1999 PDL season

USL Premier Development League

Season	1999
Champions	Chicago Sockers (1st Title)
Regular Season Champions	Jackson Chargers (2nd Title)
Best Player	Fabio Eidelwein Sioux City Breeze
Top goalscorer	Fabio Eidelwein Sioux City Breeze (20 Goals)
Best goalkeeper	Jeremy DoBay Jackson Chargers
← 1998 2000 →

The 1999 USL Premier Development League season was the 5th PDL season. The season began in April 1999 and ended in August 1999.

Chicago Sockers finished the season as national champions, beating Spokane Shadow 3–1 in the PDL Championship game. Jackson Chargers had finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 14 out of their 16 games, suffering just two losses, and finishing with a +55 goal difference.

Changes from 1998 season

Name changes

• Abbotsford Athletes In Action changed their name to the Abbotsford 86ers Select.
• Central Florida Lionhearts changed their name to the Central Florida Kraze.
• Fox River Rebels changed their name to the Wisconsin Rebels.
• Grand Rapids Explosion changed their name to West Michigan Explosion.
• Seattle Hibernians changed their name to Seattle Sounders Select.

New teams

18 teams were added for the season, including 7 expansion teams and four who had returned from hiatus.

Team	Area	Location	Previous affiliation
Brooklyn Knights	Brooklyn (NYC) area	Brooklyn, NY	expansion
Capital District Shockers	New York Capital District area	Albany, NY	from D-3 Pro League
Central Jersey Riptide	Central Jersey area	Trenton, NJ	from D-3 Pro League
Chicago Sockers	Chicago area	Chicago, IL	from D-3 Pro League
Clarksville Gunners	Clarksville area	Clarksville, TN	expansion
Lexington Bluegrass Bandits	Lexington area	Lexington, KY	returned from hiatus
Miami Breakers	Miami area	Miami, FL	from D-3 Pro League
Nevada Zephyrs	Las Vegas area	Las Vegas, NV	expansion
New York Freedom	New York City area	New York, NY	expansion
Orlando Nighthawks	Central Florida area	Orlando, FL	from D-3 Pro League
Rockford Raptors	Rockford area	Rockford, IL	from D-3 Pro League
San Fernando Valley Heroes	Los Angeles area	Los Angeles, CA	from D-3 Pro League
Team St. Louis	St. Louis area	St. Louis, MO	expansion
Tucson Amigos	Tucson area	Tucson, AZ	returned from hiatus
Vermont Voltage	Vermont area	St. Albans, VT	from D-3 Pro League
Westchester Flames	Suburban Mainland New York area	New Rochelle, NY	expansion
Wichita Blue	Wichita area	Wichita, KS	returned from hiatus
Willamette Valley Firebirds	Portland area	Portland, OR	returned from hiatus

Teams leaving

5 teams folded after the 1998 Season:

• Detroit Dynamite
• Lansing Locomotive
• Northern Arizona Prospectors
• Seattle BigFoot
• Southern California Chivas

Alabama Saints and South Florida Future went on hiatus for this season.

Okanagan Valley Challenge and Victoria Umbro Select returned to the PCSL, ending their associate membership. Abbotsford Athletes In Action and Seattle Hibernian retained their membership.

Standings

Legend
Division champion
Team qualified for playoff berth
Team gets bye into semifinals as host.

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Mid-Michigan Bucks	16	13	1	0	2	62	14	+48	11	65
2	Chicago Sockers	16	11	1	1	3	41	14	+27	7	54
3	Wisconsin Rebels	16	10	1	0	5	45	37	+8	9	51
4	Indiana Invaders	16	7	0	0	9	34	44	−10	7	35
5	Kalamazoo Kingdom	16	5	1	1	9	28	45	−17	5	28
6	Rockford Raptors	16	2	0	2	12	23	61	−38	3	13
7	West Michigan Explosion	16	2	0	0	14	17	49	−32	2	10 [a]

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. RSSSF recorded 5 total points.

Heartland Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Twin Cities Tornado	16	14	0	0	2	55	18	+37	9	65
2	Sioux City Breeze	16	13	0	0	3	52	25	+27	9	61
3	Colorado Comets	15	8	0	1	6	48	33	+15	9	42
4	Des Moines Menace	16	7	0	1	8	33	36	−3	5	34
5	Kansas City Brass	16	4	2	0	10	23	38	−15	4	24
6	Team St. Louis	6	5	0	0	1	28	8	+20	4	24 [a]
7	Wichita Blue	11	3	0	2	6	13	43	−30	2	16 [b]
8	Colorado Springs Stampede	15	1	2	0	12	21	52	−31	2	10

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. Provisional team: does not play a full schedule.
2. Wichita Blue folded during the season.

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	New York Freedom	16	10	1	1	4	40	27	+13	8	51 [a]
2	Central Jersey Riptide	16	8	0	1	7	40	28	+12	9	42 [b]
3	Brooklyn Knights	16	5	2	0	9	29	42	−13	5	29
4	Westchester Flames	16	6	1	0	9	19	32	−13	3	29
5	Vermont Voltage	16	4	0	1	11	26	42	−16	4	21
6	Capital District Shockers	16	2	0	0	14	18	65	−47	1	9

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. RSSSF recorded 52 total points.
2. RSSSF recorded 36 total points.

Southeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Jackson Chargers	16	14	0	0	2	67	12	+55	11	67
2	Cocoa Expos	16	10	2	0	4	58	24	+34	10	54
3	Central Florida Kraze	16	10	0	1	5	47	23	+24	8	49
4	Miami Breakers	16	8	1	0	7	29	32	−3	6	40
5	Bradenton Academics	16	8	0	1	7	28	32	−4	5	38
6	Clarksville Gunners	16	5	1	1	9	28	37	−9	3	26
7	Miami Tango	16	4	1	0	11	25	61	−36	5	23
8	Lexington Bluegrass Bandits	6	3	0	0	3	17	14	+3	4	16
9	Orlando Nighthawks	16	1	0	1	14	13	63	−50	0	5

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	16	14	0	0	2	54	20	+34	10	66
2	Spokane Shadow	16	10	0	0	6	36	21	+15	8	48
3	Abbotsford 86ers Select	16	8	0	1	7	36	32	+4	7	40
4	Seattle Sounders Select	16	6	2	0	8	19	32	−13	1	29
5	Yakima Reds	16	5	1	1	9	31	43	−12	6	29
6	Cascade Surge	16	2	0	1	13	19	47	−28	3	12

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Southwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	San Fernando Valley Heroes	16	9	4	0	3	53	21	+32	8	52
2	Central Coast Roadrunners	16	7	1	1	7	32	24	+8	7	38
3	Nevada Zephyrs	16	7	0	0	9	26	31	−5	4	32
4	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders	16	6	0	0	10	33	51	−18	6	30 [a]
5	Silicon Valley Ambassadors	16	5	0	2	9	23	44	−21	2	24
6	Tucson Amigos	16	3	0	2	11	23	41	−18	1	15

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. RSSSF recorded 27 total points.

Playoffs

Spokane hosted the Finals and received a bye to the National Semi-Finals.

	Central Semifinals					Central Finals
	GL1	Mid-Michigan Bucks	1
	HL2	Sioux City Breeze	2
						HL2	Sioux City Breeze	1
						GL2	Chicago Sockers	3
	HL1	Twin Cities Tornado	0
	GL2	Chicago Sockers	2

Central Conference Playoffs

August 6, 1999

7:00 PM EDT

Semifinals

Mid-Michigan Bucks	1–2	Sioux City Breeze
Paul Snape  59' Dominic Scicluna  65' Mike Dodd  69' Stephen Armstrong 80'	Report	44', 60' (pen.) Fabio Eidelwein  57' Hakeem Koroma

White Pine Stadium
Saginaw Township, Michigan

Attendance: 752

Referee: Shaun Soraghan

August 6, 1999

9:00 PM EDT

Semifinals

Twin Cities Tornado	0–2	Chicago Sockers
	Report	10' Hernan Campuzano 70' Matt Hamnett

White Pine Stadium
Saginaw Township, Michigan

---

August 7, 1999

7:30 PM EDT

Conference Final

Sioux City Breeze	1–3	Chicago Sockers
Fabio Eidelwein 19'	Report	33' Hernan Campuzano 39', 90' Matt Hamnett

White Pine Stadium
Saginaw Township, Michigan

Attendance: 112

	Eastern Semifinals					Eastern Finals
	SE1	Jackson Chargers	9
	NE2	Brooklyn Knights	1
						HL2	Jackson Chargers	0
						GL2	New York Freedom	1
	NE1	New York Freedom	3
	SE2	Cocoa Expos	1

Eastern Conference Playoffs

August 6, 1999

7:00 PM CDT

Semifinals

Jackson Chargers	9–1	Brooklyn Knights
Paul Oyuga 10' Bonaventure Maruti 12', 20', 39', 52' Jon Marcus Duncan Jeremy Shortt Ousmark Coulibaly	Report	62' Alex Dixon

Jackson, Mississippi

August 6, 1999

9:00 PM CDT

Semifinals

Cocoa Expos	1–3	New York Freedom
Steve Butcher 18'	Report	Mawssa Sy Boubu Camara

Jackson, Mississippi

---

August 7, 1999

8:30 PM CDT

Conference Final

Jackson Chargers	0–1	New York Freedom
	Report	73' Alex Vargas

Jackson, Mississippi

	Western Semifinals					Western Finals
	NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	1
	SW2	Central Coast Roadrunners	0
						NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	5
						NW2	Abbotsford 86ers Select	1
	SW1	San Fernando Valley Heroes	1
	NW2	Abbotsford 86ers Select	2

Western Conference Playoffs

August 7, 1999

5:30 PM PDT

Semifinals

Central Coast Roadrunners	0–1	Willamette Valley Firebirds
	Report	35' Greg Howes

Citrus College
Glendora, California

August 7, 1999

8:00 PM PDT

Semifinals

San Fernando Valley Heroes	1–2	Abbotsford 86ers Select
	Report	44' Robert Hall 60' David Morris

Citrus College
Glendora, California

---

August 8, 1999

3:00 PM PDT

Conference Final

Willamette Valley Firebirds	5–1	Abbotsford 86ers Select
JP Capodanno 34', 88' Bryan Ritchie 39' Greg Howes 48', 80'	Report	17' (pen.) Ken Strain

Citrus College
Glendora, California

	PDL Semifinals					PDL Finals
	NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	1
	H	Spokane Shadow	2
						H	Spokane Shadow	1
						GL2	Chicago Sockers	3
	NE1	New York Freedom	0
	GL2	Chicago Sockers	1			PDL Third Place
						NW1	Willamette Valley Firebirds	2
						NE1	New York Freedom	5

^[1]

PDL National Semifinals

August 14, 1999

6:00 PM PDT

Semifinals

Chicago Sockers	1–0	New York Freedom
Harkness 25' Campuzano  71'	Report	35' Thomas Donahue  58' Brendan O'Boyle  58'  90' Rodney Rambo

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

Attendance: 3,829

August 14, 1999

8:30 PM PDT

Semifinals

Spokane Shadow	2–1	Willamette Valley Firebirds
Craig Hampton  20' Stuart Saunders  35' Zane Higgins 65' Jeff Rose 68' Chad Brown  84'	Report	16' Greg Howes

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

Attendance: 3,829

---

Third Place Game

August 15, 1999

6:00 PM PDT

Final

Willamette Valley Firebirds	2–5	New York Freedom
Greg Howes 59', 83'	Report	4', 40', 65' Joseph Navarino 38' Alexander Vargas 83' Leonard Doramodou

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

PDL Championship Game

August 15, 1999

8:30 PM PDT

Spokane Shadow	1–3	Chicago Sockers
Jeff Rose 88'	Report	18' Chuck Codd 44' Mike Dunne 73' Andy McDermott

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

Attendance: 3,843

References

1. United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)