It was the Charlotte show from start to finish as the duo of Dustin Swinehart and Jacob Coggins continued to top the scoring table for a second consecutive season, but it was the return of former championship coach Leszek Wrona at Western Mass that made the Pioneers a threat to the Eagles flight to glory.

The Eagles picked up on their previous season’s record of 14-4-2 with a 4-0-1 run to open the campaign with their lone blemish a scoreless draw against the Pioneers, whom they would go unbeaten against in both tries before meeting for a third time in the championship. Charlotte would finish 13-5-2.

Western Mass, meanwhile, picked up just six points through their first five at 1-1-3 before going on a 9-1-2 run that would help propel them to the regular season title by season’s end at 13-3-4, two points ahead of Charlotte and second-year Harrisburg, who went on a 15-game unbeaten run after starting 1-3-1 to earn a ticket to the playoffs.

The 2003 champion Wilmington Hammerheads completed the playoff field at 12-6-2, finishing 12 points clear of the fifth-place Cincinnati Kings, who made an impressive showing in their first campaign.

A playoff foursome separated by five points after dominating the rest of the field on the year created an exciting, unpredictable championship chase as the semifinals set Charlotte against Harrisburg and Western Mass against Wilmington in two-leg, aggregate score series. The lower sides grabbed the upper hand in the first leg by each taking a 1-0 lead at home, but Charlotte and Western Mass proved too much on the return legs.

Charlotte rallied on goals from Coggins, who won the league MVP honor, Scoring Championship (32 points) and Goal Scoring Championship (14) for a second straight year, and defender Ben Johnson for a 2-1 win in regulation to force series overtime, where Coggins proved the hero with an assist on the series-winner and an insurance goal to lock up a spot in the final with a 4-2 series victory.

Everson Maciel sandwiched Chris Bagley’s second goal of the series to level the aggregate score for the Pioneers twice in the second leg before league assist leader Neil Krause provided the 3-2 series-winning goal in the 75th minute of action to send Western Mass to the Final, a third meeting with Charlotte.

After a scoreless first meeting between Charlotte and Western Mass, it was Krause who led the Pioneers to a victory in their second match of the regular season against the Eagles with a goal and an assist. He set up Rigels Qosa, who finished third in the league in scoring with 31 points on 12 goals and five assists, in the 76th and scored in the 88th. Having not allowed a goal in their two meetings and home field advantage for the championship, the Pioneers were poised to capture a second title under Wrona, who returned to the helm after a four-year absence.

Comebacks proved a consistent theme of the postseason in a thrilling USL Second Division championship match at Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow, Massachusetts.

Less than a minute into the match, a corner kick gave the visiting Eagles the first chance of the game and they took advantage. Jonah Long sent a corner to the near post where Coggins was all alone to nod in the opening strike and quiet the packed house of 4,722.

The Pioneers would level the score two minutes before the break courtesy of Omar McFarlane. He collected a poorly cleared cross and watched his shot from 16 yards on the left side toward the far post deflect off Defender of the Year Josh Rife into the goal.

Western Mass made use of the lesson learned from Charlotte in the first minute by scoring a minute into the second half. With everyone on the pitch in a bit of a lull from the break Tony Fernandes charged forward unchallenged with the ball and unloaded a blast to the far post from 27 yards past Chris McClellan.

With a Pioneers win imminent, a series of Charlotte corners at the end of regulation and into stoppage time presented numerous chances for the Eagles to send the match to overtime. It was a long throw-in by Ben Johnson, however, three minutes into added-on time that led to the equalizer as Swinehart flicked a header at the top of the six on the near side to a wide open defender Ben Meek at the left corner. Meek calmly blasted his shot on the volley just inside the far post in the final seconds to force overtime and, ultimately, penalty kicks.

Tied at 4-4 after the opening session of the penalty kick tiebreaker, Western Mass’ David Moya would send his shot just over the crossbar with the hero in stoppage time stepping up to the spot next for the Eagles. Meek beat Bryan O'Quinn to give Charlotte its second USL Second Division title in five championship appearances and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

The victory in penalties was redemption for the Eagles, who fell by the exact same scoreline in last year's final. After a 2-2 draw at home against the Utah Blitzz, the Eagles fell in the tiebreaker 5-4 in six rounds. Fifteen of the players on that squad returned to the team for 2005.