TAMPA, Florida, CMC – Former teammates, Trinidad & Tobago defender Leland Archer and Bermudian forward Zeiko Lewis could be on a collision path if their respective sides pass the test in the semi-finals of the United Soccer League Championship on Saturday in the United States.
Archer is on the roster of the Charleston Battery side that faces Louisville City FC in the Eastern Conference final at Patriots Point Stadium in the town of Mount Pleasant in the state of South Carolina. Lewis is on the roster of the Sacramento Republic FC side that meets Phoenix Rising FC in the Western Conference final at Heart Health Park in the city of Sacramento in the state of California.
The teams will be playing for a place in the USL Championship final next Sunday at a venue to be announced.
The two Caribbean footballers used to be teammates at the Battery. Lewis beat out Archer for the club’s Player-of-the-Year award two seasons ago before leaving for greener pastures in Sacramento last season.
Archer was part of the Battery line-up for the Eastern Conference semi-finals last Saturday on home soil, where they took an early lead through a goal from Emilio Ycaza before Derek Dodson scored the winner off a deflected Nick Markanich shot.
This will be the third meeting for the season between the Battery and LouCity after the previous two matches ended in draws.
The sides drew 0-0 at Patriots Point in April and 1-1 at Lynn Family Stadium in August in Louisville, Kentucky, where Lou City is located.
The sides have also met twice before in the playoffs, with the visitors winning both matches, a streak that the Battery hopes to end this time.
The match will feature the two goalkeepers with the most shut-outs across the regular season and playoffs in the Championship this season, so the strikers on both sides must be at their best.
Lewis was not part of the No. 1 seeded Republic line-up that punched their ticket to the Western Conference final with a 3-1 win against 2022 USL Championship winners, San Antonio FC, last Friday on home soil – and looks doubtful to start.
This will also be the third meeting for the season between the Republic and Rising after each side defended their home ground.
Republic won 4-0 on July 26 behind goals from four players, and Phoenix resisted a late push from the visitors to win 2-1 on August 30.
It’s been an eventful all-time fixture between the two clubs, who have played 24 times in the past nine years, and they have split the results right down the middle, each claiming eight wins, draws, and losses across all competitions.
Republic will enter the match with confidence, but they will not discount Rising, who have advanced on the back of two straight late winners.
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