2008 United Soccer Leagues

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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[]

Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Puerto Rico Islanders[a] 30 15 6 9 43 23 +20 54 Commissioner's Cup
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 30 15 7 8 34 28 +6 53 First round of playoffs
3 Montreal Impact 30 12 12 6 33 28 +5 42
4 Rochester Rhinos 30 11 10 9 35 32 +3 41[b]
5 Charleston Battery 30 11 12 7 34 36 −2 40[c]
6 Seattle Sounders 30 10 10 10 37 36 +1 40[c]
7 Minnesota Thunder 30 10 11 9 40 38 +2 39
8 Carolina RailHawks 30 9 11 10 34 43 −9 37
9 Miami FC 30 8 12 10 28 34 −6 34[d]
10 Atlanta Silverbacks 30 8 12 10 37 50 −13 34[d]
11 Portland Timbers 30 7 13 10 26 33 −7 31
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery
Notes:
  1. ^ Islanders did not have an opponent in the semifinals
  2. ^ Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008[1]
  3. ^ a b CHA: 4 pts; SEA: 4 pts
  4. ^ a b MIA: 7 pts; ATL: 1 pt

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
none
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 Teams[]

First Team
F: Alex Afonso (Miami FC) (Leading Goalscorer); Macoumba Kandji (Atlanta Silverbacks)
M: Osvaldo Alonso (Charleston Battery); Stephen deRoux (Minnesota Thunder); Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps); Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders) (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[]

Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Charlotte Eagles 20 13 2 5 45 15 +30 44 Regular season champion
2 Richmond Kickers 20 14 4 2 48 20 +28 44 Qualified for playoffs
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[a]
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[a]
Source: [3]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b 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

References[]

  1. ^ "Rhinos penalized for infraction". United Soccer Leagues. August 15, 2008. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  2. ^ "USL First Division 2008". USLsoccer.com. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ "USL Second Division 2008". USLsoccer.com. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2020.

External links[]

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