| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States Canada | 
| Teams | 16 | 
| Defending champions | Louisville City FC | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Louisville City FC | 
| Runner-up | Phoenix Rising FC | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 | 
| Goals scored | 43 (2.87 per match) | 
| Top goal scorer(s) | Didier Drogba Brian Ownby Michael Seaton (3) | 
The 2018 USL Cup Playoffs was the postseason tournament following the 2018 United Soccer League regular season, the fourth since the league rebranded for the 2015 season, and second as a USSF Division II league. Including USL Pro history, it is the seventh postseason tournament. The tournament will begin on the weekend of October 20 and end on November 8.
Sixteen teams (top 8 per conference) will compete in the single elimination tournament. Teams will be seeded one through eight in each conference. The conference semifinal winners will play against each other in the Conference Championship, which will serve as the overall semifinals for the playoff. The winners of the Eastern and Western Conference Championship will play for the USL Cup. The winner of the playoffs will be crowned league champion.
FC Cincinnati clinched the USL regular-season title on September 26 and will be the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.[1]
Conference standings
The top 8 teams from each conference advance to the USL playoffs.
| Eastern Conference 
 | Western Conference 
 Source: 2018 USL standings | 
 | 
Bracket
Schedule
Conference quarterfinals
| October 20, 2018[2] East | FC Cincinnati | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (6–5 p) | Nashville SC | Cincinnati, Ohio | 
| 4:00 p.m. EDT | Bone  95' Smith  104' Ledesma  111' | Report | Davis  110' Bourgeois  115' Tyrpak  116' | Stadium: Nippert Stadium Attendance: 20,217 Referee: Farhad Dadkho | 
| Penalties | ||||
| Adi  McLaughlin  Smith  Hoyte  Lasso  Walker  |  Doyle  Allen  Winn  LaGrassa  Tyrpak  Davis | |||
| October 20, 2018[3] East | Charleston Battery | 0–1 | New York Red Bulls II | Charleston, South Carolina | 
| 7:00 PM EDT | Bolt  16' | Report | Barlow  21' Stroud  66' | Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Attendance: 1,687 Referee: Rosendo Mendoza | 
| October 20, 2018 East | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (7–8 p) | Bethlehem Steel FC | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 
| 7:00 PM EDT | Zemanski  25' Dover  86' Roberts  105'  109' Forbes  113' Holland  119' | Report | Moumbagna  45' Ngalina  70' Chambers  109' Nanco  111' | Stadium: Highmark Stadium Attendance: 5,189 Referee: Michael Radchuk | 
| Penalties | ||||
| Kerr  Forbes  Banjo  Greenspan  François  Vancaeyezeele  Dabo  Lee  |  Chambers  Nanco  Holness  Moar  Skundrich  Mahoney  Real  Mbaizo | |||
| October 20, 2018 East | Louisville City FC | 4–1 | Indy Eleven | Louisville, Kentucky | 
| 7:30 p.m. EDT | McCabe  29', 48'  66' Ilić  42' Lancaster  73' | Report | Mitchell  46' Saad  67' Ouimette  72' | Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 6,763 Referee: Mark Allatin | 
| October 19, 2018 West | Phoenix Rising FC | 3–0 | Portland Timbers 2 | Tempe, Arizona | 
| 7:30 p.m. MST | Drogba  28' Johnson  62' Asante  90' | Report | Zambrano  40' Hanson  84' Diz Pe  90+5' | Stadium: Phoenix Rising Soccer Complex Attendance: 7,511 Referee: Rubiel Vazquez | 
| October 20, 2018 West | Real Monarchs | 0–1 | Reno 1868 FC | Herriman, Utah | 
| 3:00 PM MDT | Velásquez  45+4' | Report | Brown  90+2' | Stadium: Zions Bank Stadium Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Ismir Pekmic | 
| October 20, 2018 West | Orange County SC | 4–0 | Saint Louis FC | Irvine, California | 
| 7:00 PM PDT | Seaton  11', 29', 64'  21' Quinn  47' Bjurman  66' | Report | Walls  21' Hertzog  88' | Stadium: Championship Soccer Stadium Attendance: 3,360 Referee: Ramy Touchan | 
| October 20, 2018 West | Sacramento Republic FC | 1–2 | Swope Park Rangers | Sacramento, California | 
| 7:30 PM PDT | Bijev  16' Matjašič  38' Hord  68' | Report | Kuzain  27' Barry  31' Akhmatov  58' | Stadium: Papa Murphy's Park Attendance: 11,569 Referee: Joseph Dickerson | 
Conference semifinals
| October 27, 2018 East | FC Cincinnati | 0–1 | New York Red Bulls II | Cincinnati, Ohio | 
| 4:00 p.m. EDT | Adi  41' | Report | Moreno  12'  72' | Stadium: Nippert Stadium Attendance: 16,617 Referee: Tim Ford | 
| October 27, 2018 East | Louisville City FC | 2–0 | Bethlehem Steel FC | Louisville, Kentucky | 
| 7:30 p.m. EDT | Ownby  34', 59'  79' Smith  64' | Report | Moar  57' Mbaizo  83' Ofeimu  86' | Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 6,881 Referee: Farhad Dadkho | 
| October 26, 2018 West | Phoenix Rising FC | 4–2 | Swope Park Rangers | Tempe, Arizona | 
| 7:30 p.m. MST | Johnson  22' Drogba  29'  90+4' Cortez  36' Lambert  48' | Report | Blackwood  26' Barry  33' Akhmatov  49' | Stadium: Phoenix Rising Soccer Complex Attendance: 7,707 Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr. | 
| October 27, 2018 West | Orange County SC | 1–0 | Reno 1868 FC | Irvine, California | 
| 7:00 PM PDT | Alston  21' Quinn  29' Duke  90+2' | Report | Richards  12' Brown  41' Hoppenot  45+2' | Stadium: Championship Soccer Stadium Attendance: 4,021 Referee: Victor Rivas | 
Conference finals
| November 2, 2018 East | Louisville City FC | 5–1 | New York Red Bulls II | Louisville, Kentucky | 
| 7:30 p.m. EDT | Ilić  23' (pen.),  40' Spencer  32' Davis  61' Craig  65' Ownby  69',  81' Williams  73',  75' McCabe  80' | Report | Ndam  22' Tinari  44' Barlow  60' | Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 10,059 Referee: Ramy Touchan | 
| November 3, 2018 West | Orange County SC | 1–2 | Phoenix Rising FC | Irvine, California | 
| 7:00 p.m. PDT | Chaplow  47' Hashimoto  82' | Report | Cortez  2' Drogba  73' Forbes  90+7' | Stadium: Championship Soccer Stadium Attendance: 5,189 Referee: Tim Ford | 
USL championship
| November 8, 2018[4] Final | Louisville City FC | 1–0 | Phoenix Rising FC | Louisville, Kentucky | 
| 8:00 PM EST | Smith  45' Spencer  62',  90+1' Ranjitsingh  90+3' | Report | Farrell  39' Drogba  73' Lambert  85' | Stadium: Lynn Stadium Attendance: 7,025 Referee: Joseph Dickerson | 
Championship Game MVP: Luke Spencer (LOU)
Top goalscorers
References
- ↑ Brennan, Patrick. "FC Cincinnati takes USL regular-season title with 4-1 win against Richmond Kickers". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ↑ Brennan, Patrick. "FC Cincinnati announces playoff match dates, times, ticket pricing information". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ↑ Cardamone, Sarah. "PLAYOFF TICKETS NOW ON SALE". CharlestonBattery.com. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ↑ "2018 USL Cup Scheduled for Nov. 8". USLsoccer.com. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
- ↑ "Playoffs Stats". United Soccer League.





