The 2017 USL Cup playoffs is a postseason tournament following the 2017 United Soccer League regular season, the third since the league rebranded for the 2015 season, and the first as a USSF Division II league. Including USL Pro history, it is the sixth postseason tournament. The tournament will begin on the weekend of October 20 and end on the weekend of November 10.

2017 USL Cup
Tournament details
CountryUnited States
Canada
Teams16
Defending championsNew York Red Bulls II
Final positions
ChampionsLouisville City FC
Runner-upSwope Park Rangers
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Goals scored32 (2.13 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Stefano Bonomo
Brian Ownby
(3 goals each)
← 2016
2018 →

Sixteen teams (top 8 per conference) will compete in the single elimination tournament. Teams will be seeded one through eight in each conference. The conference semifinal winners will play against each other in the Conference Championship, which will serve as the overall semifinals for the playoff. The Eastern and Western Conference Championship winners will play for the USL Cup. The winner of the playoffs will be crowned league champion.[1][2]

USL Conference standings

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The top 8 teams from each conference advance to the USL playoffs.

Bracket

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Conference QuarterfinalsConference SemifinalsConference FinalsUSL Championship
 
              
 
October 20 – Louisville Slugger Field
 
 
#1 Louisville City FC 4
 
October 28 – Louisville Slugger Field
 
#8 Bethlehem Steel FC 0
 
#1 Louisville City FC 1
 
October 21 – Capelli Sport Stadium
 
#4 Rochester Rhinos 0
 
#4 Rochester Rhinos (a.e.t.) 2
 
November 4 – Louisville Slugger Field
 
#5 Charlotte Independence 1
 
#1 Louisville City FC (p)1 (4)
 
October 21 – Al Lang Stadium
 
#7 New York Red Bulls II 1 (3)
 
#3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3
 
October 28 – Al Lang Stadium
 
#6 FC Cincinnati 0
 
#3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1
 
October 21 – MUSC Health Stadium
 
#7 New York Red Bulls II (a.e.t.) 2
 
#2 Charleston Battery 0
 
November 13 – Louisville Slugger Field (ESPNU)
 
#7 New York Red Bulls II 4
 
#1 Louisville City FC 1
 
October 20 – Rio Tinto Stadium
 
#4 Swope Park Rangers 0
 
#1 Real Monarchs 1 (1)
 
October 28 – Children's Mercy Park
 
#8 Sacramento Republic FC (p) 1 (3)
 
#8 Sacramento Republic FC 0
 
October 21 – Swope Soccer Village
 
#4 Swope Park Rangers 1
 
#4 Swope Park Rangers (p)1 (4)
 
November 4 – Children's Mercy Park
 
#5 Phoenix Rising FC 1 (2)
 
#4 Swope Park Rangers (p)0 (7)
 
October 21 – Greater Nevada Field
 
#6 OKC Energy FC 0 (6)
 
#3 Reno 1868 FC 0
 
October 28 – Toyota Field
 
#6 OKC Energy FC 1
 
#6 OKC Energy FC (p)1 (4)
 
October 21 – Toyota Field
 
#2 San Antonio FC 1 (1)
 
#2 San Antonio FC 2
 
 
#7 Tulsa Roughnecks 1
 

Schedule

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Conference Quarterfinals

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October 20, 2017 (2017-10-20) East Louisville City FC 4–0Bethlehem Steel FCLouisville, Kentucky
7:30 pm EDT Morad   14', 31'
Spencer   70'
Ownby   79'
Report Real   57'
Burke   63'
Conneh   75'
Jones   87'
Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field
Attendance: 6,378
Referee: Marcos de Oliveira
October 21, 2017 (2017-10-21) East Rochester Rhinos 2–1 (a.e.t.)Charlotte IndependenceRochester, New York
6:05 pm EDT Dover   11'
Graf   53'
François   61'
Farrell   83'
Defregger   113'
Report A. Martínez   53'   120'
E. Martínez   69'
Davidson   85'
Stadium: Capelli Sport Stadium
Attendance: 1,647
Referee: Bardhyl Pashaj
October 21, 2017 (2017-10-21) East Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–0FC CincinnatiSt. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 pm EDT Schäfer   8', 25'
Hristov   61'   67'
Cole   84'
Report McLaughlin   52'
Walker   63'
Berry   90'
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium
Attendance: 6,104
Referee: Malik Badawi
October 21, 2017 (2017-10-21) EastCharleston Battery0–4 New York Red Bulls II Charleston, South Carolina
7:00 pm EDT Anunga   57'
Griffith   85'
Report Bonomo   39'
Kutler   51'
Valot   71'
Flemmings   82'
Mines   84'
Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium
Attendance: 3,410
Referee: Kevin Broadley
October 20, 2017 (2017-10-20) WestReal Monarchs1–1 (a.e.t.)
(1–3 p)
Sacramento Republic FC Sandy, Utah
8:00 pm MDT Besler   38'
Lachowecki   82'
Hoffman   86' (pen.)
Report Kiffe   20'
Espino   49'
Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium
Attendance: 2,234
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Penalties
Cruz  
Velásquez  
Haber  
Hoffman  
  Partain
  Kiffe
  Hall
October 22, 2017 (2017-10-22) West Swope Park Rangers 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 p)
Phoenix Rising FCKansas City, Missouri
3:00 pm CDT Didic   109' Report Drogba   99' Stadium: Children's Mercy Victory Field
Attendance: 912
Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.
Penalties
Selbol  
Duke  
Belmar  
Moloto  
  Lambert
  Dia
  Awako
  Mala
Note: Match was postponed due to lightning and heavy rain after the first half,[3] Second half was played the following day.
October 21, 2017 (2017-10-21) WestReno 1868 FC0–1 OKC Energy FC Reno, Nevada
5:45 pm PDT Wehan   32' Report Wojcik   41',   90+1' Stadium: Greater Nevada Field
Attendance: 4,342
Referee: Victor Rivas
October 21, 2017 (2017-10-21) West San Antonio FC 2–1Tulsa RoughnecksSan Antonio, Texas
7:30 pm CDT McCarthy   55'
Elizondo   61'
Guzmán   90+4' (pen.)
Report Gee   23'
Ayala   53'
Levin   90+2'
Rivas   90+2'
Stadium: Toyota Field
Attendance: 7,019
Referee: Timothy Ford

Conference Semifinals

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October 28, 2017 (2017-10-28) East Louisville City FC 1–0Rochester RhinosLouisville, Kentucky
7:30 pm EDT Jimenez   52'
Ownby   77'
Ranjitsingh   90+1'
Report Felix   55' Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field
Attendance: 7,117
Referee: Victor Rivas
October 28, 2017 EastTampa Bay Rowdies1–2 (a.e.t.) New York Red Bulls II St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 pm EDT Hristov   26'
Portillos   35'
Guenzatti   39'
Cole   42'
Pickens   57'
Vingaard   62'
Restrepo   66'
Paterson   116'
Report Bonomo   58' (pen.), 93'
Flemmings   86'
Ndam   96'
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium
Attendance: 5,119
Referee: Joseph Dickerson
October 28, 2017 West Swope Park Rangers 1–0Sacramento Republic FCKansas City, Kansas
4:00 pm CDT Maher   39'
Belmar   46'
Report Kiffe   41'
Ochoa   67'
Stadium: Children's Mercy Park
Attendance: 1,248
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Note: Match was moved to Papa Murphy's Park due to challenges at Children's Mercy Victory Field.[4] Then it was switched again to Children's Mercy Park.[5]
October 28, 2017 (2017-10-28) WestSan Antonio FC1–1 (a.e.t.)
(1–4 p)
OKC Energy FC San Antonio, Texas
7:30 pm CDT Elizondo   7'   97'
Gordon   51'
Castillo   112'
Report R. Dixon   72'
Wojcik   85'
Stadium: Toyota Field
Attendance: 7,032
Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.
Penalties
Guzmán  
Castillo  
Reed  
  Angulo
  Brown
  Hyland
  Wallace

Conference Finals

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November 4, 2017 (2017-11-04) East Louisville City FC 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)
New York Red Bulls IILouisville, Kentucky
7:30 pm EDT Ownby   12'
Craig   96'
Report Flemmings   57' Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field
Attendance: 10,047
Referee: Sorin Stoica
Penalties
Smith  
DelPiccolo  
Totsch  
Jimenez  
Ballard  
  Bonomo
  Martínez
  Valot
  Mines
  Kutler
November 4, 2017 (2017-11-04) West Swope Park Rangers 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(7–6 p)
OKC Energy FCKansas City, Kansas
7:30 pm CDT Didic   53' Report Barril   79'
Daly   90+3'
Wojcik   113'
Stadium: Children's Mercy Park
Attendance: 3,012
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Penalties
Selbol  
Duke  
Belmar  
Moloto  
Hernandez  
Barnathan  
Storm  
Musa  
Didic  
Maher  
Zendejas  
  Angulo
  Brown
  Hyland
  Wallace
  M. González
  D. Gonzalez
  Daly
  Wojcik
  Bond
  Fink
  Cochran

USL Championship

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November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) Final Louisville City FC 1–0Swope Park RangersLouisville, Kentucky
9:00 PM EST Lancaster   88'
Kaye   90+3'
McCabe   90+8'
Report
Report
Musa   17'
Didic   24'
Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field
Attendance: 14,456
Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Note: Niall McCabe was sent off from the bench

Championship Game MVP: Paolo DelPiccolo (LOU)

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Club Goals
1   Stefano Bonomo New York Red Bulls II 3
  Brian Ownby Louisville City FC
3   César Elizondo San Antonio FC 2
  Georgi Hristov Tampa Bay Rowdies
  Tarek Morad Louisville City FC
  Marcel Schäfer Tampa Bay Rowdies
  Wojciech Wojcik Oklahoma City Energy
8   Kharlton Belmar Swope Park Rangers 1
  Stefan Defregger Rochester Rhinos
  Amer Didic Swope Park Rangers
  Didier Drogba Phoenix Rising FC
  Luis Espino Sacramento Republic FC
  Junior Flemmings New York Red Bulls II
  Paris Gee Tulsa Roughnecks FC
  Jochen Graf Rochester Rhinos
  Éver Guzmán San Antonio FC
  Chandler Hoffman Real Monarchs
  Ethan Kutler New York Red Bulls II
  Cameron Lancaster Louisville City FC
  Enzo Martínez Charlotte Independence
  Ben Mines New York Red Bulls II
   Luke Spencer Louisville City FC
  Florian Valot New York Red Bulls II

[6]

References

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  1. ^ "USL Announces 2017 Conference Alignment". United Soccer League (USL). January 9, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  2. ^ "2017 USL Cup Playoffs Matchups Set". United Soccer League (USL). October 15, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  3. ^ "Lightning, Heavy Rain Postpones Swope Park, Phoenix". United Soccer League (USL). October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  4. ^ "Who Will Host Sacramento Republic, Swope Park Rangers Playoff Game?". sacramento.cbslocal.com. CBS13. October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  5. ^ "Children's Mercy Park to Host Rangers, Republic FC". www.uslsoccer.com. United Soccer League (USL). October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  6. ^ "USL playoff statistics". Retrieved November 13, 2017.