2008 United Soccer Leagues

The 2008 Season is the 22nd edition of the United Soccer Leagues season.

The season kicked off on Friday, April 12 with two First Division games, as the Charleston Battery visited Miami FC and the Montreal Impact visited the Vancouver Whitecaps.

General

Changes in the First Division: the California Victory take the 2008 season off, leaving 11 teams playing a 30-game schedule.
Changes in the Second Division: the Pittsburgh Riverhounds return from hiatus, and Real Maryland FC join as an expansion team. However, the Cincinnati Kings and New Hampshire Phantoms drop to the PDL. 10 teams play a 20-game schedule this season.
In the PDL, 5 teams withdrew for the 2008 season, while 7 expansion teams and the two voluntary relegations increase the league to 67 teams in 10 divisions across 4 conferences. Teams play a 16-game league schedule.

Honors

Competition	Champion	Runner-Up	Regular Season Champion/Best USL team
USL First Division	Vancouver Whitecaps	Puerto Rico Islanders	Puerto Rico Islanders
USL Second Division	Cleveland City Stars	Charlotte Eagles	Charlotte Eagles
USL PDL	Thunder Bay Chill	Laredo Heat	Michigan Bucks
U.S. Open Cup	D.C. United (MLS)	Charleston Battery (USL-1)	Charleston Battery

Standings

First Division

Commissioner's Cup, bye to semifinal round of playoffs
First round of playoffs

Pos	Club	Pts	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	H2H Pts
1	Puerto Rico Islanders	54	30	15	6	9	43	23	+20
2	Vancouver Whitecaps	53	30	15	7	8	34	28	+6
3	Montreal Impact	42	30	12	12	6	33	28	+5
4	Rochester Rhinos	41^†	30	11	10	9	35	32	+3
5	Charleston Battery	40	30	11	12	7	34	36	−2	CHA: 4 pts SEA: 4 pts
6	Seattle Sounders	40	30	10	10	10	37	36	+1	CHA: 4 pts SEA: 4 pts
7	Minnesota Thunder	39	30	10	11	9	40	38	+2
8	Carolina RailHawks	37	30	9	11	10	34	43	−9
9	Miami FC	34	30	8	12	10	28	34	−6	MIA: 7 pts ATL: 1 pt
10	Atlanta Silverbacks	34	30	8	12	10	37	50	−13	MIA: 7 pts ATL: 1 pt
11	Portland Timbers	31	30	7	13	10	26	33	−7

Tie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery
^† Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008^[1]

Playoffs

Teams will be re-seeded for semifinal matchups

First Round September 26/28					Semifinals October 3/5					Final October 12

1	Puerto Rico Islanders
	bye
					1	Puerto Rico Islanders (AET)	0	3	3

					4	Rochester Rhinos	2	0	2
4	Rochester Rhinos	2	0	2

5	Charleston Battery	0	1	1
										1	Puerto Rico Islanders	1
										2	Vancouver Whitecaps	2
3	Montreal Impact	1	3	4
6	Seattle Sounders	2	1	3
					2	Vancouver Whitecaps	0	2	2

					3	Montreal Impact	1	0	1
2	Vancouver Whitecaps	2	3	5

7	Minnesota Thunder	0	4	4

Awards and All-League team

First Team
F: Alex Afonso (Miami FC); Macoumba Kandji (Atlanta Silverbacks)
M: Osvaldo Alonso (Charleston Battery); Stephen deRoux (Minnesota Thunder); Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps); Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders) (league MVP)
D: Cristian Arrieta (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Defender of the Year); Taylor Graham (Seattle Sounders); David Hayes (Atlanta Silverbacks); Nevio Pizzolitto (Montreal Impact)
G: Bill Gaudette (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Goalkeeper of the Year)
Coach: Colin Clarke (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Coach of the Year)

Second Team
F: Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders); Eduardo Sebrango (Vancouver Whitecaps)
M: Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Montreal Impact); Johnny Menyongar (Rochester Rhinos); Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota Thunder); Matt Watson (Carolina RailHawks)
D: Wesley Charles and Takashi Hirano (Vancouver Whitecaps); Cameron Knowles (Portland Timbers); Scott Palguta (Rochester Rhinos)
G: Matt Jordan (Montreal Impact)

Second Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Charlotte Eagles	20	13	2	5	45	15	+30	44
2	Richmond Kickers	20	14	4	2	48	20	+28	44
3	Cleveland City Stars	20	10	3	7	33	16	+17	37
4	Crystal Palace Baltimore	20	11	8	1	30	30	0	34
5	Harrisburg City Islanders	20	7	3	10	33	20	+13	31
6	Western Mass Pioneers	20	5	9	6	19	29	-10	20†
7	Wilmington Hammerheads	20	4	9	7	32	33	-1	19
8	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	20	4	10	6	25	37	-12	18
9	Bermuda Hogges	20	5	13	2	21	50	-29	17
10	Real Maryland Monarchs	20	3	15	2	15	51	-36	10†

† Western Mass and Real Maryland deducted 1 point

Playoffs

First Round August 13			Semifinals August 16			Final August 23

			1	Charlotte Eagles	2
4	Crystal Palace Baltimore (AET/PK)	2 (7)	4	Crystal Palace Baltimore	1
5	Harrisburg City Islanders	2 (6)				1	Charlotte Eagles	1
						3	Cleveland City Stars	2
			2	Richmond Kickers	0
3	Cleveland City Stars	4	3	Cleveland City Stars(AET)	1
6	Western Mass Pioneers	2

Awards and All-League team

First Team
F: Jorge Herrera (Charlotte Eagles); Boyzzz Khumalo (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); Dustin Swinehart (Charlotte Eagles) (league MVP)
M: Mike Burke (Richmond Kickers); Floyd Franks (Cleveland City Stars); Shintaro Harada (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: Brady Bryant and Steve Shak (Charlotte Eagles); Sascha Gorres (Richmond Kickers); Mark Schulte (Cleveland City Stars) (Defender of the Year)
G: Terry Boss (Charlotte Eagles)
Coach: Mark Steffens (Charlotte Eagles) (Coach of the Year)
Rookie of the Year: Stanley Nyazamba (Richmond Kickers)

Second Team
F: Gary Brooks (Crystal Palace Baltimore); Sallieu Bundu (Cleveland City Stars); Jeff Deren (Western Mass Pioneers)
M: Trey Alexander (Wilmington Hammerheads); Justin Evans (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); Matthew Mbuta (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: Dustin Bixler (Harrisburg City Islanders); Trevor McEachron (Richmond Kickers); Federico Molinari (Western Mass Pioneers); Dame Walters (Wilmington Hammerheads)
G: Ronnie Pascale (Richmond Kickers)

Premier Development League

See 2008 PDL Season

References

↑ "Rhinos penalized for infraction". United Soccer Leagues. August 15, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2011.

External links

Official USL Site

United Soccer Leagues seasons

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Soccer in the United States

Overview	U.S. Soccer USASA USCS League system History Hall of Fame Clubs Champions Venues (stadiums by capacity, SSS) Women's soccer in the United States

Men's national teams	Senior (statistics) U23 U21 U20 U18 U17 U15

Men's outdoor leagues	MLS Playoffs MLS Cup NASL Soccer Bowl USL PDL NPSL ASL USL Super-20 U.S. Development Academy

Men's indoor leagues	MASL PASL-Premier WISL

Cup competitions	Open Cup National Amateur Cup Women's Cup

Men's college soccer	NCAA Division I NCAA Division II NCAA Division III NAIA Championship

Women's national teams	Senior U23 U20 U17

Women's leagues	NWSL WPSL UWS

Women's college soccer	NCAA Division I NCAA Division II NCAA Division III NAIA Championship

Defunct men's outdoor leagues	AFA (1884–1924) American Cup (1885–1924) ALPF (1894) NAFL (1895–98) AAFA Cup (1912–13) ASL (1921–33) ASL (1933–83) NASFL (1946–47) USA (1967) NPSL (1967) NASL (1968–84) USL (1984–85) LSSA (1987–92) ASL (1988–89) WSA (1989) USL 2nd (1990–2010) A-League (1995–2004) USL 1st (2005–10) D2 Pro League (2010)

Defunct men's indoor leagues	NASL (1975–76, 1979–84) MISL (1978–92) NPSL (1984–2001) CISL (1993–97) EISL (1997–98) WISL (1998–2001) AISL (2003–08) MISL (2001–08) XSL (2008–09) AISL (2003–08) MISL (2008–14)

Defunct women's leagues	WUSA (2000–03) WPS (2007–12) WPSL Elite (2012–13) W-League (1995–2015)

Soccer in Canada

Overview	Canada Soccer Association League system History Hall of Fame Clubs Champions Coaches Venues (stadiums by capacity, SSS) Women's soccer in Canada

Men's national teams	Senior U23 U20 U17

Leagues	MLS MLS Cup Canadian Premier League NASL Soccer Bowl USL PDL League1 Ontario PLSQ PCSL USL Super-20 CMISL VMSL OSL AMSL MMSL LSEQ

CIS	Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's soccer Atlantic University Sport Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec Ontario University Athletics Canada West Universities Athletic Association

CCAA	Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association Quebec Student Sports Federation Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association

Cup competitions	Canadian Championship Open Cup (defunct) Challenge Cup C-NA ST Victoria Challenge Cup (defunct) Canada Games

Men's college soccer	CIS Men's Soccer Championship CCAA Championship

Women's national teams	Senior U20 U17

Women's leagues	USL W-League

Women's college soccer	CIS Women's Soccer Championship

Defunct leagues	USSF Division 2 USL First Division Canadian National Soccer League Canadian Soccer League (1987–92)

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