Republic FC Falls Against Albion Dorrans scores only goal from penalty spot for West Brom Sacramento Republic FC News Release -- www.sacrepublicfc.com Monday, July 21, 2014 SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- An early penalty kick proved to be the difference as West Bromwich Albion defeated Sacramento Republic FC 1-0 on Monday night in an international exhibition at Bonney Field. Republic FC controlled possession and outshot its English Premier League opponent but was unable to find a goal http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/824955.html
USL PRO Executives Headed to Portland Board of Governors meetings held at MLS All-Star Game TAMPA, Fla. – USL PRO is welcoming owners and executives from its 14 current and five announced 2015 expansion teams to Portland, Oregon this week for its midseason Board of Governors meetings in conjunction with the 2014 MLS All-Star Game. http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/827517.html
Austin Aztex Announce Dalglish As Head Coach Returns to club after stint with Real Salt Lake in MLS Monday, August 4, 2014 AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Aztex announced today they have come to an agreement with Paul Dalglish as head coach and technical director of the team. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced. Dalglish, age 37, served as assistant coach under Jeff Cassar at Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake during their 2014 campaign and will begin his role with the Aztex starting mid-August. http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/827644.html
USL CEO hints at FC Tucson promotion, talks league expansion USL Chief Executive Officer Alec Papadakis met with the media at Peoria Sports Complex prior to Arizona United SC’s match with Sacramento Republic FC Saturday night and revealed his plans to meet with FC Tucson officials today to discuss a possible jump to USL PRO. FC Tucson, which plays in the USL PDL (fourth division), is coming off its best season in club history, reaching the West Final before being eliminated by Kitsap Pumas. Papadakis was optimistic about FC Tucson’s chances of moving up, noting it would be good for United and an Arizona area that “has produced so many good players.” “It’s a very good possibility,” Papadakis said. “That would be a very nice rivalry.” Papadakis said any changes would happen “in the next season or two.” http://www.reddit.com/tb/2cnj8r
the need to address this expansion, United Soccer Leagues CEO Alec Papadakis was asked whether the 18-team field in place for 2015 could grow further. He noted that discussions with MLS could push the final number as high as 22 for next season. “That’s something that will be sorted out… actually next week because we are having a board of governors meeting and the MLS are having their meetings as well.” He emphasized that he wants to see Arizona United find its MLS partnership soon. http://www.reddit.com/tb/2cqssz
Aztex Invitational Camp: The Austin Aztex are pleased to announce the team’s USL PRO Invitational Camp will take place Wednesday, Oct. 1 through Friday, Oct. 3 at Kelly Reeves Athletics Complex in Austin. The three day camp provides players the opportunity to join Austin’s professional soccer team for their inaugural 2015 season through intense training and scrimmages in front of the Aztex coaching staff, led by Head Coach Paul Dalglish. “We are looking for players who will represent the Aztex jersey well while playing the game in our relentless, exciting and attractive manner,” Dalglish said. “We want to see all of the high quality talent that wish to represent the Aztex in USL PRO and we expect to see some top quality players at this Invitational Camp.” http://www.reddit.com/tb/2dzmuv
2014 USL PRO Playoffs Field Set Four quarterfinals kick off postseason on Saturday night No. 1 Orlando City SC vs. No. 8 Harrisburg City Islanders ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET The Lions went undefeated at home to claim their third regular season title, but will host a Harrisburg side that was able to claim victory for the first time against Orlando this season. Robbie Derschang scored twice as Harrisburg defeated the Lions 3-2 at Skyline Sports Complex, but the Lions got revenge at home in the return contest with a 3-1 win led by Darwin Ceren. No. 2 Sacramento Republic FC vs. No. 7 Wilmington Hammerheads Bonney Field, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET Republic FC concluded an outstanding inaugural season in second place in the league standings, and made Bonney Field a tough place to visit for opponents as it took eight wins in 10 games at its permanent home. Wilmington fell 2-0 against Sacramento when it visited California, but the two teams played to a draw at Legion Stadium in the return fixture, and the Hammerheads looked bright to close the season going 3-1-3 in their final seven contests. No. 3 LA Galaxy II vs. No. 6 Rochester Rhinos StubHub Center, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET The Galaxy II claimed the No. 3 seed as they handed Sacramento its first loss at Bonney Field in its final game of the season. Los Dos return home to face a Rochester side that also boosted its position on the final weekend of the season, as a win against Wilmington jumped the Rhinos up two spots into sixth. The lone meeting between the two teams this season was also at StubHub Center, where the Rhinos took a 2-1 victory behind a goal and an assist by Alex Dixon. No. 4 Richmond Kickers vs. No. 5 Charleston Battery City Stadium, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET The two longtime rivals meet in the postseason for the first time in the USL PRO era, with another tight game in prospect. The two teams played to draws in both of their meetings this season and have been almost inseparable during their histories, with both teams having taken 22 wins with six draws in 50 meetings all-time. http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp::72013 L3/Display E NDX NDX 835401
2014 USL PRO PLAYOFFS Quarterfinals Saturday, September 13 Richmond 2, Charleston 1, AET Harrisburg 1, Orlando 0 Sacramento 4, Wilmington 1 LA Galaxy II 2, Rochester 1 Semifinals Saturday, September 20 No. 4 Richmond Kickers vs. No. 8 Harrisburg City Islanders, 7 p.m. ET, City Stadium No. 2 Sacramento Republic FC vs. No. 3 LA Galaxy II, 10:30 p.m. ET, Bonney Field http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/836924.html
Charlotte has new USL Pro soccer team - The Charlotte Independence USL PRO http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...now-has-soccer-independence.html#.VBweomdMupo
Portland & Seattle Launch USL PRO Teams Duo unveiled as first MLS-owned teams for 2015 TAMPA, Fla. – The Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer announced today that they will launch stand-alone USL PRO teams, Portland Timbers 2 and Seattle Sounders 2. “T2” and “S2”, as they will be known, become the seventh and eighth new franchises announced for the 2015 season. The Cascadia rivals will join the highly successful LA Galaxy II - who reached the 2014 USL PRO semifinals - as MLS-owned clubs in USL PRO, with more official announcements for the 2015 season expected in the coming weeks. T2 will play its home games at Merlo Field on the campus of the University of Portland, while S2 will be based at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington. Both clubs also announced unique founders programs that provide participating fans with unique benefits including ticket discounts, private events and voting rights for team decisions. Andrew Opatkiewicz, with a decade of professional sports experience and a targeted focus in professional soccer, was announced as Sounders FC 2 General Manager http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/842042.html
The Montreal Impact became the second MLS club to create its own USL Pro team, club president Joey Saputo announced this Thursday. The new team, called FC Montréal, is set to start playing next season against LA’s sister team and other affiliates such as Richmond Kickers (D.C. United) and Rochester Rhinos (New England Revolution). Toronto FC announced Thursday that the club has successfully acquired the rights to a USL PRO franchise. In addition, the club has named Jason Bent as the head coach of the new USL PRO team. The Toronto II will train out of the club’s Kia Training Grounds. Whitecaps FC announced on Friday the launch of Whitecaps FC 2 (WFC2), the club’s USL PRO team that will begin play in the spring of 2015. WFC2 will be owned and operated by Whitecaps FC and will play all home matches on the David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium, a natural extension of the club’s training home at the University of British Columbia: the National Soccer Development Centre (NSDC)
According to MLS: Here are the teams currently announced as competitors in USL PRO's 2015 campaign: MLS-operated clubs (7): LA Galaxy II Sounders 2 – new in 2015 Timbers 2 – new in 2015 FC Montreal – new in 2015 Real Monarchs SLC – new in 2015 Toronto (name TBA) – new in 2015 Whitecaps FC 2 – new in 2015 Clubs with MLS affiliations (9) * not all affiliations are confirmed for 2015 Charlotte Independence – Colorado Rapids – new affiliation Dayton Dutch Lions – Columbus Crew – affiliated in 2014 Harrisburg City Islanders – Philadelphia Union – affiliated in 2013-14 Oklahoma City Energy – Sporting Kansas City – affiliated in 2014 Pittsburgh Riverhounds – Houston Dynamo – affiliated in 2014 Richmond Kickers – D.C. United – affiliated in 2013-14 Rochester Rhinos – New England Revolution – affiliated in 2013-14 Sacramento Republic – San Jose Earthquakes – co-affiliated in 2014 Louisville City – Orlando City – new in 2015 Unaffiliated clubs (8) Arizona United Charleston Battery OC Blues Wilmington Hammerheads Austin Aztex – re-classify from PDL in 2015 Colorado Springs Switchbacks – new in 2015 Saint Louis FC – new in 2015 Tulsa Roughnecks – new in 2015 MLS clubs without official partners for 2015: -Chicago Fire -NYCFC -New York Red Bulls -FC Dallas
Here's a snapshot from @RcklessChllenge of the USL Pro teams for 2015 broken into East & West Conferences. http://www.recklesschallenge.net/uslpro-2015-conference-alignment-scheduling-format/
It's Official: Austin Aztex will host three MLS clubs in the ATX Pro Challenge this February: http://bit.ly/16IYMkj
Expanded USL PRO Unveils 2015 Format 24 clubs split into 2 conferences, 28-game schedule USL PRO News Release Wednesday, January 21, 2015 TAMPA, Fla. – USL PRO unveiled its 2015 competition format today, featuring a two-conference alignment to further promote regional rivalries following the league’s unprecedented off-season growth. USL PRO has expanded to 24 teams for its highly-anticipated 2015 season with the establishment of professional soccer in new markets along with the addition of seven MLS owned and operated clubs. The full 2015 USL PRO schedule will be announced later this month. http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/857836.html
The 2015 season will also bring changes to USL PRO’s single-elimination playoff format with the top six finishers in each conference moving on to the four-week postseason. Teams will be seeded No. 1 through No. 6 in each conference, with the top two seeds receiving first-round byes and the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed. The winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 game will then travel to face the No. 2 seed, and the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game will travel to face the No. 1 seed. The winners will meet in the Eastern & Western Conference Championship games with the remaining two teams advancing to square off in the 2015 USL PRO Championship, hosted by the higher seeded club. There are a total of six awards to be earned in the 2015 USL PRO season. In addition to the highest honor of 2015 USL PRO Champions - awarded to the winner of the league’s post-season tournament - USL PRO will officially honor the Eastern Conference & Western Conference champions for both the regular season and the playoffs, as well as the overall USL PRO Regular Season Champion - the team earning the most regular season points.