Football league season
Premier Development Soccer League Season 1997 1998 →
The 1997 Premier Development Soccer League season was its 3rd. The season began in April 1997 and ended in August 1997.
Central Coast Roadrunners successfully defended the championship, defeating the Cocoa Expos 3-2. Spokane Shadow won the regular season title, winning 14 games to 2 losses.
Changes from 1996 season
Name changes Miami Tango changed their name to Miami Breakers. Puget Sound Hammerheads merged with the D-3 Pro's Everett BigFoot to become Puget Sound BigFoot. Southern California Gunners changed their name to Southern California Chivas.
New teams 6 teams were added for the season.
Teams Leaving The Nashville Metros were promoted to the A League . The Arizona Sahuaros (formerly the Arizona Phoenix), Austin Lone Stars , Fort Lauderdale Strikers (formerly Florida Strikers), and San Francisco Bay Seals were promoted to the D-3 Pro League .
6 teams folded after the 1996 season:
The Wichita Blue went on hiatus for this year, and the Willamette Valley Firebirds went on hiatus for the next two years.
Standings
Central Conference
Central Division Source: rsssf.com Notes:
^ a b Lincoln and Twin Cities were both penalized 6 points. ^ Des Moines was penalized 3 points.
North Central Division Source: rsssf.com Notes:
^ a b c Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Michigan were all penalized 3 points. ^ Kalamazoo was penalized 6 points.
Eastern Conference
Mid-South Division Source: rsssf.com Notes:
^ Game between Cincinnati and Tucson was unable to be rescheduled before season's end, games was cancelled because it had no impact on playoffs. ^ a b Chattanooga and Jackson were both penalized 3 points. ^ Lexington was penalized 6 points.
Southeast Division Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Cocoa Expos 16 11 1 2 2 46 23 +23 34[ a] Division champion 2 South Florida Future 16 10 1 0 5 42 22 +20 31[ a] Qualified for playoff berth 3 West Florida Fury 16 8 2 1 5 32 23 +9 26[ b] 4 Miami Breakers 16 8 0 1 7 41 24 +17 24 5 Southwest Florida Manatees 16 0 0 0 16 9 74 −65 0
Source: rsssf.com Notes:
^ a b Cocoa and South Florida were both penalized 3 points. ^ West Florida was penalized 6 points.
Western Conference
Northwest Division Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Spokane Shadow 16 14 0 0 2 37 16 +21 42 Division champion 2 Yakima Reds 16 7 0 1 8 31 31 0 21 Qualified for playoff berth 3 Cascade Surge 16 6 2 1 7 28 23 +5 23[ a] 4 Bellingham Orcas 16 6 0 1 9 26 40 −14 18 5 Puget Sound BigFoot 16 4 1 0 11 27 39 −12 13[ a]
Source: rsssf.com Notes:
^ a b Cascade and Puget Sound were both penalized 3 points.
Southwest Division Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 16 12 0 0 4 43 20 +23 36 Division champion 2 Central Coast Roadrunners 16 10 1 2 3 34 17 +17 34 Bye into semifinals as defending champion 3 Tucson Amigos 15 5 1 0 9 18 41 −23 16[ a] [ b] Qualified for playoff berth 4 Southern California Chivas 16 3 1 0 12 16 32 −16 10[ a]
Source: rsssf.com Notes:
^ a b Southern California and Tucson were both penalized 3 points ^ Game between Cincinnati and Tucson was unable to be rescheduled before season's end, games was cancelled because it had no impact on playoffs.
Playoffs
Central Coast received a bye to the PDL Semifinals as the defending champion. The top four teams from every division except the Southwest earn playoff spots. With Central Coast already receiving a bye, the top two teams from the Southwest Division will play each other, however if Central Coast is in the top two, then the third place team receives a playoff spot. The Division winners would then face each other in the Conference finals.
Divisional brackets Central Conference Division Semifinals
July 25, 1997
6:00 PM
Semifinals
Des Moines Menace 4–0 Lincoln Brigade Phillips 43:39' , 72:25' Wilson 61:22' Sells 75:44' Report
July 25, 1997
7:00 PM
Semifinals
July 25, 1997
7:30 PM
Semifinals
Central Division Finals
July 26, 1997
7:30 PM
Central Division Final
Omaha Flames 0–6 Des Moines Menace Report Calderon 11:43' , 37:10' Scheer 23:19' Wilson 64:30' Phillips 77:34' Buseck 84:50'
July 26, 1997
8:00 PM
North Central Final
August 2, 1997
Central Conference Final
Eastern Conference Division Semifinals
July 25, 1997
6:00 PM
Semifinals
South Florida Future 0–4 West Florida Fury
July 25, 1997
6:00 PM
Semifinals
July 25, 1997
8:00 PM
Semifinals
July 25, 1997
8:00 PM
Semifinals
Eastern Conference Division Finals
July 26, 1997
7:30 PM
Southeast Division Final
July 26, 1997
7:30 PM
Mid-South Division Final
August 2, 1997
Eastern Conference Conference Final
Western Conference Division Semifinals
July 26, 1997
6:00 PM
Semifinals
Spokane Shadow 4–4 (a.e.t.) Bellingham Orcas Report Penalties Seeley Berto 1–0
July 26, 1997
8:00 PM
Semifinals
Western Conference Division Finals
July 27, 1997
6:00 PM
Northwest Division Final
July 27, 1997
7:00 PM
Southwest Division Final
August 2, 1997
Western Conference Final
PDSL Finals Brackets [ 1]
PDSL National Semifinals
August 8, 1997
6:00 PM PDT
Semifinals
August 8, 1997
8:00 PM PDT
Semifinals
Third Place Game
August 9, 1997
6:00 PM PDT
PDSL National Championship Game
August 9, 1997
8:00 PM PDT
Honors
References ^ United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)
USISL Premier League Premier Development Soccer League (PDSL) Premier Development League (PDL) USL League Two