After the opening six weeks of the 2019 USL Championship campaign, just five teams remain unbeaten in league play.

In the Eastern Conference, there are traditional playoff contenders in the New York Red Bulls II (who have played just four games) and the Tampa Bay Rowdies. In the West, we have 2018 USL Cup finalist Phoenix Rising FC, upstart expansion side New Mexico United and Fresno FC.

Honestly, there are no surprises here.

Some of you may not have seen Tampa Bay turning things around so quickly or New Mexico setting a new standard for Championship expansion teams (all I can say is I warned you), but the odd name out on this list to most of you is Fresno. And it shouldn’t be.

The Foxes have been flying under the radar since joining the league as an expansion team in 2018. While the club may not have made the first impression that New Mexico has – the Foxes won just twice in their opening 12 matches – it has shown the ability to hang around with the big boys.

In a three-game stretch last summer, Fresno picked up decisive home victories against Western Conference frontrunners Sacramento Republic FC (2-0) and Rising FC (4-0) and sandwiched a 4-2 road win over the postseason-bound Portland Timbers 2 in between.

Also amongst the Foxes’ nine wins were fellow playoff sides Saint Louis FC and the Swope Park Rangers but Fresno struggled to pick up three points against the bottom teams in the table. The club’s 12 draws tied for the second-most in the West and proved to be a case of too many points dropped to sustain a push for a postseason berth.

However, Head Coach Adam Smith’s side produced the metrics to suggest there was hope for a sophomore surge in 2019.

Fresno had one of the league’s sturdier defenses last season, conceding just 38 goals in 34 games, and scored 44 times to give it a goal differential of plus-6. The Foxes were the only team with a positive goal differential in the West to not make the postseason and interestingly posted the exact same number of goals for and against as Saint Louis, which finished the year 14 points better and in the eighth and final playoff spot.

After an offseason that saw the club bring back last year’s leading scorers Juan Pablo Caffa and Jemal Johnson (nine goals each) and add attacking talent in the form of former Red Bulls II midfielder Arun Basuljevic and Brazilian forward Jackson, the Foxes are starting to add a clinical nature to their resolute defensive performances.

Take this Saturday’s 3-1 home victory over Tulsa Roughnecks FC as an example. The Roughnecks, who entered the week atop the West, held the majority of possession and recorded more shots on target (5-4) but were undone by the quality of Fresno’s attacking play.