2008 PDL season

The 2008 USL Premier Development League season was the 14th season of the PDL. The regular season started on April 26, 2008, and ended on July 20, 2008. The playoffs began on July 22, 2008, and ended with the PDL Championship Game on August 9, 2008.

Thunder Bay Chill finished the season as national champions, beating Laredo Heat on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in the PDL Championship game in Laredo, Texas on 9 August 2008.

Michigan Bucks finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 13 out of their 16 games, suffering just one loss, and finishing with a +27 goal difference.

Yakima Reds striker Junior Garcia was the league's top scorer and MVP, knocking in 15 goals. Fresno Fuego's Fabricio Codeceira led the league with 13 assists, while Austin Aztex U23 keeper Miguel Gallardo enjoyed the best goalkeeping statistics, with a goals-against average of 0.615 per game, and keeping 9 clean sheets in his 13 games.

Contents

Changes From 2007

Name Changes

New Franchises

Team Name Metro Area Location Previous Affiliation
Austin Aztex U23 Greater Austin area Round Rock, TX expansion
Cincinnati Kings Greater Cincinnati area Wilder, KY relegated from USL-2
Houston Leones Greater Houston area Richmond, TX expansion
Kalamazoo Outrage Kalamazoo area Kalamazoo, MI expansion
New Hampshire Phantoms Hillsborough County area Manchester, NH relegated from USL-2
New Jersey Rangers Northern New Jersey area Denville, NJ expansion
Newark Ironbound Express Newark area Newark, NJ expansion
Panama City Pirates Panama City area Panama City Beach, FL expansion
Vancouver Whitecaps Residency Metro Vancouver area Burnaby, BC transferred from PCSL

Folding

Final standings

Purple indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Michigan Bucks 16 13 1 2 40 13 +27 41
2 Cleveland Internationals 16 10 3 3 41 19 +22 33
3 Toronto Lynx 16 8 6 2 28 21 +7 26
4 Cincinnati Kings 16 3 10 3 14 32 -18 12
5 West Virginia Chaos 16 1 8 7 17 32 -15 10

Midwest Division

Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Chicago Fire Premier 16 8 2 6 26 12 +14 30
2 Kalamazoo Outrage 16 8 6 2 27 24 +3 26
3 Indiana Invaders 16 6 6 4 20 21 -1 22
4 Fort Wayne Fever 16 2 9 5 16 33 -17 11
5 West Michigan Edge 16 2 10 4 18 40 -22 10

Heartland Division

Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Thunder Bay Chill 16 13 2 1 42 17 +25 40
2 Colorado Rapids U23's 16 8 5 3 34 25 +9 27
3 Des Moines Menace 16 7 4 5 29 18 +11 26
4 St. Louis Lions 16 7 5 4 29 27 +2 25
5 Kansas City Brass 16 6 9 1 23 30 -7 19
6 Springfield Demize 16 0 16 0 8 48 -40 0

The top two teams in each division qualify for the playoffs. The Conference champion receives a bye into the Conference Semifinals, with the third place team from that division receiving a playoff berth.

Eastern Conference

Mid Atlantic Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Reading Rage 16 11 3 2 32 12 +20 35
2 Fredericksburg Gunners 16 8 8 0 27 23 +4 24
3 Hampton Roads Piranhas 16 6 7 3 22 23 -1 21
4 Virginia Legacy 16 4 8 4 16 31 -15 16
5 Northern Virginia Royals 16 3 8 5 20 34 -14 14
6 Richmond Kickers Future 16 2 8 6 17 27 -10 12
New England Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Cape Cod Crusaders 16 9 3 4 33 16 +17 31
2 Ottawa Fury 16 9 4 3 38 22 +16 30
3 Vermont Voltage 16 8 7 1 28 30 -2 25
4 New Hampshire Phantoms 16 3 9 4 14 28 -14 13
5 Rhode Island Stingrays 16 2 9 5 21 38 -17 11
Northeast Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Brooklyn Knights 16 10 2 4 33 17 +16 34
2 Newark Ironbound Express 16 8 2 6 33 17 +16 30
3 Long Island Rough Riders 16 8 4 4 36 26 +10 28
4 Westchester Flames 16 7 7 2 30 30 0 23
5 Ocean City Barons 16 6 5 5 29 25 +4 23
6 New Jersey Rangers 16 2 12 2 12 42 -30 8

The Division Champions and the Second Place team with the most amount of points qualify for the playoffs.

Southern Conference

Mid South Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Austin Aztex U23 16 10 5 1 25 11 +14 31
2 Laredo Heat 16 8 4 4 33 15 +18 28
3 El Paso Patriots 16 8 5 3 22 20 +2 27
4 Mississippi Brilla 16 7 6 3 26 23 +3 24
5 Baton Rouge Capitals 16 7 8 1 20 23 -3 22
6 DFW Tornados 16 6 7 3 17 20 -3 21
7 New Orleans Shell Shockers 16 5 8 3 18 28 -10 18
8 Houston Leones 16 3 11 2 17 38 -21 11
Southeast Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Central Florida Kraze 16 11 3 2 38 18 +20 35
2 Bradenton Academics 16 10 2 4 37 13 +24 34
3 Cary RailHawks U23's 16 9 5 2 40 29 +11 29
4 Atlanta Silverbacks U23's 16 9 6 1 38 29 +9 28
5 Panama City Pirates 16 7 6 3 35 20 +15 24
6 Carolina Dynamo 16 7 7 2 35 31 +4 23
7 Nashville Metros 16 3 13 0 12 42 -30 9
8 Palm Beach Pumas 16 1 15 0 9 62 -53 -1*

The top two teams in each division qualify for the playoffs.
* Palm Beach deducted 4 points for failing to fulfil three fixtures.

Western Conference

Northwest Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Tacoma Tide 16 11 4 1 46 23 +23 34
2 Vancouver Whitecaps Residency 16 11 4 1 34 14 +20 34
3 Yakima Reds 16 9 6 1 31 25 +6 28
4 BYU Cougars 16 7 6 3 21 20 +1 24
5 Ogden Outlaws 16 6 8 2 18 21 -3 20
6 Abbotsford Mariners 16 5 8 3 26 32 -6 18
7 Cascade Surge 16 3 8 5 17 35 -18 14
8 Spokane Spiders 16 3 11 2 20 43 -23 11
Southwest Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 San Fernando Valley Quakes 16 8 2 6 32 25 +7 30
2 Fresno Fuego 16 9 5 2 38 27 +11 29
3 Ventura County Fusion 16 8 5 3 24 14 +10 27
4 San Francisco Seals 16 8 5 3 21 17 +4 27
5 San Jose Frogs 16 7 6 3 26 20 +6 24
6 Los Angeles Legends 16 6 6 4 32 25 +7 22
7 Bakersfield Brigade 16 4 5 7 16 21 -5 19
8 Orange County Blue Star 16 5 8 3 24 31 -7 18
9 Southern California Seahorses 16 3 8 5 15 27 -12 14
10 Lancaster Rattlers 16 2 10 4 18 39 -21 10

The top two teams in each division qualify for the playoffs.

Playoffs

The Divisional Round for the Central Conference took place July 22–23, 2008, with the Conference Championships taking place between July 25-27. The PDL Semifinals took place on August 2, and the final was played on August 9.

Playoff Bracket

  Divisional Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals National Semifinals PDL Championship Game
                                               
    C1   Michigan Bucks 1  
    MW2   Kalamazoo Outrage (AET) 3  
MW1   Chicago Fire Premier 0  
MW2   Kalamazoo Outrage 2  
  MW2   Kalamazoo Outrage 0  
Central Conference
  HL1   Thunder Bay Chill 4  
HL1   Thunder Bay Chill 3  
HL2   Colorado Rapids U23's 1  
  HL1   Thunder Bay Chill 2  
  GL1   Cleveland Internationals 0  
GL1   Cleveland Internationals 2
GL2   Toronto Lynx 1  
  HL1   Thunder Bay Chill 2  
  NW2   Vancouver Whitecaps Residency 1  
    NW1   Tacoma Tide 3  
    SW2   Fresno Fuego 0  
    NW1   Tacoma Tide 1  
Western Conference
  NW2   Vancouver Whitecaps Residency 4  
    SW1   San Fernando Valley Quakes 1
    NW2   Vancouver Whitecaps Residency (AET) 3  
  HL1   Thunder Bay Chill (AET/PSO) 1 (4)
  MS2   Laredo Heat 1 (1)
    MA   Reading Rage (AET) 4  
    WC   Newark Ironbound Express 2  
  MA   Reading Rage 1  
Eastern Conference
  NE   Brooklyn Knights 0  
    NE   Brooklyn Knights (AET/PSO) 0 (5)
    NWE   Cape Cod Crusaders 0 (3)  
  MA   Reading Rage 0
  MS2   Laredo Heat 2  
    MS1   Austin Aztex U23 2
    SE2   Bradenton Academics 1  
      MS1   Austin Aztex U23 1
Southern Conference
MS2   Laredo Heat 3  
    SE1   Central Florida Kraze 1
    MS2   Laredo Heat 2  

Divisional Round

July 22, 2008
5:00 ET
Kalamazoo Outrage 2 – 0 Chicago Fire Premier Toyota Park
Bridgeview, Illinois
Attendance: 75
Referee: Pawel Wydra (USA)
Warmer 19'
 42' (OG)
Alvino 62'
Muckey  63'
(Report) Cutshaw 52'

July 22, 2008
7:30 ET
Colorado Rapids U23's 1 – 3 Thunder Bay Chill Fort William Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Attendance: 1,005
Referee: Mike Delecruz (CAN)
Warner  7', 78'
Schmoker 28'
Charles 49'  84'
Howlan 76'
Hemmi  90'
(Report) Oliveira  9'  56'
Coronado 33'
Gold 60'
Swartzendruber  74'
Paterson 86'
Putrus 90'
Zendejas  90'

July 23, 2008
7:00 ET
Toronto Lynx 1 – 2 Cleveland Internationals Coughlin Field
Lakewood, Ohio
Attendance: 45
Referee: Chris Ponso (USA)
DeAbreu 42'
Scott  44' 54'
Binstock 82'
(Report) Williams 20'
Nanchoff 26'
Nagbe  54'
Zemanski  83'

Conference Semifinals

July 25, 2008
5:00 ET
Bradenton Academics 1 – 2 Austin Aztex U23 Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Robert Mauws (USA)
Ingvarsson 17'
Gavin 25'
Bello  74'
Maxwell 83'
(Report) Papandrea  39', 66'
Godbolt  56' 59'
Bernard 64'
Vincens  65'

July 25, 2008
5:30 ET
Cape Cod Crusaders 0 – 0
(AET)
Brooklyn Knights Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 280
Referee: Tim Snyder (USA)
Maloney 33'
Munro 73'
(Report) Damiani 27'
Gonzales 82'
Ortega 93'
Dos Santos 108'
  Penalties  
Munro
Maloney
Lynn
Vercollone
3 – 5 Matteo
Damiani
Guerra
Dos Santos
Kulkov

July 25, 2008
7:30 ET
Laredo Heat 2 – 1 Central Florida Kraze Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Agostino Minasola (USA)
Cruz 21'
Garcia  52' 90+'
Mulamba 53'  63'
Infante 87'
(Report) Araujo 45'
Wolfe  54'
Mattson  90'

July 25, 2008
8:00 ET
Newark Ironbound Express 2 – 4
(AET)
Reading Rage Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 657
Referee: Bo Maroo (USA)
Kotynski 4'
Robinson 29'
Karcz  30'  62'
Grato  82'
Bilbao 83'
Chencinski 100'
Stamatis 100'
Ruesgen 102'
(Report) Ports  22'
O'Connor 66'
Burgess 67'  109' (PK)
Taranto  74'
Benson  92'

July 26, 2008
5:30 ET
Cleveland Internationals 0 – 2 Thunder Bay Chill Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan
Referee: Clifton Ellis (USA)
(Report) Putrus 17'
Coronado 21'  45'
Alvarado  27'
Swartzendruber  66'
Intermoia  82'

July 26, 2008
7:30 ET
Vancouver Whitecaps Residency 3 – 1
(AET)
San Fernando Valley Quakes Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California
Attendance: 1,291
Referee: Mike Kampmeinert (USA)
Leslie 65'
Davies 69'
Dosanjh 86'
Edwini-Bonsu  90+6'  110'
Russell 114'  116'
Sandhu 118'
(Report) Borak 72'
Agwu  82'  84'
Tracy 104'

July 26, 2008
7:30 ET
Kalamazoo Outrage 3 – 1
(AET)
Michigan Bucks Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan
Referee: Marc Lawrence (USA)
Alvino 34'
Oatley  86' 111'  120'
Muckey  98'
(Report) DeMartin  31'
Morisset 39'
Clark  120'

July 26, 2008
10:30 ET
Fresno Fuego 0 – 3 Tacoma Tide Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California
Attendance: 3,214
Referee: Maurizio Laudini (USA)
Alvarado 32'
Calvo 89'
Nunes 89'
(Report) Scott  18'
Mueller 30'
Schomaker  76'
Tangney  90'

Conference Finals

July 26, 2008
7:00 ET
Laredo Heat 3 – 1 Austin Aztex U23 Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida
Attendance: 100
Referee: Martin Bell (USA)
Galvan 4'
Mulamba 12'  68'
Quinones 17'
Cruz 26'
Garcia  47'  51'
Morales 80'
(Report) Alvarez 4'
Vega  5'
Watson  26' (PK) 64'
Godbolt  36', 41'

July 27, 2008
4:30 ET
Brooklyn Knights 0 – 1 Reading Rage Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 510
Referee: Ian Bongaardt (USA)
Matteo 40'
Smith 43'
Gonzalez 53'
Damiani 61'
Carrizo 77'
Alvarado  90'
(Report) Burgess  40' 45'
Rowling 69'

July 27, 2008
7:00 ET
Kalamazoo Outrage 0 – 4 Thunder Bay Chill Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan
Referee: Jason White (USA)
Howard 10' Milroth  11'
Intermoia 20'
Oliveira  45' (PK)
Swartzendruber  59'
C. Gold 75'  81'

July 27, 2008
10:00 ET
Vancouver Whitecaps Residency 4 – 1 Tacoma Tide Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California
Attendance: 510
Referee: Colin Arblaster (USA)
Edwini-Bonsu  41'  64'
Semenets  66'
Russell  86'
Johnstone 87'
(Report) Mueller 46'
Knapp 54'
Agu 82'
Schomaker  90'

PDL Semifinals

August 2, 2008
7:00 ET
Vancouver Whitecaps Residency 1 – 2 Thunder Bay Chill Fort William Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Attendance: 1,546
Referee: Frank Carpino (CAN)
Leslie 41'
Dosanjh 56'
Davies 81'
Edwini-Bonsu  89' 90+4'  90+4'
Alvarado 52'
Milroth  61' 79'
Zendejas  90+4'

August 2, 2008
9:15 ET
Reading Rage 0 – 2 Laredo Heat Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex
Laredo, Texas
Attendance: 1,693
Referee: Carlos Salas (USA)
O'Connor 50'
Sanders 84'
Quinones 29'
Ramos  41'
Garcia  78'
Humphrey 87'

PDL Final

August 9, 2008
8:45 ET
Thunder Bay Chill 1 – 1
(AET)
Laredo Heat Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex
Laredo, Texas
Attendance: 3,451
Referee: Jasen Anno (USA)
Putrus 34'
Da Silva 44'
Milroth  56', 76'
Oliveira  63' 76'
J. Gold 64'
(Report) Blackwell 33'
Ibarra  46'
Infante 83'
Galvan 90'
  Penalties  
Oliveira
Swartzendruber
C. Gold
Intermoia
4 – 1 Galvan
Ordaz
Su

Awards and All-League team

F: Carlos Araujo (Central Florida Kraze); Felix Garcia (Laredo Heat) (U19 Player of the Year); Junior Garcia (Yakima Reds) (league MVP)
M: Will Beaugé (Ottawa Fury); Fabricio Codeceira (Fresno Fuego); Adam Gazda (Reading Rage); Nate Jafta (Michigan Bucks)
D: Darrius Barnes (Cary RailHawks U23's); Mike Holody (Michigan Bucks); Norberto Papandrea (Austin Aztex U23) (Defender of the Year)
G: Miguel Gallardo (Austin Aztex U23) (Goalkeeper of the Year)
Coach: Wolfgang Suhnholz (Austin Aztex U23)

See also