2022 USL Championship Playoffs
Football tournament season
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Teams | 14 |
| Defending champions | Orange County SC (2021) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | San Antonio FC |
| Runner-up | Louisville City FC |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 38 (2.92 per match) |
| Attendance | 104,695 (8,053 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) |  Santiago Patiño(5 goals) |
| All statistics correct as of November 13, 2022. | |
← 2021 2023 → | |
The 2022 USL Championship Playoffs (branded as the 2022 USL Championship Playoffs presented by Hisense for sponsorship reasons) is the post-season championship of the 2022 USL Championship. It is the twelfth edition of the USL Championship Playoffs. The playoffs began October 22, and concluded with the USL Championship Final on November 13.[1]
San Antonio FC won the regular season.[2] Defending title holders Orange County SC did not qualify for the playoffs.[3]
Format
The top seven teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs; the top team from each conference earned a bye to the conference semifinals. After the opening round the tournament will be reseeded to ensure that the top team from each conference plays the lowest seeded team and hosting rights will be determined by regular season record.[4] All playoff matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ except the Championship final on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and Sirius XM FC.[1][5]
Conference standings
| Eastern Conference
Source: USL Championship Standings
| Western Conference
Source: USL Championship Standings (C) Champions; (X) Regular Season League Champion |
|
Bracket
| Conference Quarterfinals October 22–23 | Conference Semifinals October 28–30 | Conference Finals November 5–6 | USL Championship Final November 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Louisville City FC (p) | 2 (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | 2 (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Birmingham Legion FC | 2 (7) | |||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (p) | 2 (8) | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Louisville City FC (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Memphis 901 FC | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E7 | Detroit City FC | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Memphis 901 FC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E6 | Miami FC | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Louisville City FC | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | San Antonio FC | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | San Antonio FC | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W7 | Oakland Roots SC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | San Diego Loyal SC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W7 | Oakland Roots SC | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | San Antonio FC | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W6 | Rio Grande Valley FC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Sacramento Republic FC | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Sacramento Republic FC | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W5 | New Mexico United | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Schedule
Conference Quarterfinals
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Miami FC
| October 22 East | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3–1 | Miami FC | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 7:30 PM EDT | Report |
| Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,937 Referee: Calin Radosav |
Memphis 901 FC v Detroit City FC
| October 22 East | Memphis 901 FC | 3–1 | Detroit City FC | Memphis, Tennessee |
| 8:00 PM CDT |
| Report |
| Stadium: AutoZone Park Attendance: 6,010 Referee: Elijio Arreguin |
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC v Rio Grande Valley FC
| October 22 West | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | 3–0 | Rio Grande Valley FC | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| 6:30 PM MDT | Report |
| Stadium: Weidner Field Attendance: 7,036 Referee: Mark Allatin |
Sacramento Republic FC v New Mexico United
| October 22 West | Sacramento Republic FC | 2–0 | New Mexico United | Sacramento, California |
| 7:00 PM PDT |
| Report | Stadium: Heart Health Park Attendance: 11,569 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic |
Birmingham Legion FC v Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
| October 23 East | Birmingham Legion FC | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (7–8 p) | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 6:00 PM EDT | Report | Stadium: Protective Stadium Attendance: 10,227 Referee: Eric Tattersall | ||
| Penalties | ||||
San Diego Loyal SC v Oakland Roots SC
| October 23 West | San Diego Loyal SC | 0–3 | Oakland Roots SC | San Diego, California |
| 5:30 PM PDT | Report | Stadium: Torero Stadium Attendance: 5,719 Referee: Elton Garcia |
Conference Semifinals
San Antonio FC v Oakland Roots SC
| October 28 West | San Antonio FC | 3–0 | Oakland Roots SC | San Antonio, Texas |
| 7:30 PM CDT | Report | Stadium: Toyota Field Attendance: 8,208 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic |
Louisville City FC v Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
| October 29 East | Louisville City FC | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p) | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 PM EDT | Report | Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 8,509 Referee: Elijio Arreguin | ||
| Penalties | ||||
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC v Sacramento Republic FC
| October 29 West | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Sacramento Republic FC | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| 6:00 PM MDT | Report | Stadium: Weidner Field Attendance: 7,075 Referee: Sergii Demianchuk |
Memphis 901 FC v Tampa Bay Rowdies
| October 30 East | Memphis 901 FC | 0–1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Memphis, Tennessee |
| 3:00 PM CDT | Report | Stadium: AutoZone Park Attendance: 6,063 Referee: Elton Garcia | ||
| Note: Match rescheduled from October 29 due to weather.[6] | ||||
Conference Finals
Louisville City FC v Tampa Bay Rowdies
| November 5 East | Louisville City FC | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 PM EDT | Report |
| Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 11,563 Referee: Mark Allatin |
San Antonio FC v Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
| November 6 West | San Antonio FC | 2–0 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | San Antonio, Texas |
| 7:30 PM CST | Report | Stadium: Toyota Field Attendance: 8,245 Referee: Kevin Broadley |
USL Championship Final
Similar to the 2022 MLS playoffs, the final featured the top seeds in the Eastern and Western Conferences, Louisville City FC and San Antonio FC, who were their conferences' regular-season and play-off champions. As overall regular-season champion, San Antonio FC had home-field advantage for the final.
For Louisville City, 2022 marks the fourth Championship final in five seasons, having won two of their previous three in 2017 and 2018. For San Antonio FC, this is a first USL Championship final.
San Antonio FC v Louisville City FC
| November 13 | San Antonio FC | 3–1 | Louisville City FC | San Antonio, Texas |
| 7:30 PM CST | Report |
| Stadium: Toyota Field Attendance: 8,534 Referee: Lukasz Szpala |
Championship Game MVP: Santiago Patiño (SAN)
Top goalscorers
Awards
- Goal of the Playoffs:
Charlie Dennis (OAK)[8] - Save of the Playoffs:
Jordan Farr (SAN)[9]
References
- ^ a b "USL Releases Playoff Schedule and Announces Hisense USA as Presenting Partner of Championship and League One Playoffs". www.uslleagueone.com. USL League One. September 22, 2022. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
- ^ Anderson, Stephen (October 1, 2022). "San Antonio FC Clinches Top Overall Seed With Win In Pittsburgh". fwrdaxis.com. Forward Axis. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
The historic season for San Antonio FC continued on Saturday night as they earned a 1–0 victory over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC to clinch the top overall seed in the USL Championship Playoffs, which begin at the end of the month.
- ^ "SD Loyal, Already Playoff Bound, Meets Goal of 2nd-Place Finish in Western Conference". timesofsandiego.com. Times of Sand Diego. October 1, 2022. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
Orange County, eliminated from playoff contention, pushed forward in the final minutes and found the equalizer with a goal by Milan's brother, Brian Iloski, in the 90th minute.
- ^ "USL Championship Announces 2022 Competition Format". www.uslchampionship.com. USL Championship. December 21, 2021. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
- ^ "USL Announces Broadcast Teams for USL Championship Final on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and SiriusXM Satellite Radio". uslchampionship.com. October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
- ^ infield, Matt (October 29, 2022). "901 FC playoff game postponed due to rain". www.actionnews5.com. Memphis, TN: Action News 5. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
- ^ "2022 USL Championship Playoffs Presented by Hisense: Conference Quarterfinals Schedule". www.uslchampionship.com. USL Championship. October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ "USL Championship Fans' Choice Goal of the Playoffs". USLChampionship.com Staff. November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ "USL Championship Fans' Choice Save of the Playoffs". USLChampionship.com Staff. November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
