USSF Division 2 Professional League

The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League)^[1] was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL). The D2 Pro League was the second tier of the United States soccer league system below Major League Soccer.^[2] The league also included two clubs from Canada and one club from Puerto Rico.

USSF Division 2 Professional League

Founded	2010
Folded	2010
Country	United States
Other club(s) from	Canada, Puerto Rico
Confederation	CONCACAF
Conferences	USL Conference NASL Conference
Number of clubs	12
Level on pyramid	2
Domestic cup(s)	U.S. Open Cup Canadian Championship
Last champions	Puerto Rico Islanders (2010)
Website	USSF D2 Pro League at ussoccer.com

History

On August 27, 2009, Nike agreed to sell their stake in the United Soccer Leagues to investment company NuRock, instead of Jeff Cooper, who had aligned with a group of USL First Division team owners. Disappointed with the sale and state of the league, the ownership group broke away after the 2009 season with the intent to form a new incarnation of the North American Soccer League. The leagues sued each other, but ultimately withdrew their lawsuits and agreed to mediate with the United States Soccer Federation.

The USSF found that three of the NASL teams (NSC Minnesota Stars, Rochester Rhinos, and FC Tampa Bay) had binding contracts to play in the USL First Division in 2010, leaving the NASL with too few teams to be sanctioned. However, this left the USL First Division with only six teams, also too few for sanctioning. The USSF stripped the USL First Division of its sanctioning, and denied sanctioning to the NASL. After a week of negotiations among the three, the USSF agreed to run a 12-team interim league for 2010. The six extant teams in each league would each occupy their own conference, but teams belonging to both leagues would play each other.^[3]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Founded	Head Coach
USL Conference
Austin Aztex	Austin, Texas	House Park	2008	Adrian Heath
NSC Minnesota Stars	Blaine, Minnesota	National Sports Center	2009	Manny Lagos
Portland Timbers	Portland, Oregon	PGE Park	2001	Gavin Wilkinson
Puerto Rico Islanders	Bayamón, Puerto Rico	Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium	2003	Colin Clarke
Rochester Rhinos	Rochester, New York	Marina Auto Stadium	1996	Bob Lilley
FC Tampa Bay	Tampa, Florida	George M. Steinbrenner Field	2008	Perry Van der Beck (interim)
NASL Conference
Carolina RailHawks FC	Cary, North Carolina	WakeMed Soccer Park	2006	Martin Rennie
Crystal Palace Baltimore	Catonsville, Maryland	Ridley Athletic Complex	2006	Jim Cherneski
Miami FC	Miami, Florida	FIU Stadium, Lockhart Stadium	2006	Daryl Shore
Montreal Impact	Montreal, Quebec	Saputo Stadium	1992	Marc Dos Santos
AC St. Louis	Fenton, Missouri	Anheuser-Busch Center	2009	Dale Schilly[4]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Burnaby, British Columbia	Swangard Stadium	1986	Teitur Thordarson

Competition format

Pods

It was announced that the season would be centered around what are called pods. The pods were constructed around geographic regions and did not follow conference lines.^[5] Teams within the same pod played each other four times, twice at home and twice away. Teams played one team outside of their pod four times, twice at home and twice away, and played the rest of the teams outside their pod twice, once at home and once away. This resulted in a thirty-game season for each team, and had the additional advantage of reducing travel costs. The season ended a playoff format to crown a league champion.

Pod	Teams
1	NSC Minnesota Stars Portland Timbers AC St. Louis Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2	Crystal Palace Baltimore Carolina RailHawks FC Montreal Impact Rochester Rhinos
3	Austin Aztex Miami FC Puerto Rico Islanders FC Tampa Bay

Playoff format

At the end of the regular season, the top teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs as the top two seeds. In addition, the remaining six teams with the highest point totals, regardless of conference, also advanced to the playoffs.^[6]

Each round of the playoffs was a two-game aggregate goal series (the away goals rule was not applied as a tie-breaker). In the event that the aggregate score is tied after the second game of the series, the teams played two 15-minutes periods of extra time. If the score is still tied after extra time, the series was to be decided by a penalty shootout.^[7]

2010 season

USSF Division 2 Professional League

Season	2010
Champions	Puerto Rico Islanders
Matches played	180
Goals scored	437 (2.43 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ryan Pore (15 goals)
Biggest home win	POR 3–0 STL (Apr 22) STL 3–0 MTL (Jul 10) MTL 3–0 STL (Jul 21) STL 3–0 POR (Jul 28) POR 3–0 CPB (Aug 29) CAR 3–0 CPB (Sep 3) ROC 3–0 TAM (Sep 11) MTL 3–0 TAM (Sep 19) TAM 6–3 CPB (Oct 1)
Biggest away win	CPB 0–5 MTL (Aug 21)
Highest scoring	TAM 6–3 CPB (Oct 1)
Longest winning run	Rochester Rhinos (6 games, ended Aug 27)
Longest unbeaten run	Portland Timbers (10 games, to end the season)
Longest winless run	FC Tampa Bay (11 games, ended Oct 1)
Longest losing run	Crystal Palace Baltimore (8 games, to end the season)
Highest attendance	Portland Timbers (15,418; 4 times)
Lowest attendance	Crystal Palace Baltimore (507, Aug 4)
Average attendance	4,449
← 2009 USL 2011 USL → 2011 NASL →

NASL Conference standings

NASL Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Carolina RailHawks FC	30	13	9	8	44	32	+12	47	Conference leader, qualified for playoffs
2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	30	10	5	15	32	22	+10	45	Qualified for playoffs[a]
3	Montreal Impact	30	12	11	7	36	30	+6	43
4	Miami FC	30	7	11	12	37	49	−12	33
5	AC St. Louis	30	7	15	8	32	48	−16	29
6	Crystal Palace Baltimore	30	6	18	6	24	55	−31	24

Source: USSF D-2 schedule table
Notes:

1. The remaining six teams with the highest point totals, regardless of conference, also advance to the playoffs.

USL Conference standings

USL Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Rochester Rhinos	30	16	8	6	38	24	+14	54	Conference leader, qualified for playoffs
2	Austin Aztex	30	15	7	8	53	40	+13	53	Qualified for playoffs[a]
3	Portland Timbers	30	13	7	10	34	23	+11	49
4	NSC Minnesota Stars	30	11	12	7	32	36	−4	40
5	Puerto Rico Islanders	30	9	11	10	37	35	+2	37
6	FC Tampa Bay	30	7	12	11	41	46	−5	32

Source: USSF D-2 schedule table
Notes:

1. The remaining six teams with the highest point totals, regardless of conference, also advance to the playoffs.

Playoff standings

USSF Division 2 Pro League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Rochester Rhinos	30	16	8	6	38	24	+14	54	Conference leaders, qualified for playoffs
2	Carolina Railhawks FC	30	13	9	8	44	32	+12	47
3	Austin Aztex	30	15	7	8	53	40	+13	53	Qualified for playoffs[a]
4	Portland Timbers	30	13	7	10	34	23	+11	49
5	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	30	10	5	15	32	22	+10	45
6	Montreal Impact	30	12	11	7	36	30	+6	43
7	NSC Minnesota Stars	30	11	12	7	32	36	−4	40
8	Puerto Rico Islanders (C)	30	9	11	10	37	35	+2	37
9	Miami FC	30	7	11	12	37	49	−12	33
10	FC Tampa Bay	30	7	12	11	41	46	−5	32
11	AC St. Louis	30	7	15	8	32	48	−16	29
12	Crystal Palace Baltimore	30	6	18	6	24	55	−31	24

Source: USSF D-2 schedule table
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. The remaining six teams with the highest point totals, regardless of conference, also advance to the playoffs.

Match results

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	25	26	27	28	29	30
Austin Aztex (AUS)	MTL	STL	ROC	MIN	TAM	CPB	TAM	MIA	CPB	PUE	POR	VAN	MIA	MIA	PUE	ROC	STL	MIA	TAM	PUE	CAR	POR	VAN	MIN	PUE	TAM	STL	STL	CAR	MTL
	2–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	2–2	2–1	3–3	3–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–2	3–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	3–1	4–2	0–2	3–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–3	1–1	1–2	4–2	1–3	0–2
Carolina RailHawks (CAR)	STL	MIN	ROC	MIA	TAM	PUE	MTL	POR	VAN	CPB	MTL	STL	PUE	MTL	ROC	ROC	VAN	MTL	ROC	CPB	MIA	AUS	TAM	PUE	CPB	POR	MIN	CPB	PUE	AUS
	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	2–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	1–2	2–1	2–3	2–1	2–3	3–0	0–0	0–1	4–2	2–1	3–1
Crystal Palace Baltimore (CPB)	TAM	PUE	STL	VAN	POR	AUS	ROC	POR	AUS	MIA	ROC	CAR	MIN	MIN	PUE	ROC	MTL	STL	MTL	MIA	MTL	CAR	ROC	MTL	POR	CAR	VAN	CAR	POR	TAM
	0–1	1–3	0–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	2–1	0–2	3–3	1–2	1–1	1–3	1–0	0–2	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	0–2	0–5	0–3	0–3	0–3	2–4	1–3	3–6
Miami FC (MIA)	ROC	VAN	TAM	CAR	MIN	MIN	AUS	PUE	MTL	CPB	POR	AUS	AUS	TAM	POR	VAN	PUE	TAM	AUS	CPB	PUE	TAM	CAR	ROC	STL	MTL	ROC	STL	ROC	PUE
	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–3	2–4	1–1	3–3	1–0	1–3	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–0	1–1	3–3	1–2	1–3	1–3	2–1	2–1	4–2	1–0	1–1
NSC Minnesota Stars (MIN)	VAN	CAR	PUE	TAM	ROC	AUS	MTL	MIA	MIA	TAM	STL	ROC	MTL	POR	POR	CPB	CPB	TAM	STL	PUE	VAN	STL	POR	VAN	POR	AUS	STL	CAR	VAN	TAM
	0–2	1–0	1–3	1–0	0–3	1–2	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–3	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	3–1	0–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	3–0	1–0	1–0	3–1
Montreal Impact (MTL)	AUS	POR	PUE	MIN	VAN	POR	CAR	MIA	MIN	TAM	ROC	CAR	VAN	ROC	STL	CAR	CPB	STL	VAN	CPB	CAR	CPB	ROC	CPB	ROC	PUE	MIA	TAM	VAN	AUS
	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	0–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	1–2	1–2	0–3	1–0	1–2	3–0	0–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	1–2	5–0	2–0	2–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	2–0
Portland Timbers (POR)	ROC	STL	MTL	VAN	CPB	STL	MTL	CPB	CAR	AUS	MIA	MIN	MIN	TAM	VAN	MIA	VAN	STL	TAM	ROC	MIN	STL	MIN	AUS	CPB	PUE	CAR	PUE	CPB	VAN
	1–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	0–3	2–2	0–1	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	2–2
Puerto Rico Islanders (PUE)	MIN	CPB	MTL	CAR	TAM	MIA	AUS	STL	VAN	TAM	ROC	AUS	CPB	CAR	TAM	MIA	MIN	ROC	MIA	TAM	AUS	STL	CAR	POR	VAN	MTL	AUS	POR	CAR	MIA
	3–1	3–1	0–1	1–2	1–2	4–2	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–2	0–1	0–0	1–2	3–1	0–1	1–2	1–1
Rochester Rhinos (ROC)	MIA	POR	AUS	MIN	CAR	STL	CPB	VAN	VAN	MIN	CPB	MTL	PUE	MTL	AUS	CPB	CAR	TAM	PUE	CAR	POR	CAR	MTL	CPB	MIA	MTL	TAM	MIA	MIA	STL
	1–1	0–1	2–1	3–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	0–2	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	3–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–3	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	0–2	3–0	1–2	0–1	2–1
AC St. Louis (STL)	CAR	AUS	POR	VAN	CPB	ROC	POR	TAM	MIN	PUE	VAN	CAR	VAN	MTL	MIN	AUS	MTL	CPB	POR	MIN	VAN	POR	PUE	TAM	MIA	MIN	AUS	MIA	AUS	ROC
	0–2	1–2	0–3	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	0–3	2–3	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–1	3–0	2–2	0–2	0–3	1–0	3–0	2–2	0–0	0–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	0–3	2–1	2–4	2–4	1–2
FC Tampa Bay (TAM)	CPB	MIN	MIA	AUS	CAR	AUS	STL	MIN	PUE	VAN	MTL	PUE	POR	MIA	MIN	PUE	ROC	MIA	POR	AUS	PUE	MIA	VAN	CAR	STL	ROC	AUS	MTL	MIN	CPB
	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–2	2–1	3–3	3–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–4	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–3	1–1	0–3	1–3	6–3
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (VAN)	MIN	MIA	STL	POR	CPB	MTL	ROC	ROC	TAM	CAR	AUS	PUE	STL	MTL	POR	STL	MIA	POR	MIN	MTL	CAR	STL	MIN	TAM	AUS	PUE	CPB	MIN	MTL	POR
	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	2–2	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	0–0	3–0	0–1	0–1	2–2

Final regular season results. Based on the results at the NASL results table and USL schedule table

Playoffs

Each round was a two-game aggregate goal series. Home teams for the first game of each series listed at the bottom of the bracket.

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
	1	Rochester Rhinos	0	2	2
	8	Puerto Rico Islanders	2	1	3
								5	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	0	0	0
								8	Puerto Rico Islanders (a.e.t.)	0	2	2
	4	Portland Timbers	0	1	1
	5	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2	0	2
															2	Carolina RailHawks FC	0	1	1
															8	Puerto Rico Islanders	2	1	3
	3	Austin Aztex	0	2	2
	6	Montreal Impact	2	3	5
								2	Carolina RailHawks FC	0	2	2
								6	Montreal Impact	1	0	1
	2	Carolina RailHawks FC	0	4	4
	7	NSC Minnesota Stars	0	0	0

Quarterfinals

Puerto Rico Islanders v Rochester Rhinos

October 7, 2010	Puerto Rico Islanders	2–0	Rochester Rhinos	Bayamón, Puerto Rico
8:05PM AST	Faña 44' Foley 77'	Report		Stadium: Bayamón Soccer Complex

Rochester Rhinos v Puerto Rico Islanders

October 9, 2010	Rochester Rhinos	2–1 (2–3 agg.)	Puerto Rico Islanders	Rochester, New York
7:00PM EDT	Hoxie 39' Hamilton 54'	Report	Rivera 21'	Stadium: Marina Auto Stadium Attendance: 4,620

Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Portland Timbers

October 7, 2010	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–0	Portland Timbers	Burnaby, British Columbia
7:30PM PDT	Koffie 1' Nash 13' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Swangard Stadium Attendance: 5,018 Referee: Mathieu Bourdeau

Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps FC

October 10, 2010	Portland Timbers	1–0 (1–2 agg.)	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Portland, Oregon
6:00PM PDT	Marcelin 49'	Report		Stadium: Merlo Field Attendance: 4,884

Montreal Impact v Austin Aztex

October 6, 2010	Montreal Impact	2–0	Austin Aztex	Montreal, Quebec
7:30PM EDT	Gerba 39', 76'	Report		Stadium: Stade Saputo Attendance: 7,962 Referee: Daniel Belleau

Austin Aztex v Montreal Impact

October 9, 2010	Austin Aztex	2–3 (2–5 agg.)	Montreal Impact	Austin, Texas
7:30PM CDT	Griffin 43' Johnson 57'	Report	Gerba 4', 49' Sebrango 89'	Stadium: House Park Attendance: 2,872

NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks FC

October 6, 2010	NSC Minnesota Stars	0–0	Carolina RailHawks FC	Blaine, Minnesota
7:00PM CDT		Report		Stadium: National Sports Center Attendance: 686

Carolina RailHawks FC v NSC Minnesota Stars

October 9, 2010	Carolina RailHawks FC	4–0 (4–0 agg.)	NSC Minnesota Stars	Cary, North Carolina
7:00PM EDT	Paladini 64' Gardner 72' Lowery 84' Kallman 88' (o.g.)	Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,556

Semifinals

Puerto Rico Islanders v Vancouver Whitecaps FC

October 14, 2010	Puerto Rico Islanders	0–0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Bayamón, Puerto Rico
8:05PM AST		Report		Stadium: Bayamón Soccer Complex Attendance: 2,831

Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Puerto Rico Islanders

October 17, 2010	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	0–2 (0–2 agg.)	Puerto Rico Islanders	Burnaby, British Columbia
4:00PM PDT		Report	Addlery 113', 120'	Stadium: Swangard Stadium Attendance: 5,325

Montreal Impact v Carolina RailHawks FC

October 14, 2010	Montreal Impact	1–0	Carolina RailHawks FC	Montreal, Quebec
7:30PM EDT	Di Lorenzo 35'	Report		Stadium: Stade Saputo Attendance: 7,502

Carolina RailHawks FC v Montreal Impact

October 17, 2010	Carolina RailHawks FC	2–0 (2–1 agg.)	Montreal Impact	Cary, North Carolina
5:00PM CDT	Rusin 73' Heinemann 90'	Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,869

Finals

Puerto Rico Islanders v Carolina RailHawks FC

October 24, 2010	Puerto Rico Islanders	2–0	Carolina RailHawks FC	Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
7:05PM AST	Gbandi 4' Faña 20'	Report		Attendance: 6,257

Carolina RailHawks FC v Puerto Rico Islanders

October 30, 2010	Carolina RailHawks FC	1–1 (1–3 agg.)	Puerto Rico Islanders	WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina
7:00PM EST	Heinemann 10'	Report	Gbandi 7'	Attendance: 5,074

Statistical leaders

Top scorers Rank Player Nation Club Goals 1 Ryan Pore  USA Portland Timbers 15 2 Eddie Johnson  ENG Austin Aztex 14 3 Aaron King  USA FC Tampa Bay 12 4 Bright Dike  USA Portland Timbers 10 Maxwell Griffin  USA Austin Aztex 6 Mike Ambersley  USA AC St. Louis 9 David Foley  ENG Puerto Rico Islanders Ali Gerba  CAN Montreal Impact Abe Thompson  USA Miami FC 10 Paulo Araujo Jr.  BRA Miami FC 8 Etienne Barbara  MLT Carolina RailHawks Leonardo Di Lorenzo  ARG Montreal Impact Isaac Kissi  GHA Rochester Rhinos

Top assists Rank Player Nation Club Assists 1 Luke Kreamalmeyer  USA AC St. Louis 8 Martin Nash  CAN Vancouver Whitecaps 3 Leonardo Di Lorenzo  ARG Montreal Impact 7 Jamie Watson  USA Austin Aztex 5 Yordany Álvarez  CUB Austin Aztex 5 Sandy Gbandi  LBR Puerto Rico Islanders Leonard Griffin  USA Austin Aztex Maxwell Griffin  USA Austin Aztex Andrew Hoxie  USA Rochester Rhinos Lawrence Olum  KEN Austin Aztex Ryan Pore  USA Portland Timbers Tyler Rosenlund  CAN Rochester Rhinos Cornelius Stewart  VIN Vancouver Whitecaps

Individual awards

Award	Winner	Club	Ref.
Most Valuable Player	Ryan Pore	Portland Timbers	[8]
Defender of the Year	Greg Janicki	Vancouver Whitecaps
Goalkeeper of the Year	Jay Nolly	Vancouver Whitecaps
Rookie of the Year	Maxwell Griffin	Austin Aztex FC
Coach of the Year	Bob Lilley	Rochester Rhinos

Best XI[8]
Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Jay Nolly (VAN)	Greg Janicki (VAN) Aaron Pitchkolan (ROC) Troy Roberts (ROC)	Ryan Pore (POR) Martin Nash (VAN) Jamie Watson (AUS) Paulo Araujo Jr. (MIA) Daniel Paladini (CAR)	Eddie Johnson (AUS) Ali Gerba (MTL)