Digging into the second part of our look back at the Eastern Conference teams that missed out on the USL Cup Playoffs in 2018, we come to a team in the Tampa Bay Rowdies for which plenty of change might be expected this offseason, and where Ottawa Fury FC, the Richmond Kickers and ATL UTD 2 stand as they start to prepare for 2019.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

The announcement earlier in October that the Tampa Bay Rowdies had been purchased by Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays made waves on a national level, and the biggest intrigue this offseason is how the Rays’ style of management is going to shake things up in terms of how the Rowdies approach this offseason and beyond.

The Rays’ approach in baseball has been to try and find incremental value that can make an impact. Jettisoning players through trades to create space on the roster for younger prospects certainly worked this season as the club took 90 wins in the American League East and positioned itself well for 2019 and beyond.

The Rowdies, by contrast, have been one of the more active teams when it comes to bringing in experienced players from elsewhere, which meant the squad’s average age at the end of the 2018 season was 28.2 years of age, second-highest in the league to only FC Cincinnati. There are younger pieces here the club may want to retain, including 22-year-old Junior Flemmings and 23-year-old Dominic Oduro, but it could mean we see more situations like that of now-retired defender Tam Mkandawire moving on from the club this offseason.

The two best-known Rowdies – with Hristov the club’s longest-serving current player after six seasons in Tampa Bay – are also the two oldest outfield members of the team but are coming off seasons where they were still valuable pieces within the squad. Hristov finished the year as the club’s leading scorer with seven tallies to become the Rowdies’ all-time leader in goals and chipped in three assists, while Cole had four goals and two assists while also taking up a role as an assistant coach following Neill Collins’ appointment midseason.

At 36-years-old, Cole says he has yet to decide on whether he’ll continue to play. If he chooses to come back for another season, there’s a clear argument for the value he brings the Rowdies in terms of visibility both locally and nationally and the leadership he provides on the field, and it could help pave the way for an eventual coaching career should he continue to fulfill the dual-role he held over the second half of this season.

For Hristov, who didn’t suit up regularly toward the conclusion, there may be a bigger question-mark. There’s a very special place in the Rowdies’ history for the 33-year-old Bulgarian, but if Tampa Bay decides its future lies with players like Leon Taylor and Stefano Bonomo then it isn’t clear where Hristov would fit in as a regular starter for the side.

Since taking over as Head Coach on May 18, Neill Collins’ side posted a record of 7-10-8 in the league and posted an even 32 goals for and 32 goals against as the rotating cast that moved in and out of Tampa Bay struggled to find any consistency and in turn missed out in its late run at a playoff place.

With a fresh slate, and new ownership to work with, it’s going to be interesting to see how Collins evolves as a Head Coach this offseason and what sort of influence he might be able to have on the roster composition. This past year, it felt like personality and chemistry issues seemed to fracture the side somewhat and ended up with players like Jack Blake being shipped on loan to Real Monarchs SLC as Collins looked to bring in players he was more comfortable with to the dressing room.

Collins will have clear ideas on the sort of soccer he wants his sides to play, and his criticism of fitness levels during the season could make for a hard-working training camp next spring. How the side reacts to a first full season in charge for the former center back is going to be crucial to the team’s performance in 2019.

Ottawa Fury FC

Ottawa Fury FC’s goal to provide a place for Canadian talent to thrive took the organization in a new direction in 2018, and one that through the performances of players like goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau – who set a new USL single-season shutout record with 15 clean sheets – and Carl Haworth were among the highlights for the side this season.

The question, though, is can some of the other Canadians within the squad raise their game in the second season under Head Coach Nikola Popovic. It was notable that the scoring lead was held by two non-Canadians in Tony Taylor and Steevan Dos Santos, while Spanish midfielder Cristian Portilla was arguably the club’s most influential player alongside Haworth and Cape Verde attacking midfielder Kevin Oliveira.

What Fury FC is doing is a tremendous initiative that has seen both Crepeau and David Edgar get call-ups to the Canadian National Team this fall, but the side is going to need more from players with plenty of promise like Thomas Meiller-Giguere and Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare if it’s going to make the project a success on the field in 2019.

Ottawa’s longest-serving player Carl Haworth has made one appearance for the Canadian Men’s National Team, and with his evolution to fullback over the course of this season became one of the brightest spots in Fury FC’s season. With speed to get up and down the flank and the retained ability to deliver a good cross, it could be a good fit for the 3-5-2 Canada has employed in its first two Concacaf Nations League qualifying contests.

Haworth led Fury FC with 30 chances created this past season while also showing good positional sense for a player learning a new role in the side. Canadian Head Coach John Herdman is clearly keeping an eye on Fury FC’s performances with the call-ups of Maxime Crepeau and David Edgar in the past two months and it might cross his mind to bring Haworth in for another look at the national team level should Haworth’s performance continue to rise in the 2019 season.

After hitting double-digits in goals in each of his first three seasons in the USL, 2018 saw a major downturn in Steevan Dos Santos’ productivity that certainly didn’t help Ottawa’s cause when it came to its postseason chances. Finishing with just five goals on 13 shots on goal for the season was a major disappointment, and doubly so because it still saw him finish as co-leading scorer for a side that struggled to hit the back of the net.

Some of Dos Santos’ 12 percent chance conversion rate could be chalked up to bad luck. He hit the woodwork four times, part of a league-leading 24 shots that came back off the woodwork for Fury FC in the 2018 regular season that left the side looking as though it was convinced things just weren’t going to go their way at times.

Getting back to where Dos Santos finished the 2017 season with a 23 percent chance conversion rate should be the goal for the player and the side, and if midseason addition Daniel Haber can add a strong secondary scoring threat, that would be a major step in the right direction for a franchise that will enter its third USL season still looking for its first postseason action.

Richmond Kickers

For a team with as proud a history as the Richmond Kickers, the closing stretch of the 2018 season had to be hard to bear for those within the organization and the devoted fans of the team. Seven consecutive defeats and the lowest goal differential in the league was a far cry from the club’s glory days earlier this decade when it lifted the USL Regular Season Championship.

The rebuild as the club makes the move to USL League One in 2019 is going to have to start with the side’s defensive corps, which was the most error-prone in the league with 17 shots and 11 goals conceded off defensive mistakes according to Opta.

When the Kickers were at their best it was because it had the bedrock of a solid defense to build around. It’s been hard for the Kickers to replace players like Henry Kalungi and Sascha Goerres, but the club’s focus must be on bringing that next generation in to restore the club’s defensive structure.

Brian Shriver was one of the bright spots for the Kickers amongst everything else and the club should be hoping it can at least begin the rebuild with the veteran forward in its ranks for next season. After moving regularly over the course of his career, it might also be an attractive proposition for Shriver to remain with a club that while coming off a down year has a tremendous structure and the potential to rebound positively while continuing to grow its fanbase.

There’s a good chance the Kickers are going to look hard at its options after some of its free agent pickups last offseason just didn’t pay off. Shriver, though, was a move that worked well as he contributed to half the club’s goals with seven tallies and eight assists. The experience he brings to what could be a younger group will be essential in being a right-hand man to Head Coach David Bulow.

The Kickers will be doing all its offseason activities with the end-goal of the club’s move to USL League One in 2019, and while it will be odd to see the USL Championship regular-season schedule without one of the league’s historic clubs the move definitely feels like the right one for a club that has come a very long way this decade.

That growth and the trust level it has engendered in the club’s support is a major reason why there should be optimism for what’s ahead for the Kickers. When the announcement was made, there was no gnashing of teeth from the River City Red Army, but instead the clear-minded sentiment that those in charge of stewarding the club were making a move that will ensure the Kickers remain part of Richmond’s sporting landscape for many years to come.

This year’s new additions to City Stadium – part of a long-term renovation project the club has committed to – are continued signs that the Kickers are in healthy shape off the field. Getting the club back into healthy shape on it too will make sure the club continues its growth in the community and region it serves.

Atlanta United 2

There was an awful lot for ATL UTD 2 to scrap through in its inaugural season, which for a lot of its players was the first prolonged exposure to the professional ranks. By the time the club ended its regular season on a four-game undefeated streak that saw it take victory against the Charleston Battery and earn draws with both the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, the club seemed to have found the level it needed to be at to compete consistently moving forward.

Finding that level consistently early next season, when the likes of Laurent Kissiedou, Lagos Kunga and Chris Goslin will have had a full offseason to take stock of the past year, could see Atlanta take a positive step forward and become more than just a late-season spoiler for those with playoff aspirations.

There’s no young player in the United States that is under a microscope from the club’s fanbase more than Andrew Carleton, whose talent put him at the No. 4 spot in the 2018 USL 20 Under 20 and whose fans are legion in both local and national circles. This offseason isn’t going to be make-or-break for the 18-year-old from Powder Springs, Ga., but it is going to be potentially very fun to watch.

First up there’s the 2018 Concacaf U20 Championship in November, for which Carleton should be a lock as a centerpiece for Head Coach Tab Ramos’ side. Earn a place at next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup there and that’s another big stage that Carleton can capture in the manner he did at last year’s FIFA U17 World Cup while leading the United States to the quarterfinals.

Then there’s the challenge of breaking in more consistently with Atlanta’s MLS side, a tough task considering the players that currently sit ahead of him in the pecking order but one that he’s going to take head on. Given the added pugnacity we started to see from his game as the season wore on for ATL UTD 2 this year, there seems to have been a little more grittiness added to the finesse Carleton brings with the ball, which is a sign that the defensive duties that get magnified the higher up the ranks he goes have become a solid part of his game.

Atlanta made the smart move of bringing in players with USL experience to help its younger players along. Now a season in, the question is going to be which players are going to be the ones that remain and play the sort of role James Chambers has with Bethlehem Steel FC over the past few seasons.

The two at the top of the list are defenders A.J. Cochran and Jack Metcalf, who sat in the top two in minutes played for the side and can bring a solid level of competitiveness and experience. The next potentially should be midseason addition and Georgia native Tyler Ruthven, who put up positive numbers after his arrival. With Devon Sandoval heading to New Mexico United to return to his home state, a veteran addition up front might also be useful as the club looks to take a jump forward in 2019.