2007 United Soccer Leagues
The 2007 Season is the 21st edition of the United Soccer Leagues season.
The season kicked off on Friday, April 13 when the 2006 league runners-up Rochester Raging Rhinos traveled to the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon to take on the Puerto Rico Islanders.
General
- Two new teams join the First Division: the California Victory (San Francisco, CA), and the Carolina RailHawks (Cary, NC).
- The Virginia Beach Mariners franchise was terminated by the league.
- The Toronto Lynx depart the First Division for the Premier Development League (PDL).
- Three new teams join the Second Division: the Bermuda Hogges (Hamilton, Bermuda), the Cleveland City Stars, and Crystal Palace Baltimore.
- The Long Island Rough Riders depart the Second Division for the PDL.
- The Pittsburgh Riverhounds will be on hiatus during 2007 to reorganize.
- Many new teams join the PDL, for a complete list see here.
Honors
| Competition | Champion | Runner-Up | Regular Season Champion/Best USL team |
|---|---|---|---|
| USL First Division | Seattle Sounders | Atlanta Silverbacks | Seattle Sounders |
| USL Second Division | Harrisburg City Islanders | Richmond Kickers | Richmond Kickers |
| USL PDL | Laredo Heat | Michigan Bucks | Hampton Roads Piranhas |
| U.S. Open Cup | New England Revolution (MLS) | FC Dallas (MLS) | Carolina Railhawks/Seattle Sounders |
Standings
First Division
The schedule was not a balanced home and away affair; to make up the four extra games to total 28, each team played their four geographically closest competitors. The playoff format was changed to qualify eight instead of six teams; therefore the first and second league champions obtained seeding to determine home field advantage instead of a first round bye as in previous seasons. The previous bidding to host between the two playoff finalists for the one game cup final was discontinued for this season.[1]
Commissioner's Cup, quarterfinal round of playoffs
Quarterfinal round of playoffs
| Pos | Club | Pts | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Sounders | 54 | 28 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 37 | 23 | +14 |
| 2 | Portland Timbers | 51 | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 32 | 18 | +14 |
| 3 | Montreal Impact | 50 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 21 | +11 |
| 4 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 43 | 28 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 40 | 30 | +10 |
| 5 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 42 | 28 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 39 | 36 | +3 |
| 6 | Puerto Rico Islanders | 40 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 35 | 34 | +1 |
| 7 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 39 | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 24 | +3 |
| 8 | Carolina RailHawks | 32 | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 24 | 34 | −10 |
| 9 | Miami FC | 31 | 28 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 31 | 41 | −10 |
| 10 | Charleston Battery | 30 | 28 | 8 | 14 | 6 | 32 | 39 | −7 |
| 11 | Minnesota Thunder | 26 | 28 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 32 | 35 | −3 |
| 12 | California Victory | 19 | 28 | 4 | 17 | 7 | 17 | 43 | −26 |
Playoffs
| Quarterfinals September 14/16 |
Semifinals September 21/23 |
Final September 29 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | Carolina RailHawks | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle Sounders (PK) | 2 | 1 | 3 (4) | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | Puerto Rico Islanders | 1 | 2 | 3 (2) | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Montreal Impact | 3 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | Puerto Rico Islanders | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle Sounders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Atlanta Silverbacks (PK) | 1 | 0 | 1 (3) | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Portland Timbers | 1 | 0 | 1 (1) | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Portland Timbers | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Second Division
Purple indicates regular season champion
Green indicates playoff berth clinched
Bold indicates regular season winner
| Place | Team | P | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond Kickers | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 37 | 15 | +22 | 41 |
| 2 | Cleveland City Stars | 20 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 31 | 14 | +17 | 39 |
| 3 | Harrisburg City Islanders | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 38 |
| 4 | Charlotte Eagles | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 40 | 29 | +11 | 35 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace Baltimore | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 20 | +7 | 32 |
| 6 | Western Mass Pioneers | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 25 | 26 | -1 | 27 |
| 7 | Wilmington Hammerheads | 20 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 30 | -8 | 19 |
| 8 | Cincinnati Kings | 20 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 29 | 41 | -12 | 17 |
| 9 | New Hampshire Phantoms | 20 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 34 | -18 | 131 |
| 10 | Bermuda Hogges | 20 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 16 | 45 | -29 | 12 |
1New Hampshire was penalized 1 point for circumstances not released by the USL.
Playoffs
| Semifinals August 18, 7:00 EDT | Final August 25, 8:00 EDT | ||||||||
| 1 | Richmond Kickers (AET) | 2 | |||||||
| 4 | Charlotte Eagles | 1 | |||||||
| 1 | Richmond Kickers | 1 (7) | |||||||
| 3 | Harrisburg City Islanders (PK) | 1 (8) | |||||||
| 2 | Cleveland City Stars | 0 | |||||||
| 3 | Harrisburg City Islanders (AET) | 1 | |||||||
Premier Development League
- See 2007 PDL Season
See also
References
- ↑ "Playoff format overhauled". The Vancouver Sun Newspaper. April 20, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
External links
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