2018 PDL season

The 2018 Premier Development League season was the 24th season of the PDL, and the last under the PDL name. The regular season started on May 4 and ended on July 16. Calgary Foothills FC won the final championship under the PDL branding, having defeated Reading United AC 4–2 in extra time in the Championship game on August 4, 2018.

Premier Development League

Season	2018
Champion(s)	Calgary Foothills FC
Regular Season Title	Des Moines Menace
2019 Hank Steinbrecher Cup qualifier	Reading United AC
2019 U.S. Open Cup qualifiers	Black Rock FC Brazos Valley Cavalry Dayton Dutch Lions Des Moines Menace FC Golden State Force SIMA Águilas Red Bulls U-23 Reading United AC South Georgia Tormenta The Villages SC
Matches played	518
Goals scored	1,797 (3.47 per match)
Biggest home win	BRV 8, CLB 1 (June 29)
Biggest away win	DCR 1, MIB 14 (July 10)
Highest scoring	MIB 14, DCR 1 (July 10)
Longest winning run	10 games South Georgia Tormenta (May 19 - July 5)
Longest unbeaten run	14 games Des Moines Menace (entire season) Reading United AC (entire season) South Georgia Tormenta (entire season)
Longest winless run	14 games Derby City Rovers (entire season) WSA Winnipeg (entire season)
Longest losing run	14 games Derby City Rovers (entire season) WSA Winnipeg (entire season)
← 2017 2019 → All statistics correct as of July 16, 2018.

Changes from 2017

New teams

A total of 12 new member clubs join the PDL for the 2018 season.^[1]

Team	Country	City/area	Stadium	Founded	Head coach	Notes
AHFC Royals	U.S.	Houston, Texas	Campbell Road Sports Park	2017	Jorge Carrasco
Birmingham Hammers	U.S.	Vestavia Hills, Alabama	Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex	2013	Wulf Koch	NPSL
Black Rock FC	U.S.	Lakeville, Connecticut	Hotchkiss Athletic Fields	2013
Colorado Pride Switchbacks U23	U.S.	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Washburn Field & Weidner Field	2018	Diego Zaltron
Corpus Christi FC	U.S.	Corpus Christi, Texas	Dr. Jack Dugan Family Soccer & Track Stadium	2017	Sammy Giraldo
Kaw Valley FC	U.S.	Topeka, Kansas	Hummer Sports Complex	2017	István Urbányi
Lansing United	U.S.	East Lansing, Michigan	Archer Stadium	2014	Nate Miller	NPSL
Lionsbridge FC	U.S.	Newport News, Virginia	Pomoco Stadium	2017	Chris Whalley
Memphis City FC	U.S.	Memphis, Tennessee	Christian Brothers University	2015	Mark Franklin	NPSL
Ogden City SC	U.S.	Ogden, Utah	Spence Eccles Ogden Community Sports Complex	2017	Eric Landon
San Francisco Glens SC	U.S.	San Francisco, California	Boxer Stadium	1961	Javier Ayala-Hil
Santa Cruz Breakers FC	U.S.	Aptos, California	Cabrillo College Stadium, Aptos High School, & Monterey Peninsula College	1992

Name changes

• Palm Beach Suns FC became Next Academy Palm Beach
• Fresno Fuego became Fresno FC U-23
• South Florida Surf became North County United

Folded

• Burlingame Dragons FC
• BYU Cougars
• FC Boulder U23
• Jersey Express S.C.
• K-W United FC
• Nashville SC U23
• Saint Louis FC U23
• SoCal Surf
• Tampa Bay Rowdies U-23
• Wilmington Hammerheads

Standings

Eastern Conference

Mid Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Reading United AC	14	12	0	2	33	8	+25	38	Advance to the Eastern Conference Championship
2	New York Red Bulls U-23	14	10	3	1	45	17	+28	31
3	Long Island Rough Riders	14	9	4	1	26	16	+10	28
4	Ocean City Nor'easters	14	9	5	0	27	20	+7	27
5	F.A. Euro	14	3	11	0	10	33	−23	9
6	Evergreen FC	14	1	11	2	16	42	−26	5
7	Lehigh Valley United	14	1	12	1	10	35	−25	4

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Black Rock FC	14	9	2	3	33	19	+14	30	Advance to the Eastern Conference Championship
2	GPS Portland Phoenix	14	7	4	3	28	21	+7	24
3	Western Mass Pioneers	14	6	4	4	22	18	+4	22
4	FC Boston	14	5	6	3	23	25	−2	18
5	AC Connecticut	14	5	7	2	20	33	−13	17
6	Westchester Flames	14	2	5	7	17	23	−6	13
7	Seacoast United Phantoms	14	2	8	4	17	21	−4	10

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

South Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Myrtle Beach Mutiny	14	8	2	4	40	19	+21	28	Advance to the Eastern Conference Championship
2	North Carolina FC U23	14	6	3	5	24	18	+6	23
3	Lionsbridge FC	14	4	5	5	23	20	+3	17
4	Charlotte Eagles	14	3	7	4	22	30	−8	13
5	Tobacco Road FC	14	3	7	4	18	30	−12	13
6	Carolina Dynamo	14	2	7	5	19	39	−20	11

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Calgary Foothills FC	14	11	1	2	30	7	+23	35	Advance to the Western Conference Championship
2	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	14	6	5	3	26	21	+5	21
3	Lane United FC	14	5	4	5	28	22	+6	20
4	TSS FC Rovers (J)	14	5	7	2	19	27	−8	17
5	Victoria Highlanders	14	5	9	0	14	25	−11	15
6	Portland Timbers U23	14	3	9	2	15	30	−15	11

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(J) Juan de Fuca Plate

Mountain Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Colorado Rapids U-23	14	8	2	4	42	23	+19	28	Advance to the Western Conference Championship
2	FC Tucson	14	7	3	4	29	19	+10	25
3	Albuquerque Sol FC	14	4	6	4	25	38	−13	16
4	Colorado Pride Switchbacks U23	14	4	7	3	26	28	−2	15
5	Ogden City SC	14	3	8	3	16	30	−14	12

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Southwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Golden State Force	14	12	1	1	38	10	+28	37	Advance to the Western Conference Championship
2	Ventura County Fusion	14	7	6	1	18	16	+2	22
3	Orange County SC U-23	14	6	5	3	16	14	+2	21
4	Santa Cruz Breakers FC	14	6	6	2	19	19	0	20
5	Fresno FC U-23	14	6	6	2	23	24	−1	20
6	San Francisco City FC	14	5	8	1	16	24	−8	16
7	San Francisco Glens SC	14	4	6	4	16	17	−1	16
8	San Diego Zest FC	14	3	6	5	15	29	−14	14
9	Southern California Seahorses	14	4	9	1	18	26	−8	13

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Dayton Dutch Lions	14	8	3	3	29	15	+14	27	Advance to the Central Conference Championship
2	Lansing United	14	7	2	5	27	12	+15	26
3	Cincinnati Dutch Lions	14	6	4	4	24	17	+7	22
4	Michigan Bucks	14	6	4	4	42	18	+24	22
5	West Virginia Chaos	14	3	5	6	25	29	−4	15
6	Derby City Rovers	14	0	13	1	8	65	−57	1

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Heartland Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Des Moines Menace	14	13	0	1	37	6	+31	40	Advance to the Central Conference Championship
2	Chicago FC United	14	7	5	2	23	20	+3	23
3	Kaw Valley FC	14	6	6	2	21	23	−2	20
4	St. Louis Lions	14	6	6	2	26	24	+2	20
5	Thunder Bay Chill	14	6	7	1	21	20	+1	19
6	WSA Winnipeg	14	0	14	0	10	46	−36	0

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Southern Conference

Deep South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Georgia Tormenta FC	14	11	0	3	30	10	+20	36	Advance to the Southern Conference Championship
2	Mississippi Brilla	14	8	2	4	31	18	+13	28
3	SC United Bantams	14	7	4	3	35	22	+13	24
4	Birmingham Hammers	14	5	5	4	25	28	−3	19
5	Tri-Cities Otters	14	5	7	2	30	28	+2	17
6	Peachtree City MOBA	14	4	6	4	25	33	−8	16
7	Memphis City FC	14	1	10	3	16	38	−22	6

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Mid South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazos Valley Cavalry FC	14	9	2	3	42	19	+23	30	Advance to the Southern Conference Championship
2	OKC Energy U23	14	9	4	1	37	22	+15	28
3	AHFC Royals	14	7	7	0	29	29	0	21
4	Corpus Christi FC	14	6	6	2	32	32	0	20
5	Texas United	14	5	6	3	32	32	0	18
6	FC Cleburne	14	4	9	1	20	42	−22	13
7	Houston FC	14	2	8	4	16	31	−15	10

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Southeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	SIMA Águilas	14	10	2	2	23	6	+17	32	Advance to the Southern Conference Championship
2	The Villages SC	14	9	2	3	31	8	+23	30
3	Lakeland Tropics	14	9	2	3	29	13	+16	30
4	IMG Academy Bradenton	14	6	6	2	24	30	−6	20
5	FC Miami City	14	5	8	1	25	36	−11	16
6	Weston FC	14	4	9	1	19	31	−12	13
7	Next Academy Palm Beach	14	4	10	0	18	25	−7	12
8	North County United	14	2	10	2	13	33	−20	8

Source: Premier Development League
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

National Semifinals

National Championship

DS

Tormenta FC

0

WC

The Villages SC

1

WC

The Villages SC

2*

Southern Conference

SE

SIMA Aguilas

1

SE

SIMA Aguilas

2

MS

Brazos Valley Cavalry F.C.

1

WC

The Villages SC

0

MA

Reading United AC

1*

MA

Reading United AC

4

SA

Myrtle Beach Mutiny

3

MA

Reading United AC

2

Eastern Conference

WC

New York Red Bulls U-23

1

NE

Black Rock FC

1

WC

New York Red Bulls U-23

2

MA

Reading United AC

2

NW

Calgary Foothills FC

4*

SW

FC Golden State Force

2(1)

WC

FC Tucson

2(3)

WC

FC Tucson

0

Western Conference

NW

Calgary Foothills FC

2

NW

Calgary Foothills FC

1

MT

Colorado Rapids U-23

0

NW

Calgary Foothills FC

1

HL2

Chicago FC United

0

HL1

Des Moines Menace

0(4)

GL2

Lansing United

0(3)

HL1

Des Moines Menace

0

Central Conference

HL2

Chicago FC United

1

GL1

Dayton Dutch Lions

3

HL2

Chicago FC United

5

Bold = winner
* = after extra time, ( ) = penalty shootout score

Conference Championships

The PDL Conference Championships were held over the weekend of July 20–21. Matches were played at: Whittier, CA (Western Conference, host FC Golden State Force); Reading, PA (Eastern Conference, host Reading United AC); Des Moines, IA (Central Conference, host Des Moines Menace); and Statesboro, GA (Southern Conference, host South Georgia Tormenta FC). The four conference champions advanced to the PDL semifinals.^[2]

Eastern Conference

Black Rock FC  v New York Red Bulls U-23 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	Black Rock FC	1–2	New York Red Bulls U-23	Gurski Stadium West Lawn, Pennsylvania
5:00 PM EDT	Harris   7' Achara	Report	Gilbey   2' Zajec   25' Deeds

Reading United AC  v Myrtle Beach Mutiny 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	Reading United AC	4–3	Myrtle Beach Mutiny	Gurski Stadium West Lawn, Pennsylvania
7:30 PM EDT	El Medkhar   27' Bennett   71', 87' Roberts   90'	Report	Yamamoto   70' Piggott   76' Ibarrondo   90'

Reading United AC  v New York Red Bulls U-23 

July 21, 2018 Conference Final	Reading United AC	2–1	New York Red Bulls U-23	Gurski Stadium West Lawn, Pennsylvania
7:00 PM EDT	Bennett   26', 42' Kahsay   Molloy	Report	Coco   61'   Kouma   Da Silva

Southern Conference

SIMA Aguilas  v Brazos Valley Cavalry F.C. 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	SIMA Aguilas	2–1	Brazos Valley Cavalry F.C.	Erk Russell Park Statesboro, Georgia
5:00 PM EDT	Espana   29' Novaes   35' Diouf   Agu   Graydon	Report	Palomino   46' Paita

South Georgia Tormenta FC  v The Villages SC 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	South Georgia Tormenta FC	0–1	The Villages SC	Erk Russell Park Statesboro, Georgia
8:00 PM EDT	Arche   Micaletto   Sossou	Report	Antonio   34' Dos Santos   Gyau

SIMA Aguilas  v The Villages SC 

July 21, 2018 Conference Final	SIMA Aguilas	1–2 (a.e.t.)	The Villages SC	Erk Russell Park Statesboro, Georgia
8:00 PM EDT	Gueye   17' Diouf   Graydon	Report	Paiva   21' Raimundo   104' Torres   Gyau

Central Conference

Dayton Dutch Lions  v Chicago FC United 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	Dayton Dutch Lions	3–5	Chicago FC United	Valley Stadium West Des Moines, Iowa
4:30 PM CDT	Robertson   31' Williams   41' Dietrich   45' Koositra	Report	Alfaro   28' Todd   53' Prpa   70', 82' Alba   90' Gomez

Des Moines Menace  v Lansing United 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	Des Moines Menace	0–0 (4–3 p)	Lansing United	Valley Stadium West Des Moines, Iowa
7:30 PM CDT		Report

Des Moines Menace  v Chicago FC United 

July 21, 2018 Conference Final	Des Moines Menace	0–1	Chicago FC United	Valley Stadium West Des Moines, Iowa
7:30 PM CDT	Manning   Fricke	Report	Magno   76'   Stoneman   Todd

Western Conference

Calgary Foothills FC  v Colorado Rapids U23 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	Calgary Foothills FC	1–0	Colorado Rapids U23	Rio Hondo College Whittier, California
4:00 PM PDT	Musse   86'	Report	Bushey   Mushagalusa

FC Golden State Force  v FC Tucson 

July 20, 2018 Conference Semifinal	FC Golden State Force	2–2 (a.e.t.) (1–3 p)	FC Tucson	Rio Hondo College Whittier, California
7:00 PM PDT	Riascos   20'   Villalobos   22' Asiedu   Salazar   Silva	Report	Heredia   63' Valenzuela   90' German   Oke

Calgary Foothills FC  v FC Tucson 

July 21, 2018 Conference Final	Calgary Foothills FC	2–0	FC Tucson	Rio Hondo College Whittier, California
7:00 PM PDT	Akio   38' Musse   57' Waterman	Report

PDL Championship

Semifinals

Reading United AC  v The Villages SC 

July 28, 2018 National Semifinal	Reading United AC	1–0 (a.e.t.)	The Villages SC	Gurski Stadium West Lawn, Pennsylvania
7:00 PM EDT	Zandi   45+1' Roberts   115' Waso   Conte	Report	Lopes   Da Silva   68' Torres   Gyau

Calgary Foothills FC  v Chicago FC United 

July 28, 2018 National Semifinal	Calgary Foothills FC	1–0	Chicago FC United	Foothills Field Okotoks, Alberta
7:00 PM MDT	Musse   58' Adekugbe	Report	Sanchez   Stoneman   Bruijne   Schlenker	Attendance: 1,250^[3]

Final

Reading United AC  v Calgary Foothills FC 

August 4, 2018 National Final	Reading United AC	2–4 (a.e.t.)	Calgary Foothills FC	Gurski Stadium West Lawn, Pennsylvania
7:00 PM EDT	Miller   33'   80' Conte   43'   88' Molloy   45' Kahsay   69' Roberts   79'	Report 1 Report 2	Musse   12', 120' Zator   85' Serban   90+6' Pasquotti   119' Northover   Patino	Attendance: 2,278

Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Ryosuke Kinoshita (DMM)
• Golden Boot: Marek Weber (SCU)
• Young (U21) Player of the Year: Luka Prpa (CHI)
• Coach of the Year: Alan McCann, (REA)
• Goalkeeper of the Year: Marco Carducci (CGY)
• Defender of the Year: Jordan Skelton (MIS)

^[4]

All-League and All-Conference Teams

^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Eastern Conference

F: Ifunanyachi Achara (BLR), Khori Bennett (REA), Charlie Ledula (LIR)
M: Jakov Basic (BOS), Ricardo Gomez (MYB), Aaron Molloy (REA) *, Brian Saramago (NYR)
D: Prosper Figbe (BLR), Kamal Miller (REA), Kevin O'Toole (NYR)
G: Bennet Strutz (REA)

Central Conference

F: Austin Ricci (MIB), Kinoshita Ryosuke (DMM) *, Tucker Stephenson (KAW)
M: Kyle Carr (LNU), Brad Dunwell (MIB), Luka Prpa (CHI) *, Tate Robertson (DAY) *
D: Ebenezer Ackon (LNU), Mark Lindstrom (CIN), Grant Stoneman (CHI)
G: Carlos Mercado (DMM)

Southern Conference

F: Brandon Guhl (BVC), Juan Tejada (LAK), Marek Weber (SCU) *
M: David Graydon (SIM), Marco Micaletto (SGT) *, Leonardo Paiva (VIL), Toni Soler (SGT)
D: Mathieu Laurent (BIR), Jordan Skelton (MIS) *, Gabriel Torres (VIL) *
G: Pablo Jara (SGT)

Western Conference

F: Moses Danto (CGY) *, Santiago Patino (SEA), Samuel Villava (GSF)
M: Elijah Adekugbe (CGY), Nico Pasquotti (CGY), Matteo Polisi (TSS), Willy Spurr (LAN)
D: Henry Lander (TUC), Callum Montgomery (VIC) *, Dominick Zator (CGY)
G: Marco Carducci (CGY) *

* denotes All-League player

References

1. Staff, USLPDL.com (February 1, 2018). "PDL Reveals 2018 Schedule, Conference Alignments". USL PDL. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
2. Colton Coreschi (July 10, 2018). "Hosts Unveiled for 2018 PDL Conference Playoffs". Premier Development League (PDL). Retrieved July 13, 2018.
3. "PDL: Roberts and Musse lead Reading United and Calgary". Soccer America.
4. Colton Coreschi (August 2, 2018). "2018 PDL All-League Team and Awards". Premier Development League (PDL). Retrieved August 2, 2018.
5. Colton Coreschi (July 31, 2018). "2018 PDL All-Eastern Conference Team". Premier Development League (PDL). Retrieved May 7, 2020.
6. Colton Coreschi (July 31, 2018). "2018 PDL All-Central Conference Team". Premier Development League (PDL). Retrieved May 7, 2020.
7. "2018 PDL All-Southern Conference Team". Premier Development League (PDL). August 1, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
8. Colton Coreschi (August 1, 2018). "2018 PDL All-Western Conference Team". Premier Development League (PDL). Retrieved May 7, 2020.