The two-time defending champion Cape Cod Crusaders and the unbeaten South Jersey Barons and Chicago Fire Reserves saw their championship hopes come undone in the postseason as has become tradition in the Premier Development League. Rising into the spotlight were the Central Florida Kraze.
Entering the PDL postseason as one of the favorites has become a curse with the top seeds typically falling in the conference playoffs. The Barons and Fire Reserves became the fourth and fifth teams in USL amateur outdoor history to go unbeaten over the course of the season. Unfortunately, they were unable to break the tradition of the unbeatens suffering their first defeat in the playoffs.
The Fire Reserves dominated the Heartland Division and the Central Conference, which has arguably been the most competitive conference over the last five years, with an astonishing 17-0-1 record, outscoring their opponents 73-7. Looking for a return to the final where they lost 2-0 to Cape Cod the year before, the Fire Reserves won their playoff opener only to be edged out 1-0 in overtime by 2002 finalist Boulder Rapids Reserve.
South Jersey finished unbeaten playing in the division of the defending two-time league champion Crusaders to take the regular season Eastern Conference title with a 14-0-4 record. Like Chicago, the Barons advanced to the conference final, but needed overtime to down the Williamsburg Legacy 2-1. The 11-6-1 Mid Atlantic Division champion Carolina Dynamo, however, derailed South Jersey 3-2 to move on to the semis, where they would be knocked out by the Kraze 2-1 in a penalty kick tiebreaker following a 1-1 draw.
After winning two consecutive titles as the second-place team from the Northeast Division, the Crusaders stuck with what works for them. Looking to rise from beneath the shadow of the unbeaten Barons in the postseason, the Crusaders finally suffered their first playoff loss in nine games against Carolina, 3-2.
Despite being the fourth seed, Central Florida’s championship run was a bit of surprise as the club’s 14-3-1 record was greatly overshadowed by the scoring exploits of the Mid South’s 15-3-0 El Paso Patriots and 14-4-0 DFW Tornados. El Paso finished second in the league with 64 goals with Scoring Champion Julio Frias battling DFW’s Lourenzo Andrade throughout the campaign for the league lead. The Kraze surprised DFW 4-2 in the first round while the Patriots became the fifth regular season conference champion to lose their playoff opener in the last three years.
Similar to the Kraze, the sixth-seeded Rapids Reserve were not expected to outshine division foe Chicago in the other half of the bracket, but knocked off perennial power Michigan Bucks 3-2 to open the playoffs before nipping the Fire Reserves for the conference title. Boulder then dispatched of the Western Conference’s Fresno Fuego by a surprising 3-0 scoreline in the semifinals to advance to the championship game.
In a rain-soaked finale, the championship game came down to the final minutes in Orlando. Scoreless and seemingly destined for overtime, Central Florida’s Orville Mullings set up the winning goal with a shot that deflected off a defender and found its way past the outstretched goalkeeper to Justin Cook, who put the loose ball away two minutes from time for the 1-0 win. Boulder, who had a spectacular year, saw their hopes dashed for the second time in three years.
In addition to their run to the championship game, the Rapids Reserve also made their mark in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup as one of four PDL teams to advance to the Third Round of the tournament. They opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over the USASA’s Chico Rooks and advanced past the then USL Second Division’s San Diego Gauchos 5-4 on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in the Second Round before falling 2-1 in overtime to the USL First Division’s Minnesota Thunder.
Carolina, Cape Cod and Chicago also reached the Third Round with wins over higher division opponents in the Second Round. Carolina knocked off former USL Second Division rival Charlotte Eagles 4-3 in the Second Round and fell 3-2 in overtime to the Atlanta Silverbacks in the Third Round. The Crusaders notched a 3-2 win over the USL Second Division’s Western Mass Pioneers before also falling in overtime, 1-0 to the Richmond Kickers in the Third Round. Chicago thumped the USL Second Division’s New Hampshire Phantoms and made it a sweep of one-goal decisions in a 1-0 loss to Rochester Raging Rhinos.
