2018 USL season
The 2018 USL season was the eighth season of the United Soccer League and second under Division II sanctioning. The previous season, the USL had provisional Div. II sanctioning from the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) along with the North American Soccer League, but was given full sanctioning for the 2018 season with a two-year deadline to meet the full requirements set by U.S. Soccer.
| Season | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Louisville City FC |
| Regular season title | FC Cincinnati |
| Matches played | 561 |
| Goals scored | 1,612 (2.87 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Cameron Lancaster (25 – USL Record) |
| Biggest home win | TBR 5–0 OTT (April 7) LAG 7–2 LVL (May 26) OCO 6–1 TUL (June 23) NYR 6–1 ATL (July 6) LAG 6–1 SLC (September 22) |
| Biggest away win | RIC 0–6 LOU (August 25) |
| Highest scoring | POR 7–3 LAG (May 18) OKC 6–4 LVL (July 11) NYR 4–6 LOU (August 10) |
| Longest winning run | 10 wins FC Cincinnati (August 12 – October 6) |
| Longest unbeaten run | 23 games FC Cincinnati (June 2 – October 13) (USL Record) |
| Longest winless run | 18 games Toronto FC II (March 17 – July 21) |
| Longest losing run | 8 games OKC Energy FC (March 24 – May 9) |
| Highest attendance | 31,478 CIN 3–0 IND (September 29) (USL Record) |
| Lowest attendance | 50 TOR 0–0 NCA (April 18) |
| Total attendance | 2,756,759 |
| Average attendance | 4,923 |
← 2017 2019 →
All statistics correct as of November 8, 2018. | |
Louisville City FC were the defending USL Cup champions, while Real Monarchs were the defending Supporters’ Shield champions.
This season was the last for four teams in the USL, with all changing leagues for 2019 and beyond. FC Cincinnati will join Major League Soccer. MLS side Toronto FC announced that its reserve side, Toronto FC II, would drop to USL League One, a third-level league slated to launch in 2019, and the Richmond Kickers also chose to drop to League One for 2019 and beyond. Near the end of the season, Penn FC announced that it would suspend professional operations for 2019 and resume play in League One in 2020.
It was also the final season for the league under the "United Soccer League" name. Effective with the 2019 season, the league has been rebranded as the USL Championship.