2012 PDL season

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.

Realignment

The Nashville Metros were moved from the Southeast Division of the Southern Conference to the South Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.

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.

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.

Sanchez
Sanchez Besagno McCluskey Tacoma, WA Ribeiro Farfan Johnson Medina Gladstone, OR Campbell Beauge Rodriguez Anderson Dietriech Massie Ottawa, ON Raj Marini Okai Wyatt N'Guessan Keegan Hines Foster Watson Reading, PA Malcolm McCready Smith S. Ibeagha Forbess Browns Summit, NC

Eastern Conference Championship

Davis Curran Browns Summit, NC Ilhan Smith Rodriguez Christianson Browns Summit, NC Sloan Nyepon Reittinger Gomez Reifschneider S. Ibeagha Root Dunker Ford Neumann Cardona Farfan Cochrane Wyatt Baker McCarthy Rodriguez Martin Castro Crick Reifschneider S. Ibeagha
Dunker Browns Summit, NC

Central Conference Championship

Schaffe Tapphorn Pontiac, MI Lange Pontiac, MI Boyden Catalano Grant Lange Da Cruz Pontiac, MI

Southern Conference Championship

Moreno Ibarra Vallejo Helm
Reynolds Toby Aduny Ocala, FL dos Santos De Oliveira Manneh Cook Ocala, FL MacDonald Toby Reynolds Fairhurst Aduny Pope Shelton Ocala, FL

Western Conference Championship

Ventura, CA Jones Morris Quinn McQuown Ventura, CA Pontius McGlynn Cox
Ventura, CA

Bracket

| team-width =175 | RD1-seed01 =SE1 | RD1-team01 =Ocala Stampede | RD1-score01= 2 | RD1-seed02 =MS2 | RD1-team02 =Austin Aztex | RD1-score02= 3 | RD1-seed03 =MS1 | RD1-team03 =Laredo Heat | RD1-score03= 1 | RD1-seed04 =SE2 | RD1-team04 =Orlando City U-23 | RD1-score04= 2 | RD1-seed05 =MA1 | RD1-team05 =Ocean City Nor'easters | RD1-score05= 0 | RD1-seed06 =NE1 | RD1-team06 =Ottawa Fury | RD1-score06= 1 | RD1-seed07 =SA1 | RD1-team07 =Carolina Dynamo (AET) | RD1-score07= 2 | RD1-seed08 =MA2 | RD1-team08 =Reading United | RD1-score08= 1 | RD1-seed09 =SW1 | RD1-team09 =Ventura County Fusion (AET) | RD1-score09= 1 | RD1-seed10 =NW2 | RD1-team10 =Portland Timbers U23's | RD1-score10= 0 | RD1-seed11 =NW1 | RD1-team11 =Seattle Sounders FC U-23 | RD1-score11= 2 | RD1-seed12 =SW2 | RD1-team12 =FC Tucson | RD1-score12= 1 | RD1-seed13 =GL1 | RD1-team13 =Michigan Bucks | RD1-score13= 1 | RD1-seed14 =HL2 | RD1-team14 =Real Colorado Foxes | RD1-score14= 0 | RD1-seed15 =HL1 | RD1-team15 =Thunder Bay Chill | RD1-score15= 0 | RD1-seed16 =GL2 | RD1-team16 =Forest City London | RD1-score16= 1 | RD2-seed01 = MS2 | RD2-team01 = Austin Aztex | RD2-score01= 2 | RD2-seed02 = SE2 | RD2-team02 = Orlando City U-23 | RD2-score02= 4 | RD2-seed03 = NE1 | RD2-team03 = Ottawa Fury | RD2-score03= 0 | RD2-seed04 = SA1 | RD2-team04 = Carolina Dynamo | RD2-score04= 1 | RD2-seed05 = SW1 | RD2-team05 = Ventura County Fusion | RD2-score05= 0 | RD2-seed06 = NW1 | RD2-team06 = Seattle Sounders FC U-23 | RD2-score06= 2 | RD2-seed07 = GL1 | RD2-team07 = Michigan Bucks | RD2-score07= 1 | RD2-seed08 = GL2 | RD2-team08 = Forest City London | RD2-score08= 2 | RD3-seed01 = SE2 | RD3-team01 = Orlando City U-23 | RD3-score01= 1 | RD3-seed02 = SA1 | RD3-team02 = Carolina Dynamo | RD3-score02= 2 | RD3-seed03 = NW1 | RD3-team03 = Seattle Sounders FC U-23 | RD3-score03= 2 | RD3-seed04 = GL2 | RD3-team04 = Forest City London | RD3-score04= 3 | RD4-seed01 = SA1 | RD4-team01 = Carolina Dynamo | RD4-score01= 1 | RD4-seed02 = GL2 | RD4-team02 = Forest City London | RD4-score02= 2

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

Sloan Fairhurst Graydon Browns Summit, NC Haworth Da Cruz Ayris Lewis

• Morris
• Yedlin
  Sanchez London, ON

Championship

Report Report Report Okwuonu Nyepon Ayris
Browns Summit, NC

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

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 (AUS), 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

References

1. "Official Match Report".
2. Note that of 584 matches, 74(13%) did not report attendance
3. "PDL Schedule, Alignment Released".
4. "Blues' PDL Announces Name Change". Pali Blues News Release.
5. Drake, Sarah. (26 September 2011). "Aztex soccer team returns to Austin". Austin Business Journal.
6. "Baltimore Bohemians Join USL PDL".
7. (6 December 2011). "Boston Victory SC Joins USL PDL". United Soccer Leagues.
8. (12 December 2011). "Connecticut FC Azul Joins USL PDL". United Soccer Leagues.
9. (28 December 2011). "Ocala Stampede Joins USL PDL". United Soccer Leagues.
10. "Palmetto FC Bantams Join PDL".
11. [http://boxscorenews.com/panama-city-beach-pirates-joins-usl-pdl-p31223-68.htm Panama City Beach Pirates Joins USL PDL]
12. (20 January 2012). "Southern West Virginia Added to PDL". United Soccer Leagues.
13. [http://daytonprosports.com/2011/10/17/exclusive-mike-mossel-interview/ Exclusive: Mike Mossel interview]
14. (15 December 2011). "FC Tucson Joins USL PDL". United Soccer Leagues.
15. (16 November 2011). "VisionPro Academy Headed To Tampa". United Soccer Leagues.
16. (29 November 2011). "Worcester Hydra FC Joins USL PDL". USL News Release.
17. [http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/standings/index_E.html Premier Development League 2012] {{webarchive. link. (7 October 2014 Standings.)
18. [http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/standings/index_E.html Official Standings] {{webarchive. link. (7 October 2014)
19. Elimination information available [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ah2ppCrKHmQ4dEkyczMzcTVZd01sVktSOVF1eG1lUWc&single=true&gid=0&output=html from this table]
20. "PDL Announces Playoff Schedule". United Soccer Leagues.
21. [http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/646254.html Carolina To Host Eastern Championships] (18 July 2012). PDL.USLSoccer.com.
22. [http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/651109.html United Soccer Leagues (USL)]
23. [http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/649592.html PDL All-Conference Teams Announced] {{webarchive. link. (18 February 2013 (30 July 2012). PDL.USLSoccer.com.)
24. [http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/649899.html PDL All-League Team Announced] (31 July 2012). PDL.USLSoccer.com.