USL Championship Quarterfinals Are Set to be Dogfights

After a round of 16 filled with dramatic finishes, big upsets, and surprising blowouts, predicting the quarters is not going to be filled with chalk. To help me predict some of these matches, I recruited a few members of the Golz team and Golz creator (and Birmingham Legion’s biggest fan) Kaylor Hodges to see if we can give you the best look at this weekend’s action.

Sacramento Republic FC vs San Antonio FC

The only game on Friday night, the West’s number one seed hosts San Antonio FC at 10:30pm EST. Our prediction panel has this game split pretty evenly, but I feel the Sacramento Republic will repeat their June 24^th result with a big win over San Antonio.

Sacramento is unbeaten in five home games while SAFC has struggled on the road in their recent five. The win over Colorado Springs was overall unimpressive and required midfielder Jorge Hernandez to have a big performance to get a result. While Sacramento wasn’t hot in their win either, I think they will take care of business tonight against their Texas rivals.

Golz Predictions

Jose: SAFC

Jill: SAFC

Kaylor: SAC

Zeke: SAC

Charleston Battery vs Birmingham Legion FC

The Battery went 2-0 against the Legion this season to knot their overall head-to-head record at 3-3-1, but the games were far from one-sided. In their last matchup at Patriots Point, Nick Markanich was the difference with a 33’ strike from the wing.

The Battery have done a good job of keeping Legion standouts like Prosper Kassim in check, but the playoffs are an entirely different beast. With that said, the Battery’s dismantling of Indy Eleven last week has our panel confident in the Battery’s ability to sink the Legion at home.

Golz Predictions

Jose: CHS

Jill: CHS

Kaylor: BHM

Zeke: CHS

Louisville City FC vs Detroit City FC

Ignoring their head to head record, this should be a really really good game at Lynn Family Stadium. Detroit City had a big upset win over the Riverhounds and are playing really well on both sides of the ball.

Louisville City required a penalty shootout to overcome Memphis 901, and have not kept a clean sheet in their last six matches. The panel is favoring Louisville pretty heavily, but I still think this could be a really fun game to watch.

Golz Predictions

Jose: LOU

Jill: DET

Kaylor: LOU

Zeke: LOU

Orange County SC vs Phoenix Rising FC

The Phoenix are truly rising after a big game performance against the San Diego Loyal, they will be looking to crash another party against Orange County SC. Orange County are playing at home and in great form, but Jose really likes this game as another upset for Phoenix.

Sometimes teams get hot in the postseason, and while I don’t think Dariuz Formella scores another dramatic go-ahead goal in a hostile environment, I am certainly not ruling it out either.

Golz Predictions

Jose: PHX

Jill: OC

Kaylor: OC

Zeke: PHX

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