2000 PDL season

The 2000 USL Premier Development League season was the 6th PDL season. The season began in April 2000 and ended in August 2000.

USL Premier Development League
Season2000
ChampionsChicago Sockers
← 1999
2001 →

Chicago Sockers finished the season as national champions, beating Mid-Michigan Bucks 1-0 in the PDL Championship game. Westchester Flames had finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 15 out of their 18 games, suffering just three losses, and finishing with a +26 goal difference.

Changes from the 1999 season

Rules

This is the first year that the PDL used ties in the standings, whereas previous seasons employed a shootout.

Name changes

The following teams changed their name:

New teams

10 New teams were added, including 8 expansion teams:

Team Name Metro Area Location Previous Affiliation
Alabama Saints Birmingham area Birmingham, AL returned from hiatus
Boulder Nova Boulder area Boulder, CO expansion
Broward County Wolfpack Broward County area Fort Lauderdale, FL expansion
Dayton Gems Dayton Area Dayton, OH expansion
New Brunswick Brigade New Brunswick area New Brunswick, NJ expansion
North Jersey Imperials North Jersey area Paramus, NJ from D3 Pro League
Palm Beach Pumas Palm Beach area Palm Beach, FL expansion
South Florida Future Southwest Florida area Sarasota, FL returned from hiatus
Tampa Bay Hawks Tampa Bay Area Palm Harbor, FL expansion
Thunder Bay Chill Thunder Bay Area Thunder Bay, Ontario expansion

Folding

Eight teams folded before the season:

Standings
Legend
Division champion
Team qualified for playoff berth
Regular season champion and bye into PDL Semifinals.

Great Lakes Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Mid-Michigan Bucks 18 14 3 1 64 21 +43 14 71
2 Dayton Gems 18 9 8 1 37 35 +2 7 44
3 West Michigan Edge 18 9 9 0 32 38 −6 7 43
4 Kalamazoo Kingdom 18 9 9 0 37 37 0 7 43
5 Indiana Invaders 18 8 10 0 35 43 −8 5 37
6 Lexington Bluegrass Bandits 18 5 13 0 26 47 −21 5 25
Source:

Heartland Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Chicago Sockers 18 13 5 0 45 17 +28 10 62
2 Rockford Raptors 18 9 7 2 38 35 +3 8 46
3 Des Moines Menace 18 10 8 0 63 28 +35 5 45
4 Wisconsin Rebels 18 9 8 1 34 25 +9 6 43
5 Twin Cities Tornado 18 7 9 2 26 33 −7 2 32
6 Thunder Bay Chill 18 4 13 1 20 49 −29 2 19
Source:

Provisional Teams
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Louisiana Outlaws[lower-alpha 1] 12 5 5 2 25 25 0 5 27
2 Alabama Saints[lower-alpha 1] 7 1 4 2 6 14 −8 1 7
3 Central Jersey Riptide[lower-alpha 1] 10 1 9 0 10 31 −21 1 5
Source:
Notes:
  1. Provisional teams are not eligible for playoffs

Northeast Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Westchester Flames 18 15 3 0 47 21 +26 10 70
2 Vermont Voltage 18 11 6 1 37 22 +15 8 53
3 New York Freedom 18 10 7 1 45 24 +21 8 49
4 Brooklyn Knights 18 9 8 1 30 32 −2 4 41
5 North Jersey Imperials 18 7 11 0 38 49 −11 6 34
6 New Brunswick Brigade 18 2 15 1 22 56 −34 1 10
Source:

Southeast Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Tampa Bay Hawks 18 12 5 1 52 35 +17 9 58
2 Bradenton Academics 18 11 6 1 43 27 +16 8 53
3 Cocoa Expos 18 11 6 1 38 27 +11 6 51
4 Central Florida Kraze 18 10 6 2 46 34 +12 8 50
5 Palm Beach Pumas 18 8 8 2 39 43 −4 7 41
6 South Florida Future 18 8 10 0 30 43 −13 3 35
7 Broward County Wolfpack 18 4 12 2 36 56 −20 7 25
8 Miami Breakers 18 3 14 1 27 46 −19 5 18
Source:

Rocky Mountain Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Colorado Comets 18 12 5 1 51 29 +22 7 56
2 Wichita Jets 18 8 8 2 46 60 −14 7 41
3 Boulder Nova 18 8 9 1 38 32 +6 7 40
4 Kansas City Brass 18 5 11 2 41 56 −15 6 28
5 Colorado Springs Stampede 18 5 11 2 27 46 −19 3 25
Source:

Northwest Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Yakima Reds 18 12 5 1 59 29 +30 11 60
2 Spokane Shadow 18 11 4 3 43 36 +7 7 54
3 Seattle Sounders Select 18 11 6 1 33 28 +5 6 51
4 Abbotsford 86ers Select 18 8 9 1 49 44 +5 9 42
5 Cascade Surge 18 5 11 2 34 28 +6 6 28
6 Willamette Valley Firebirds 18 3 15 0 28 71 −43 4 16
Source:

Southwest Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 San Fernando Valley Heroes 18 11 7 0 57 48 +9 12 56
2 Central Coast Roadrunners 18 11 7 0 51 39 +12 9 53
3 Nevada Zephyrs 18 7 11 0 32 43 −11 4 32
4 San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 18 4 14 0 35 66 −31 4 20
Source:

Playoffs

Format

Mid-Michigan won the PDL Regular Season title and a bye to the National Semi-Finals. This moved Dayton up to the Great Lakes Division first place spot and allowed West Michigan into the playoffs, taking the second place spot for the division.

For the Central and Eastern divisions, the top seeds from each division face the second place team from the opposite division. For the Western Conference, the division champion with the most points will play the wild card, while the two remaining division champions play each other.

Conference playoffs
Central Semifinals Central Finals
      
HL1 Chicago Sockers 6
GL2 West Michigan Edge 0
HL1 Chicago Sockers 1
GL1 Dayton Gems 0
GL1 Dayton Gems 1
HL2 Rockford Raptors 0
Eastern Semifinals Eastern Finals
      
NE1 Westchester Flames 1
SE2 Bradenton Academics 0
NE1 Westchester Flames 1
SE1 Tampa Bay Hawks 0
SE1 Tampa Bay Hawks (AET/PSO) 2 (4)
NE2 Vermont Voltage 2 (2)
Western Semifinals Western Finals
      
NW Yakima Reds 2
WC Spokane Shadow 0
NW Yakima Reds 1
RM Colorado Comets 0
RM Colorado Comets 1
SW San Fernando Valley Heroes 0

PDL championship
  PDL Semifinals            
  PDL Mid-Michigan Bucks 5  
  NW Yakima Reds 2   PDL Finals
      PDL Mid-Michigan Bucks 0
  PDL Semifinals   HL1 Chicago Sockers 1
  NE1 Westchester Flames 0
  HL1 Chicago Sockers 5   PDL Third Place
    NW Yakima Reds 2
    NE1 Westchester Flames 5

[1]

References
  1. United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.