1997 PDSL season

The 1997 Premier Development Soccer League season was its 3rd. The season began in April 1997 and ended in August 1997.

Central Coast Roadrunners successfully defended the championship, defeating the Cocoa Expos 3-2. Spokane Shadow won the regular season title, winning 14 games to 2 losses.

Changes from 1996 Season

Name changes

New teams

6 teams were added for the season.

Team Area Location Previous affiliation
Alabama Saints Birmingham area Birmingham, AL expansion
Cascade Surge Willamette Valley Area Salem, OR from USISL Pro League
Cincinnati Riverhawks Greater Cincinnati area Cincinnati, OH expansion
San Gabriel Valley Highlanders Greater Los Angeles area Glendale, CA expansion
Southwest Florida Manatees Southwest Florida area Cape Coral, FL expansion
Yakima Reds Yakima area Yakima, WA from USISL Pro League

Teams Leaving

The Nashville Metros were promoted to the A League. The Arizona Sahuaros (formerly the Arizona Phoenix), Austin Lone Stars, Fort Lauderdale Strikers (formerly Florida Strikers), and San Francisco Bay Seals were promoted to the D-3 Pro League.

6 teams folded after the 1996 season:

The Wichita Blue went on hiatus for this year, and the Willamette Valley Firebirds went on hiatus for the next two years.

Standings

Blue denotes team has won their division.
Green denotes team has won playoff spot.
Orange denotes team gets bye into semifinals as defending champion.

Central Conference

Central Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Points
1 Lincoln Brigade* 16 12 4 2 0 34 23 +11 32
2 Omaha Flames 16 7 9 0 1 42 29 +13 21
3 Sioux City Breeze 16 8 8 0 0 26 38 -12 24
4 Des Moines Menace* 16 7 9 1 0 29 27 +2 19
5 Colorado Springs Stampede 16 6 10 0 1 23 33 -10 18
6 Twin Cities Tornado* 16 5 11 2 1 29 39 -10 11

* Lincoln and Twin Cities were both penalized 6 points. Des Moines was penalized 3 points

North Central Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Points
1 Mid-Michigan Bucks 16 12 4 0 1 41 24 +17 36
2 Detroit Dynamite* 16 10 6 1 2 41 20 +21 28
3 Kalamazoo Kingdom* 16 10 6 2 1 32 25 +7 26
4 Grand Rapids Explosion* 16 8 8 1 1 35 27 +8 22
5 Michigan Madness* 16 1 15 1 0 11 66 -55 1

* Kalamazoo was penalized 6 points. Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Michigan were all penalized 3 points.

Eastern Conference

Mid-South Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Points
1 Cincinnati Riverhawks 15 10 5 0 0 48 28 +20 30
2 Jackson Chargers* 16 10 6 1 0 50 25 +25 28
3 Lexington Bluegrass Bandits* 16 10 6 2 3 45 22 +23 26
4 Alabama Saints 16 5 11 0 1 31 34 -3 15
5 Chattanooga Express* 16 5 11 1 0 18 54 -36 13

* Lexington was penalized 6 points. Chattanooga and Jackson were both penalized 3 points.
NOTE: Game between Cincinnati and Tucson was unable to be rescheduled before season's end, games was cancelled because it had no impact on playoffs.

Southeast Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Points
1 Cocoa Expos* 16 12 4 1 2 46 23 +23 34
2 South Florida Future* 16 11 5 1 0 42 22 +20 31
3 West Florida Fury* 16 10 6 2 1 32 23 +9 26
4 Miami Breakers 16 8 8 0 1 41 24 +17 24
5 Southwest Florida Manatees 16 0 16 0 0 9 74 -65 0

* West Florida was penalized 6 points. Cocoa and South Florida were both penalized 3 points.

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Points
1 Spokane Shadow 16 14 2 0 0 37 16 +21 42
2 Yakima Reds 16 7 9 0 1 31 31 0 21
3 Cascade Surge* 16 8 8 2 1 28 23 +5 22
4 Bellingham Orcas 16 6 10 0 1 26 40 -14 18
5 Puget Sound BigFoot* 16 5 11 1 0 27 39 -12 13

* Cascade and Puget Sound were both penalized 3 points.

Southwest Division

Place Team P W L SW SL GF GA GD Points
1 San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 16 12 4 0 0 43 20 +23 36
2 Central Coast Roadrunners 16 11 5 1 2 34 17 +17 34
3 Tucson Amigos* 15 6 9 1 0 18 41 -23 16
4 Southern California Chivas* 16 4 12 1 0 16 32 -16 10

* Southern California and Tucson were both penalaized 3 points
NOTE: Game between Cincinnati and Tucson was unable to be rescheduled before season's end, games was cancelled because it had no impact on playoffs.

Playoffs

Format

Central Coast received a bye to the PDL Semifinals as the defending champion.
The top four teams from every division except the Southwest earn playoff spots. With Central Coast already receiving a bye, the top two teams from the Southwest Division will play each other, however if Central Coast is in the top two, then the third place team receives a playoff spot. The Division winners would then face each other in the Conference finals.

Divisional Brackets

Division Semifinals Division Finals Central Finals
         
NC1 Mid-Michigan Bucks 1
NC4 Grand Rapids Explosion 0
NC1 Mid-Michigan Bucks (AET/PSO) 0 (1)
North Central Division
NC3 Kalamazoo Kingdom 0 (0)
NC2 Detroit Dynamite 0
NC3 Kalamazoo Kingdom (AET) 1
NC1 Mid-Michigan Bucks 3
C4 Des Moines Menace 0
C1 Lincoln Brigade 0
C4 Des Moines Menace 4
C4 Des Moines Menace 6
Central Division
C2 Omaha Flames 0
C2 Omaha Flames 5
C3 Sioux City Breeze 3
Division Semifinals Division Finals Eastern Finals
         
SE1 Cocoa Expos 5
SE4 Miami Breakers 2
SE1 Cocoa Expos 3
Southeast Division
SE3 West Florida Fury 1
SE2 South Florida Future 0
SE3 West Florida Fury 4
SE1 Cocoa Expos 2
MS2 Jackson Chargers 1
MS1 Cincinnati Riverhawks 7
MS4 Alabama Saints 4
MS1 Cincinnati Riverhawks 0
Mid-South Division
MS2 Jackson Chargers 3
MS2 Jackson Chargers (AET) 1
MS3 Lexington Bluegrass Bandits 0
Division Semifinals Division Finals Western Finals
         
NW1 Spokane Shadow (AET/PSO) 4 (1)
NW4 Bellingham Orcas 4 (0)
NW1 Spokane Shadow 2
Northwest Division
NW2 Yakima Reds 0
NW2 Yakima Reds 1
NW3 Cascade Surge 0
NW1 Spokane Shadow 0
SW1 San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 1
SW1 San Gabriel Valley Highlanders bye
 
SW1 San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 2
Southwest Division
SW2 Tucson Amigos 1
SW2 Tucson Amigos bye
 

PDSL Finals Brackets

  PDSL Semifinals                    
  NC1   Mid-Michigan Bucks 0  
  H   Central Coast Roadrunners 2   PDSL Finals
      H   Central Coast Roadrunners 2
  PDSL Semifinals   SE1   Cocoa Expos 1
  SW1   San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 0 (0)
  SE1   Cocoa Expos (AET/PSO) 0 (1)   PDSL Third Place
    NC1   Mid-Michigan Bucks 2
    SW1   San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 3

[1]

References

  1. ↑ United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)