2021 USL League One season

USL League One
Season2021
DatesApril 10 – October 30 (regular season)
November 6–20 (playoffs)
ChampionsUnion Omaha (1st title)
Regular season titleUnion Omaha
(1st title)
Matches played172
Goals scored456 (2.65 per match)
Top goalscorerEmiliano Terzaghi
(18 goals)
Biggest home winGVL 4–0 NTX
(May 1)
FTL 5–1 TUC
(May 16)
NCA 4–0 RIC
(July 21)
NTX 4–0 NCA
(August 14)
Biggest away winTRM 0–4 OMA
(October 1)
Highest scoringFTL 4–4 TRM
(October 10)
Longest winning run5 matches
RIC
Longest unbeaten run15 matches
CHA
Longest winless run8 matches
GVL
Longest losing run4 matches
MAD
GVL
NCA
TRM
TUC
2020
2022
All statistics correct as of October 30, 2021 (regular season only).

The 2021 USL League One season was the third season of USL League One. The regular season began on April 10 and ended on October 30, 2021. The playoffs was held from November 6 to 20, 2021.

North Carolina FC joined the league for this season, after leaving the USL Championship in what the team called a "strategic move" to enhance its youth development pathway.

Greenville Triumph SC were the defending champions on both regular season and playoffs. Union Omaha took both titles to won their first League One regular season and championship titles.

Teams

Club City Stadium Capacity Head coach MLS associate Jersey manufacturer Jersey sponsor
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Chattanooga, Tennessee CHI Memorial Stadium 5,000 Jimmy Obleda Adidas Transcard
Fort Lauderdale CF Fort Lauderdale, Florida DRV PNK Stadium 19,000 Darren Powell Inter Miami CF Adidas
Forward Madison FC Madison, Wisconsin Breese Stevens Field 5,000 Carl Craig Chicago Fire FC Hummel Dairyland Insurance
Greenville Triumph SC Greenville, South Carolina Legacy Early College Field 4,000 John Harkes Hummel Scansource
New England Revolution II Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium 20,000 Clint Peay New England Revolution Adidas UnitedHealthcare
North Carolina FC Cary, North Carolina Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park 10,000 John Bradford Adidas WakeMed
North Texas SC Arlington, Texas Choctaw Stadium 48,114 Eric Quill FC Dallas Adidas AdvoCare
Richmond Kickers Richmond, Virginia City Stadium 22,611 Darren Sawatzky Adidas Ukrop's
South Georgia Tormenta FC Statesboro, Georgia Eagle Field at Erk Russell Park 3,500 Ian Cameron Adidas Optim Healthcare
Toronto FC II Toronto, Ontario Grande Sports World
Osceola County Stadium
BMO Training Ground
Various Mike Muñoz Toronto FC Adidas BMO
FC Tucson Tucson, Arizona Kino Sports Complex 3,500 Jon Pearlman Puma
Union Omaha Papillion, Nebraska Werner Park 9,023 Jay Mims Nike XCancer
  MLS-affiliated
  MLS-owned
  1. Played at various stadiums in the United States due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in Canada.

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment
Forward Madison FC Daryl Shore Mutual separation October 27, 2020 Carl Craig December 1, 2020
Fort Lauderdale CF Jason Kreis Mutual separation March 16, 2021 Darren Powell March 16, 2021
FC Tucson John Galas Mutual separation June 30, 2021 Jon Pearlman June 30, 2021
  1. Pearlman was initially appointed as interim head coach, but the move was made permanent on October 7, 2021.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Union Omaha (C, X) 28 14 9 5 44 22 +22 51 Qualification for the semi-finals
2 Greenville Triumph SC 28 12 9 7 36 29 +7 45
3 Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 28 11 11 6 37 29 +8 44 Qualification for the play-offs
4 FC Tucson 28 11 7 10 44 42 +2 40
5 Richmond Kickers 28 11 7 10 35 36 −1 40
6 North Texas SC 28 10 10 8 40 32 +8 40
7 Toronto FC II 28 10 8 10 34 32 +2 38
8 New England Revolution II 28 11 4 13 33 39 −6 37
9 Forward Madison FC 28 8 12 8 32 34 −2 36
10 Fort Lauderdale CF 28 8 7 13 40 49 −9 31
11 Tormenta FC 28 8 6 14 36 47 −11 30
12 North Carolina FC 28 7 4 17 30 50 −20 25
Source: USL League One
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 6) disciplinary points; 7) drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (X) Regular Season Champion

Results table

Color key: Home  • Away  • Win  • Loss  • Draw
Club Matches
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Chattanooga Red Wolves
(CHA)
NTX NEW FTL RIC TRM TUC NCA GVL OMA TUC TRM NTX GVL MAD NCA NTX OMA TOR FTL NTX GVL NCA NEW RIC NCA TOR GVL MAD
1–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–1 3–2 3–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 3–1 0–1 0–1 3–2 1–2 0–0 1–2
Fort Lauderdale CF
(FTL)
NEW TRM NTX RIC OMA TUC CHA NEW MAD NCA TOR TOR TOR TUC RIC MAD NCA GVL TUC TRM CHA TUC TRM GVL OMA TRM NTX TOR
0–1 1–0 2–4 2–1 0–2 5–1 1–2 0–1 2–2 2–1 2–2 1–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–3 2–0 0–4 4–2 0–0 0–3 2–2 0–1 1–4 4–4 0–1 2–1
Forward Madison FC
(MAD)
TUC NCA OMA TRM FTL OMA RIC NEW GVL NEW NTX OMA FTL CHA TRM TOR NTX NCA RIC TOR GVL NEW RIC NEW RIC OMA TUC CHA
1–1 1–0 1–0 3–1 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–2 2–2 1–0 1–4 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–3 2–1 2–2 2–1
Greenville Triumph SC
(GVL)
RIC NTX NCA OMA TRM NTX NCA TRM MAD CHA NEW NCA TRM CHA TOR TRM FTL RIC TUC TOR CHA TUC MAD FTL OMA NEW CHA NCA
1–0 4–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–3 2–1 1–3 2–2 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–3 1–1 0–0 1–3 0–2 0–2 1–2 3–0 1–0 3–3 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0
New England Revolution II
(NEW)
FTL RIC OMA CHA FTL RIC OMA MAD NTX MAD GVL TOR TUC TOR NCA RIC TRM TUC TRM NCA RIC CHA MAD TOR MAD GVL NTX TOR
1–0 0–3 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–3 2–4 2–0 3–0 0–1 0–3 1–0 2–4 1–0 3–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–4 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–4 0–1
North Carolina FC
(NCA)
GVL MAD RIC TUC FTL GVL CHA RIC TOR TRM TOR RIC FTL NEW CHA NTX MAD RIC OMA NEW CHA NTX TOR CHA TUC OMA TRM GVL
1–2 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–3 2–1 0–0 0–0 2–4 4–0 3–2 0–3 1–4 0–4 1–0 0–0 0–3 4–1 1–3 0–1 0–3 2–3 2–0 1–4 1–0 0–2
North Texas SC
(NTX)
FTL GVL CHA TRM TOR TOR GVL TUC NEW RIC MAD CHA OMA TUC NCA CHA MAD OMA TUC CHA TRM OMA NCA TUC RIC FTL NEW OMA
4–2 0–4 0–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 3–0 0–0 0–3 2–3 4–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 4–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–2 1–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 4–1 1–1
Richmond Kickers
(RIC)
NEW GVL FTL TRM NCA CHA NEW MAD OMA NCA NTX FTL NCA TRM TUC TOR NEW GVL NCA MAD NEW TOR CHA MAD NTX MAD OMA TUC
3–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 0–0 1–2 3–2 0–0 1–1 1–2 3–2 1–1 0–4 2–2 1–0 1–2 2–2 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 3–2 0–2 2–4
Tormenta FC
(TRM)
FTL OMA TUC RIC NTX GVL MAD CHA TOR TOR GVL TOR TOR NCA CHA GVL RIC GVL MAD NEW FTL NEW NTX FTL OMA FTL TUC NCA
0–1 0–2 3–1 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–3 1–2 0–0 1–2 3–2 2–2 3–1 1–2 1–1 2–4 1–1 2–0 2–2 0–4 4–4 1–3 0–1
Toronto FC II
(TOR)
NTX TUC NTX OMA TUC TRM TRM FTL FTL TRM FTL TRM NEW NCA NEW GVL RIC MAD CHA GVL OMA MAD RIC NCA NEW CHA FTL NEW
2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 2–2 2–1 3–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 4–2 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 0–0 0–3 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 1–0
FC Tucson
(TUC)
TRM MAD FTL TOR NCA TOR CHA NTX OMA FTL CHA NEW OMA RIC NTX OMA FTL GVL NEW NTX FTL GVL OMA NTX NCA TRM MAD RIC
1–3 1–1 1–5 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–3 0–0 0–1 2–1 2–2 4–2 1–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 4–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 3–0 3–3 1–0 0–2 0–2 3–1 2–2 4–2
Union Omaha
(OMA)
TRM FTL NEW GVL MAD TOR MAD NEW RIC TUC CHA MAD TUC NTX TUC CHA NTX NCA TOR NTX TUC TRM FTL GVL NCA MAD RIC NTX
2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 4–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–0 3–0 2–1 2–2 0–1 4–0 4–1 0–1 4–1 1–2 2–0 1–1

Playoffs

The 2021 USL League One Playoffs (branded as the 2021 USL League One Playoffs presented by TwinSpires for sponsorship reasons) was the post-season championship of the USL League One season.

Bracket

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
1 Union Omaha 6
4 FC Tucson 1 4 FC Tucson 1
5 Richmond Kickers 0 1 Union Omaha 3
2 Greenville Triumph SC 0
2 Greenville Triumph SC (a.e.t.) 2
3 Chattanooga Red Wolves SC (a.e.t.) 2 3 Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 0
6 North Texas SC 1

Schedule

Quarter-finals

November 6, 2021 Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 2–1 (a.e.t.)North Texas SCEast Ridge, Tennessee
7:00 PM EDT
Report
Stadium: CHI Memorial Stadium
Attendance: 2,017
Referee: Joshua Encarnación
November 6, 2021 FC Tucson 1–0Richmond KickersTucson, Arizona
7:00 PM MST
Report
Stadium: Kino North Stadium
Attendance: 1,793
Referee: Jeremy Scheer

Semi-finals

November 13, 2021 Union Omaha 6–1FC TucsonPapillion, Nebraska
4:00 PM CST
Report
Stadium: Werner Park
Attendance: 3,607
Referee: Michael Radchuk
November 13, 2021 Greenville Triumph SC 2–0 (a.e.t.)Chattanooga Red Wolves SCGreenville, South Carolina
7:00 PM EST
Report
Stadium: Legacy Early College Field
Attendance: 2,851
Referee: Adam Kilpatrick

Final

November 20, 2021 Union Omaha 3–0Greenville Triumph SCPapillion, Nebraska
4:00 PM CST
Report
Stadium: Werner Park
Attendance: 5,221
Referee: Kevin Broadley

Championship Game MVP: Damià Viader (Union Omaha)

Regular season statistical leaders

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Emiliano Terzaghi Richmond Kickers 18
2 Marios Lomis Greenville Triumph SC 14
3 Greg Hurst Union Omaha 13
4 Shaan Hundal Fort Lauderdale CF 11
Marco Micaletto Tormenta FC
6 Evan Conway Union Omaha 10
Juan Galindrez Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
8 Azaad Liadi Tormenta FC 9
Charlie Dennis FC Tucson
10 Shak Adams FC Tucson 8
Mitchell Curry Fort Lauderdale CF
Garrett McLaughlin Toronto FC II

Hat-tricks

Player Club Against Result Date
Greg Hurst Union Omaha New England Revolution II 4–2 (H) June 12, 2021
Marios Lomis Greenville Triumph SC 3–0 (A) July 4, 2021
Garrett McLaughlin Toronto FC II North Carolina FC 4–2 (A) July 18, 2021
Gio Calixtro FC Tucson Fort Lauderdale CF 4–0 (A) August 22, 2021
Charlie Dennis FC Tucson Greenville Triumph SC 3–3 (A) September 19, 2021
Evan Conway Union Omaha Tormenta FC 4–0 (A) October 1, 2021
Azaad Liadi Tormenta FC Fort Lauderdale CF 4–4 (A) October 10, 2021
Evan Conway Union Omaha North Carolina FC 4–1 (H) October 16, 2021
Notes

(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Individual awards

Award Winner Team Reason Ref.
Golden Boot Emiliano Terzaghi Richmond Kickers 18 goals (league record)
Golden Glove Rashid Nuhu Union Omaha 9 shutouts, 0.75 goals against average
Assist Champion Ricky Ruiz Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 10 assists
Goalkeeper of the Year Akira Fitzgerald Richmond Kickers 10 shutouts, 89 saves, 72.1 save percentage
Defender of the Year Damià Viader Union Omaha 6 goals, 5 assists, 58 key passes
Coach of the Year Jay Mims Union Omaha Won regular season title
Young Player of the Year Noah Allen Fort Lauderdale CF 2,430 minutes, 35 interceptions, 28 key passes
Most Valuable Player Emiliano Terzaghi Richmond Kickers 18 goals; 85 shots; 40 shots on target
Goal of the Year Devin Boyce Union Omaha vs FC Tucson in the playoffs
Save of the Year Joe Rice New England Revolution II vs Greenville

All-league teams

First team
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Akira Fitzgerald (RIC) Kobe Franklin (TOR)
Jason Ramos (CHA)
Ryan Spaulding (NEW)
Damià Viader (OMA)
Marco Micaletto (TRM)
Aaron Molloy (MAD)
Ricky Ruiz (CHA)
Greg Hurst (OMA)
Marios Lomis (GVL)
Emiliano Terzaghi (RIC)
Second team
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Rashid Nuhu (OMA) Noah Franke (TUC)
Brandon Fricke (GVL)
Abdi Mohamed (GVL)
Connor Tobin (MAD)
Devin Boyce (OMA)
Charlie Dennis (TUC)
Aaron Walker (GVL)
Evan Conway (OMA)
Shaan Hundal (FTL)
Gibran Rayo (NTX)

Monthly awards

Month Player of the Month Goal of the Month Save of the Month Coach of the Month References
Player Club Position Player Club Position Player Club Coach Club
April / May Marios Lomis Greenville Triumph SC Forward Derek Gebhard Forward Madison FC Forward Dallas Jaye Greenville Triumph SC Carl Craig Forward Madison FC
June Juan Galindrez Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Forward Edison Azcona Fort Lauderdale CF Midfielder Joe Rice New England Revolution II Jay Mims Union Omaha
July Emiliano Terzaghi Richmond Kickers Forward Juan Galindrez Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Forward John Bradford North Carolina FC
August Aaron Molloy Forward Madison FC Midfielder Antonio Carlini Toronto FC II Midfielder Rashid Nuhu Union Omaha Jimmy Obleda Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
September Damià Viader Union Omaha Defender Nicky Hernandez North Texas SC Midfielder Joe Rice New England Revolution II Jon Pearlman FC Tucson
October Emiliano Terzaghi Richmond Kickers Forward Zacarías Morán Richmond Kickers Midfielder John Harkes Greenville Triumph SC

Weekly awards

See also