2003 PDL season

USL Premier Development League

Season	2003
Champions	Cape Cod Crusaders (2nd Title)
Regular Season Champions	New Orleans Shell Shockers (1st Title)
Best Player	Tomas Baltner Des Moines Menace
Top goalscorer	Joseph Ngwenya Cape Cod Crusaders, Bo Vuckovic Vermont Voltage (17 Goals Each)
Best goalkeeper	John O'Hara Richmond Kickers Future
← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 USL Premier Development League season was the 9th PDL season. The season began in April 2003 and ended in August 2003.

Cape Cod Crusaders finished the season as national champions for the second time, beating Chicago Fire Reserves 2–0 in the PDL Championship game. New Orleans Shell Shockers finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 16 out of their 18 games, suffering just 2 losses, and finishing with a +35 goal difference.

Cape Cod Crusaders striker Joseph Ngwenya and Vermont Voltage forward Bo Vuckovic were the league's top scorers, each knocking in 17 goals. Des Moines Menace midfielders Tomas Boltnar and Joseph Kabwe and Nashville Metros Ben Buerger led the league with 10 assists each, while Indiana Invaders keeper Christopher Sawyer enjoyed the best goalkeeping statistics, with a goals-against average of 0.287 per game, and Richmond Kickers Future keeper kept 7 clean sheets and had a GAA average of 0.568 in his 12 games.

Changes from 2002

New franchises

• Thirteen teams joined the league this year, including twelve brand new franchises:

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
Abbotsford Rangers	Abbotsford area	Abbotsford, BC	expansion
Albany Blackwatch Highlanders	Albany area	Schenectady, NY	expansion
BYU Cougars	Provo area	Provo, UT	expansion
Columbus Shooting Stars	Columbus area	Columbus, OH	expansion
Fort Wayne Fever	Fort Wayne area	Fort Wayne, IN	expansion
Fresno Fuego	Fresno area	Fresno, CA	expansion
Jersey Shore Boca	Jersey Shore area	Toms River, NJ	expansion
Nevada Wonders	Carson City area	Carson City, NV	expansion
New Orleans Shell Shockers	New Orleans area	New Orleans, LA	expansion
St. Louis Strikers	St. Louis area	St. Louis, MO	expansion
South Jersey Barons	Greater Trenton area	Trenton, NJ	previously in D3 Pro
Toledo Slayers	Toledo area	Maumee, OH	expansion
West Virginia Chaos	Charleston area	Charleston, WV	expansion

Folding

• Ten teams left the league prior to the beginning of the season:
  • Central Coast Roadrunners - San Luis Obispo, California
  • Chicago Eagles Select - Chicago, Illinois
  • Chico Rooks - Chico, California (left to join the newly formed National Premier Soccer League)
  • Dayton Gemini - Dayton, Ohio
  • Denver Cougars - Commerce City, Colorado
  • Los Angeles Heroes - Los Angeles, California
  • Santa Barbara Sharks - Santa Barbara, California (folded during the 2002 season)
  • Seattle Sounders Select - Seattle, Washington (folded during the 2002 season)
  • Tampa Bay Hawks - Tampa, Florida
  • West Michigan Edge - Grand Rapids, Michigan (spending season on hiatus)

Standings

Legend
Division champion
Team qualified for playoff berth

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Mid-Michigan Bucks	18	14	3	1	40	16	+24	43
2	Indiana Invaders	18	11	5	2	31	19	+12	35
3	Fort Wayne Fever	18	9	7	2	32	30	+2	29
4	Kalamazoo Kingdom	18	6	9	3	29	39	−10	21
5	Toledo Slayers	18	2	13	3	22	45	−23	9
6	Columbus Shooting Stars	18	2	14	2	28	43	−15	8

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Heartland Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chicago Fire Reserves	18	15	2	1	60	17	+43	46
2	Des Moines Menace	18	12	5	1	48	23	+25	37
3	Thunder Bay Chill	18	10	7	1	34	31	+3	31
4	Boulder Rapids Reserve	18	10	7	1	32	29	+3	31
5	Kansas City Brass	18	7	11	0	35	48	−13	21
6	St. Louis Strikers	18	7	11	0	39	53	−14	21
7	Sioux Falls Spitfire	18	6	12	0	42	48	−6	18
8	Wisconsin Rebels	18	0	17	1	11	71	−60	1

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Eastern Conference

Mid Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Richmond Kickers Future	18	14	3	1	41	12	+29	43
2	Williamsburg Legacy	18	10	6	2	35	22	+13	32
3	Raleigh CASL Elite	18	8	8	2	22	23	−1	26
4	Chesapeake Dragons	18	7	10	1	19	32	−13	22
5	West Virginia Chaos	18	3	14	1	18	54	−36	10
6	Greenville Lions	18	3	13	2	23	41	−18	8 [a]

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. 3 points deducted

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vermont Voltage	18	12	3	3	37	21	+16	39
2	Cape Cod Crusaders	18	12	4	2	64	30	+34	38
3	Brooklyn Knights	18	11	4	3	46	26	+20	36
4	South Jersey Barons	18	11	6	1	62	31	+31	34
5	Rhode Island Stingrays	18	10	4	4	45	28	+17	34
6	Albany Blackwatch Highlanders	18	6	11	1	36	43	−7	19
7	Jersey Shore Boca *	12	4	8	0	23	44	−21	12
8	Jersey Falcons	18	3	14	1	31	85	−54	10
9	Worcester Kings	18	1	17	0	21	62	−41	−3 [a]

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. 6 points deducted

Southern Conference

Mid South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New Orleans Shell Shockers	18	16	2	0	53	18	+35	48
2	Memphis Express	18	11	5	2	48	25	+23	35
3	Nashville Metros	18	11	7	0	41	21	+20	33
4	Texas Spurs	18	10	7	1	44	28	+16	31
5	Austin Lightning	18	9	8	1	31	42	−11	28
6	Houston Toros	18	3	13	2	21	60	−39	11
7	Louisiana Outlaws	18	3	14	1	23	46	−23	10

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Southeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Cocoa Expos	14	8	3	3	36	27	+9	27
2	Central Florida Kraze	14	7	5	2	38	26	+12	23
3	Bradenton Academics	14	6	5	3	32	24	+8	21
4	Palm Beach Pumas	14	2	11	1	23	55	−32	6 [a]

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. 1 point deducted

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Spokane Shadow	18	14	2	2	38	14	+24	44
2	Cascade Surge	18	11	5	2	32	27	+5	35
3	Yakima Reds	18	9	8	1	30	26	+4	28
4	Abbotsford Rangers *	15	4	11	0	21	33	−12	12
5	Calgary Storm Prospects *	15	2	12	1	14	31	−17	7

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Southwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Fresno Fuego	18	14	4	0	50	23	+27	42
2	Orange County Blue Star	18	14	4	0	52	29	+23	42
3	Southern California Seahorses	18	10	6	2	34	29	+5	32
4	BYU Cougars	18	2	15	1	21	52	−31	7
5	Nevada Wonders	18	1	15	2	13	51	−38	5

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

National Semifinals

PDL Championship Game

MA1

Richmond Kickers Future

0

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

4

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

4

Eastern Conference

NE1

Vermont Voltage

2

NE1

Vermont Voltage

5

MA2

Williamsburg Legacy

2

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

4

MS2

Memphis Express

0

MS1

New Orleans Shell Shockers

4

SE2

Central Florida Kraze

1

MS1

New Orleans Shell Shockers

0

Southern Conference

MS2

Memphis Express

2

SE1

Cocoa Expos

2

MS2

Memphis Express

5

NE2

Cape Cod Crusaders

2

HL1

Chicago Fire Reserves

0

HL1

Chicago Fire Reserves

8

GL2

Indiana Invaders

0

HL1

Chicago Fire Reserves

2

Central Conference

GL1

Mid-Michigan Bucks

0

GL1

Mid-Michigan Bucks

1

HL2

Des Moines Menace

0

HL1

Chicago Fire Reserves

3

SW2

Orange County Blue Star

1

SW1

Fresno Fuego

1

NW1

Spokane Shadow

0

SW1

Fresno Fuego

0

Western Conference

SW2

Orange County Blue Star

2

SW2

Orange County Blue Star

2

NW2

Cascade Surge

1

^[1]

Conference semifinals

July 26, 2003

5:00 PM EDT

Chicago Fire Reserves	8–0	Indiana Invaders
Patrick Grange 3', 34' Robert Mouw 6' Jamal Drewry-Sutton 25', 40' Kirk Harwat 60' (pen.), 76' Tighe Dombrowski 83'	Report 1 Report 2

Hurley Field
Berkley, Michigan

---

July 26, 2003

Richmond Kickers Future	0–4	Cape Cod Crusaders
	Report 1 Report 2	68', 72' David Bulow 77' Joseph Ngwenya 89' Luke Vercollone

Collins-Perley Sports Complex
St. Albans, Vermont

---

July 26, 2003

Memphis Express	5–2	Cocoa Expos
Mariano Ilari-Bonfico 26' Dayton O'Brien 38' Michael Vogel 51' Tony Kuhn 71' Steven Medlock 79'	Report	13' Itayi Pondwa 59' Matthew Gowan

George G. Westfeldt Facility
New Orleans, Louisiana

---

July 26, 2003

Vermont Voltage	5–2	Williamsburg Legacy
Geoff Thompson 49' Bojan Vuckovic 56' Oliver Ellsworth 71' 78' (o.g.) Olivier Occean 89'	Report 1	6', 55' Carlos García

Collins-Perley Sports Complex
St. Albans, Vermont

Attendance: 1,461

---

July 26, 2003

Mid-Michigan Bucks	1–0	Des Moines Menace
Mychal Turpin 11'	Report 1 Report 2

Hurley Field
Berkley, Michigan

---

July 26, 2003

New Orleans Shell Shockers	4–1	Central Florida Kraze
Steven Pate 23' Steve McAnespie 76' Jeremy Judice 83', 90'	Report	23' Clifton Philip-Wales

George G. Westfeldt Facility
New Orleans, Louisiana

---

July 26, 2003

Orange County Blue Star	2–1	Cascade Surge
Jon Spencer 27' Drew McCarthy 74'	Report	29' Taylor McCool

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

---

July 26, 2003

Spokane Shadow	0–1	Fresno Fuego
	Report	38' Jose Espindola

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

Attendance: 982

Conference Finals

July 27, 2003

New Orleans Shell Shockers	0–2	Memphis Express
	Report	14' Dayton O'Brien 56' Mariano Ilari

George G. Westfeldt Facility
New Orleans, Louisiana

---

July 27, 2003

Mid-Michigan Bucks	0–2	Chicago Fire Reserves
	Report 1 Report 2	15' (pen.) Kevin Wickart 74' Robert Mouw

Hurley Field
Berkley, Michigan

---

July 27, 2003

Vermont Voltage	2–4	Cape Cod Crusaders
Olivier Occean 1' Branko Vuckovic 90'	Report 1 Report 2	49' Scott Palguta 84' (pen.) Joseph Ngwenya 79', 88' David Bulow

Collins-Perley Sports Complex
St. Albans, Vermont

Attendance: 1,673 ^[2]

---

July 27, 2003

Orange County Blue Star	2–0	Fresno Fuego
Leonard Griffin 20' Nick Theslof 23' (pen.)

Joe Albi Stadium
Spokane, Washington

National Semifinals

August 2, 2003

7:30 PM

Cape Cod Crusaders	4–0	Memphis Express
David Bulow 1' Ian Pilarski 14' Damien Quinn 33' Marty McNutt 50'	Report

Dennis Yarmouth High School
South Yarmouth, Massachusetts

Attendance: 1,238

---

August 2, 2003

Chicago Fire Reserves	3–1	Orange County Blue Star
Jamal Drewry-Sutton 3', 63' Christopher Rolfe 87'	Report	35' (pen.) Nick Theslof

Pontiac Township High School
Pontiac, Illinois

PDL Championship Game

August 9, 2003

7:00 PM EDT

Chicago Fire Reserves	0–2	Cape Cod Crusaders
	Report 1 Report 2	16' (pen.) Joseph Ngwenya 81' David Bulow

Cardinal Stadium
Naperville, Illinois

Attendance: 2,700

References

1. United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)
2. "Second Half Surge Thwarts Voltage". The Burlington Free Press. July 28, 2003. p. 1b – via Newspapers.com.