Jump to content

2008 United Soccer Leagues

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2008 season was the 22nd edition of the United Soccer Leagues.

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

[edit]

Honors

[edit]
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
Canadian Championship Montreal Impact Toronto FC (MLS) n/a

Standings

[edit]

First Division

[edit]
USL First Division
Season2008
ChampionsVancouver Whitecaps (2nd Title)
Regular Season titlePuerto Rico Islanders (1st Title)
Matches165
Goals381 (2.31 per match)
Best playerNorthern Ireland Jonathan Steele, Puerto Rico Islanders
Top goalscorerBrazil Alex Afonso, Miami FC (15 goals)
Best goalkeeperPuerto Rico Bill Gaudette, Puerto Rico Islanders
← 2007
2009 →
Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Puerto Rico Islanders 30 15 6 9 43 23 +20 54 Commissioner's Cup, bye to semifinal round of playoffs
2 Vancouver Whitecaps (C) 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[a]
5 Charleston Battery 30 11 12 7 34 36 −2 40[b]
6 Seattle Sounders 30 10 10 10 37 36 +1 40[b]
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[c]
10 Atlanta Silverbacks 30 8 12 10 37 50 −13 34[c]
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
(C) Playoff Champion
Notes:
  1. ↑ Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008[1]
  2. 1 2 CHA: 4 pts; SEA: 4 pts
  3. 1 2 MIA: 7 pts; ATL: 1 pt

Playoffs

[edit]

Teams were re-seeded for semifinal matchups
Vancouver was selected by the league to host the final despite being the lower seeded team

First round
September 26/28 		Semi-finals
October 3/5 		Final
October 12
             
6 Seattle Sounders 2 1 3
3 Montreal Impact 1 3 4
3 Montreal Impact 1 0 1
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 0 2 2
7 Minnesota Thunder 0 4 4
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2 3 5
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2
1 Puerto Rico Islanders 1
5 Charleston Battery 0 1 1
4 Rochester Rhinos 2 0 2
4 Rochester Rhinos 2 0 2
1 Puerto Rico Islanders (a.e.t) 0 3 3

First Round

[edit]
First Leg
Rochester Rhinos2–0Charleston Battery
 Report
Attendance: 6,923
Referee: Chris Penso
Second Leg
Charleston Battery1–0Rochester Rhinos
 Report
Attendance: 2,131
Referee: Doug Wolff

Rochester Rhinos won 2–1 on Aggregate.

First Leg
Seattle Sounders2–1Montreal Impact
 Report
Attendance: 2,865
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Second Leg
Montreal Impact3–1Seattle Sounders
 Report
Attendance: 11,134
Referee: Mauricio Navarro

Montreal Impact won 4–3 on Aggregate.

First Leg
Vancouver Whitecaps2–0Minnesota Thunder
 Report
Attendance: 4,943
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard
Second Leg
Minnesota Thunder4–3Vancouver Whitecaps
 Report
Attendance: 3,811
Referee: NA

Vancouver Whitecaps won 5–4 on Aggregate.

Semifinals

[edit]
First Leg
Rochester Rhinos2–0Puerto Rico Islanders
 Report
Attendance: 7,001
Referee: Niko Bratsis
Second Leg
Puerto Rico Islanders3–0 (a.e.t.)Rochester Rhinos
 Report
Attendance: 9,112
Referee: Tony Russo

Puerto Rico Islanders won 3–2 on Aggregate in Extra Time.

First Leg
Montreal Impact1–0Vancouver Whitecaps
 Report
Attendance: 12,002
Referee: Steve DePiero
Second Leg
Vancouver Whitecaps2–0Montreal Impact
 Report
Attendance: 4,992
Referee: Dave Gantar

Vancouver Whitecaps won 2–1 on Aggregate.

Final

[edit]
Second Leg
Vancouver Whitecaps2–1Puerto Rico Islanders
 Report
Attendance: 5,822
Referee: Mark Kadlecik
USL First Division
2008 Champions
Canada
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Second title

Awards and All-League Teams

[edit]

First Team
F: Brazil Alex Afonso (Miami FC) (Leading Goalscorer); Senegal Macoumba Kandji (Atlanta Silverbacks)
M: Cuba Osvaldo Alonso (Charleston Battery); Jamaica Stephen deRoux (Minnesota Thunder); Canada Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps); Northern Ireland Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders) (MVP)
D: Puerto Rico Cristian Arrieta (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Defender of the Year); United States Taylor Graham (Seattle Sounders); United States David Hayes (Atlanta Silverbacks); Canada Nevio Pizzolitto (Montreal Impact)
G: Puerto Rico Bill Gaudette (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Goalkeeper of the Year)
Coach: Northern Ireland Colin Clarke (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Coach of the Year)

Second Team
F: France Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders); Cuba Eduardo Sebrango (Vancouver Whitecaps)
M: Argentina Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Montreal Impact); Liberia Johnny Menyongar (Rochester Rhinos); Mexico Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota Thunder); England Matt Watson (Carolina RailHawks)
D: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Wesley Charles and Japan Takashi Hirano (Vancouver Whitecaps); New Zealand Cameron Knowles (Portland Timbers); United States Scott Palguta (Rochester Rhinos)
G: United States Matt Jordan (Montreal Impact)

Second Division

[edit]
USL Second Division
Season2008
ChampionsCleveland City Stars (1st Title)
Regular Season titleCharlotte Eagles (1st Title)
Matches100
Goals301 (3.01 per match)
Best playerUnited States Dustin Swinehart, Charlotte Eagles
Top goalscorerUnited States Dustin Swinehart, Charlotte Eagles (16 goals)
Best goalkeeperPuerto Rico Terry Boss, Charlotte Eagles
← 2007
2009 →
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 (C) 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]
(C) Playoff Champion
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Western Mass and Real Maryland deducted 1 point

Playoffs

[edit]
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

First round

[edit]
Cleveland City Stars4–2Western Mass Pioneers
 Report
Attendance: 1,683
Referee: Chris Penso (United States)

Semifinals

[edit]
Charlotte Eagles2–1Crystal Palace Baltimore
 Report
Attendance: 1,188
Referee: Jeff Muschik
Richmond Kickers0–1 (a.e.t.)Cleveland City Stars
 Report
Attendance: 2,693
Referee: Daniel Stead

Final

[edit]
Cleveland City Stars2–1Charlotte Eagles
 Report
Attendance: 2,016
Referee: Jason Krnac

Awards and All-League team

[edit]

First Team
F: Colombia Jorge Herrera (Charlotte Eagles); South Africa Boyzzz Khumalo (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); United States Dustin Swinehart (Charlotte Eagles) (league MVP)
M: United States Mike Burke (Richmond Kickers); United States Floyd Franks (Cleveland City Stars); Japan Shintaro Harada (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: United States Brady Bryant and United States Steve Shak (Charlotte Eagles); Germany Sascha Gorres (Richmond Kickers); United States Mark Schulte (Cleveland City Stars) (Defender of the Year)
G: Terry Boss (Charlotte Eagles)
Coach: United States Mark Steffens (Charlotte Eagles) (Coach of the Year)
Rookie of the Year: Zimbabwe Stanley Nyazamba (Richmond Kickers)

Second Team
F: Jamaica Gary Brooks (Crystal Palace Baltimore); Sierra Leone Sallieu Bundu (Cleveland City Stars); United States Jeff Deren (Western Mass Pioneers)
M: United States Trey Alexander (Wilmington Hammerheads); United States Justin Evans (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); Cameroon Matthew Mbuta (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: United States Dustin Bixler (Harrisburg City Islanders); United States Trevor McEachron (Richmond Kickers); Argentina Federico Molinari (Western Mass Pioneers); Jamaica Dame Walters (Wilmington Hammerheads)
G: United States Ronnie Pascale (Richmond Kickers)

Premier Development League

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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 June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. ↑ "USL Second Division 2008". USLsoccer.com. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2008_United_Soccer_Leagues&oldid=1354153975"