2008 United Soccer Leagues

The 2008 Season is the 22nd edition of the United Soccer Leagues season.

The season kicked off on Friday, April 12 with two First Division games, as the Charleston Battery visited Miami FC and the Montreal Impact visited the Vancouver Whitecaps.

General

Honors
Competition Champion Runner-Up Regular Season Champion/Best USL team
USL First Division Vancouver Whitecaps Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto Rico Islanders
USL Second Division Cleveland City Stars Charlotte Eagles Charlotte Eagles
USL PDL Thunder Bay Chill Laredo Heat Michigan Bucks
U.S. Open Cup D.C. United (MLS) Charleston Battery (USL-1) Charleston Battery

Standings

First Division
Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Puerto Rico Islanders 30 15 6 9 43 23 +20 54 Commissioner's Cup, bye to semifinal round of playoffs
2 Vancouver Whitecaps (C) 30 15 7 8 34 28 +6 53 First round of playoffs
3 Montreal Impact 30 12 12 6 33 28 +5 42
4 Rochester Rhinos 30 11 10 9 35 32 +3 41[lower-alpha 1]
5 Charleston Battery 30 11 12 7 34 36 −2 40[lower-alpha 2]
6 Seattle Sounders 30 10 10 10 37 36 +1 40[lower-alpha 2]
7 Minnesota Thunder 30 10 11 9 40 38 +2 39
8 Carolina RailHawks 30 9 11 10 34 43 −9 37
9 Miami FC 30 8 12 10 28 34 −6 34[lower-alpha 3]
10 Atlanta Silverbacks 30 8 12 10 37 50 −13 34[lower-alpha 3]
11 Portland Timbers 30 7 13 10 26 33 −7 31
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery
(C) Playoff Champion
Notes:
  1. Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008[1]
  2. CHA: 4 pts; SEA: 4 pts
  3. MIA: 7 pts; ATL: 1 pt

Playoffs

Teams were be re-seeded for semifinal matchups
Vancouver was selected by the league to host the final despite being the lower seeded team

First round
September 26/28 		Semi-finals
October 3/5 		Final
October 12
             
6 Seattle Sounders 2 1 3
3 Montreal Impact 1 3 4
3 Montreal Impact 1 0 1
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 0 2 2
7 Minnesota Thunder 0 4 4
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2 3 5
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2
1 Puerto Rico Islanders 1
5 Charleston Battery 0 1 1
4 Rochester Rhinos 2 0 2
4 Rochester Rhinos 2 0 2
1 Puerto Rico Islanders (a.e.t) 0 3 3

First Round
First Leg
Rochester Rhinos2–0Charleston Battery
  • Ball Yellow card 49'
  • Guppy 86'
  • Delicate 90'
  • Bertz Yellow card 90'
 Report
Attendance: 6,923
Referee: Chris Penso
Second Leg
Charleston Battery1–0Rochester Rhinos
 Report
Attendance: 2,131
Referee: Doug Wolff

Rochester Rhinos won 2–1 on Aggregate.

First Leg
Seattle Sounders2–1Montreal Impact
 Report
Attendance: 2,865
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Second Leg
Montreal Impact3–1Seattle Sounders
 Report
Attendance: 11,134
Referee: Mauricio Navarro

Montreal Impact won 4–3 on Aggregate.

First Leg
Vancouver Whitecaps2–0Minnesota Thunder
 Report
Attendance: 4,943
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard
Second Leg
Minnesota Thunder4–3Vancouver Whitecaps
 Report
Attendance: 3,811
Referee: NA

Vancouver Whitecaps won 5–4 on Aggregate.

Semifinals
First Leg
Rochester Rhinos2–0Puerto Rico Islanders
 Report
Attendance: 7,001
Referee: Niko Bratsis
Second Leg
Puerto Rico Islanders3–0 (a.e.t.)Rochester Rhinos
 Report
Attendance: 9,112
Referee: Tony Russo

Puerto Rico Islanders won 3–2 on Aggregate in Extra Time.

First Leg
Montreal Impact1–0Vancouver Whitecaps
 Report
Attendance: 12,002
Referee: Steve DePiero
Second Leg
Vancouver Whitecaps2–0Montreal Impact
 Report
Attendance: 4,992
Referee: Dave Gantar

Vancouver Whitecaps won 2–1 on Aggregate.

Final
Second Leg
Vancouver Whitecaps2–1Puerto Rico Islanders
 Report
Attendance: 5,822
Referee: Mark Kadlecik
USL First Division
2008 Champions
Canada
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Second title

Awards and All-League Teams

First Team
F: Alex Afonso (Miami FC) (Leading Goalscorer); Macoumba Kandji (Atlanta Silverbacks)
M: Osvaldo Alonso (Charleston Battery); Stephen deRoux (Minnesota Thunder); Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps); Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders) (MVP)
D: Cristian Arrieta (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Defender of the Year); Taylor Graham (Seattle Sounders); David Hayes (Atlanta Silverbacks); Nevio Pizzolitto (Montreal Impact)
G: Bill Gaudette (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Goalkeeper of the Year)
Coach: Colin Clarke (Puerto Rico Islanders) (Coach of the Year)

Second Team
F: Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders); Eduardo Sebrango (Vancouver Whitecaps)
M: Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Montreal Impact); Johnny Menyongar (Rochester Rhinos); Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota Thunder); Matt Watson (Carolina RailHawks)
D: Wesley Charles and Takashi Hirano (Vancouver Whitecaps); Cameron Knowles (Portland Timbers); Scott Palguta (Rochester Rhinos)
G: Matt Jordan (Montreal Impact)

Second Division
Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Charlotte Eagles 20 13 2 5 45 15 +30 44 Regular season champion
2 Richmond Kickers 20 14 4 2 48 20 +28 44 Qualified for playoffs
3 Cleveland City Stars 20 10 3 7 33 16 +17 37
4 Crystal Palace Baltimore 20 11 8 1 30 30 0 34
5 Harrisburg City Islanders 20 7 3 10 33 20 +13 31
6 Western Mass Pioneers 20 5 9 6 19 29 −10 20[lower-alpha 1]
7 Wilmington Hammerheads 20 4 9 7 32 33 −1 19
8 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 20 4 10 6 25 37 −12 18
9 Bermuda Hogges 20 5 13 2 21 50 −29 17
10 Real Maryland Monarchs 20 3 15 2 15 51 −36 10[lower-alpha 1]
Source: [3]
Notes:
  1. Western Mass and Real Maryland deducted 1 point

Playoffs
First Round
August 13 		Semifinals
August 16 		Final
August 23
1 Charlotte Eagles 2
4 Crystal Palace Baltimore (AET/PK) 2 (7) 4 Crystal Palace Baltimore 1
5 Harrisburg City Islanders 2 (6) 1 Charlotte Eagles 1
3 Cleveland City Stars 2
2 Richmond Kickers 0
3 Cleveland City Stars 4 3 Cleveland City Stars(AET) 1
6 Western Mass Pioneers 2

First round
Cleveland City Stars4–2Western Mass Pioneers
 Report
Attendance: 1,683
Referee: Chris Penso (United States)
Crystal Palace Baltimore2–2 (a.e.t.)Harrisburg City Islanders
 Report
Penalties
 7–6
Attendance: 1,352
Referee: Bryan Roslund (United States)

Semifinals
Charlotte Eagles2–1Crystal Palace Baltimore
 Report
Attendance: 1,188
Referee: Jeff Muschik
Richmond Kickers0–1 (a.e.t.)Cleveland City Stars
 Report
  • Ruud 99'
  • Sella Yellow card 108'
Attendance: 2,693
Referee: Daniel Stead

Final
Cleveland City Stars2–1Charlotte Eagles
 Report
Attendance: 2,016
Referee: Jason Krnac

Awards and All-League team

First Team
F: Jorge Herrera (Charlotte Eagles); Boyzzz Khumalo (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); Dustin Swinehart (Charlotte Eagles) (league MVP)
M: Mike Burke (Richmond Kickers); Floyd Franks (Cleveland City Stars); Shintaro Harada (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: Brady Bryant and Steve Shak (Charlotte Eagles); Sascha Gorres (Richmond Kickers); Mark Schulte (Cleveland City Stars) (Defender of the Year)
G: Terry Boss (Charlotte Eagles)
Coach: Mark Steffens (Charlotte Eagles) (Coach of the Year)
Rookie of the Year: Stanley Nyazamba (Richmond Kickers)

Second Team
F: Gary Brooks (Crystal Palace Baltimore); Sallieu Bundu (Cleveland City Stars); Jeff Deren (Western Mass Pioneers)
M: Trey Alexander (Wilmington Hammerheads); Justin Evans (Pittsburgh Riverhounds); Matthew Mbuta (Crystal Palace Baltimore)
D: Dustin Bixler (Harrisburg City Islanders); Trevor McEachron (Richmond Kickers); Federico Molinari (Western Mass Pioneers); Dame Walters (Wilmington Hammerheads)
G: Ronnie Pascale (Richmond Kickers)

Premier Development League

References
  1. "Rhinos penalized for infraction". United Soccer Leagues. August 15, 2008. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  2. "USL First Division 2008". USLsoccer.com. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. "USL Second Division 2008". USLsoccer.com. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
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