Greenville Triumph Mid-Season Update

Forrest Wimberly
Jul 14
4 min read

GE Vernova Park Supporter's Section Photo by Wade Wimberly

NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com

Regular Season Notes:

As the calendar turned to July, the USL League One season is approaching the halfway point on the 2026 campaign that ends in October. The Greenville Triumph have been on a roller coaster of soccer results this season and will be looking to make a strong run through the summer and into the fall to salvage the 2026 season.

The Triumph have played just 13 of their 32 total USL1 matches and are currently two spots off the foot of the table in fifteenth place with a 4W-7L-2T record on 14 points. The top eight teams make the USL1 playoffs, and the Triumph are 9 points adrift of the playoff line. Having all the games-in-hand as well as having their new home GE Vernova Park now open should certainly give the team an opportunity to make up the distance and put the Triumph into the playoff conversation in October.

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and Prinx Tires USL Cup:

The other two competitions this season didn’t go as planned for the Triumph as they failed to advance in both the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and the Prinx Tires USL Cup.

The US Open Cup was a crushing 3-1 loss to USL2 Asheville City in the opening round of play. The Triumph had barely snuck past Asheville in penalties in the 2025 Open Cup and perennial USL2 powerhouse Asheville got their revenge in 2026.

The USL Cup results were more mixed as the Triumph defeated USLC Loudoun United 3-1, were edged 1-0 by Charlotte, and thumped 3-0 by the USLC Riverhounds. The USL Cup Group Stage finale was another heartbreaking result losing 2-1 to the Richmond Kickers as the Triumph allowed an own goal and a late 80^th minute goal off a corner kick to let Richmond slip away with the victory.

Recent Form Since the Opening of the New GE Vernova Park:

The Triumph have been earning better results in their last five matches posting a 2W-2L-1T record including their first road win of the season at the NY Cosmos on July 4^th. Greenville has been better at home posting a 3W-3L-1T record while they have struggled on the road with just a 1W-4L-1T mark away from the Upstate.

Greenville has allowed 21 goals in the thirteen USL League One matches while scoring just 14 goals during the same period. If all the goals from the wins (3 vs Cosmos, 4 VS Westchester, 1 VS Madison, and 3 VS Cosmos) are removed from the totals, the Triumph have only scored three goals in the other nine matches. Added to this, the Triumph have been shutout six times in 2026, only earning a point in these matches with a scoreless draw versus Sarasota.

Clearly scoring goals and finding more attacking options are a key element needed to boost the Triumph over the second half of the season.

Individual Team Leaders:

Three players (Azaad Liadi, Brandon Fricke, and Rodrigo Robles) lead the team in scoring all with 3 goals each. Only three other Greenville players have found the nets and Fricke is a center back which illustrates the goals drought the club has been experiencing this season.

On the other end of the park, the goalkeeping has been a positive note in recent matches as Amal Knight has made 29 saves this season including 6 saves versus Sarasota to earn a much-needed point. Knight also posted the shutout win over the Cosmos, and 3 saves versus Madison in the historic first win at GE Vernova Park in the June matches.

Making a Run to Earn a Playoff Spot:

The games are there for the winning, but the Triumph need to find their scoring boots over the late summer and early fall to make this happen. The team has matches versus other teams around the Triumph in the table and these games need to be 3-point matches for the Triumph if they plan to continue to climb the ladder to the playoff line.

It’s not a must-win situation in any game just yet in the Upstate, but upcoming wins versus 13^th place Naples, 12^th place Corpus Cristi, 10^th place Chattanooga, 9^th place Portland, and 16^thplace Richmond would have a major impact in the Triumph’s playoff hopes no matter how they play versus the top USL1 teams like Charlotte, Omaha, and Knoxville still looming on the schedule.

The goalkeeping and defensive group can keep the team in almost any of the remaining matches leaving it up to the attack to find a way to earn the three points.

Final Thoughts:

It won’t be easy and not many soccer pundits see this coming…but the Triumph can be a playoff team in 2026 with everything coming together over the next months. To make this happen the Triumph will need to:

1. Make GE Vernova Park a fortress and don’t lose another match at home. 2. Beat the teams around them in the standings to climb the table. 3. Find a few more goals in each match, especially off set pieces, to give the team some breathing room in matches.

The Triumph have nine matches from today to the end of August. If the team wants to make this playoff run it will be over these next six weeks during these nine matches. If the Triumph can go on a run and close the gap to 4 or fewer points outside the playoff line…they will definitely find the remaining points down the stretch to close out the season and make the 2026 postseason.