake to open the scoring in the fifth minute, it set the tone for the half, which saw Sacramento dominate in chances and tempo.

• MAKING CONNECTIONS: While Phillips bagged a pair of goals, the all-around contribution of midfielder Nick Ross made him the star of the game. The Scottish midfielder’s connection with Cristian Parano kept Oakland on its heels during the opening 45 minutes and delivered the best goal of the five the visitors delivered.

Oakland’s reorganization at halftime changed things for the better for the hosts, but by the time that took hold they were already in a four-goal hole. Johnny Rodriguez’s goals were excellent, and something to build on, but this was emphatically Sacramento’s day.

• READ MORE: How Sacramento Republic FC reintroduced itself into the race for first in the West

3. NICK MARKANICH, MAN ON A MISSION

What can you say at this point about what Nick Markanich is doing for the Charleston Battery?

The 24-year-old forward bagged his third brace of the season – and fourth multi-goal game overall – to lead the Battery to a comfortable 2-0 victory against Miami FC on Friday night. Markanich is now on 18 goals in 20 appearances this season having picked up his early-season pace after a slow spell in June.

• MAN ON FIRE: With his two goals against Miami, Markanich has now scored six goals in the past four outings for the Battery. More than halfway through the season, he’s scored more goals than Hartford Athletic (16) and El Paso Locomotive FC (15) have cumulatively.

• RUNNING HOT: Markanich is once again the leading domestic goalscorer in men’s professional soccer in the United States, passing Real Salt Lake’s Cristian Arango (17), who currently leads Major League Soccer’s Golden Boot race.

• HE SAID IT: “Nick’s on fire in terms of scoring goals. Everybody on the team has a job to do, some people have to save the ball, some people have to build it, some people have to run around like crazy, some cross, some pass. Nick's job is to do a lot of things and one of them he's been doing well is scoring goals.” – Charleston Head Coach Ben Pirmann with the understatement of the weekend

Markanich’s pace is currently at a goal every 93.1 minutes in the regular season. Only one player has surpassed that pace in a full season, and Cameron Lancaster did it twice for Louisville City FC in his record-setting campaign in 2018 (25 goals at 80.2 mins/goal) and his other 20-goal season in 2021 (20 goals at 92.6 mins/goal).

That’s the company Markanich is currently keeping, with the chance he could surpass Lancaster and Hadji Barry’s shared record with 14 games to play.

Three Up

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – The Hounds blitzed Hartford Athletic with three goals in the opening 21 minutes in front of a whiteout at Highmark Stadium to continue their attacking resurgence. There’s life here again.

Phillip Goodrum – The FC Tulsa forward scored the most impudent goal of the weekend against former club Memphis 901 FC and then gave a “who, me?” shrug by way of celebration. Perfect, no notes.

Pape Mar Boye – The much-hyped center back produced his best performance to date in Phoenix Rising FC’s 2-0 victory against El Paso Locomotive FC and capped it off with a fine first professional goal.

Three Down

Memphis 901 FC – Memphis lost the game and then lost their heads late against FC Tulsa. Marlon Santos and AB Cissoko’s red cards are not what this side needed.

El Paso Locomotive FC – Four consecutive defeats, three consecutive games scoreless, this is going to be a much bigger job than we were imagining for Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera.

New Mexico’s home winning streak – Despite being outshot and needing heroics from Alex Tambakis, United almost held on before Legion’s late equalizer, which illustrated how hard a winning streak like this is to maintain.

THE REST OF THE ACTION

#NCvDET: For a team down to 10 players for 85 minutes, North Carolina FC played this almost perfectly to take the lead. Detroit City FC probably deserved something in the end, but the deflected shot it took was cruel to the hosts.

#LOUvCOS: Death, Taxes, Sean Totsch Set Piece Goals. The defender with the most goals in the Championship’s history added another to his tally to dig Louisville City FC out in a game they needed to win against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC to stay on top in the East.

#PHXvELP: This was the sort of display we’ve been looking for our of Phoenix Rising FC, which was excellent value for its 2-0 win against El Paso Locomotive FC. Now, can it do it against better opposition?

#PITvHFD: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC’s players took their foot off the pedal a little bit after establishing a three-goal advantage against Hartford Athletic, but this was another big win as it tries to chase down the teams above the playoff line.

#TULvMEM: One of the ultimate indicators of the messiness we’re seeing in the Western Conference. Top-four side Memphis 901 FC was flat and ultimately paid the price against FC Tulsa, which is now 10th but boosted its playoff chances here.

#NMvBHM: After the frustration of Wednesday night, this was likely the response Birmingham Legion FC was looking for. It didn’t turn into a win against New Mexico United, but this is the effort and energy we need to be seeing from Legion from here on.

#OCvSA: Orange County SC’s improvement after an attritional first half that played to San Antonio FC’s strengths ended up being the difference, as was the fact that the hosts took the chances that SAFC was unable to.