There was clearly one frontrunner for the championship on the season with the Jackson Chargers dominating their division en route to an undefeated season. But, for the Chargers and the other divisional top seeds, the playoffs proved their undoing.

Jackson dominated the Southeast Division from start to finish as they posted the second perfect season in league history with a record of 16-0, outscoring their opposition by a stunning 104-17 margin. The domination extended into the postseason with 7-0 and 8-2 victories over Miami and Cocoa in the divisional playoffs before finding stiffer competition on the national level.

Their fellow regular season division champions around the league, however, were not so fortunate. The 15-1 Silicon Valley Ambassadors fell 2-1 in overtime to the defending two-time champion Central Coast Roadrunners in the Southwest Division semifinals. The 13-3 Colorado Comets dropped a narrow 1-0 decision in the Central Division semifinals. The 13-3 Spokane Shadow made it a trio of divisional semifinal exits as they were shocked 2-1 by the provisional Okanagan Challenge side in the Northwest. The 14-2 Detroit Dynamite were only slightly better, advancing to the Great Lakes Division Final before falling victim to the Mid Michigan Bucks 2-0.

With the door wide open, the San Gabriel Valley Highlanders took advantage of the opportunity to return to the semifinals for a second consecutive year by ousting Southern California Chivas 2-0 in their opener before eliminating Central Coast from three-peat contention with a 4-2 victory in the Southwest Division Final. San Gabriel continued the run with another 4-2 victory, this time over the Northwest’s Yakima Reds in the Round-of-Six to advance to Kalamazoo and the league’s final four.

The Highlanders would down the Des Moines Menace 3-1 in the PDL Semifinals to avoid another possible third place finish while Jackson handled the tournament hosts 2-0 in the other half of the bracket. Poised to post the first-ever perfect championship season in men’s USL history, the Chargers were upended by the Highlanders, who would post the surprising upset 3-2 in the PDL Championship to keep the title in the possession of the Southwest for the third straight year.