2011 USL Pro season

The 2011 USL Pro season was the 25th season of third-division soccer in the United States,^[1] and was the inaugural season of the United Soccer Leagues' (USL) new professional competition. The league is effectively a combination of the USL's former First and Second Divisions.

USL Pro

Season	2011
Champions	Orlando City SC (1st Title)
Commissioner's Cup	Orlando City SC (1st Title)
Matches played	108
Goals scored	273 (2.53 per match)
Best Player	Yordany Álvarez Orlando City SC
Top goalscorer	Jhonny Arteaga F.C. New York (13 Goals)
Best goalkeeper	Miguel Gallardo Orlando City SC
Biggest home win	HAR 4, CHE 0 (July 2) HAR 5, NEW 1 (July 20) ORL 4, HAR 0 (August 12)
Biggest away win	ANT 7, PRU 0 (April 27)
Highest scoring	ANT 7, PRU 0 (April 27) CHB 4, CHE 3 (August 12)
Longest winning run	6 games: RIC (April 2 – 7 May) ANT (April 23 – 8 May)
Longest unbeaten run	11 games: ORL (April 9 – June 4)
Longest winless run	13 games: DDL (June 8 – July 27)
Longest losing run	7 games: ANT (June 24 – July 16)
Highest attendance	11,220 ORL vs HAR (September 3) (Championship)
Lowest attendance	105 LAB vs PRU (April 20)
Average attendance	2,274
2012 →

Following the conclusion of the regular season in August, a postseason tournament, known as the USL Pro Playoffs, took place between the top eight clubs during the season. The quarterfinals was played between August 19–20,^[2] the semifinals between August 26–28,^[2] and the championship took place on September 3.^[2]

Teams

USL Pro was initially set to feature 15 clubs that would be aligned into three conferences of five clubs: the "American", "National" and "International" conferences. The league announced that each club would play an unbalanced schedule with a total of 24 matches.^[3] Initially, the International Division clubs were intended to play each other four times, twice home and twice away, with four games apiece at home and away against competition from the American and National Divisions.^[3] The American and National Division clubs were intended to play each other twice: home and away, regardless of division.^[3]

Original Divisional Alignment
American Division	Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles, Orlando City SC, Richmond Kickers, Wilmington Hammerheads
National Division	Dayton Dutch Lions, F.C. New York, Harrisburg City Islanders, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Rochester Rhinos
International Division	Antigua Barracuda, Los Angeles Blues, Puerto Rico United, River Plate Puerto Rico, Sevilla FC Puerto Rico

However, on May 10, 2011, the USL formally removed the three Puerto Rico Soccer League teams and announced that all remaining teams would continue to play a 24-game schedule.^[4]

Stadiums and Locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Antigua Barracuda	St. John's, Antigua	Stanford Cricket Ground	5,000
Charleston Battery	Charleston, South Carolina	Blackbaud Stadium	5,100
Charlotte Eagles	Charlotte, North Carolina	Restart Field	2,000
Dayton Dutch Lions	Bellbrook, Ohio	Miami Valley South Stadium	3,000
F.C. New York	Jamaica, New York	Belson Stadium	2,600
Harrisburg City Islanders	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	Skyline Sports Complex	5,000
Los Angeles Blues	Fullerton, California	Titan Stadium	10,000
Orlando City SC	Orlando, Florida	Citrus Bowl	65,438
Pittsburgh Riverhounds	Bridgeville, Pennsylvania	Chartiers Valley High School	2,500
Richmond Kickers	Richmond, Virginia	City Stadium	22,000
Rochester Rhinos	Rochester, New York	Sahlen's Stadium	13,768
Wilmington Hammerheads	Wilmington, North Carolina	Legion Stadium	6,000

Personnel and Kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Head Coach	Captain	Jersey manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Antigua Barracuda	Billy McEwan	Dave Carr	Joma
Charleston Battery	Michael Anhaeuser	Stephen Armstrong	Umbro	avVenta
Charlotte Eagles	Mark Steffens	Josh Rife	Puma	Coca-Cola
Dayton Dutch Lions	Ivar van Dinteren	Bret Jones	Under Armour	Scoutforall.com
F.C. New York	Matt Weston	Paul Shaw[5]	Umbro	Treiber
Harrisburg City Islanders	Bill Becher		Nike	Capital Blue Cross/Snickers
Los Angeles Blues	Charlie Naimo	Shahryar Dastan	Nike	Marriott
Orlando City SC	Adrian Heath	Ian Fuller	Umbro	Orlando Health
Pittsburgh Riverhounds	Justin Evans		Umbro	#1 Cochran
Richmond Kickers	Leigh Cowlishaw		Adidas	HCA Virginia
Rochester Rhinos	Bob Lilley		Umbro	Non-Smoking Coalition
Wilmington Hammerheads	David Irving		Umbro	New Hanover Regional Medical Center

Standings

Battery

Eagles

Orlando

Kickers

Hammerheads

Dutch Lions

FCNY

Islanders

Riverhounds

Rhinos

Barracuda

Blues

Locations of teams for the 2011 USL Pro season

American Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Orlando City SC (C)	24	15	6	3	36	16	+20	51	2011 USL Pro Commissioner's Cup, 2011 USL Pro Playoffs
2	Wilmington Hammerheads (A)	24	14	3	7	42	30	+12	45	2011 USL Pro Playoffs[a]
3	Richmond Kickers (A)	24	12	5	7	35	21	+14	41
4	Charleston Battery (A)	24	10	5	9	24	25	−1	35
5	Charlotte Eagles	24	9	6	9	32	29	+3	33
6	Antigua Barracuda	24	9	2	13	32	32	0	29

Source: USL Pro official standings
Rules for classification: Points, then tiebreak: 1) Head-to-head record based on total points in League games, 2) Total wins in League games, 3) Goal difference in League games, 4) Goals scored in League games, etc.^[6]
(A) Advances to USL Pro Playoffs; (C) Commissioner's Cup (best regular season record)
Notes:

1. The top four clubs in each division are guaranteed spots in the 2011 USL Pro Playoffs.

National Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Rochester Rhinos (A)	24	12	4	8	31	23	+8	40	2011 USL Pro Playoffs[a]
2	Harrisburg City Islanders (A)	24	10	7	7	37	30	+7	37
3	Los Angeles Blues (A)	24	8	9	7	34	29	+5	33
4	Pittsburgh Riverhounds (A)	24	7	6	11	23	32	−9	27
5	F.C. New York	24	6	7	11	27	37	−10	25
6	Dayton Dutch Lions	24	2	6	16	21	54	−33	12

Source: USL Pro official standings
Rules for classification: Points, then tiebreak: 1) Head-to-head record based on total points in League games, 2) Total wins in League games, 3) Goal difference in League games, 4) Goals scored in League games, etc.^[7]
(A) Advances to USL Pro Playoffs
Notes:

1. The top four clubs in each division are guaranteed spots in the 2011 USL PRO Playoffs.

Results table

Color Key: Home  • Away  • Win  • Loss  • Draw
Club	Match
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Antigua Barracuda FC (ANT)	LAB	SPR†	SPR†	PRU†	RPP†	LAB	RPP†	RPP†	ROC	CHE	ROC	ROC	ORL	ORL	ORL†	NEW†	PIT†	WIL	WIL†	RIC	LAB†	LAB†	LAB†	LAB†
	1–2	0–1	3–2	7–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	0–2	0–2	1–2	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–2	0–2	0–2	0–1	2–3	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–1	3–0
Charleston Battery (CHB)	CHE	DAY	RIC	CHE	PIT	PIT	ROC	NEW	WIL	RIC	HAR	NEW	HAR	DAY	WIL†	PIT	LAB†	ORL	WIL	DAY	ROC	ORL	ORL†	CHE
	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–3	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–0	0–2	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–1	0–1	1–2	4–3
Charlotte Eagles (CHE)	CHB	ORL	NEW	CHB	LAB	LAB	ANT	DAY	ORL	WIL	DAY	PIT	HAR	NEW	RIC	RIC	HAR	WIL	WIL	ROC	ROC	PIT	HAR	CHB
	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–4	3–1	2–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	0–3	2–2	3–0	2–2	0–1	3–4
Dayton Dutch Lions (DAY)	CHB	ROC	RIC	ORL	LAB	CHE	PIT	HAR	NEW	CHB	CHE	ROC	RIC†	ORL	HAR	LAB†	LAB†	PIT	CHB	HAR	NEW†	RIC	NEW	WIL
	1–2	2–3	0–6	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–4	0–3	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–3	0–0	2–2	1–1	1–4	1–3	2–2	2–3	2–0	0–3	0–5	1–2
FC New York (NEW)	ORL	CHE	ORL	HAR	CHB	WIL	PIT	RIC	ROC	CHE	DAY	RIC	HAR†	RIC†	ANT†	CHE	ROC	PIT	PIT	WIL	DAY†	HAR	ROC†	DAY
	0–3	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–3	0–2	2–2	2–1	1–1	3–0	0–2	1–5	0–0	2–0	1–3	1–3	1–2	1–1	1–3	1–2	0–0	2–1	5–0
Harrisburg City Islanders (HAR)	PIT	NEW	ROC	RIC	ORL	CHB	PIT†	CHB	DAY	ROC	RIC	LAB	LAB	CHE	DAY	CHE	WIL	NEW†	LAB	DAY	WIL	NEW	CHE	ORL
	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–3	1–2	4–2	1–0	4–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	4–0	2–2	1–1	1–3	5–1	1–1	3–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	0–4
Los Angeles Blues (LAB)	SPR†	ANT	PRU†	RPP†	ANT	CHE	CHE	DAY	PIT	HAR†	HAR†	CHB†	WIL†	DAY†	DAY†	RIC†	HAR†	ANT†	ANT†	ANT†	WIL†	ANT†	RIC†	RIC†
	3–0	2–1	4–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–4	1–1	4–1	2–1	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–3	0–0	0–0
Orlando City SC (ORL)	RIC	NEW	CHE	PRU†	NEW	DAY	PIT	ROC	HAR	RIC	CHE	WIL	ANT	WIL	ANT†	ANT	PIT	ROC	DAY	CHB	ROC	CHB	CHB †	HAR
	0–2	3–0	1–0	2–2	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	3–1	2–0	0–0	4–2	1–2	1–1	3–1	2–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	4–0
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PIT)	RIC	HAR	WIL	CHB	CHB	ORL	NEW	LAB	WIL	HAR†	DAY	WIL	ROC	CHE	CHB	ORL	ANT †	NEW	NEW	DAY	ROC	RIC	CHE	ROC
	1–2	1–0	1–3	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	0–3	0–0	2–4	1–2	1–3	0–3	0–2	2–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	3–1	0–3	2–0	2–2	0–1
Richmond Kickers (RIC)	ORL	PIT	ROC	CHB	DAY	WIL	HAR	CHB	ORL	NEW	NEW	HAR	NEW	ROC	DAY †	CHE	CHE†	ANT†	LAB	PIT†	DAY	WIL	LAB†	LAB†
	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	6–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–2	2–2	2–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	3–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–2	0–2	3–0	2–0	0–0	0–0
Rochester Rhinos (ROC)	RIC	WIL	DAY	HAR	CHB	ANT	ORL	WIL	NEW	ANT	ANT	HAR	PIT	DAY	RIC	ORL	NEW	ORL	PIT	CHE	CHB	CHE	NEW†	PIT
	0–1	0–1	3–2	0–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–2	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	3–1	1–2	3–0	2–2	1–0	0–3	1–2	0–1
Wilmington Hammerheads (WIL)	ROC	PIT	RIC	NEW	CHB	ROC	PIT	ORL	PIT	CHE	ORL	CHB†	LAB†	ANT†	ANT	CHB	HAR	CHE	CHE	NEW	HAR	LAB†	RIC	DAY
	1–0	3–1	1–2	3–1	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–4	3–1	0–3	1–1	0–2	4–2	1–0	3–2	1–2	3–1	0–1	3–0	3–1	2–1	2–1	0–2	2–1
Puerto Rican Teams: Puerto Rico United – PRU† • River Plate Puerto Rico – RPP† • Sevilla FC Puerto Rico – SPR†

† Puerto Rican teams were removed from USL Pro League on 10 May. All results against them that took place to that date were kept and future games were rescheduled amongst the remaining teams.

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.

Team	GP	Total	High	Low	Average
Orlando City SC	12	63,185	7,933	1,321	5,265
Rochester Rhinos	12	61,651	7,459	3,027	5,138
Wilmington Hammerheads	12	47,117	5,783	1,924	3,926
Charleston Battery	12	42,819	4,771	2,461	3,568
Richmond Kickers	12	23,827	4,742	743	1,986
Antigua Barracuda	12	18,911	6,000	500	1,576
Harrisburg City Islanders	12	16,845	2,038	838	1,404
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	12	13,555	2,035	624	1,130
Charlotte Eagles	12	12,339	1,352	854	1,028
FC New York	12	9,963	2,011	338	972
Dayton Dutch Lions	12	7,929	2,000	262	661
Los Angeles Blues	12	4,456	704	105	371
Total	144	322,597	7,933	105	2,240

Playoffs

The top four teams in each division at the end of the regular season qualified for a single-elimination playoff for the USL Pro Championship. The championship match was played at 7:00 pm on Saturday, September 3, and saw Orlando City SC defeat the Harrisburg City Islanders in a penalty shootout. Orlando City SC earned the right to host the championship match by virtue of their better regular-season record.

Divisional Semifinals

Divisional Finals

USL PRO Championship

A1

Orlando City SC (a.e.t.)

3

A4

Charleston Battery

1

A1

Orlando City SC

3

American Division

A3

Richmond Kickers

0

A2

Wilmington Hammerheads

0 (4)

A3

Richmond Kickers (p)

0 (5)

A1

Orlando City SC (p)

2 (3)

N2

Harrisburg City Islanders

2 (2)

N1

Rochester Rhinos

4

N4

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

0

N1

Rochester Rhinos

1

National Division

N2

Harrisburg City Islanders

2

N2

Harrisburg City Islanders

3

N3

Los Angeles Blues

2

Harrisburg City Islanders v Los Angeles Blues

August 19, 2011 (2011-08-19) QF	Harrisburg City Islanders	3–2	Los Angeles Blues	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
7:30 pm EDT	Bloes  5' Welker 34', 39' Ombiji 52' Pelletier  62'  66'	Report	Tudela 11'  61' Dastan  33' García 45+'  72' Rivera  58' Sesay  61'	Stadium: Skyline Sports Complex Attendance: 1,033 Referee: Michael Donovan

Rochester Rhinos v Pittsburgh Riverhounds

August 19, 2011 (2011-08-19) QF	Rochester Rhinos	4–0	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	Rochester, New York
7:30 pm EDT	Rosenlund 10' Donatelli 28' Kissi 47' Cost 85'	Report		Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 3,273 Referee: Robert Sigiba

Wilmington Hammerheads v Richmond Kickers

August 19, 2011 (2011-08-19) QF	Wilmington Hammerheads	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	Richmond Kickers	Wilmington, North Carolina
7:30 pm EDT	Nicholson  49' Parratt  99'	Report	Heins  47' Görres  100'	Stadium: Legion Field Attendance: 3,849 Referee: Moo Hackett
	Penalties
	Budnyi Jata Barrera Cuero Bagley[8]		Görres Bulow Hiroyama Delicâte Bangura

Orlando City SC v Charleston Battery

August 20, 2011 (2011-08-20) QF	Orlando City SC	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Charleston Battery	Orlando, Florida
7:30 pm EDT	Griffin 44' Chin 100' Neal 118'	Report	Wiltse  34' Kelly  59'  102' Paterson 64' Falvey  102' Peverley  120'	Stadium: Citrus Bowl Attendance: 7,609 Referee: Rob Mauws

Rochester Rhinos v Harrisburg City Islanders

August 26, 2011 (2011-08-26) SF	Rochester Rhinos	1–2	Harrisburg City Islanders	Rochester, New York
7:30 pm EDT	Donatelli  27' Kissi 45' Kirk  51'	Report	Basso 6' Marshall  27' Calvano  34' Schofield 38'  80' Ombiji  42'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 3,598 Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero

Orlando City SC v Richmond Kickers

August 27, 2011 (2011-08-27) SF	Orlando City SC	3–0	Richmond Kickers	Orlando, Florida
7:30 pm EDT	Boden 19' Jérôme 45+2' Chin 70'	Report	Wallace  3' Kalungi  89'	Stadium: Citrus Bowl Attendance: 8,304 Referee: Andres Pfefferkorn

Orlando City SC v Harrisburg City Islanders

September 3, 2011 (2011-09-03) F	Orlando City SC	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	Harrisburg City Islanders	Orlando, Florida
7:00 pm EDT	Gallardo  48' Molino  64' Olum 89' Boden  110' Neal 116' (pen.)	Report	Basso  5' Pelletier  45+' Welker  77' Harrison  90+' Noone 90+5' Touray 95' Langley  111' Bloes  113'	Stadium: Citrus Bowl Attendance: 11,220 Referee: Matt Foerster
	Penalties
	Neal Álvarez Campbell Boden Jorsling [9]		Becerra Angulo Noone Basso Touray

Championship Game MVP: Sean Kelley (ORL)

Statistical leaders

Top scorers Rank Player Nation Club Goals 1 Jhonny Arteaga COL F.C. New York 13 2 Matthew Delicâte ENG Richmond Kickers 10 3 José Angulo  USA Harrisburg City Islanders 9 Maxwell Griffin  USA Orlando City SC Luke Mulholland ENG Wilmington Hammerheads 6 Andriy Budnyi UKR Wilmington Hammerheads 8 Jamie Watson  USA Orlando City SC Andrew Welker  USA Harrisburg City Islanders 9 Chris Banks  USA Wilmington Hammerheads 7 Sallieu Bundu SLE Charlotte Eagles George Davis IV  USA Dayton Dutch Lions Sainey Touray GAM Harrisburg City Islanders Source:[10]

Top assists Rank Player Nation Club Assists 1 Tadeu Terra BRA F.C. New York 8 2 Jorge Herrera COL Charlotte Eagles 7 3 Andriy Budnyi UKR Wilmington Hammerheads 6 Sainey Touray GAM Harrisburg City Islanders 5 Luke Mulholland ENG Wilmington Hammerheads 5 6 12 players tied 4 Source:[10]

Top Goalkeepers

(Minimum of 1080 Minutes Played)

Rank	Goalkeeper	Club	GP	MINS	SVS	GA	GAA	W-L-T	SHO
1	Miguel Gallardo	Orlando City SC	22	1980	68	15	0.681	12-3-6	11
2	Andrew Dykstra	Charleston Battery	13	1170	30	11	0.846	7-4-2	5
3	Ronnie Pascale	Richmond Kickers	23	2070	64	21	0.913	12-7-4	9
4	Neal Kitson	Rochester Rhinos	23	2070	76	22	0.956	12-7-4	9
5	Brock Duckworth	Wilmington Hammerheads	18	1620	71	46	1.166	11-5-2	4
6	Óscar Dautt	Los Angeles Blues	20	1800	77	53	1.200	6-6-8	5
7	Eric Reed	Charlotte Eagles	24	2160	81	29	1.208	9-9-6	8
8	Keita de Castro	Antigua Barracuda	19	1710	58	23	1.210	8-8-1	5
9	Chase Harrison	Harrisburg City Islanders	20	1800	59	26	1.300	8-6-6	5
10	Hunter Gilstrap	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	23	2070	98	30	1.304	7-11-5	9

Source:^[10]

League awards

^[11]

• Most Valuable Player: Yordany Álvarez (ORL)
• Rookie of the Year: Luke Mulholland (WIL)
• Defender of the Year: Rob Valentino (ORL)
• Goalkeeper of the Year: Miguel Gallardo (ORL)
• Coach of the Year: Adrian Heath (ORL)

All-League Teams

^[12]

First Team

F: Jhonny Arteaga (NEW), Matthew Delicâte (CHB), Maxwell Griffin (ORL)
M: Yordany Álvarez (ORL), Jorge Herrera (CHE), Luke Mulholland (WIL)
D: Nelson Akwari (LAB), Gareth Evans (WIL), Rob Valentino (ORL), William Yomby (RIC)
G: Miguel Gallardo (ORL)

Second Team

F: José Angulo (HAR), George Davis IV (DAY), Jason Yeisley (PIT)
M: Lewis Neal (ORL), Lawson Robinson (ANT), Jamie Watson (ORL)
D: George Dublin (ANT), Colin Falvey (CHB), Kyle Hoffer (NEW), Troy Roberts (ROC)
G: Neal Kitson (ROC)