It’s now week six, and we’ve kind of found an off-again on-again biweekly rhythm with these rankings. Whether that’s from me putting these off for too long or giving the teams enough time to shake things out on their own… well, we’ll let you, the reader, decide.

The story this week is we have our first repeat #1! The South Atlantic has been a bit topsy-turvy so far in 2018 but one team is starting to assert their dominance over the division.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at this week’s rankings.

Week 6

1. Myrtle Beach Mutiny, 5–2–2, 17 pts (Last week: 1st)

After losing 3–0 to Tormenta on June 9th the Mutiny have won two in a row scoring 11 goals and conceding just three. Romario Piggott dropped four goals on Charlotte on his own…

His five goals on the season jump him to the top of the team scoresheet ahead of Nazeem Bartman and Jon Ibarrondo. The Mutiny have tallied 24 goals this season, the 3rd highest by any team in the entire PDL.

Last week, Myrtle Beach also overcame three goals from the Dynamo with four goals of their own in the second half (TWO IN STOPPAGE TIME!) to rally to a 5–3 win and remain at the top of the standings.

The big test for Myrtle Beach will come in the next two games as they host Tormenta FC on Wednesday, June 20 and travel to Cary on Saturday, June 23 to take on NCFC U23. Both teams held the Mutiny scoreless in their previous matchups.

If, and it’s a big if, the Mutiny came come out of those next two games with four (or more) points, then you may be looking at the leader in the clubhouse for the South Atlantic Division.

2. North Carolina FC U23, 4–2–3, 15 pts (LW: 3rd)

After a 3–0 win against Lionsbridge and four wins in their last six games, the Baby Dead Whales are shooting up the charts. The U23’s of NCFC took some time to get started this season, but they’re heating up at just the right time to make a run at the South Atlantic playoff spot.

Sheriff Secka opened the scoring against the Bridge before Dean Rutherford added a brace to send the Baby Dead Whales home with all three road points. Secka, the NC Wesleyan product, now leads the team in scoring with three goals on just six shots this season.

NCFC U23 will travel to Durham to take on Tobacco Road on Wednesday night (6/20) before a monumental showdown against Myrtle Beach on Saturday afternoon in what could decide the South Atlantic’s playoff spot.

(Someone get ahold of the NCFC staff and make sure that game gets streamed! I don’t need commentary, just turn a camera on the field and make sure the signal is legit!)

3. Charlotte Eagles, 3–3–1, 10 pts (LW: 2)

Charlotte, plain and simple, needs a win on Friday when Lionsbridge comes to the Sportsplex. The Eagles are in a nosedive. They’ve lost two in a row and have been shut out in three consecutive matches for the first time since joining the PDL in 2015. Last Saturday’s 3–0 to the Bantams gave SC United it’s first win over the Eagles in franchise history.

Is first-year head coach Luke Helmuth in over his head with the Eagles? No… he’s a solid coach that is just learning what it’s like to deal with the ups and downs of a PDL season. I think Helmuth will sort out this rough patch and get the Eagles to take advantage of the two games in hand they have on the teams at the top of the standings.

The first step is getting all three points at home on Friday night (6/22) when Lionsbridge comes calling. Charlotte turns around to host Tobacco Road in a mid-week game next Wednesday (6/27). Win both of those, and the Eagles are back in business.

4. Tobacco Road FC, 3–4–0, 9 pts (LW: 4)

The Bulls stopped their franchise worst four-game losing streak with a 3–2 win over Lionsbridge last Wednesday. Mustapha Wadda got the Bulls off to a quick start with a goal just two minutes into the game before Ben Fisher and Oscar Moreno Veliz added two more for the hosts.

Wadda extended his lead at the top of the goal-scoring chart for Tobacco Road to three goals. What’s crazy is that other than Wadda, no other TRFC player has scored more than once: Seven players are second on the team in scoring with one goal a piece.

There is still hope for the TRFC faithful as they, like Charlotte, have two games in hand on most of the division. They’ll need to make the most of their opportunities against teams ahead of them in the table, starting with NCFC U23 who comes to Durham County Stadium on Wednesday night (6/20) if they want to keep their dream of a first-ever playoff trip alive.

5. Lionsbridge FC, 2–4–3, 9 pts (LW: 5)

One win in their last six and three of their next five games on the road is not what the folks in Newport News envisioned when they dreamed about their inaugural PDL season.

The Lions started the season well with five points in their first three matches but have seen the wheels come off a bit lately being shut out in two of their last three.

It doesn’t look to get any easier for Lionsbridge with trips to Charlotte on Friday (6/22) and Myrtle Beach on Saturday (6/30) next up. We talked a couple of weeks ago about how the PDL tests you: Well, we’ll see how strong the Lions are in the next couple weeks.

The fans of the Bridge have proved their mettle as they’ve traveled to games to support their boys. Let’s hope the team can give them something worth cheering for (besides chicken) these final few weeks of the season.

6. Carolina Dynamo, 1–6–1, 4 pts (LW: 6)

Oh what could have been for the Carolina Dynamo, up 3–1 at the half against the defending division champs, Myrtle Beach, on the road. It could have been a turning point, a rallying cry in a season that hasn’t lived up to expectations.

Alas, it was all for naught as the Mutiny came roaring back in the second half and put up four goals to send the Dynamo back to Greensboro with their fourth consecutive loss.

The four straight losses are the most since coach Tony Falvino took over and the road doesn’t look to get any easier as they welcome in a red-hot SC United Bantams (6/23) team to Greensboro before traveling to NCFC U23 (6/26) and Tobacco Road (6/29) in the coming weeks.

The lone bright spot for the Dynamo is new High Point University’s Ilias Kosmidis has three goals in his last three games for the club. The UTRGV transfer scored nine goals in two seasons for the Vaqueros before transferring to High Point.

There you have it, a look at where the teams in the South Atlantic rank after the first half of the PDL season. What game are you looking forward to most this week? Who do you think will make the biggest move in next week’s rankings? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and subscribe to our lower-division soccer podcast, SNST’s Amateur Hour. See you next week.