Week 19 in the USL Championship and USL League One delivered another collection of entertainment, including some outstanding performances by some of the U-22 talent across both leagues. Among them were another bright display by a United States youth international out west, and a landmark performance by one of Las Vegas’ bright stars.

Here are seven young standouts you should know after impressive performances over the past seven days.

1. Mamadou Dieng, Hartford Athletic

In his first season at Hartford Athletic, it took Mamadou Dieng a little while to find his footing at his new club. Once he did, it was hard to knock the Senegalese forward off his stride as he set a club record with 11 goals in the regular season.

The good news for Hartford? After a slow start to the current campaign, we’re starting to see signs of the same pattern right now. The 21-year-old scored for his second consecutive league outing on Saturday night for what proved to be the winner in his side’s 2-1 victory against Detroit City FC at Keyworth Stadium. That gave him four goals and one assist in the past seven games across all competitions and moved Dieng into a tie for second in regular season goals in Hartford’s history with 15 in his career.

The 6-foot-2 striker now sits second to Kyle Edwards in goals for Hartford this season but leads the team with a 5.86 Expected Goals mark. While still growing in his second year as a professional, if Dieng can start hitting the target more consistently, he could have another breakout second half of the season.

2. Blake Willey, Sacramento Republic FC

The trendline for Republic FC’s Blake Willey keeps going up. After becoming the second-youngest player in club history to record an assist in the USL Championship regular season, the 18-year-old bagged his second assist in as many games as Sacramento took a 3-0 victory against El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday night as part of another well-rounded performance.

The United States U-18 international led all players with eight recoveries and also notched two interceptions while completing 25 of 27 passes in addition to his assist. What also stood out from Willey’s performance was his calmness under pressure, shifting past opponents in his own half to get Republic FC moving in the right direction, completing 2 of 2 dribbles.

Willey has been a regular in the Republic FC lineup since starting the season opener, making nine starts in 14 appearances overall this season. It’s an illustration of the confidence Head Coach Neill Collins has in the SRFC Academy product, which is translating to his performances on the field.

“It's easy to play for a coach like Neill, because he gets the best out of you,” said Willey. “I know he believes in every single one of us, and that just makes us want to fight for the team. And that makes everyone play better. He's the kind of coach you want to play for.”

3. Shawn Smart, Las Vegas Lights FC

The Lights came out on the short end of the result in Tulsa, but Shawn Smart delivered his best attacking performance of what’s been a stop-start second season in Las Vegas this year. The 21-year-old had logged only six league starts prior to Saturday night, logging just over 600 minutes of action, but starred for the visitors at ONEOK Field with a pair of sharply-taken finishes for the first two-goal game of his career.

The former Clemson University standout pulled the Lights level in first-half stoppage time as he connected with fellow wingback Gennaro Nigro, cutting centrally into the penalty area before finishing cleanly with a left-footed finish into the bottom-right corner. Smart then put the Lights ahead in the second half, being in the right place at the right time to put home a loose ball after an attempted punch clear by Tulsa goalkeeper Johan Peñaranda.

Smart also put in solid work on the defensive side of the ball, winning 7 of 14 duels and recording five recoveries and four clearances. That didn’t diminish the disappointment of letting the lead slip away late, however.

“It’s a positive thing that we were able to score three goals, but it’s definitely hard to win a football match when you concede four goals,” said Smart. “I just felt like the concentration and focus in a few moments [was lacking], but that was it. We had the quality.”

4. Kieran Sargeant, Lexington SC

As Lexington SC’s recent undefeated streak looked like it was going to come to a close this weekend at Miami FC, Kieran Sargeant helped ensure the side earned a point from its trip to South Florida. Serving up a perfect cross from the left side, setting up Cory Burke for a stoppage-time equalizer after a sterling second half display by the visitors at Pitbull Stadium.

The assist broke Sargeant out of a lengthy dry spell, with his most recent helper having come at the end of March against San Antonio FC. The 22-year-old has been up and down in his performances since then, but delivered arguably his best all-around display for the side in Miami as he completed 53 of 66 passes overall while notching a team-high three chances created and winning 2 of 2 tackles and 2 of 2 ground duels defensively.

5. Anderson Holt, Union Omaha

It can be hard to pinpoint a breakthrough moment for young players, but when they set or equal season-highs in multiple categories in a contest early in their career, it makes you stand up and take notice.

That was the performance for Union Omaha homegrown talent Anderson Holt on Saturday on the road in a 2-1 victory against the Charlotte Independence. The 20-year-old center back had his best performance of the season so far as the side broke its losing streak, completing 56 of 57 passes – second-most on the team – while winning 5 of 6 duels and 2 of 3 tackles. Those all rank as single-game career highs for Holt, who also equaled his career best with six clearances before coming off in the 71st minute, prior to the Independence’s late consolation goal.

Holt turned pro with Omaha late in the 2023 season, and has logged almost 600 minutes this year in league play while stepping into a more consistent role in the lineup. We’re looking forward to seeing how things progress from here.

6. Collin Smith, Phoenix Rising FC

As Phoenix Rising rallied for victory on the road against Oakland Roots on Saturday night, Smith continued his strong season as a two-way performer on the club’s back line. The 21-year-old right back led the team with 89 touches and completed 51 of 63 passes overall while notching one chance created, setting up a good second-half opportunity for Ihsan Sacko.

Smith was also solid at the defensive end, winning 6 of 8 duels overall while recording six recoveries and five clearances. The former FC Dallas product has been among the best rated full backs in the Championship this season – currently ranking second to Loudoun United’s Keegan Tingey in American Soccer Analysis’ Goals Added metric with a +2.67 rating – and Saturday’s display gave another example of why that’s the case.

7. Josh O’Brien, Indy Eleven

After some early inconsistency this season, Irish center back Josh O’Brien has started to come into his own for the Boys in Blue over the past three outings, helping the side as it pushes toward the knockout stage of the USL Jagermeister Cup and into the playoff positions in the Eastern Conference.

The 22-year-old was solid in Indy’s 1-0 victory against Rhode Island FC this past weekend, especially in the aerial battle where he won 3 of 3 aerial duels and made four headed clearances out of seven overall, tied for the team-high with fellow center back James Musa as the hosts held RIFC without a shot on target in the contest. Indy has shown improvement defensively over its positive recent run of form, and O’Brien is playing a part in that progression.