2011 NPSL season

The 2011 National Premier Soccer League season was the 9th season of the NPSL. The regular season began on April 1, 2011, and ended on July 17. The playoffs concluded with the NPSL Championship Game, which was held at the home of Rocket City United in Madison, Alabama on July 30.

National Premier Soccer League

Official 2011 NPSL Championship logo
Season	2011
Champions	Jacksonville United
Matches played	220
Goals scored	710 (3.23 per match)
Biggest home win	11–0, Hollywood United Hitmen over Real San Jose
Biggest away win	9–0, Madison 56ers over Eau Claire Aris
Highest scoring	12 goals, Bay Area Ambassadors 4–8 Lancaster Rattlers
← 2010 2012 →

Jacksonville United ended the season as national champions, beating the Hollywood United Hitmen 3–2 in the 2011 NPSL Championship game.^[1] Jacksonville were the lowest seeded-team in the playoffs, having finished champions of the Southeast Division with a 6–0–4 record after starting their campaign with four straight losses, and beat number one seed and Northeast Division champions Erie Admirals on their way to the final. Both Jacksonville and Hollywood were first-year NPSL teams, although Hollywood had previously spent two seasons playing in the USL Premier Development League.

The Erie Admirals had the best regular season record, with a points-per-game average of 2.583, just ahead of the Hollywood United Hitmen (2.429) and FC Sonic Lehigh Valley (2.417), who were in such a strong division they did not even qualify for the post-season.

Jacksonville striker Tommy Krizanovic scored a hat trick in the NPSL final, and was named MVP of the championship tournament.^[2]

Changes From 2010

Name Changes/Rebrands

• Atlanta FC formed a partnership with the NASL Atlanta Silverbacks franchise and became Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves^[3]

New Franchises

• 13 franchises were announced as joining the league this year:

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
AC Crusaders	Atlantic County area	Egg Harbor Township, NJ	expansion
Buxmont Torch FC	Montgomery County area	Souderton, PA	expansion
Georgia Revolution	Rockdale County area	Conyers, GA	expansion
FC Hasental	Conejo Valley area	Thousand Oaks, CA	expansion
Hollywood United Hitmen	Los Angeles area	Los Angeles, CA	USL Premier Development League
Jacksonville United	Jacksonville area	Jacksonville, FL	expansion
Knoxville Force	Knoxville area	Knoxville, TN	expansion
Lancaster Rattlers	Antelope Valley area	Lancaster, CA	USL Premier Development League
Mass United	Boston area	Boston, MA	expansion
Quad City Eagles	Quad Cities area	Moline, IL	expansion
San Diego Flash	San Diego area	San Diego, CA	USL A-League
Santa Ana Winds	Orange County area	Santa Ana, CA	expansion
Seacoast United Phantoms	Rockingham County area	Hampton, NH	expansion

Folding

• Six teams have been announced as leaving the league prior to the beginning of the season:
• Boston Tea Men  MA
• Long Island Academy  NY
• TSC Maryland Red Devils  MD
• New Hampshire Mountaineers  NH
• Pumas FC  AL
• Southern Oregon Fuego  OR
• FC Tulsa  TX

Standings

Purple indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched

Northeast Division - Atlantic Conference

Place	Team	Pld.	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Brooklyn Italians	10	7	1	2	26	11	+15	22
2	Seacoast United Phantoms	10	5	1	4	16	19	-3	16
3	New York Red Bulls NPSL	10	4	3	3	16	11	+5	15
4	New York Athletic Club	10	4	3	3	15	12	+3	15
5	Morris County Colonials	10	2	3	5	13	21	-8	9
6	Mass United	10	2	1	7	13	25	-12	7

Northeast Division - Keystone Conference

Place	Team	Pld.	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Erie Admirals	12	10	1	1	30	11	+19	31
2	FC Sonic Lehigh Valley	12	9	2	1	25	7	+18	29
3	Reading Revolution	12	8	1	3	28	13	+15	25
4	AC Crusaders	12	6	3	3	27	15	+12	21
5	FC Buffalo	12	5	1	6	21	15	+6	16
6	Pocono Snow	12	2	2	8	11	27	-16	8
7	Buxmont Torch FC	12	2	0	10	11	36	-25	6
8	New Jersey Blaze	12	1	0	11	12	41	-29	3

Southeast Division

Place	Team	Pld.	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Jacksonville United	10	6	0	4	16	12	+4	18
2	Georgia Revolution	10	5	3	2	20	15	+5	18
3	Chattanooga FC	10	5	2	3	15	10	+5	17
4	Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves	10	4	2	4	14	13	+1	14
5	Knoxville Force	10	3	1	6	7	16	-9	10
6	Rocket City United	10	3	0	7	12	18	-6	9
7	FC Tulsa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

*Note: Jacksonville finished ahead of Georgia as NPSL rules state that the second tiebreaker after total points is number of victories. FC Tulsa chose not to compete in league play in 2011, and only played in the US Open Cup qualification tournament.

Midwest Division

Place	Team	Pld.	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Milwaukee Bavarians	12	8	2	2	25	9	+16	26
2	Quad City Eagles	12	6	5	1	27	11	+16	23
3	Madison 56ers	12	6	3	3	34	14	+20	21
4	Minnesota TwinStars FC	12	6	1	5	23	15	+8	19
5	Chicago Fire NPSL	12	4	3	5	18	16	+2	15
6	Minnesota Kings	12	2	2	8	9	34	-25	8
7	Eau Claire Aris	12	1	2	9	8	45	-37	5

West Division - Flight Northwest

Place	Team	Pld.	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Hollywood United Hitmen	14	11	1	2	54	14	+40	34
2	Sacramento Gold	14	7	4	3	30	20	+10	25
3	Sonoma County Sol	14	7	3	4	38	23	+15	24
4	Bay Area Ambassadors	14	2	1	11	19	48	-29	7
5	Real San Jose	14	2	0	12	11	45	-34	6

West Division - Flight Southwest

Place	Team	Pld.	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	San Diego Flash	14	10	1	3	37	16	+21	31
2	Santa Ana Winds FC	14	8	2	4	25	19	+6	26
3	FC Hasental	14	6	3	5	27	27	0	21
4	San Diego Boca	14	6	1	7	29	32	-3	19
5	Lancaster Rattlers	14	3	0	11	26	52	-26	9

Source:

NPSL Playoffs

Format

Bracket

	Division Semifinals					Division Finals					National Semifinals					National Final
						K1	Erie Admirals	1
						A1	Brooklyn Italians	0
											1	Erie Admirals	2
											4	Jacksonville United	4
																4	Jacksonville United	3
																2	Hollywood United Hitmen	2
											3	Milwaukee Bavarians	0
	NW1	Hollywood United Hitmen	3								2	Hollywood United Hitmen	3
	SW2	Santa Ana Winds FC	1			NW1	Hollywood United Hitmen	1
	SW1	San Diego Flash	1			NW2	Sacramento Gold	0
	NW2	Sacramento Gold	2

Northeast Division Playoffs

Erie Admirals	1 - 0	Brooklyn Italians
Colton 72'	Report

July 23, 2011
7:00 PM EST

Dollinger Field
Erie, PA

Attendance: 450

West Division Playoffs

Hollywood United Hitmen	3 - 1	Santa Ana Winds
Bentil 17' Whitfield 31' Blanco 50'	Report	Hernandez  10' G. Piechota 35'

July 9, 2011
7:00 PM PST

Crenshaw High School
Los Angeles, CA

Attendance: 165

Referee: Omar Meza (USA)

---

San Diego Flash	1 - 2	Sacramento Gold
Pizarro 43'	Report	O. Sandoval 35' Cabadas 76'

July 9, 2011
7:00 PM PST

Westview High School
San Diego, CA

---

Hollywood United Hitmen	1 - 0	Sacramento Gold
Blanco 45'	Report	C. Sandoval  28' Madu  44'

July 16, 2011
5:00 PM PST

Crenshaw High School
Los Angeles, CA

Attendance: 135

Referee: Daniel Radford (USA)

NPSL Championship Tournament

Semi-finals

Hollywood United Hitmen	3 - 0	Milwaukee Bavarians
Bentil 48' Whitfield 67' 88'	Report

July 28, 2011
5:30PM CDT

Madison City Schools Stadium
Madison, AL

---

Erie Admirals	2 - 4	Jacksonville United
Falconer 22' Kennedy 58'	Report	Williams 42' Krizanovic 61' Leyimu 72' Salafrio 73'

July 28, 2011
8:30PM CDT

Madison City Schools Stadium
Madison, AL

Third Place Playoff

Milwaukee Bavarians	0 - 5	Erie Admirals
	Report	Falconer 33' 72' Meehl 67' Blythe 82' Howard 88'

July 29, 2011
5:30PM CDT

Madison City Schools Stadium
Madison, AL

NPSL All-Star Game

Rocket City United	3 - 1	NPSL All-Stars
Hyde 27' 61' Nkurunungi 90'	Report	Omondi 63'

July 29, 2011
8:00PM CDT

Madison City Schools Stadium
Madison, AL

Referee: Joshua Morgan (USA)

NPSL Championship Game

Hollywood United Hitmen	2 - 3	Jacksonville United
Albarrán 31' 77'	Report	Krizanovic 17' 40' 87'

July 30, 2011
7:30PM CDT

Madison City Schools Stadium
Madison, AL

Award Winners and Conference Teams

MVP: Tommy Krizanovic (JAC)

NPSL All-Star Team

F: Jumol Harewood (GEO), Jose Miranda (HOL), Justin Picou (SDB), Afrim Latifi (ERI), Chris Tsonis (SEA)
M: Cody Antonini (SLV), Carlington Lamont (REA), Carlos McCrary (MAD), Kingsley Morgan (ATL), Anthony Santaga (MAD), Billy Sweatra (ACC), Tyler Williams (JAC)
D: Peassio Denev (ECA), Adrian Kawuba (MAS), Marcos Mendez (GEO), Joseph Omondi (RCU), Corey Phillips (BUF), Dan Sauerhoff (MCC), Andy Stewart (CFC)
G: Zach Brunner (LAN), Thomas Hunter (CFC)^[4]

2011 National Championship Best 11

F: Tommy Krizanovic (JAC), Brent Whitfield (HOL)
M: Arturo Albarrán (HOL), Gavin Falconer (ERI), Amilcar Herrera (MIL), Shane Howard (ERI), Ramak Safi (JAC)
D: Jacobi Goodfellow (JAC), Garrett Teague (JAC), Marcus Watson (HOL)
G: Stuart McCrory (JAC)^[5]

U.S. Open Cup Qualifying

Four NPSL clubs gained berths to the 2011 U.S. Open Cup, one each from the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and West divisions.^[6]

Northeast Division

Brooklyn Italians	1 - 0	FC Buffalo
Joseph 25'	Report

May 7, 2011

James Dewey High School
Brooklyn, NY

---

FC Sonic Lehigh Valley	1 - 2	Brooklyn Italians
	Report

May 27, 2011
7:30 PM EST

Ulrich Sports Complex
Bethlehem, PA

Southeast Division

First round

Knoxville Force	0 - 1	Jacksonville United
	Report	Williams 53'

May 27, 2011
5:30 PM EST

Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, TN

---

Rocket City United	7 - 1	FC Tulsa
Hyde 13' 22' 33' 64' Nkurunungi 59' Nunez 80' Omondi 88'	Report	Cottage 31'

May 27, 2011
8:00 PM EST

Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, TN

Second round

Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves	3 - 1	Jacksonville United
Nandi 28' Morgan 86' Duque 90+'	Report	Williams 23'

May 28, 2011
5:30 PM EST

Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, TN

---

Chattanooga FC	2 - 0	Rocket City United
Moore 65' Ochieng 74'	Report

May 28, 2011
8:00 PM EST

Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, TN

Final

Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves	0 - 1 (AET)	Chattanooga FC
	Report	Ochieng 116'

May 29, 2011
7:00 PM EST

Finley Stadium
Chattanooga, TN

Midwest Division

Madison 56ers were granted the automatic berth for the Midwest Division by virtue of their 2010 division championship. The Midwest was the only NPSL division granting its 2011 U.S. Open Cup berth based on performance in the 2010 season.^[7]

West Division

The Hollywood United Hitmen were given the berth for the West Division as a result of being the team with the best record over the first seven games of the 2011 regular season.^[8]

References

1. "Krizanovic Leads Jacksonville to the NPSL Championship". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
2. "2011 National Championships' Best 11". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
3. Silverbacks Reserves to Play in NPSL
4. "2011 NPSL All-Star Team". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
5. "2011 National Championships' Best 11". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
6. "NPSL In The US Open Cup - National Premier Soccer League". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
7. "Madison 56ers awarded NPSL Midwest US Open Cup spot".
8. "2011 US Open Cup qualifying update: Hollywood claims NPSL West berth after league ruling".