Logically, every game in the USL regular season counts equally. The victory a team picks up in Week 3 of the season counts just the same as the win a team picks up in Week 27. But after this past weekend’s action, it sure doesn’t feel that way, does it? For the second time in September, a string of surprise results – in particular those earned on the road – have left the playoff picture wide open again, both in terms of figuring out which teams are going to get in and what seed they’ll have when they get there.

1. WALK THE LINE: Just over a month ago, OKC Energy FC Head Coach Jimmy Nielsen was talking about his side’s remaining games needing to be treated like cup finals. “From week to week, you’re in and you’re out, you’re up and you’re down, it’s, as usual, a very tight Western Conference,” he told USLSoccer.com. After Saturday night’s 3-1 victory against Sacramento Republic FC at a sold-out Papa Murphy’s Park, Energy FC is definitely up after the past weekend’s results, as it took what might be a decisive lead in the race for eighth place in the Western Conference. OKC’s energy – pardon the pun – to open the game allowed the side to strike twice in the opening 10 minutes, as its hosts were caught cold. With three home games remaining, Nielsen’s belief that his side would have its fate in its hands is certainly coming true.

2. SWEPT AWAY: The flipside to Energy FC’s remarkable road victory was Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC’s devastating home defeat, as the Swope Park Rangers put on a finishing clinic to take a 3-1 victory at a soggy Weidner Field on Saturday night. The Rangers’ efficiency in putting away three goals in two minutes as the game resumed following a lightning delay highlighted how dangerous Swope Park can be if given too much space, and it sealed the defending Western Conference champion’s return to the postseason. For Colorado Springs, this may have been one defeat too far, with the side now needing to make up a five-point gap to Energy FC with only three games to do it.