2006 United Soccer Leagues

The 2006 USL season was the 20th edition of the United Soccer Leagues, an American soccer organization with several divisions.

United Soccer Leagues

Season	2006
Men's soccer
USL First Division	Vancouver Whitecaps
USL Second Division	Richmond Kickers
← 2005 2007 →

General

• Miami FC joined the First Division.
• The Richmond Kickers departed the First Division for the Second Division.
• The Northern Virginia Royals departed the Second Division for the Premier Development League (PDL).
• 9 new teams joined the PDL while 5 teams folded, for a complete list see here.

Honors

Competition	Champion	Runner-Up	Regular Season Champion/Best USL team
USL First Division	Vancouver Whitecaps	Rochester Raging Rhinos	Montreal Impact
USL Second Division	Richmond Kickers	Charlotte Eagles	Richmond Kickers
USL PDL	Michigan Bucks	Laredo Heat	Carolina Dynamo
U.S. Open Cup	Chicago Fire (MLS)	Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)	Carolina Dynamo (PDL)
Voyageurs Cup	Montreal Impact	Toronto Lynx	n/a

Standings

First Division

USL First Division

Season	2006
Champions	Vancouver Whitecaps (1st Title)
Regular Season title	Montreal Impact (2nd Title)
Matches played	168
Goals scored	416 (2.48 per match)
Best Player	Joey Gjertsen, Vancouver Whitecaps
Top goalscorer	Romario, Miami FC Cam Weaver, Seattle Sounders (18 goals each)
Best goalkeeper	Greg Sutton, Montreal Impact
← 2005 2007 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Montreal Impact (S)	28	14	5	9	31	15	+16	51	Bye to semifinal round of playoffs
2	Rochester Raging Rhinos	28	13	4	11	34	21	+13	50
3	Charleston Battery	28	13	8	7	33	25	+8	46[a]	First round of playoffs
4	Vancouver Whitecaps (C)	28	12	6	10	40	28	+12	46[a]
5	Miami FC	28	11	11	6	47	44	+3	39
6	Puerto Rico Islanders	28	10	10	8	38	36	+2	38
7	Seattle Sounders	28	11	13	4	42	48	−6	37
8	Atlanta Silverbacks	28	10	13	5	36	42	−6	35
9	Virginia Beach Mariners	28	8	12	8	26	37	−11	32[b]
10	Toronto Lynx	28	8	12	8	30	36	−6	32[b]
11	Portland Timbers	28	7	15	6	25	39	−14	27[c]
12	Minnesota Thunder	28	7	15	6	34	45	−11	27[c]

Source: ^[1]
(C) Playoff Champion; (S) Commissioner's Cup
Notes:

1. CHA: 4 pts; VAN: 1 pt
2. VBM: 7 pts; TOR: 4 pts
3. POR: 9 pts; MIN: 3 pts

Playoffs

Quarterfinals and Semifinals 2-game aggregate
Higher seeded team hosted first game

• Exception: Montreal hosted second game vs Vancouver

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Finals
								2	Rochester Raging Rhinos	1	0	1
	3	Charleston Battery	2	1	3			3	Charleston Battery	0	0	0
	6	Puerto Rico Islanders	2	0	2										2	Rochester Raging Rhinos	0
															4	Vancouver Whitecaps	3
								4	Vancouver Whitecaps (a.e.t.)	0	2	2
	4	Vancouver Whitecaps	4	2	6			1	Montreal Impact	0	0	0
	5	Miami FC	1	0	1

Quarterfinals

September 15, 2006

7:30 PM EDT

Charleston Battery	2–2	Puerto Rico Islanders
Armstrong 53' Nylen  57' Glinton 89'	Report	Velez  6' Marcina 22'  36' Delgado  44' Norambuena  56' González 60' Kennedy  86'

Blackbaud Stadium
Charleston, South Carolina

Attendance: 2,215

Referee: Mark Kadlecik

September 17, 2006

7:30 PM EDT

Second Leg

Puerto Rico Islanders	0–1	Charleston Battery
Piette  48' Velez  60'	Report	Fuller  30' Armstrong 54' Alavanja  56'

Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium
Bayamón, Puerto Rico

Attendance: 8,745

Referee: Alex Prus

Charleston Battery won 3–2 on Aggregate.

---

September 15, 2006

10:00 PM EDT

First Leg

Vancouver Whitecaps	4–1	Miami FC Blues
Testo 12' Suarez  32' Gjertsen 35' Lyall 44' Donatelli 88'	Report	Fraser  35' Romário 64' Gomez  72'

Swangard Stadium
Burnaby, British Columbia

Attendance: 5,437

Referee: Steve DiPietro

September 17, 2006

6:00 PM EDT

Second Leg

Miami FC Blues	0–2	Vancouver Whitecaps
Rodrigues  31' Guillaume  52' Gomez  72' Fraser  73'	Report	Suarez  10' Sebrango 46' Nash 64'

Tropical Park Stadium
Miami, Florida

Attendance: 2,111

Referee: Mark Greiger

Vancouver Whitecaps won 6–1 on Aggregate.

Semifinals

September 22, 2006

7:35 PM EDT

First Leg

Rochester Raging Rhinos	1–0	Charleston Battery
Lines  30' Howes 52'	Report	Daley  19'  42' McKnight  81'

PAETEC Park
Rochester, New York

Attendance: 9,038

Referee: Niko Bratsis

September 24, 2006

6:00 PM EDT

Second Leg

Charleston Battery	0–0	Rochester Raging Rhinos
Fuller  11' Armstrong  75'	Report	Martinez  52' Craft  55' Vallow  78' Gbeke  90'

Blackbaud Stadium
Charleston, South Carolina

Attendance: 2,121

Referee: Michael Hill

Rochester Raging Rhinos won 1–0 on Aggregate.

---

September 22, 2006

10:00 PM EDT

First Leg

Vancouver Whitecaps	0–0	Montreal Impact
Sebrango  80'	Report	Braz  10' Pizzolito  85'

Swangard Stadium
Burnaby, British Columbia

Attendance: 5,225

Referee: Mark Budda

September 24, 2006

7:00 PM EDT

Second Leg

Montreal Impact	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Vancouver Whitecaps
Braz  23' Vincello  95' Fronimadis  120'	Report	Sebrango  15'  116', 115' Nash  73' Matondo  90' Lyall  95' Donatelli 120'

Claude Robillard Sports Complex
Montreal, Quebec

Attendance: 11,782

Referee: Silviu Petrescu

Vancouver Whitecaps won 2–0 on Aggregate in Overtime.

Final

September 30, 2006

7:00 PM EDT

Rochester Raging Rhinos	0–3	Vancouver Whitecaps
Ball  25' Gbeke  71' Craft  85' Ambersley  88'	Report	Craft 45' (o.g.) Donatelli 55' Jones  76' Clarke  80' Matondo 86',  86'

PAETEC Park
Rochester, New York

Attendance: 9,547

Referee: Andrew Chapin

USL First Division 2006 champions
Vancouver Whitecaps FC First title

Awards and All-League Teams

First Team
F: Romario (Miami FC) (Co-Leading Goalscorer); Cam Weaver (Seattle Sounders) (Co-Leading Goalscorer)
M: Ben Hollingsworth (Charleston Battery); Luke Kreamalmeyer (Portland Timbers); Zinho (Miami FC); Joey Gjertsen (Vancouver Whitecaps) (MVP)
D: Gabriel Gervais (Montreal Impact) (Defender of the Year); Geordie Lyall (Vancouver Whitecaps); Mauricio Segovia (Puerto Rico Islanders); Andrew Gregor (Seattle Sounders)
G: Greg Sutton (Montreal Impact) (Goalkeeper of the Year)
Coach: Michael Anhaeuser (Charleston Battery) (Coach of the Year)

Second Team
F: Alen Marcina (Puerto Rico Islanders); Greg Simmonds (Virginia Beach Mariners)
M: Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Montreal Impact); Jeff Clarke (Vancouver Whitecaps); Rodrigo Rios (Atlanta Silverbacks); Gavin Glinton (Charleston Battery)
D: Nevio Pizzolitto (Montreal Impact); Matt Bobo (Atlanta Silverbacks); Kenney Bertz (Rochester Raging Rhinos); Steve Klein (Vancouver Whitecaps)
G: Scott Vallow (Rochester Raging Rhinos)

Second Division

USL Second Division

Season	2006
Champions	Richmond Kickers (2nd Title)
Regular Season title	Richmond Kickers (2nd Title)
Matches played	90
Goals scored	271 (3.01 per match)
Best Player	Robert Ssejjemba, Richmond Kickers
Top goalscorer	Robert Ssejjemba, Richmond Kickers (17 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Ronnie Pascale, Richmond Kickers
← 2005 2007 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Richmond Kickers (O)	20	13	3	4	50	20	+30	43	Regular season champion
2	Charlotte Eagles	20	8	4	8	29	27	+2	32	Playoff berth clinched
3	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	20	8	6	6	27	20	+7	30
4	Cincinnati Kings	20	9	8	3	28	27	+1	30
5	New Hampshire Phantoms	20	9	10	1	27	43	−16	27[a]
6	Western Mass Pioneers	20	8	9	3	31	28	+3	27
7	Harrisburg City Islanders	20	8	9	3	34	35	−1	27
8	Wilmington Hammerheads	20	4	9	7	30	31	−1	19
9	Long Island Rough Riders	20	3	12	5	15	40	−25	14

Source: ^[2]
(O) Play-off winners
Notes:

1. New Hampshire was penalized 1 point for use of an ineligible player in a game.

Playoffs

	Semifinals							Finals
	1	Richmond Kickers	2	0	2
	4	Cincinnati Kings	1	0	1
								1	Richmond Kickers	2
								2	Charlotte Eagles	1
	3	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	0	1	1
	2	Charlotte Eagles	4	2	6

Semifinals

August 18, 2006

7:00 PM EDT

First Leg

Richmond Kickers	2–1	Cincinnati Kings
Watson 40' Burke 60' (pen.)	Report	Fiore  14' Krause  31' Barton 45' Jones  47'

University of Richmond Stadium
Richmond, Virginia

Attendance: 2,187

Referee: James Conlee

August 20, 2006

6:00 PM EDT

Second Leg

Cincinnati Kings	0–0	Richmond Kickers
McGinlay  11' Smith  75'	Report	Knight  76'

XU Soccer Complex
Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 1,465

Referee: Rizal Milliken

Richmond Kickers won 2–1 on aggregate.

---

August 18, 2006

7:05 PM EDT

First Leg

Pittsburgh Riverhounds	0–4	Charlotte Eagles
Chevalier  79'	Report	Meek 2'  75' Rife 59' Budnyy 64' Ruud 86'

Falconi Field
Washington, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 2,113

Referee: CJ Morgante

August 19, 2006

7:00 PM EDT

Second Leg

Charlotte Eagles	2–1	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Kabwe 42' Budnyy 76'	Report	Flavius 14'  50' Child  76' Bragg  77' Browne  90'

Waddell Stadium
Charlotte, North Carolina

Attendance: 813

Referee: Jason Sessions

Charlotte Eagles won 6–1 on Aggregate.

Final

August 26, 2006

7:00 p.m.

Richmond Kickers	2–1	Charlotte Eagles
Ssejjemba 9' (pen.) Carrieri 34'  34'	Report	Spencer 90'

University of Richmond Stadium
Richmond, Virginia

Attendance: 3,288

Referee: Daniel Stead

See also

• 2006 PDL season