TAMPA, Fla. – The fifth week of the 2016 USL season features 13 games from Friday through Sunday, including a busy five-game Friday slate and the launch of the USL’s digital partnership with ESPN. ESPN3 is offering 20 exclusive USL Game of the Week broadcasts, live and in HD, starting with Friday’s match between the host Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Orlando City B at Highmark Stadium.

Week 5 kicked off on Wednesday with defending Western Conference regular-season champion Orange County Blues FC earning a 1-0 victory against the Portland Timbers 2.

Every game of the 2016 USL season will be available on the league’s Match Center, with updates from across the league also available via Twitter, Facebook, Vine and Instagram.

GAMES TO WATCH
Friday, April 22
Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs. Orlando City B
7 p.m. ET, Highmark Stadium
The ESPN3 USL Game of the Week debuts with Pittsburgh and Orlando in a matchup of two Eastern Conference sides eager to find their first win of the season.

The Riverhounds (0-1-1) have only played two matches thus far as snow caused a postponement of the Keystone Derby matchup against the Harrisburg City Islanders on April 9 (rescheduled for July 17). They are coming off a 2-2 draw against Toronto FC II last Saturday, with Conor Branson tallying a stoppage-time equalizer.

Orlando (0-3-1), one of six expansion teams for the 2016 season, is the last remaining newcomer in search of its first USL victory. OCB posted a scoreless draw against the Charleston Battery on April 1, but since then has dropped games to Louisville City FC and the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Wilmington Hammerheads FC vs. New York Red Bulls II
7 p.m. ET, Legion Stadium
Two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference square off when Wilmington (2-1-1, 7 points) hosts the New York Red Bulls II (2-0-2, 8 points).

The Hammerheads have been an early success story, rebounding quickly from last year’s disappointing last-place finish in the East that included only three wins for all of 2015. Wilmington has its first chance to already match that win total this weekend, coming off a 2-0 victory against FC Montreal last week.

NYRB II’s momentum from last year, which included an Eastern Conference quarterfinal win against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, has carried into the club’s second USL campaign. They have performed well on both sides of the ball. The defense has posted three consecutive shutouts, including a scoreless draw against the defending USL champion Rochester Rhinos last Sunday. Offensively, even though NYRB II came up empty against Rochester, the club has been a force in the attacking third with Brandon Allen leading the way with three goals.

Saturday, April 23
OKC Energy FC vs. Swope Park Rangers
8 p.m. ET, Taft Stadium
With a five-hour drive separating the two sides, a new regional USL rivalry will commence this weekend when third-year OKC hosts the expansion Rangers. Swope, owned and operated by Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City, is off to a hot start with a 2-0-1 record, entering the weekend tied for second place in the Western Conference.

OKC, which advanced to the Western Conference Final of the 2015 USL Playoffs, is searching for its first win of the new season, currently sitting at 0-1-1. Energy FC was supposed to face Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 last Sunday, but the match was postponed when massive snowstorms at Denver International Airport made travel arrangements unmanageable for OKC.

Some familiar former OKC names will be on the pitch for this one as Swope captain Christian Duke and defender Jacob VanCompernolle were important figures during Energy FC’s postseason run last year.

MILESTONES
- Louisville City FC forward Chandler Hoffman, who was voted the USL Player of the Week for the fourth week of the season after posting a hat trick, became the 24th player to score 20 or more career goals in the USL. Hoffman now has 21 goals and is in a tie for 18th on the all-time goal-scoring list.

- The Charlotte Independence’s Jorge Herrera moved into sole possession of fourth place on the USL’s all-time goal-scoring list with his 34th career goal – a second-half tally during the team’s 3-2 victory against the Charleston Battery last Saturday. Herrera is one goal ahead of Louisville City FC’s George Davis IV (33) and is four goals behind third-place Matt Fondy (38), the 2015 USL MVP, Golden Boot winner and USL single-season record holder with 22 goals last year.

- Swope Park Rangers forward Dane Kelly is the league’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 43 during his career. Kelly sits two goals ahead of the Richmond Kickers’ Matthew Delicate (41).

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES
- Two of the five remaining unbeaten teams in the USL will meet up in a Western Conference battle as the LA Galaxy II (2-0-3) host Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (2-0-1) on Friday at StubHub Center. LA has posted three consecutive draws, the most recent a 1-1 tie against expansion San Antonio FC on April 13. The Galaxy II’s Jack McBean is tied for the league lead with Louisville’s Chandler Hoffman with four goals this season. Vancouver has not played since its scoreless draw against Sacramento Republic FC on April 10.

- Louisville City FC, fresh off its 3-2 victory against FC Cincinnati in front of a USL regular-season record crowd of 20,497, looks to maintain that success when it travels to Pennsylvania to face the Harrisburg City Islanders on Friday (7 p.m. ET). The game is Harrisburg’s home opener at FNB Stadium. The City Islanders (1-2-1, 4 points) are coming off their first win of the season last Saturday – a 1-0 victory against Orlando City B, in which Cardel Benbow scored the lone goal and was named to the USL Team of the Week. Louisville (3-1-0, 9 points) leads the Eastern Conference heading into the weekend.

- San Antonio FC (1-1-2, 5 points) wraps up a difficult three-game, 11-day road trip when it faces Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Saturday at Switchbacks Stadium (3:30 p.m. ET). Expansion SAFC is coming off its first defeat, a 1-0 loss at Orange County Blues FC, which was preceded by a 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy II. Colorado Springs (2-1-0, 6 points) also is looking to rebound heading into this weekend after falling 1-0 to Seattle Sounders FC 2 last Sunday at Starfire Stadium. Colorado Springs has thrived at home. Last year the Switchbacks posted six shutout victories, and this year the club did the same in its one previous home match of 2016, a 2-0 victory against Arizona United SC on April 9.

- Saint Louis FC heads back on the road for its fifth away match in six games when it faces Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday at Bonney Field (10:30 p.m. ET). Saint Louis (1-2-2, 4 points) enjoyed a small break from the road when it held its home opener last Saturday, posting a scoreless draw against Tulsa Roughnecks FC in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,531 at World Wide Technology Soccer Park. Sacramento (2-1-1, 7 points) will welcome the return to Bonney after posting its first loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat to the Portland Timbers last Sunday at Merlo Field. That game also included the first goal conceded by Sacramento’s defense. Six of Republic FC’s next seven games are at home, with the lone road match being a May 7 clash against the LA Galaxy II.