2008 United Soccer Leagues

The 2008 Season is the 22nd edition of the United Soccer Leagues season.

The season kicked off on Friday, April 12 with two First Division games, as the Charleston Battery visited Miami FC and the Montreal Impact visited the Vancouver Whitecaps.

General

• Changes in the First Division: the California Victory take the 2008 season off, leaving 11 teams playing a 30-game schedule.
• Changes in the Second Division: the Pittsburgh Riverhounds return from hiatus, and Real Maryland FC join as an expansion team. However, the Cincinnati Kings and New Hampshire Phantoms drop to the PDL. 10 teams play a 20-game schedule this season.
• In the PDL, 5 teams withdrew for the 2008 season, while 7 expansion teams and the two voluntary relegations increase the league to 67 teams in 10 divisions across 4 conferences. Teams play a 16-game league schedule.

Honors

Competition	Champion	Runner-Up	Regular Season Champion/Best USL team
USL First Division	Vancouver Whitecaps	Puerto Rico Islanders	Puerto Rico Islanders
USL Second Division	Cleveland City Stars	Charlotte Eagles	Charlotte Eagles
USL PDL	Thunder Bay Chill	Laredo Heat	Michigan Bucks
U.S. Open Cup	D.C. United (MLS)	Charleston Battery (USL-1)	Charleston Battery

Standings

First Division

      Commissioner's Cup, bye to semifinal round of playoffs
      First round of playoffs

Pos	Club	Pts	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	H2H Pts
1	Puerto Rico Islanders	54	30	15	6	9	43	23	+20
2	Vancouver Whitecaps	53	30	15	7	8	34	28	+6
3	Montreal Impact	42	30	12	12	6	33	28	+5
4	Rochester Rhinos	41†	30	11	10	9	35	32	+3
5	Charleston Battery	40	30	11	12	7	34	36	−2	CHA: 4 pts SEA: 4 pts
6	Seattle Sounders	40	30	10	10	10	37	36	+1
7	Minnesota Thunder	39	30	10	11	9	40	38	+2
8	Carolina RailHawks	37	30	9	11	10	34	43	−9
9	Miami FC	34	30	8	12	10	28	34	−6	MIA: 7 pts ATL: 1 pt
10	Atlanta Silverbacks	34	30	8	12	10	37	50	−13
11	Portland Timbers	31	30	7	13	10	26	33	−7

Tie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery
^† Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008

Playoffs

Teams will be re-seeded for semifinal matchups

	First Round September 26/28							Semifinals October 3/5							Final October 12
	1	Puerto Rico Islanders
		bye
								1	Puerto Rico Islanders (AET)	0	3	3
								4	Rochester Rhinos	2	0	2
	4	Rochester Rhinos	2	0	2
	5	Charleston Battery	0	1	1
															1	Puerto Rico Islanders	1
															2	Vancouver Whitecaps	2
	3	Montreal Impact	1	3	4
	6	Seattle Sounders	2	1	3
								2	Vancouver Whitecaps	0	2	2
								3	Montreal Impact	1	0	1
	2	Vancouver Whitecaps	2	3	5
	7	Minnesota Thunder	0	4	4

Awards and All-League team

First Team
F: Alex Afonso (Miami FC); Macoumba Kandji (Atlanta Silverbacks)
M: Osvaldo Alonso (Charleston Battery); Stephen deRoux (Minnesota Thunder); Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps); Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders) (league MVP)
D: Cristian Arrieta (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Defender of the Year); Taylor Graham (Seattle Sounders); David Hayes (Atlanta Silverbacks); Nevio Pizzolitto (Montreal Impact)
G: Bill Gaudette (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Goalkeeper of the Year)
Coach: Colin Clarke (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Coach of the Year)

Second Team
F: Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders); Eduardo Sebrango (Vancouver Whitecaps)
M: Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Montreal Impact); Johnny Menyongar (Rochester Rhinos); Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota Thunder); Matt Watson (Carolina RailHawks)
D: Wesley Charles and Takashi Hirano (Vancouver Whitecaps); Cameron Knowles (Portland Timbers); Scott Palguta (Rochester Rhinos)
G: Matt Jordan (Montreal Impact)

Second Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Charlotte Eagles	20	13	2	5	45	15	+30	44
2	Richmond Kickers	20	14	4	2	48	20	+28	44
3	Cleveland City Stars	20	10	3	7	33	16	+17	37
4	Crystal Palace Baltimore	20	11	8	1	30	30	0	34
5	Harrisburg City Islanders	20	7	3	10	33	20	+13	31
6	Western Mass Pioneers	20	5	9	6	19	29	-10	20†
7	Wilmington Hammerheads	20	4	9	7	32	33	-1	19
8	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	20	4	10	6	25	37	-12	18
9	Bermuda Hogges	20	5	13	2	21	50	-29	17
10	Real Maryland Monarchs	20	3	15	2	15	51	-36	10†

† Western Mass and Real Maryland deducted 1 point

Playoffs

	First Round August 13					Semifinals August 16					Final August 23
						1	Charlotte Eagles	2
	4	Crystal Palace Baltimore (AET/PK)	2 (7)			4	Crystal Palace Baltimore	1
	5	Harrisburg City Islanders	2 (6)								1	Charlotte Eagles	1
											3	Cleveland City Stars	2
						2	Richmond Kickers	0
	3	Cleveland City Stars	4			3	Cleveland City Stars(AET)	1
	6	Western Mass Pioneers	2

Awards and All-League team

First Team
F: Jorge Herrera (Charlotte Eagles); Boyzzz Khumalo (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); Dustin Swinehart (Charlotte Eagles) (league MVP)
M: Mike Burke (Richmond Kickers); Floyd Franks (Cleveland City Stars); Shintaro Harada (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: Brady Bryant and Steve Shak (Charlotte Eagles); Sascha Gorres (Richmond Kickers); Mark Schulte (Cleveland City Stars) (Defender of the Year)
G: Terry Boss (Charlotte Eagles)
Coach: Mark Steffens (Charlotte Eagles) (Coach of the Year)
Rookie of the Year: Stanley Nyazamba (Richmond Kickers)

Second Team
F: Gary Brooks (Crystal Palace Baltimore); Sallieu Bundu (Cleveland City Stars); Jeff Deren (Western Mass Pioneers)
M: Trey Alexander (Wilmington Hammerheads); Justin Evans (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); Matthew Mbuta (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: Dustin Bixler (Harrisburg City Islanders); Trevor McEachron (Richmond Kickers); Federico Molinari (Western Mass Pioneers); Dame Walters (Wilmington Hammerheads)
G: Ronnie Pascale (Richmond Kickers)

Premier Development League

• See 2008 PDL Season

External links

• Official USL Site