Thursday, November 11, 2004

 

TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced Thursday the alignment and operational details for the 2005 USL Premier Development League season.

While USL’s professional division will see much change this offseason, the 53-team PDL will see just a few changes. The most significant change in the league is a reduction in the season to a 16-game schedule from 18.

“The PDL has become a leader in developing players for the professional ranks here and abroad,” said PDL Director of Operations Steve Clamp. “The league’s Executive Committee has done a fantastic job over the last five years of leading the PDL to excellence that the only big change brought about for the 2005 season was a slight reduction in the number of games to ease the demands of scheduling within the summer window for the collegiate players.”

The three-week playoff format remains unchanged. The top two teams per division in the Central, Eastern and Southern Conferences will advance to the conference playoff tournament. In the Western, only the top team from the four-team Northwest Division will advance to the conference tournament with the Southwest Division sending three teams. The conference tournaments will determine the four league semifinalists, semifinals. Hosts for all playoff events, including the championship, will be determined via a bid process.

Overtime will continue to be used in the PDL with two 10-minute periods played in their entirety during the regular season and two 15-minute periods in the playoffs. Soccer’s world governing body FIFA eliminated the use of ‘golden’ goal, which was previously used. 

The PDL alignment structure remains unchanged with two divisions within each of the four conferences.

The 2004 finalist Boulder Rapids Reserve anchor the seven-team Heartland Division that includes the Colorado Springs Blizzard, Des Moines Menace, Kansas City Brass, Sioux Falls SpitFire, Thunder Bay Chill and a new team in Springfield, Missouri. The four-time regular season division champion Chicago Fire Reserves moved to the Great Lakes Division, also home to the Cleveland Internationals, Fort Wayne Fever, Indiana Invaders, Kalamazoo Kingdom, Michigan Bucks, Toledo Slayers and West Michigan Edge.

The nine-team Northeast Division will see the return of the 2000 PDL champion Westchester Flames from the pro ranks along with the addition of the expansion Ottawa Fury. They join the Albany Blackwatch Highlanders, Brooklyn Knights, Reading Rage, Rhode Island Stingrays, South Jersey Barons, Vermont Voltage and two-time league champion Cape Cod Crusaders. The Mid Atlantic Division is comprised of the Carolina Dynamo, Raleigh CASL Elite, Richmond Kickers Future, West Virginia Chaos and Williamsburg Legacy.

The previously provisional Laredo Heat will be full members of the Mid South Division, joining the Austin Lightning, DFW Tornados, El Paso Patriots, Memphis Express, Nashville Metros and New Orleans Shell Shockers. The Southeast Division will be comprised of the Ajax Orlando Prospects, Bradenton Academics, Cocoa Expos, Palm Beach Pumas and defending league champion Central Florida Kraze.

The composition has changed significantly in the Southwest Division with the western contingent of teams from USL’s second professional tier joining the mix as well as a new team in Bakersfield, California. The eight-team division will be comprised of  the BYU Cougars, California Gold, Fresno Fuego, Nevada Wonders, Orange County Blue Star, San Diego Gauchos, Southern California Seahorses and Bakersfield. The Northwest Division remains unchanged with the Abbotsford Rangers, Cascade Surge, Spokane Shadow and Yakima Reds.

Teams not returning in 2005 are the Chesapeake Dragons, Indiana Blast, Jersey Falcons, New Jersey Stallions, Wisconsin Rebels and Lafayette Swamp Cats, who sold their franchise rights to the new team in Bakersfield.