2002 PDL season

The 2002 USL Premier Development League season was the 8th PDL season. The season began in April 2002 and ended in August 2002.

USL Premier Development League

Season	2002
Champions	Cape Cod Crusaders
← 2001 2003 →

Cape Cod Crusaders finished the season as national champions, beating Boulder Rapids Reserve 2–1 in the PDL Championship game. Des Moines Menace finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 15 out of their 18 games, suffering no losses, and finishing with a +49 goal difference.

Changes from 2001

Name changes

• Boulder Nova became Boulder Rapids Reserve
• Lafayette Lightning became Austin Lightning
• San Fernando Valley Heroes became Los Angeles Heroes

New franchises

• Twelve teams joined the league this year, including eight brand new franchises:

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
Calgary Storm Select	Calgary area	Calgary, Alberta	expansion
Chico Rooks	northern Sacramento Valley area	Chico, CA	previously in D3 Pro
Houston Toros	Houston area	Houston, TX	expansion
Memphis Express	Memphis area	Memphis, TN	expansion
Nashville Metros	Nashville area	Nashville, TN	previously in A-League
Raleigh CASL Elite	Raleigh area	Cary, NC	expansion
Rhode Island Stingrays	Providence area	East Providence, RI	previously in D3 Pro
Richmond Kickers Future	Richmond area	Richmond, VA	expansion
Santa Barbara Sharks	Santa Barbara area	Santa Barbara, CA	expansion
Williamsburg Legacy	Williamsburg area	Williamsburg, VA	expansion
Wisconsin Rebels	Fox River Valley area	Menasha, WI	returned from hiatus
Worcester Kings	Worcester area	Worcester, MA	expansion

Promoted

• The Calgary Storm were promoted to the A-League.
• The New York Freedom and Westchester Flames were promoted to USL Pro Select.

Folding

• Eight teams left the league prior to the beginning of the season:
  • Colorado Springs Ascent - Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • Miami Strike Force - Miami, Florida
  • North Jersey Imperials - Paramus, New Jersey
  • Okanagan Predators - Kelowna, British Columbia
  • San Gabriel Valley Highlanders - Glendale, California
  • Twin Cities Phoenix - Edina, Minnesota
  • West Dallas Kings - Dallas, Texas
  • Wichita Jets - Wichita, Kansas

Standings

Legend
Division champion
Team qualified for playoff berth
Team folded during the season

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Chicago Fire Reserves	18	14	3	1	43	15	+28	7	64
2	Mid-Michigan Bucks	18	11	5	2	48	36	+12	9	55
3	West Michigan Edge	18	11	6	1	49	28	+21	8	53
4	Kalamazoo Kingdom	18	9	8	1	37	32	+5	6	43
5	Indiana Invaders	18	8	7	3	32	25	+7	5	40
6	Dayton Gemini	18	3	12	3	26	48	−22	3	18

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Heartland Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Des Moines Menace	18	15	0	3	68	19	+49	11	74
2	Boulder Rapids Reserve	18	11	3	4	49	23	+26	6	54
3	Sioux Falls Spitfire	18	9	6	3	34	33	+1	6	45
4	Chicago Eagles Select	18	6	11	1	37	38	−1	5	30
5	Kansas City Brass	18	5	12	1	39	56	−17	6	27
6	Thunder Bay Chill	18	5	12	1	35	58	−23	5	26
7	Denver Cougars	18	4	9	5	25	45	−20	3	24
8	Wisconsin Rebels	18	1	17	0	11	76	−65	0	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Eastern Conference

Mid Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Williamsburg Legacy	18	14	4	0	44	26	+18	9	65
2	Raleigh CASL Elite	18	11	7	0	42	35	+7	7	51
3	Richmond Kickers Future	18	9	9	0	40	37	+3	4	40
4	Chesapeake Dragons	18	5	13	0	27	44	−17	4	24
5	Greenville Lions	18	4	14	0	22	57	−35	4	20

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Vermont Voltage	18	14	2	2	48	18	+30	8	66
2	Cape Cod Crusaders	18	12	4	2	39	17	+22	8	58
3	Rhode Island Stingrays	18	8	9	1	38	38	0	7	40
4	Worcester Kings	18	6	12	0	29	51	−22	4	28
5	Brooklyn Knights	18	6	12	0	23	36	−13	3	27
6	Jersey Falcons	18	5	12	1	25	42	−17	2	23

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southern Conference

Mid South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Memphis Express	18	12	4	2	45	19	+26	10	60
2	Texas Spurs	18	12	6	0	48	30	+18	8	56
3	Austin Lightning	18	8	8	2	36	42	−6	6	40
4	Nashville Metros	18	7	9	2	37	34	+3	6	36
5	Louisiana Outlaws	18	5	12	1	39	38	+1	7	28
6	Houston Toros	18	4	13	1	27	60	−33	2	19

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Tampa Bay Hawks	18	14	4	0	51	27	+24	8	64
2	Bradenton Academics	18	10	7	1	43	31	+12	7	48
3	Central Florida Kraze	18	9	8	1	34	33	+1	6	43
4	Palm Beach Pumas	18	7	11	0	32	42	−10	5	33
5	Cocoa Expos	18	4	13	1	35	61	−26	7	24

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Spokane Shadow	18	11	6	1	39	23	+16	8	53
2	Cascade Surge	18	9	9	0	31	32	−1	4	40
3	Calgary Storm Select	18	5	10	3	21	44	−23	2	25
4	Yakima Reds	18	5	11	2	30	33	−3	5	27
5	Seattle Sounders Select	14	9	3	2	33	22	+11	4	42[a]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. Folded during the season

Southwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Chico Rooks	18	13	4	1	40	22	+18	8	61
2	Southern California Seahorses	18	11	7	0	43	28	+15	6	50
3	Orange County Blue Star	18	7	9	2	29	26	+3	5	35
4	Los Angeles Heroes	18	6	10	2	24	38	−14	4	30
5	Central Coast Roadrunners	18	5	13	0	19	37	−18	3	23
6	Santa Barbara Sharks	13	3	10	0	20	37	−17	3	15[a]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. Folded during the season

Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

National Semifinals

PDL Championship Game

MA1

Williamsburg Legacy

0

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

2

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

1

Eastern Conference

MA2

Raleigh CASL Elite

0

NE1

Vermont Voltage

0

MA2

Raleigh CASL Elite

1

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

3

SE2

Bradenton Academics

2

MS1

Memphis Express

0

SE2

Bradenton Academics

1

SE2

Bradenton Academics

3

Southern Conference

SE1

Tampa Bay Hawks

2

SE1

Tampa Bay Hawks

4

MS2

Texas Spurs

2

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

2

HL2

Boulder Rapids Reserve

1

HL1

Des Moines Menace

1

GL2

Mid-Michigan Bucks

3

GL2

Mid-Michigan Bucks

0 (6)

Central Conference

HL2

Boulder Rapids Reserve

0 (7)

GL1

Chicago Fire Reserves

1

HL2

Boulder Rapids Reserve

3

HL2

Boulder Rapids Reserve

2

SW2

Southern California Seahorses

1

SW1

Chico Rooks

0

NW2

Cascade Surge

1

NW2

Cascade Surge

2

Western Conference

SW2

Southern California Seahorses

3

NW1

Spokane Shadow

0

SW2

Southern California Seahorses

2

^[1]

Conference semifinals

Chicago Fire Reserves	1–3	Boulder Rapids Reserve
5'		Nat Borchers Nate Jaqua

July 26, 2002

5:30 PM CDT

Cara McGrane Memorial Stadium
Des Moines, Iowa

---

Tampa Bay Hawks	4–2	Texas Spurs
Sven Avdi

July 26, 2002

6:00 PM CDT

Mike Rose Soccer Complex
Memphis, Tennessee

---

Des Moines Menace	1–3	Mid-Michigan Bucks
Nicholas Benjamin 78'	Report	22', 66' Pat Noonan 69' Ryan Mack

July 26, 2002

8:00 PM CDT

Cara McGrane Memorial Stadium
Des Moines, Iowa

Attendance: 3,374

---

Memphis Express	0–1 (OT)	Bradenton Academics
Mark Franklin   71'		Vitor Moreira

July 26, 2002

8:00 PM CDT

Mike Rose Soccer Complex
Memphis, Tennessee

---

Williamsburg Legacy	0–2	Cape Cod Crusaders
	Report	49' Scott Palguta 89' Nicola Chicco

July 27, 2002

5:00 PM EDT

Collins-Perley Sports Complex
St. Albans, Vermont

---

Vermont Voltage	0–1	Raleigh CASL Elite
	Report	89:30' Ryan Kniepper

July 27, 2002

7:30 PM EDT

Collins-Perley Sports Complex
St. Albans, Vermont

Attendance: 1,674

---

Chico Rooks	0–1	Cascade Surge
		48' Patrick Daka

July 27, 2002

6:00 PM PDT

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

---

Spokane Shadow	0–2	Southern California Seahorses
	Report	58' Matt Evans 72' Ben Bingham

July 27, 2002

8:00 PM PDT

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

Attendance: 1,276

Conference Finals

Tampa Bay Hawks	2–3	Bradenton Academics
		Heath Pearce

July 27, 2002

7:30 PM CDT

Mike Rose Soccer Complex
Memphis, Tennessee

---

Mid-Michigan Bucks	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Boulder Rapids Reserve
	Report
Penalties
	6–7	Justin Lowder

July 27, 2002

7:30 PM CDT

Cara McGrane Memorial Stadium
Des Moines, Iowa

Attendance: 3,545

---

Cape Cod Crusaders	1–0	Raleigh CASL Elite
Scott Palguta 64'	Report

July 28, 2002

7:00 PM EDT

Collins-Perley Sports Complex
St. Albans, Vermont

---

Cascade Surge	2–3	Southern California Seahorses
Patrick Daka 13' Glenn Duerr 90'	Report	30', 87' Jason Hotchkin 49' Jacob Ward

July 28, 2002

6:00 PM PDT

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

National Semifinals

Bradenton Academics	2–3	Cape Cod Crusaders
Marco Velez 22' Arthur Bartholomew 50'	Report	27' Eric Reed 43' Bryan Harkin 77' Casey Schmidt

August 3, 2002

5:00 PM EDT

IMG Academy
Bradenton, Florida

---

Boulder Rapids Reserve	5–1	Southern California Seahorses
Eric Cronkite		Randy Wilson

August 3, 2002

5:00 PM MDT

Pleasant View Soccer Field
Boulder, Colorado

PDL Championship Game

Cape Cod Crusaders	2–1 (OT)	Boulder Rapids Reserve
Eric Reed 58' Casey Schmidt 99'	Report	74' Jason Thompson

August 10, 2002

8:00 PM EDT

Dennis Yarmouth High School
South Yarmouth, Massachusetts

Attendance: 2,239