2007 PDL season

USL Premier Development League
Season	2007
Champions	Laredo Heat
	← 2006 2008 →

The 2007 USL Premier Development League season was the 13th season of the PDL. The season started on April 28, 2007. The regular season ended on July 25, 2007.

Laredo Heat finished the season as national champions, beating the Michigan Bucks on penalty kicks after a 0–0 tie in the PDL Championship game in Laredo, Texas on August 11, 2007.

Hampton Roads Piranhas finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 14 out of their 16 games, suffering no losses, and finishing with a +36 goal difference.

Fresno Fuego striker Pablo Campos was the league's top scorer, knocking in 18 goals. Thunder Bay Chill's Gustavo Oliveira led the league with 15 assists, while Hampton Roads Piranhas keeper Evan Newton enjoyed the best goalkeeping statistics, with a goals-against average of 0.222 per game, and keeping 8 clean sheets in his 14 games.

Changes from 2006[edit]

Name changes[edit]

The Williamsburg Legacy changed their name to the Virginia Legacy and unveiled a new logo on January 31, 2007.
The Raleigh Elite changed their name to the Cary RailHawks U23's after forming a partnership with their USL First Division parent club Carolina RailHawks FC and unveiled a new logo on March 6, 2007.
Tacoma FC changed their name to Tacoma Tide on March 8, 2007.
The Virginia Beach Submariners were acquired by and renamed as the Hampton Roads Piranhas on April 6, 2007, after their parent club, the Virginia Beach Mariners, was terminated on March 30.
The Boulder Rapids Reserve changed their name to the Colorado Rapids U23's on April 12, 2007, as well as their logo and colors, to reflect the changes undertaken by their parent club, the Colorado Rapids.

New franchises[edit]

Ten teams joined the league this year, including seven brand new franchises:

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
Baton Rouge Capitals	Baton Rouge area	Baker, LA	expansion
Fredericksburg Gunners	Fredericksburg area	Fredericksburg, VA	expansion
Long Island Rough Riders	Long Island area	New Hyde Park, NY	previously in USL-2
Mississippi Brilla	Jackson area	Clinton, MS	expansion
Lancaster Rattlers	Antelope Valley area	Palmdale, CA	expansion
San Jose Frogs	Silicon Valley area	San Jose, CA	previously in NPSL
Spokane Spiders	Spokane Valley area	Spokane, WA	expansion
Springfield Demize	Springfield area	Springfield, MO	expansion
Toronto Lynx	Toronto area	Toronto	previously in USL-1
Ventura County Fusion	Ventura County area	Ventura, CA	expansion

Folding[edit]

Six teams left the league prior to the beginning of the season:

Playoff format[edit]

The top two teams in each division advance to the playoffs, with all playoff matchups consisting of one game. Each conference will hold separate playoffs at a host location. The format for each conference playoff consists of one division winner playing against the other division's second-place club, with winners advancing to the conference final. The winners of each conference play in the national semifinal, determined as such: Central vs Western, Eastern vs Southern. The winners of these matches play in the final match scheduled on August 11.

Current standings[edit]

Legend
Division champion
Team qualified for playoff berth

Central Conference[edit]

Great Lakes Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Michigan Bucks	16	11	2	3	48	15	+33	36
2	Chicago Fire Premier	16	8	4	4	23	17	+6	28
3	West Michigan Edge	16	6	5	5	21	24	−3	23
4	Toronto Lynx	16	6	6	4	25	21	+4	22
5	Indiana Invaders	16	5	9	2	19	31	−12	17
6	Cleveland Internationals	16	5	10	1	22	35	−13	16
7	Fort Wayne Fever	16	4	11	1	21	38	−17	13

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Heartland Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Thunder Bay Chill	16	10	3	3	35	17	+18	33
2	St. Louis Lions	16	10	6	0	39	24	+15	30
3	Kansas City Brass	16	8	3	5	26	28	−2	29
4	Des Moines Menace	16	8	7	1	41	24	+17	25
5	Colorado Rapids U23's	16	7	5	4	37	22	+15	25
6	Springfield Demize	16	4	11	1	16	44	−28	13
7	Sioux Falls Spitfire	16	3	11	2	15	41	−26	11

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Eastern Conference[edit]

Mid Atlantic Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Hampton Roads Piranhas	16	14	0	2	42	6	+36	44
2	Ocean City Barons	16	9	3	4	33	20	+13	31
3	Virginia Legacy	16	9	5	2	27	19	+8	29
4	Reading Rage	16	7	5	4	30	29	+1	25
5	Fredericksburg Gunners	16	7	7	2	31	22	+9	23
6	Richmond Kickers Future	16	5	7	4	23	25	−2	19
7	Northern Virginia Royals	16	3	11	2	15	48	−33	11
8	Delaware Dynasty	16	3	11	2	20	35	−15	11
9	West Virginia Chaos	16	3	11	2	20	37	−17	10^[a]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ West Virginia was penalized 1 point for circumstances not released by the USL.

Northeast Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Cape Cod Crusaders	16	9	1	6	35	15	+20	33
2	Brooklyn Knights	16	9	4	3	31	24	+7	30
3	Westchester Flames	16	7	4	5	34	17	+17	26
4	Long Island Rough Riders	16	7	6	3	26	22	+4	24
5	Albany Admirals	16	7	7	2	20	27	−7	23
6	Vermont Voltage	16	4	9	3	20	43	−23	15
7	Ottawa Fury	16	3	8	5	17	21	−4	14
8	Rhode Island Stingrays	16	4	11	1	19	33	−14	13

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southern Conference[edit]

Mid South Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Laredo Heat	16	10	2	4	29	12	+17	34
2	El Paso Patriots	16	8	6	2	19	17	+2	26
3	DFW Tornados	16	7	6	3	22	24	−2	24
4	Mississippi Brilla	16	6	5	5	30	21	+9	23
5	New Orleans Shell Shockers	16	5	6	5	28	22	+6	20
6	Baton Rouge Capitals	16	5	7	4	20	32	−12	19
7	Austin Lightning	16	3	12	1	13	31	−18	10

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southeast Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Carolina Dynamo	16	11	3	2	41	14	+27	35
2	Central Florida Kraze	16	11	4	1	47	21	+26	34
3	Atlanta Silverbacks U23's	16	10	2	4	32	14	+18	34
4	Bradenton Academics	16	8	4	4	39	19	+20	28
5	Cary RailHawks U23's	16	7	6	3	22	17	+5	24
6	Palm Beach Pumas	15	4	10	1	20	36	−16	11^[a]
7	Nashville Metros	16	2	11	3	12	32	−20	9
8	Cocoa Expos	15	0	13	2	1	63	−62	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Palm Beach was penalized 2 points for circumstances not released by the USL.

Western Conference[edit]

Northwest Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	BYU Cougars	16	13	1	2	37	14	+23	41
2	Tacoma Tide	16	10	4	2	36	23	+13	32
3	Ogden Outlaws	16	6	7	3	23	22	+1	21
4	Abbotsford Rangers	16	5	6	5	38	24	+14	20
5	Spokane Spiders	16	6	10	0	25	49	−24	18
6	Yakima Reds	16	3	9	4	22	35	−13	13
7	Cascade Surge	16	3	11	2	17	38	−21	11

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southwest Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Fresno Fuego	16	10	4	2	41	28	+13	32
2	San Fernando Valley Quakes	16	9	2	5	33	16	+17	32
3	San Jose Frogs	16	10	5	1	24	16	+8	31
4	Ventura County Fusion	16	9	4	3	27	19	+8	30
5	Los Angeles Storm	16	6	5	5	23	25	−2	23
6	San Francisco Seals	16	6	8	2	18	23	−5	20
7	Southern California Seahorses	16	5	6	5	26	24	+2	20
8	Bakersfield Brigade	16	6	10	0	22	29	−7	18
9	Orange County Blue Star	16	3	9	4	18	27	−9	13
10	Lancaster Rattlers	16	2	13	1	23	48	−25	7

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Playoffs[edit]

Playoff bracket[edit]

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

National Semifinals

PDL Championship Game

MA1

Hampton Roads Piranhas

1 (5)

NE2

Brooklyn Knights (AET/PSO)

1 (6)

NE2

Brooklyn Knights

1

Eastern Conference

NE1

Cape Cod Crusaders

0

NE1

Cape Cod Crusaders

5

MA2

Ocean City Barons

0

NE2

Brooklyn Knights

1 (4)

GL1

Michigan Bucks (AET/PSO)

1 (5)

GL1

Michigan Bucks

4

HL2

St. Louis Lions

1

GL1

Michigan Bucks

3

Southern Conference

GL2

Chicago Fire Premier

0

HL1

Thunder Bay Chill

1

GL2

Chicago Fire Premier

3

GL1

Michigan Bucks

0 (3)

MS1

Laredo Heat

0 (4)

MS1

Laredo Heat

4

SE2

Central Florida Kraze

0

MS1

Laredo Heat

2

Central Conference

SE1

Carolina Dynamo

1

SE1

Carolina Dynamo

1

MS2

El Paso Patriots

0

MS1

Laredo Heat

1

SW1

Fresno Fuego

0

NW1

BYU Cougars

2

SW2

San Fernando Valley Quakes

0

NW1

BYU Cougars

0

Western Conference

SW1

Fresno Fuego

3

SW1

Fresno Fuego (AET)

4

NW2

Tacoma Tide

1

Conference semifinals[edit]

July 27, 2007

5:00 PM ET

Brooklyn Knights	1 – 1 (AET)	Hampton Roads Piranhas
Cambridge 22' Niebles 44' Matos 87' Matteo 89' Damiani 111'		Haywood 53' Joseph 89' Wheeler 89'
Penalties
Matteo Charles Dragoi Berenzen Damiani Belke Cioffi	6 – 5	Wheeler Mottinger Lima Kinney Thomas Newton Joseph