USL News Release

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

TAMPA, FL -- United Soccer Leagues announced the 2009 regular season schedule for the Premier Development League. The season opens with three Opening Night matches on May 1. Opening weekend will see four divisions beginning play.

The Southwest Division duo of Ventura County Fusion and San Fernando Valley Quakes will play host to the Bakersfield Brigade and Fresno Fuego on Opening Night, respectively, while the expansion Victoria Highlanders make their debut on the road against the Spokane Spiders in the opener for the Northwest Division.

Opening Weekend continues with the Northeast and Mid South Divisions opening play over the next two days, including the openers for the expansion West Texas United Sockers and Rio Grande Valley Bravos. Fellow expansion side Kitsap Pumas will follow in Victoria’s shoes with their debut coming in Spokane.

Two of the four PDL Semifinalists from a year ago will also be in action Opening Weekend as the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency host Victoria and 2008 runner-up and 2007 champion Laredo Heat visit the Bravos in RGV’s inaugural match. The other Semifinalist Reading Rage open at home May 20 against Hampton Roads with the defending champion Thunder Bay Chill beginning their title defense May 29 at Real Colorado.

Each team plays a 16-game schedule. Four of the 16 matches for the clubs based in the United States will also count for qualification into the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The format and dates for the tournament will be announced at a later time by the US Soccer Federation.

The season wraps up July 19 with the playoffs beginning the following weekend with the return of the Divisional Championship playoffs (July 24-26) for the first time since 1998 with each division seeing three teams advance to the postseason. The second seed will face the third seed in the First Round with the winner advancing to face the top seed from the regular season in the championship. The eight division champions will advance to the PDL Elite Eight Weekend (July 31-August 2), where PDL Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be held. The divisional winners from Eastern and Central Conference will be grouped in one half of the bracket in one location while the Southern and Western winners comprise the other half at another locale. The PDL Quarterfinals will pit the top seed versus the fourth seed in the bracket, and two versus three. The winners of the PDL Semifinals will square off in the PDL Championship Saturday, August 8 on Fox Soccer Channel. Divisional playoff hosts are based on overall seeding, pending availability, with all other playoff site locations determined by bid.

2009 PDL Regular Season Schedule (pdf) [+]          2009 PDL Alignment & Season Details [+]