The 2012 USL Premier Development League season was the 18th season of the PDL. The regular season began on 22 April with a match between the Los Angeles Misioneros and Fresno Fuego, and ended with 14 matches on 15 July 2012. The regular season was followed by a postseason tournament of conference winners which determined the league's champion, Forest City London. Thirteen teams were added to the league and four teams dropped, bringing the total number of teams to 73 across nine divisions for 2012.
Changes from 2011
Name changes Abbotsford Mariners rebranded as Fraser Valley Mariners Central Florida Kraze rebranded as Orlando City U-23 after its acquisition by USL Pro team Orlando City Chivas El Paso Patriots rebranded as El Paso Patriots. Los Angeles Blues 23 rebranded as Pali Blues MPS Portland Phoenix rebranded as GPS Portland Phoenix New Hampshire Phantoms rebranded as Seacoast United Phantoms Tacoma Tide rebranded as Seattle Sounders FC U-23 after its acquisition by Major League Soccer team Seattle Sounders FC. West Texas United Sockers rebranded as West Texas Sockers
New teams Thirteen new clubs joined the PDL this coming season.
Team name Metro area Location Previous affiliation Austin Aztex Greater Austin Austin, Texas expansion Baltimore Bohemians Baltimore area Bel Air, Maryland expansion Boston Victory Metropolitan Boston Quincy, Massachusetts expansion Chicago Inferno Chicago area Chicago, Illinois expansion Connecticut FC Azul Connecticut Hamden, Connecticut USASA Ocala Stampede Ocala, Florida Ocala, Florida expansion Palmetto FC Bantams Greenwood, South Carolina Greenwood, South Carolina expansion Panama City Beach Pirates Panama City Panama City Beach, Florida expansionPanama City Beach Pirates Joins USL PDL Southern West Virginia King's Warriors Raleigh County Beckley, West Virginia expansion Texas Dutch Lions Greater Houston Holland, Texas expansionExclusive: Mike Mossel interview FC Tucson Pima County Tucson, Arizona USASA VSI Tampa Flames Tampa Bay Area Tampa, Florida expansion Worcester Hydra Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester, Massachusetts expansion
Realignment The Nashville Metros were moved from the Southeast Division of the Southern Conference to the South Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.Premier Development League 2012 Standings.
Folding/moving Four teams were announced as leaving the league prior to the beginning of the season: Akron Summit Assault – Akron, Ohio Baton Rouge Capitals – Baton Rouge, Louisiana Indiana Invaders – South Bend, Indiana Rio Grande Valley Grandes – McAllen, Texas
Standings 2012 Premier Development League standings.Official Standings Elimination information available from this table Key to colours in group tablesTeam won the Division Title Team qualified for playoff berth
Note: The first tie-breaker in PDL standings is head-to-head results between teams tied on points, which is why some teams with inferior goal differences finish ahead in the standings.
Central Conference
Great Lakes Division
Heartland Division
Eastern Conference
Mid Atlantic Division
Northeast Division
South Atlantic Division
Southern Conference
Mid South Division
Southeast Division
Western Conference
Northwest Division
Southwest Division
Conference Championships As in prior years, each of the four conferences will hold a conference championship. In 2012, the location for each conference championship will be held the weekend of 20–22 July with the host team decided by a bidding process with preference given to the teams with the best records. The winner of the four conference championships will then compete in the PDL Championship held 27–29 July and 4 August.
Divisional Playoffs Five of the divisions have additional matches in order for teams to qualify for the conference championship.
In the Great Lakes Division the 2nd and 3rd place teams qualify for a play in match; however, the 3rd place River City Rovers ceded the match to Forest City London who qualified for the Central Conference Championship.
In the Northwest Division, the top 4 teams qualify for a play-in match with the #4 seed playing at the home pitch of the top seed; and the #3 seed playing at the #2 seed. The winners of these matches then qualify for the Western Conference Championships. These matches were played on 7/14 and 7/15 with Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers U-23 teams winning.
In the Eastern Conference, there are three divisions. The team with the best overall record in the conference qualifies for the Conference Championships directly, and, from that team's division, the 2nd and 3rd place teams compete in a play-in match. In 2012, Ocean City from the Mid Atlantic Division had the best overall all record. Therefore, 3rd place Jersey Expressed traveled to 2nd place Reading United on 17 July to determine the 2nd team from the Mid Atlantic that would qualify for the Conference Championships. Reading United won the match 3–1 with an extra time goal scored in the 119th minute and a penalty goal in stoppage time.
The top two teams from the other two divisions will also compete in a play-in match. In the Northeast Division, the Ottawa Fury hosted the GPS Portland Phoenix on 17 July with Ottawa claiming victory after extra time 3–2. The Carolina Dynamo hosted the Real Maryland Monarchs in the South Atlantic play-in match, with Carolina easily cruising to a 5–0 victory. The Eastern Conference Championships which will be hosted by Carolina Dynamo.Carolina To Host Eastern Championships (18 July 2012). PDL.USLSoccer.com.
Eastern Conference Championship
Central Conference Championship
Southern Conference Championship
Western Conference Championship
Bracket
PDL Championship The 2012 PDL Championship consisted of 4 teams, the winner of each Conference Championship, with the semi-finals being held on Saturday, 28 July and the finals being played Saturday, 4 August. The host sites were determined following the completion of the Conference Championships.
Semi-finals
Championship
Championship MVP: Jordan Ayris (FCL)
Awards
Most Valuable Player: Sullivan Silva, (THU) Rookie of the Year: Adam Grinwis, (MIB) Defender of the Year: Kevin Cope, (MIB) Coach of the Year: Gary Parsons, (MIB) Goalkeeper of the Year: Adam Grinwis, (MIB)
All-League and All-Conference Teams PDL All-Conference Teams Announced (30 July 2012). PDL.USLSoccer.com.PDL All-League Team Announced (31 July 2012). PDL.USLSoccer.com.
Eastern Conference F: Deshorn Brown (REA) *, Alencar Junior (WOR), David Neuberth (RMD) M: Christian Barreiro (BAL), Jason Massie (GPS), Stephen Okai (REA) D: Patrick Boucher (CON), Marcello Castro (OTT), Greg Cochrane (REA), Sebastien Ibeagha (CAR) * G: John McCarthy (OCN)
Central Conference F: Jordan Ayris (LON), Sullivan Silva (THU) *, Branden Stelmak (CIN) M: Tom Catalano (MIB) *, Bryan Ciesiulka (CHI), Jordan Green (KCB) * D: Sicelo Buthelezi (THU), Kevin Cope (MIB) *, Lorne Donaldson (RCO), Peter Nechvatal (KCB) G: Adam Grinwis (MIB) *
Western Conference F: Jaime Chavez (LAM), Mark Sherrod (POR) *, Gyasi Zardes (VCF) M: Ben Fisk (VAN), Matt Friesen (KIT) *, Frankie López (VCF) D: James Farenhorst (VAN), Stephen Mohn (KIT), Conor Spence (TUC), DeAndre Yedlin (SEA) * G: Elliott Mitrou (VIC)
Southern Conference F: Karamba Janneh (OCA), Chrispin Ochieng (MIS), Kris Tyrpak (AUS) M: Juan de Dios Ibarra-Trevino (LAR), Douglas dos Santos (OCA), Kekuta Manneh (AUS) D: Taian de Souza (PAN), Oumar Diakhite (ORL), Max Gunderson (LAR) *, Zack Pope (AUS) G: Alonso Jiménez (WTX)
* denotes All-League player
References