2012 USL Pro season

The 2012 USL Pro season was the 26th season of third-division soccer in the United States,^[1] and the second season of USL Pro. The season started with 11 teams. FC New York self-relegated to the National Premier Soccer League prior to the release of the schedule. The final weekend of the regular season was August 17–19.

USL Pro

Season	2012
Champions	Charleston Battery (1st Title)
Commissioner's Cup	Orlando City SC (2nd Title)
Matches played	132
Goals scored	330 (2.5 per match)
Best Player	Kevin Molino Orlando City SC
Top goalscorer	Dennis Chin Orlando City SC (11 Goals)
Best goalkeeper	Kristian Nicht Rochester Rhinos
Biggest home win	CHB 4, ANT 0 (May 4) HAR 4, DDL 0 (May 19) DDL 4, WIL 0 (June 23) ORL 4, ROC 0 (July 14) ORL 4, CHB 0 (July 27) CHE 4, ANT 0 (August 4)
Biggest away win	ORL 4, LAB 0 (July 8) CHB 4, ROC 0 (August 11)
Highest scoring	WIL 4, LAB 2 (June 30) ORL 4, HAR 2 (August 1)
Longest winning run	6 games: ROC (April 14 – May 12)
Longest unbeaten run	14 games: ORL (June 9 – August 17)
Longest winless run	12 games: DDL (April 13 – June 17)
Longest losing run	8 games: ANT (April 28 – June 29)
Highest attendance	8,932 ORL vs DDL (August 17)
Lowest attendance	200 LAB vs WIL (May 4)
Average attendance	2,777
← 2011 2013 →

Teams

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
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

Personal 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	Tom Curtis	George Dublin	Joma	None
Charleston Battery	Michael Anhaeuser	Stephen Armstrong	Umbro	avVenta
Charlotte Eagles	Mark Steffens	Josh Rife	Admiral	Coca-Cola
Dayton Dutch Lions	Ivar van Dinteren	Bret Jones	Under Armour	Scoutforall.com
Harrisburg City Islanders	Bill Becher	Jason Pelletier	Nike	Capital Blue Cross/Snickers
Los Angeles Blues	Charlie Naimo	Shahryar Dastan	Nike	Marriott
Orlando City SC	Adrian Heath	Ian Fuller	Umbro	Orlando Health/Legoland Florida
Pittsburgh Riverhounds	Justin Evans		Umbro	#1 Cochran
Richmond Kickers	Leigh Cowlishaw	Ronnie Pascale	Adidas	Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc.
Rochester Rhinos	Jesse Myers		Umbro	Non-Smoking Coalition
Wilmington Hammerheads	David Irving		Umbro	New Hanover Regional Medical Center

Transfers

For full list, see List of USL Pro transfers 2012.

Standings

Battery

Eagles

Orlando City

Kickers

Hammerheads

Dutch Lions

City Islanders

Riverhounds

Rhinos

Barracuda

Blues

Locations of teams for the 2012 USL Pro season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Orlando City SC (C)	24	17	6	1	50	18	+32	57	Commissioner's Cup, Playoffs 1st round bye
2	Rochester Rhinos (A)	24	12	5	7	27	23	+4	41	Playoffs 1st round bye
3	Charleston Battery (A)	24	12	2	10	36	26	+10	38	Playoffs
4	Richmond Kickers (A)	24	11	5	8	31	27	+4	38
5	Wilmington Hammerheads (A)	24	10	7	7	34	32	+2	37
6	Harrisburg City Islanders (A)	24	10	7	7	34	29	+5	37
7	Charlotte Eagles	24	11	3	10	34	26	+8	36
8	Los Angeles Blues	24	9	3	12	26	29	−3	30
9	Dayton Dutch Lions	24	4	10	10	20	29	−9	22
10	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	24	4	5	15	20	39	−19	17
11	Antigua Barracuda	24	5	1	18	16	50	−34	16

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.^[2]
(A) Advances to USL Pro Playoffs; (C) Commissioner's Cup (best regular season record)

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)	PIT	PIT	CHE	CHE	WIL	CHB	ORL	ORL	CHB	ORL	CHB	CHB	ROC	HAR	LAB	LAB	PIT	DAY	RIC	CHE	LAB	LAB	RIC	RIC
	0–1	3–1	3–2	0–2	0–3	0–4	0–1	1–2	0–3	0–2	0–2	1–0	1–4	1–1	0–3	0–2	1–4	1–3	0–2	0–4	2–1	0–1	0–1	2–1
Charleston Battery (CHB)	RIC	RIC	CHE	PIT	ANT	ROC	LAB	PIT	DAY	ORL	ANT	HAR	ANT	ANT	CHE	CHE	WIL	ORL	ORL	WIL	WIL	HAR	ROC	DAY
	2–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	4–0	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–0	1–2	3–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	0–2	0–1	3–1	1–2	0–4	2–2	1–2	0–3	4–0	0–0
Charlotte Eagles (CHE)	ORL	DAY	CHB	HAR	ANT	ANT	HAR	ROC	ROC	WIL	ORL	RIC	RIC	LAB	CHB	CHB	PIT	WIL	RIC	RIC	ANT	PIT	DAY	WIL
	0–2	0–0	0–3	1–2	2–3	2–0	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–1	4–1	3–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–2	0–4	3–0	2–2	1–0
Dayton Dutch Lions (DDL)	CHE	PIT	ROC	RIC	LAB	ROC	HAR	ROC	CHB	PIT	LAB	LAB	WIL	ORL	PIT	ROC	HAR	HAR	WIL	RIC	ANT	CHE	ORL	CHB
	0–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	0–4	2–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	4–0	2–2	1–0	0–2	0–0	2–1	0–2	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–1	0–0
Harrisburg City Islanders (HAR)	CHE	WIL	CHE	RIC	PIT	DAY	ROC	RIC	WIL	ROC	ORL	CHB	ROC	PIT	ANT	DAY	DAY	PIT	LAB	ORL	CHB	RIC	LAB	LAB
	2–1	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	4–0	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–3	1–3	2–1	3–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	2–0	2–4	3–0	1–2	2–2	1–0
Los Angeles Blues (LAB)	ROC	ROC	WIL	WIL	DAY	PIT	ORL	CHB	DAY	DAY	CHE	WIL	RIC	ORL	ORL	ANT	ANT	ROC	HAR	PIT	ANT	ANT	HAR	HAR
	0–1	0–2	2–1	2–2	1–0	3–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–3	2–4	0–1	0–1	0–4	3–0	2–0	0–1	0–2	2–0	1–2	1–0	2–2	0–1
Orlando City SC (ORL)	CHE	WIL	RIC	RIC	PIT	ANT	ANT	LAB	CHE	WIL	CHB	ANT	HAR	DAY	PIT	LAB	LAB	ROC	CHB	WIL	CHB	HAR	ROC	DAY
	2–0	4–1	2–0	0–0	3–2	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–3	2–1	2–0	3–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	4–0	4–0	2–1	1–1	4–0	4–2	1–0	1–1
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PIT)	ANT	ANT	DAY	CHB	WIL	ORL	LAB	HAR	RIC	CHB	DAY	ROC	WIL	ORL	DAY	HAR	RIC	CHE	HAR	ROC	ANT	LAB	CHE	ROC
	1–0	1–3	2–0	0–1	0–1	2–3	0–3	0–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–3	1–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	4–1	2–0	0–3	0–1
Richmond Kickers (RIC)	CHB	CHB	ORL	ORL	DAY	HAR	PIT	WIL	HAR	ROC	CHE	WIL	CHE	ROC	LAB	WIL	PIT	DAY	CHE	CHE	ANT	HAR	ANT	ANT
	1–2	2–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–4	2–3	1–0	0–1	3–1	0–2	0–1	2–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	1–2
Rochester Rhinos (ROC)	LAB	LAB	DAY	CHE	CHE	CHB	DAY	HAR	DAY	RIC	WIL	HAR	PIT	RIC	HAR	ANT	DAY	WIL	ORL	PIT	LAB	ORL	CHB	PIT
	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	3–2	1–2	4–1	2–0	0–0	0–4	2–0	1–0	1–0	0–4	1–0
Wilmington Hammerheads (WIL)	ORL	HAR	PIT	ANT	LAB	LAB	CHE	RIC	ORL	ROC	HAR	RIC	PIT	DAY	LAB	RIC	ROC	CHB	DAY	CHE	ORL	CHB	CHB	CHE
	1–4	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	0–4	4–2	1–0	0–0	1–3	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	1–2	0–1

USL Pro published schedule and results.^[3][4]

Playoffs

The 2012 USL Pro Playoffs included the top six finishers in the table, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds receiving a first-round bye on August 25. The semifinals featuring the four remaining teams was played the following weekend, with the 2012 USL PRO Championship set for the weekend of September 7–9. All playoff rounds featured a single-game knockout format.

	First Round					Semi-finals					USL Pro Championship
						1	Orlando City SC	3
	4	Richmond Kickers	2			5	Wilmington Hammerheads	4
	5	Wilmington Hammerheads	3								3	Charleston Battery	1
											5	Wilmington Hammerheads	0
						2	Rochester Rhinos	1 (3)
	3	Charleston Battery	2			3	Charleston Battery (p)	1 (4)
	6	Harrisburg City Islanders	1

Richmond Kickers v Wilmington Hammerheads

August 25, 2012 (2012-08-25) 1st	Richmond Kickers	2–3	Wilmington Hammerheads	Richmond, Virginia
7:00 pm EDT	Yeisley 12' Elcock 79'	Report Report	Briggs  57' Chirishian 69' Perry 72' Guzman  90' Parratt 90+3'	Stadium: City Stadium Attendance: 1,441 Referee: Charles Carson

Charleston Battery v Harrisburg City Islanders

August 25, 2012 (2012-08-25) 1st	Charleston Battery	2–1	Harrisburg City Islanders	Charleston, South Carolina
7:30 pm EDT	Paterson 40' (pen.)  89' Donatelli 45+1' Richter  80'	Report Report	Ombiji 16' Mellor  45' Pelletier  53' Basso  77'	Stadium: Blackbaud Stadium Attendance: 2,718 Referee: Augie Minasola

Orlando City SC v Wilmington Hammerheads

August 31, 2012 (2012-08-31) SF	Orlando City SC	3–4	Wilmington Hammerheads	Orlando, Florida
7:30 pm EDT	Luzunaris 44' O'Connor  61' Watson  81' 90+' (pen.) Davis 90+'	Report Report	Hertzog 4' (pen.), 59'  90+' Holmes 9' Chirishian  29' 30' Cole  32' Riley  64' Guzman  71' Hernandez  90+'	Stadium: Citrus Bowl Attendance: 7,887 Referee: Marcos Deliveira

Rochester Rhinos v Charleston Battery

August 31, 2012 (2012-08-31) SF	Rochester Rhinos	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Charleston Battery	Rochester, New York
7:35 pm EDT	McFayden 55' McManus  57' Hoxie  76' Cost  80' Fernández  90'	Report Report	Donatelli 90+' Hoffer  114'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 3,312 Referee: Vito Testa, Jr.
	Penalties
	Hoxie Kyriazis Earls Zamudio Roberts Nicht Rosenlund		Paterson Donatelli Azira Falvey Prince Wilson Mack

Charleston Battery v Wilmington Hammerheads

September 8, 2012 (2012-09-08) F	Charleston Battery	1–0	Wilmington Hammerheads	Charleston, South Carolina
7:30 pm EDT	Azira 74' Falvey  75' Wiltse  87'	Report Report Report	Cole  34' Chirishian  46' Musa  66'	Stadium: Blackbaud Stadium Attendance: 4,963 Referee: Robert Sibiga

Championship Game MVP: Jose Cuevas (CHB)

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.

Team	GP	Total	High	Low	Average
Orlando City SC	12	79,276	8,932	3,506	6,606
Rochester Rhinos	12	75,176	7,959	4,653	6,265
Wilmington Hammerheads	12	51,183	5,382	2,482	4,265
Charleston Battery	12	47,359	4,782	2,983	3,947
Richmond Kickers	12	28,550	5,009	1,424	2,379
Harrisburg City Islanders	12	17,418	1,958	355	1,452
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	12	11,810	2,023	532	984
Antigua Barracuda	10	8,831	1,800	381	883
Charlotte Eagles	12	9,348	1,447	522	779
Dayton Dutch Lions	12	8,592	1,053	367	716
Los Angeles Blues	12	8,247	2,432	134	687
Total	130	345,790	8,932	134	2,660

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Nation	Club	Goals
1	Dennis Chin	USA	Orlando City SC	11
2	Nicki Paterson	SCO	Charleston Battery	10
3	Corey Hertzog	USA	Wilmington Hammerheads	9
	Matt Luzunaris	USA	Orlando City SC
5	Andriy Budnyy	UKR	Wilmington Hammerheads	8
6	Jose Cuevas	USA	Charleston Battery	7
	Lucky Mkosana	ZIM	Harrisburg City Islanders
8	Bright Dike	USA	Los Angeles Blues	6
	Matt Kassel	USA	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
	Darryl Roberts	TRI	Charlotte Eagles

Source:^[5]

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	21	1845	53	16	0.780	14-0-6	8
2	Kristian Nicht	Rochester Rhinos	22	1890	86	20	0.909	12-6-4	11
3	Andrew Dykstra	Charleston Battery	20	1800	57	20	1.000	11-7-2	9
4	Eric Reed	Charlotte Eagles	21	1890	64	21	1.000	9-9-1	7
5	Ronnie Pascale	Richmond Kickers	24	2154	95	27	1.128	11-8-5	7
6	Matt Williams	Dayton Dutch Lions	24	2147	115	29	1.215	4-10-10	5
7	Nick Noble	Harrisburg City Islanders	23	2050	70	29	1.273	9-7-7	8
8	Alex Horwath	Wilmington Hammerheads	24	2160	85	32	1.333	11-7-6	7
9	Hunter Gilstrap	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	22	1980	92	35	1.590	4-13-5	3
10	Molvin James	Antigua Barracuda	15	1268	56	33	2.342	3-9-1	0

Source:^[5]

League awards

^[6]

• Most Valuable Player: Kevin Molino (ORL)
• Rookie of the Year: Jose Cuevas (CHB)
• Defender of the Year: Troy Roberts (ROC)
• Goalkeeper of the Year: Kristian Nicht (ROC)
• Coach of the Year: Adrian Heath (ORL)

All-League Teams

^[7]

First Team

F: Dennis Chin (ORL), Jose Cuevas (CHB), Corey Hertzog (WIL)
M: J.C. Banks (ROC), Kevin Molino (ORL), Nicki Paterson (CHB)
D: Josh Rife (CHE), Troy Roberts (ROC), Rob Valentino (ORL), William Yomby (RIC)
G: Kristian Nicht (ROC)

Second Team

F: Bright Dike (LAB), Matt Luzunaris (ORL), Lucky Mkosana (HAR)
M: Joel DeLass (DDL), Matt Kassel (PIT), Bryce Taylor (WIL)
D: Kieron Bernard (ORL), Erlys Garcia (LAB), Quentin Griffith (ANT), Jerome Mechack (ORL)
G: Miguel Gallardo (ORL)