No New York (Yet): 2025 USL Championship Preview - NY Neighbours
With New York City locals Brooklyn FC delaying its men's team debut until 2026, the Soccer Times takes a look at some of the teams in nearby or neighbouring states as an excuse to preview the upcoming USL Championship season.
The 2025 USL Championship arrives at the start of a potentially big moment for the USL on the back of the announcement it plans to launch a Division I league in 2027/28.
The USL Championship is currently the United States' Division II league, and will likely remain in its current guise with a new league added above it named something like USL Premier.
Teams across the league will be pondering their future and what that looks like – whether they will push for a place in the top division or continue to build foundations and support at their current level.
After all, if the new plan is to be a success, the USL will still need strong franchises at the Division II and Division III levels, so not all teams will need to make the step up.
For now, the Championship remains the highest level of USL play, and the next highest level of professional men's football in the United States after Major League Soccer.
In 2025, the league and many of its teams will start looking to prove they can be something more.
2024 Players' Shield winner: Louisville City
2024 Champion: Colorado Springs Switchbacks
Rhode Island FC
A fifth-place finish in the Eastern Conference in its inaugural season was decent enough for Rhode Island FC, but a run to the USL Championship Final once in the playoffs, winning the Eastern Conference title in the process, turned it into one of the best debut seasons in league history.
Could it hint at more to come in 2025?
Outstanding first seasons can sometimes be difficult to follow, but as Rhode Island moves into a new soccer-specific stadium at Tidewater Landing for 2025, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team keep their momentum going, and maybe even build on it in league play.
The new 10,500 capacity stadium on the banks of the Seekonk River in Pawtucket might also mean the franchise has an eye on a place in the new Division I league in the future, despite only just arriving in the Championship.
For now, it will be looking to at least maintain its 2024 performance and maybe even improve on its league position.
2024 assists leader Noah Fuson and fellow attackers JJ Williams and Albert Dikwa will be important once again, while versatile Cuban defender Frank Nodarse also chipped in with six goals for the team that scored the third-most in the Championship last year.
Such players could help set the tone at Tidewater Landing once the team plays its home opener in May after kicking off the season with five road games.
A new home advantage and some extra clean sheets are where the real strides can be made by Rhode Island in 2025 if they are to build on that impressive debut.
Loudoun United
The former reserve team of nearby MLS team DC United enters its third season as an independent USL franchise and seventh overall still looking to qualify for the playoffs for the first time.
Despite conceding the fifth-fewest goals in the league in 2024 and finishing with a goal difference of +5, Loudoun still finished second from bottom in the Eastern Conference and outside the playoff places.
It would seem the problem is clear – not enough goals – so the performance of the forward pairing of Wesley Leggett and Zach Ryan will be key, but the thing that will propel Loudoun into playoff contention is converting more narrow defeats into points and more ties into wins, especially away from home.
In 2024 Loudoun lost seven games by a single goal and drew nine. Improvement will come from converting more chances in tight games.
The addition of midfielder Moses Nyeman should make them better in and out of possession, and if he can convert his ball-winning into progressive passing and carrying in attack, he could be a difference-maker for the team based in Leesburg, Virginia.
Hartford Athletic
Hartford's 2024 season was very much one of trying to recover from a worst-ever performance in 2023 when it won just four games and finished bottom of the Eastern Conference.
The recovery looked to have been completed in the second half of 2024 when penalty box goal-poacher Mamadou Dieng became a regular starter and the team lost just three of its last 16 games.
Dieng scored 11 goals in a run of 18 games (17 of them starts) towards the end of last season and if he keeps that going into 2025, Hartford have a Golden Boot challenger on their hands.
Jonathan Jimenez joined in the off-season from NYCFC II and could create chances for Dieng from wide, complementing the pace of other attacking options Michee Ngalina and Deshane Beckford.
Hartford hasn't qualified for the playoffs since 2020 so, similar to Loudoun, the aim for this season is clear.
Pittsburgh Riverhounds
On the west side of Pennsylvania sit one of the jewels in the USL crown, and the most likely of these four teams to take a place in a Division I USL league should one materialize.
Head coach Bob Lilley is looking for his team to control games more with the ball in 2025 after having the second-lowest possession average in 2024 with 45%, just above Miami FC's 44%.
The Riverhounds have qualified for the playoffs for seven seasons running, which is the second-longest active streak in the league behind Louisville City, and the longest streak of any of Pittsburgh's four professional sports teams.
However, last season needed an impressive run in the second half of the season to make up for a poor start, even though it came on the back of a Players' Shield win in 2023.
Pittsburgh needs to turn clean sheets and the best defense in the league into wins, and they hope the signing of striker Augustine Williams will help with that.
Extra Time
Backheeled 2025 USL Championship team by team previews by John Morrissey
