2008 PDL season

USL Premier Development League
Season	2008
Champions	Thunder Bay Chill
	← 2007 2009 →

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.

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.

Changes from 2007

Name changes

Abbotsford Rangers changed their name to the

Abbotsford Mariners

to reflect the name of their parent organization.

Los Angeles Storm changed their name to the

Los Angeles Legends

to reflect the name of their parent organization.

The expansion Austin Stampede were renamed the Aztex U23 after the Austin Aztex USL-1 franchise was announced for 2009 and acquired controlling interest in the PDL team.

New franchises

Nine franchises joined the league this year, including six brand new teams:

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

Five teams left the league prior to the beginning of the season:
- Albany Admirals - Schenectady, New York
- Austin Lightning - Austin, Texas
- Cocoa Expos - Cocoa, Florida
- Delaware Dynasty - New Castle, Delaware
- Sioux Falls Spitfire - Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Final standings

Legend
Team won the Division Title
Team qualified for playoff berth

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Midwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Heartland Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

New England Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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

Southern Conference

Mid South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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^[a]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Palm Beach deducted 4 points for failing to fulfil three fixtures.

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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

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

AET
)

3

HL1

PSO
)

1 (4)

MS2

Laredo Heat

1 (1)

MA

AET
)

4

WC

Newark Ironbound Express

2

MA

Reading Rage

1

Eastern Conference

NE

Brooklyn Knights

0

NE

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

Chicago Fire Premier	0 – 2	Kalamazoo Outrage
Cutshaw 52'	(Report)	Warmer 19' 42' (OG) Alvino 62' Muckey 63'

Toyota Park
Bridgeview, Illinois

Attendance: 75

Referee: Pawel Wydra (USA

)

July 22, 2008
7:30 ET

Colorado Rapids U23's
Oliveira 9' 56' Coronado 33' Gold 60' Swartzendruber 74' Paterson 86' Putrus 90' Zendejas 90'	(Report)	Warner 7' 78' Schmoker 28' Charles 49' 84' Howlan 76' Hemmi 90'

Chapples Park Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario

Attendance: 1,005

Referee: Mike Delecruz (CAN

)

July 23, 2008
7:00 ET

Cleveland Internationals	2 – 1	Toronto Lynx
Williams 20' Nanchoff 26' Nagbe 54' Zemanski 83'	(Report)	DeAbreu 42' Scott 44' 54' Binstock 82'

Coughlin Field
Lakewood, Ohio

Attendance: 45

Referee: Chris Ponso (USA)

Conference semifinals

July 25, 2008
5:00 ET

Bradenton Academics	1 – 2	Austin Aztex U23
Ingvarsson 17' Gavin 25' Bello 74' Maxwell 83'	(Report)	Papandrea 39' 66' Godbolt 56' 59' Bernard 64' Vincens 65'

Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Robert Mauws (USA)

July 25, 2008
5:30 ET

AET)	Brooklyn Knights
Maloney 33' Munro 73'	(Report)	Damiani 27' Gonzales 82' Ortega 93' Dos Santos 108'
Penalties
Munro Maloney Lynn Vercollone	3 – 5	Guerra Dos Santos Kulkov

Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 280

Referee: Tim Snyder (USA)

July 25, 2008
7:30 ET

Central Florida Kraze	1 – 2	Laredo Heat
Araujo 45' Wolfe 54' Mattson 90'	(Report)	Garcia 52' 90+' Mulamba 53' 63' Infante 87'

Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Agostino Minasola (USA)

July 25, 2008
8:00 ET

Newark Ironbound Express
Ports 22' O'Connor 66' Burgess 67' 109' (PK) Taranto 74' Benson 92'	(Report)	Kotynski 4' Robinson 29' Karcz 30' 62' Grato 82' Bilbao 83' Chencinski 100' Stamatis 100' Ruesgen 102'

Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 657

Referee: Bo Maroo (USA)

July 26, 2008
5:30 ET

Cleveland Internationals	0 – 2	Thunder Bay Chill
	(Report)	Putrus 17' Coronado 21' 45' Alvarado 27' Swartzendruber 66' Intermoia 82'

Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan

Referee: Clifton Ellis (USA

)

July 26, 2008
7:30 ET

AET)	San Fernando Valley Quakes
Leslie 65' Davies 69' Dosanjh 86' Edwini-Bonsu 90+6' 110' Russell 114' 116' Sandhu 118'	(Report)	Borak 72' Agwu 82' 84' Tracy 104'

Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California

Attendance: 1,291

Referee: Mike Kampmeinert (USA)

July 26, 2008
7:30 ET

AET)	Kalamazoo Outrage
Clark 120'	(Report)	Alvino 34' Oatley 86' 111' 120' Muckey 98'

Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan

Referee: Marc Lawrence (USA

)

July 26, 2008
10:30 ET

Tacoma Tide
Alvarado 32' Calvo 89' Nunes 89'	(Report)	Scott 18' Mueller 30' Schomaker 76' Tangney 90'

Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California

Attendance: 3,214

Referee: Maurizio Laudini (USA)

Conference finals

July 26, 2008
7:00 ET

Laredo Heat	3 – 1	Austin Aztex U23
Galvan 4' Garcia 47' 51' Morales 80'	(Report)	Alvarez 4' Vega 5' Watson 26' (PK) 64' Godbolt 36' 41'

Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida

Attendance: 100

Referee: Martin Bell (USA)

July 27, 2008
4:30 ET

Reading Rage	1 – 0	Brooklyn Knights
Burgess 40' 45' Rowling 69'	(Report)	Matteo 40' Smith 43' Gonzalez 53' Damiani 61' Carrizo 77' Alvarado 90'

Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 510

Referee: Ian Bongaardt (USA)

July 27, 2008
7:00 ET

Kalamazoo Outrage	0 – 4	Thunder Bay Chill
Howard 10'		Milroth 11' Intermoia 20' Oliveira 45' (PK) Swartzendruber 59' C. Gold 75' 81'

Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan

Referee: Jason White (USA

)

July 27, 2008
10:00 ET

Tacoma Tide
Edwini-Bonsu 41' 64' Semenets 66' Russell 86' Johnstone 87'	(Report)	Mueller 46' Knapp 54' Agu 82' Schomaker 90'

Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California

Attendance: 510

Referee: Colin Arblaster (USA)

PDL semifinals

August 2, 2008
7:00 ET

Vancouver Whitecaps Residency
Alvarado 52' Milroth 61' 79' Zendejas 90+4'		Leslie 41' Dosanjh 56' Davies 81' Edwini-Bonsu 89' 90+4' 90+4'

Chapples Park Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario

Attendance: 1,546

Referee: Frank Carpino (CAN

)

August 2, 2008
9:15 ET

Reading Rage
Garcia 78' Humphrey 87'		O'Connor 50' Sanders 84'

Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex
Laredo, Texas

Attendance: 1,693

Referee: Carlos Salas (USA)

PDL final

August 9, 2008
8:45 ET

AET)	Thunder Bay Chill
Blackwell 33' Ibarra 46' Infante 83' Galvan 90'	(Report)	Putrus 34' Da Silva 44' Milroth 56' 76' Oliveira 63' 76' J. Gold 64'
Penalties
Galvan Ordaz Su	1 – 4	Oliveira Swartzendruber C. Gold Intermoia