Charleston, Orange County and San Antonio win in USL Championship action

Charleston Battery, Orange County SC and San Antonio FC all handled major Western and Eastern Conference pressure on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, and the three wins reshaped the race near the top of the USL Championship table. Charleston rolled past Loudoun United 4-1 at Ralph Lundy Field at Patriots Point, Orange County beat Miami FC 4-2 at Pitbull Stadium, and San Antonio slipped past Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 2-1 at Weidner Field.

Charleston looked like a team with a home edge the rest of the league will have to plan around. The Battery stretched their home undefeated streak to 21 matches and picked up a third straight league win, then backed it up with four different scorers: Maalique Foster, Colton Swan, Emilio Ycaza and Jeremy Kelly. Ycaza was the engine, finishing with a goal and two assists, while Loudoun’s only response came from Luca Piras in the second half. The result left Charleston in second place in the Eastern Conference behind Tampa Bay Rowdies, and it came with the kind of clean, repeatable attacking production that travels in the standings even when the venue does not.

Orange County’s statement was different: this was a comeback built on a winger who kept breaking the game open. Miami FC struck first through Alessandro Milesi in the 14th minute, but Orange County answered before halftime and then pulled away after the break in a 4-2 win that kept it atop the Western Conference. Yaniv Bazini scored twice, Nico Benalcázar supplied two assists, and Stephen Kelly plus 18-year-old Efren Solis added the other goals. Solis scored his first USL Championship goal in stoppage time, a tidy final note on a night that also reinforced Orange County’s standing as the league’s best escape artist, with eight points gained from losing positions this season, second only to Louisville City FC.

San Antonio’s 2-1 road win may be the one that should worry the rest of the conference most. At Weidner Field, Jorge Hernández delivered two assists, Dmitrii Erofeev scored, and Alex Crognale put away the winner in the second half as San Antonio moved back into second place in the Western Conference. The ingredients were familiar and dangerous: a creator in Hernández, a finisher in Crognale, and a team that can win tight games away from home. In a crowded playoff picture, that combination is usually the one that holds up longest.