Lower90

Lower 90 Weekly June 8th

FootballNews365 / June 8, 2026

A trip through the best of minor league soccer in the US

This Week in US Soccer

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Stoppage time was absolutely ruthless across the divisions this week, with late drama rewriting results from the USL Championship all the way down to the NPSL. Charleston’s four-goal burst in seven minutes of added time headlined a weekend full of comebacks, chaos, and scorelines that looked like typos — West Chester United dropped 15 on Hershey FC in the NPSL, while Real San Jose put 11 past Oakland. The standings in USL League One and the Championship both felt the tremors, with San Antonio and New Mexico United making loud statements about where they see themselves come playoff time.

Match of the Week: USL Championship — Charleston Battery vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

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Editor’s pick: Six goals in seven minutes of stoppage time — four of them for Charleston, who were down 2-0 with the match seemingly buried — makes this not just the match of the week but one of the most genuinely unhinged results the USL Championship has produced in years. A red card, a complete collapse, and a comeback that defied every law of soccer logic.

Charleston Battery produced one of the most remarkable comebacks of the USL Championship season, scoring four stoppage-time goals to beat Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 4–2 after 90 minutes of deadlock at Patriots Point.

The first half offered little in the way of clear-cut chances but plenty of needle. Pittsburgh’s Kelp Lasse picked up a yellow card in the 39th minute, and Samuel Bassett followed him into the book just after halftime in the 46th. Charleston’s Emilio Ycaza was also cautioned in the 48th minute as tempers frayed.

The match appeared destined for a goalless draw until Lasse collected his second yellow in the 81st minute, reducing Pittsburgh to ten men for the closing stages. Even then, it was the Riverhounds who struck first — and struck twice. Robbie Mertz broke the deadlock in the 91st minute, and Jackson Walti doubled the lead just a minute later. At 2–0 down deep into added time, Charleston looked beaten.

What followed defied logic. Sean Suber pulled one back in the 92nd minute, and Miguel Berry equalized in the 93rd. The Battery pushed forward relentlessly against a Pittsburgh side now visibly rattled, and Kirill Pakhomov completed the turnaround in the 95th minute. Joey Akpunonu added a fourth in the 97th to seal a scarcely believable 4–2 victory.

Six goals in seven minutes of stoppage time — four of them for the home side — and a Pittsburgh team that went from 2–0 up to losing the match entirely. Charleston fans at Patriots Point will be talking about this one for a long time.

This Week’s Highlights

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NPSL — Hershey FC vs West Chester United SC

West Chester United SC recorded a scoreline that genuinely requires a double-take: 15–0, over Hershey FC, in an NPSL regular-season match. The carnage started immediately — four goals inside the opening 12 minutes — and Z. Zhang and H. Kelly both helped themselves to hat-tricks before the afternoon was done. L. Thomas, W. Kelly, and A. Gomaa piled on as well, making this one of the most lopsided results in the competition’s history. Hershey will want to forget this one; West Chester will dine out on it forever.

USL League One — Corpus Christi FC vs Portland Hearts of Pine

Corpus Christi were staring down a 2–1 deficit as the clock ticked toward triple figures, with Jay Tee Kamara’s 85th-minute goal for Portland apparently putting the game to bed. Hunter Morse had other ideas, pulling one back in the 90th+5’, and then Sam Roscoe-Byrne — assisted by Blake Bowen, who had opened the scoring back in the 52nd — completed the comeback at 90+8’ to make it 3–2. Two goals in three minutes of injury time to flip a result is the kind of thing that lives rent-free in a goalkeeper’s head.

NPSL — Real San Jose vs Oakland Stompers

When M. Márquez Chicas was shown a straight red card in just the 17th minute, Oakland Stompers were already in serious trouble. What followed over the next 73 minutes was a full-scale demolition — Real San Jose scored eleven goals, with F. Martinez grabbing a brace, J. Downes netting a hat-trick, and N. Colmenares adding two more in an 11–2 rout that will raise eyebrows across the NPSL. Playing a man down for nearly the entire match is brutal enough; conceding nine more goals is an entirely different kind of afternoon.

USL Championship — FC Tulsa vs San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC were losing 1–0 after Rémi Cabral put Tulsa ahead in the 18th minute, and Michael Maldonado’s 51st-minute equalizer leveled things just enough to keep the visitors in it. But it was Luke Haakenson who had the final word, drilling home at 90+1’ to complete the comeback and send San Antonio away with all three points in what the eight-yellow-card card count tells you was never a pleasant evening in Tulsa. The win keeps San Antonio firmly in the Championship conversation heading deeper into the summer.

Results Roundup

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NPSL — Niagara 1812 vs Rochester NY FC Academy — 2-2. Down 2-0 and reduced to ten men after the 70th minute, Niagara refused to fold — A. Zarcone’s 90th-minute equalizer completing a remarkable against-all-odds comeback to snatch a point.

NPSL — American Soccer Club New York vs New Haven United FC — 2-2. Ten-man New Haven played 79 minutes a man down, conceded what looked like a killer 89th-minute goal, then E. Palomeque Mena ripped a 90th-minute equalizer to leave New York absolutely gutted.

NPSL — Gio’s Lions SC Chicago vs Wisconsin Conquerors FC — 6-1. Chicago trailed after Wisconsin’s opener, then three goals in five minutes from Lorenzo and Benbella ignited a stunning turnaround that ended in a 6–1 rout.

NPSL — Vacaville Elite vs El Farolito — 0-7. El Farolito were merciless from first whistle to last, with E. Kreye adding goals in the 76th and 89th minutes to cap a dominant 7–0 demolition.

USL Championship — Hartford Athletic vs New York Cosmos — 4-1. Hartford humiliated the Cosmos on the road despite the chaos of a double red-card situation, winning going away in one of the wildest disciplinary sideshows of the season.

NPSL — Duluth FC vs Minnesota Blizzard FC — 1-1. Minnesota’s A. Soulemana hauled his side level in the 65th minute despite playing more than an hour with ten men after a 33rd-minute red card — a genuinely gutsy point.

NPSL — Niagara 1812 vs Flower City Union — 3-3. Four goals in 16 wild first-half minutes, a lead that changed hands multiple times, and F. Cugge’s 85th-minute equalizer made this six-goal thriller everything a neutral could want.

USL League One — Union Omaha vs Fort Wayne FC — 4-2. Fort Wayne leveled at 2–2 just before halftime, but Kempes Waldemar Tekiela scored twice in the second period to put Omaha firmly back in control and seal three points.

USL Championship — New Mexico United vs Phoenix Rising FC — 4-0. Four different scorers, a clean sheet, and a statement result — New Mexico United announced their title ambitions loudly with a dominant shutout over Phoenix Rising.

USL League Two — Atletico Union vs CISA — 4-4. Eight goals, two defenses that refused to cooperate, and a breathless draw — Atletico Union and CISA served up a goal-fest that kept everyone on the edge of their seats to the final whistle.

NPSL — Greenville United vs Burlington United FC — 1-1. Greenville looked set to take all three points after scoring in the 78th minute, until J. Oviedo Vera conjured a 90th-minute equalizer to deny the hosts at the death.

USL League Two — Miami AC vs Brevard SC — 2-3. Brevard SC overturned a two-goal deficit on the road, scoring three unanswered goals to steal all three points in a remarkable comeback away win.

USL W League — San Juan SC vs Marin FC Sirens — 3-4. Marin FC Sirens and San Juan traded goals relentlessly in a wide-open seven-goal thriller, with Marin edging it 4–3 on the road in an entertaining spectacle.

USL League One — Spokane Velocity FC vs Athletic Club Boise — 2-1. Three goals in five frantic minutes between the 71st and 76th saw Spokane surge ahead before Sean Lewis pulled one back for Boise, but the hosts held on for a heart-stopping victory.

NPSL — Flower City Union vs Cleveland SC — 0-1. Seven yellow cards, zero open-play goals, and N. Romero’s devastating 90th-minute own goal handed Cleveland a cruel win in one of the weekend’s most ill-tempered contests.

Until next week — keep watching the beautiful game

Originally published by Lower90 on Substack.