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 league consisted of 67 teams across 10 divisions with the addition of the Midwest and New England divisions. The playoffs began on July 22, 2008, and ended with the PDL Championship Game on August 9, 2008.

USL Premier Development League

Season	2008
Champions	Thunder Bay Chill (1st Title)
Regular Season Champions	Michigan Bucks (2nd Title)
Matches played	536
Best Player	Junior Garcia Yakima Reds
Top goalscorer	Junior Garcia Yakima Reds (15 Goals)
Best goalkeeper	Miguel Gallardo Austin Aztex U23
← 2007 2009 →

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.

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:

1. 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

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

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

July 22, 2008
5:00 ET

Toyota Park
Bridgeview, Illinois

Attendance: 75

Referee: Pawel Wydra (USA)

---

Thunder Bay Chill	3 – 1	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'

July 22, 2008
7:30 ET

Chapples Park Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario

Attendance: 1,005

Referee: Mike Delecruz (CAN)

---

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

July 23, 2008
7:00 ET

Coughlin Field
Lakewood, Ohio

Attendance: 45

Referee: Chris Ponso (USA)

Conference semifinals

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

July 25, 2008
5:00 ET

Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Robert Mauws (USA)

---

Brooklyn Knights	0 – 0 (AET)	Cape Cod Crusaders
Damiani  27' Gonzales  82' Ortega  93' Dos Santos  108'	(Report)	Maloney  33' Munro  73'
Penalties
Matteo Damiani Guerra Dos Santos Kulkov	5 – 3	Munro Maloney Lynn Vercollone

July 25, 2008
5:30 ET

Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 280

Referee: Tim Snyder (USA)

---

Central Florida Kraze	1 – 2	Laredo Heat
Araujo  45' Wolfe 54' Mattson  90'	(Report)	Cruz  21' Garcia 52'  90+' Mulamba  53' 63' Infante  87'

July 25, 2008
7:30 ET

Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Agostino Minasola (USA)

---

Reading Rage	4 – 2 (AET)	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'

July 25, 2008
8:00 ET

Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 657

Referee: Bo Maroo (USA)

---

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

July 26, 2008
5:30 ET

Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan

Referee: Clifton Ellis (USA)

---

San Fernando Valley Quakes	1 – 3 (AET)	Vancouver Whitecaps Residency
Borak  72' Agwu 82'  84' Tracy  104'	(Report)	Leslie  65' Davies  69' Dosanjh  86' Edwini-Bonsu 90+6' 110' Russell  114' 116' Sandhu  118'

July 26, 2008
7:30 ET

Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California

Attendance: 1,291

Referee: Mike Kampmeinert (USA)

---

Michigan Bucks	1 – 3 (AET)	Kalamazoo Outrage
DeMartin 31' Morisset  39' Clark  120'	(Report)	Alvino  34' Oatley 86'  111' 120' Muckey 98'

July 26, 2008
7:30 ET

Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan

Referee: Marc Lawrence (USA)

---

Fresno Fuego	0 – 3	Tacoma Tide
Alvarado  32' Calvo  89' Nunes  89'	(Report)	Scott 18' Mueller  30' Schomaker 76' Tangney 90'

July 26, 2008
10:30 ET

Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California

Attendance: 3,214

Referee: Maurizio Laudini (USA)

Conference finals

Austin Aztex U23	1 – 3	Laredo Heat
Alvarez  4' Vega  5' Watson 26' (PK)  64' Godbolt  36'  41'	(Report)	Galvan  4' Mulamba  12' 68' Quinones  17' Cruz  26' Garcia 47' 51' Morales  80'

July 26, 2008
7:00 ET

Seminole Soccer Complex
Sanford, Florida

Attendance: 100

Referee: Martin Bell (USA)

---

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

July 27, 2008
4:30 ET

Don Thomas Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 510

Referee: Ian Bongaardt (USA)

---

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

July 27, 2008
7:00 ET

Ultimate Soccer Arena
Pontiac, Michigan

Referee: Jason White (USA)

---

Tacoma Tide	1 – 4	Vancouver Whitecaps Residency
Mueller  46' Knapp  54' Agu  82' Schomaker 90'	(Report)	Edwini-Bonsu 41' 64' Semenets 66' Russell 86' Johnstone  87'

July 27, 2008
10:00 ET

Chukchansi Park
Fresno, California

Attendance: 320

Referee: Colin Arblaster (USA)

PDL semifinals

Thunder Bay Chill	2 – 1	Vancouver Whitecaps Residency
Alvarado  52' Milroth 61'  79' Zendejas 90+4'		Leslie  41' Dosanjh  56' Davies  81' Edwini-Bonsu 89'  90+4'  90+4'

August 2, 2008
7:00 ET

Chapples Park Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario

Attendance: 1,546

Referee: Frank Carpino (CAN)

---

Laredo Heat	2 – 0	Reading Rage
Quinones  29' Ramos 41' Garcia 78' Humphrey  87'		O'Connor  50' Sanders  84'

August 2, 2008
9:15 ET

Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex
Laredo, Texas

Attendance: 1,693

Referee: Carlos Salas (USA)

PDL final

Laredo Heat	1 – 1 (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

August 9, 2008
8:45 ET

Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex
Laredo, Texas

Attendance: 3,451

Referee: Jasen Anno (USA)

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

• United Soccer Leagues 2008