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New Mexico United fans won’t see much of the club until June, but Saturday gatherings at Isotopes Park will be frequent for the remainder of the club’s 2023 season.
The USL Championship announced its regular season schedule on Monday, featuring several notable changes from 2022. The league includes 24 teams and is divided into a 12-team East and West conference. The club will play each conference opponent twice (home and away) and each non-conference opponent once (6 home, 6 away) in a 34-match schedule.
United don’t play many games at home in the early stages. NMU will play his first three games and his seven of his first ten games away, starting with his March 18 contest in Miami. The home opener will be against San Diego on April 15th.
But coach Zach Prince’s club will enjoy plenty of home cooking in the second half of the season, including a three-game homestand in June and a four-game streak of home games starting in late August.
Prince, United president Peter Trevisani and players Karen Ryden and Chris Wewen were optimistic about Monday’s schedule.
“For me, the biggest step forward for the league this year is having everyone play against everyone,” he said.
United faces major business travel. His first two games will be in Florida and California (Monterey Bay), and the September trip will see him play three days away, with NMU in Sacramento and Pittsburgh.
But Prince and his players focused more on their home schedule, taking advantage of the home fan base that led USLC attendance last season.
New Mexico set one of the USLC’s best road records (7-3-7) last season, but finished 6-6-5 at home.
“Our home record was nowhere near what it should have been,” Leiden said. “Our big goal this year is to right that wrong.”
With 14 of the 17 games on the 2023 schedule taking place on weekends (13 on Saturdays), United could surpass last season’s average home attendance of 10,724 per game. United hosted his six games on weekdays last season, and have typically drawn large crowds on weekends.
Prince also said he is very ambitious to win the club’s first home playoff game in 2023.
The league’s playoff format will change this season, with eight teams from each conference competing in postseason play. Unlike last season, there will be no first-round byes.
The USLC will have three fewer teams as MLS affiliate clubs Atlanta United 2, LA Galaxy II and New York Red Bulls II move to MLS Next Pro competition in 2023. The USLC will have several expansion franchises on the list over the next three years. , however.
The USLC website lists 3 of the 22 notable games for 2023. Rivals vs. El Paso (home on June 3), Phoenix (October 7) and the season-ending Louisville game. First appearance in Albuquerque on September 30th.
Prince said he plans to announce the signing of “four or five” players in the near future, with the team set to begin preseason training later this month.Preseason play will begin in February. However, the schedule has not yet been announced.
new mexico united
2023 Regular Season Schedule
March 18 Miami
April 1st in Auckland
April 8, Monterey Bay
April 15 San Diego
April 22, Colorado Springs
April 29 Orange County
May 5 Rio Grande Valley
May 13 Monterey Bay
May 17 at Loudoun United
May 27 San Antonio
June 3 El Paso
June 10, Tampa Bay
June 17 Rio Grande Valley
June 21 Phoenix
June 24 Colorado Springs
July 1 El Paso
July 4th, Las Vegas
July 8 Detroit
July 22 Sacramento
July 29th in Orange County
August 5th at Hartford
August 12 San Antonio
August 19th, San Diego
August 23 Auckland
August 26 Tulsa
August 30 Las Vegas
September 2 Charleston
September 9 Birmingham
September 15 Indy Eleven
September 20th, Sacramento
Pittsburgh, Sept. 23
September 30 Louisville
october 7 phoenix
October 14 Memphis
Note: All game times are TBD.
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