1998 PDSL season

The 1998 Premier Development Soccer League season was the 4th PDSL season. The season began in April 1998 and ended in August 1998.

San Gabriel Valley Highlanders won the championship, defeating the Jackson Chargers 3-2. Jackson won the regular season title, winning all 16 games and posting a whopping +84 goal difference. Four teams from the Pacific Coast Soccer League joined as associate members this season, with two (Abbotsford and Seattle) going on to become full members in 1999.

Changes from 1997 Season

Name changes

• Puget Sound BigFoot changed name to Seattle BigFoot.

New teams

13 teams were added for the season, 9 expansion teams and four associates from the Pacific Coast Soccer League.

Team	Area	Location	Previous affiliation
Abbotsford Athletes In Action	Abbotsford area	Abbotsford, BC	Pacific Coast Soccer League
Bradenton Academics	Southwest Florida area	Bradenton, FL	expansion
Central Florida Lionhearts	Central Florida area	Seminole, FL	expansion
Colorado Comets	Denver area	Commerce City, CO	expansion
Fox River Rebels	Fox Cities area	Menasha, WI	expansion
Indiana Invaders	Michiana area	South Bend, IN	expansion
Kansas City Brass	Kansas City area	Liberty, MO	expansion
Miami Tango	Greater Miami area	Miami, FL	expansion
Northern Arizona Prospectors	Prescott-Chino Valley area	Prescott Valley, AZ	expansion
Okanagan Valley Challenge	Okanagan Valley area	Kelowna, BC	Pacific Coast Soccer League
Seattle Hibernian	Seattle area	Seattle, WA	Pacific Coast Soccer League
Silicon Valley Ambassadors	South San Francisco Bay area	Santa Clara, CA	expansion
Victoria Umbro Select	Vancouver Island area	Victoria, BC	Pacific Coast Soccer League

Teams Leaving

The Cincinnati Riverhawks were promoted to the A-League and the Miami Breakers were promoted to the D3 Pro League following the 1997 season.

7 teams folded after the 1997 season:

• Bellingham Orcas
• Chattanooga Express
• Lincoln Brigade
• Michigan Madness
• Omaha Flames (team folded early in 1998 season, division games were rescheduled)
• Southwest Florida Manatees
• West Florida Fury

The Lexington Bluegrass Bandits and Tucson Amigos went on hiatus for this year.

Standings

Blue denotes team has won their division.
Green denotes team has won playoff spot.
Orange denotes team gets bye into semifinals as host.
** denotes team is a provisional team and does not play a full schedule.

Central Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Colorado Comets	16	13	3	0	1	40	16	+26	39
2	Des Moines Menace*	16	11	5	2	1	51	27	+24	35
3	Twin Cities Tornado	16	9	7	0	1	32	33	-1	27
4	Kansas City Brass	16	7	9	0	1	42	29	+13	21
5	Sioux City Breeze*	16	7	9	2	1	28	31	-3	17
6	Colorado Springs Stampede	16	5	11	1	0	20	46	-26	13

* Des Moines and Sioux City were both penalized 6 points. Colorado Springs was penalized 3 points.

Great Lakes Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Detroit Dynamite	16	14	2	2	0	45	24	+21	38
2	Mid-Michigan Bucks	16	11	5	0	1	38	19	+19	33
3	Kalamazoo Kingdom	16	7	9	0	1	30	34	-4	21
4	Indiana Invaders	16	7	9	1	0	26	33	-7	19
5	Fox River Rebels	16	6	10	0	0	30	37	-7	18
6	Lansing Locomotive*	16	3	13	0	0	36	42	-6	6
7	Grand Rapids Explosion	16	0	16	0	0	6	56	-50	0

* Lansing was penalized 3 points.

Northwest Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Spokane Shadow	16	13	3	0	0	62	15	+47	39
2	Yakima Reds	16	9	7	0	0	40	28	+12	27
3	Seattle BigFoot*	16	11	5	3	0	28	32	-4	27
4	Cascade Surge	16	9	7	2	2	28	28	0	23
5	Seattle Hibernian	8	2	6	0	1	5	16	-11	6
6	Okanagan Valley Challenge	8	2	6	0	1	6	23	-17	6
7	Victoria Umbro Select	8	1	7	0	2	11	19	-8	3
8	Abbotsford Athletes In Action	8	1	7	1	0	9	28	-19	1

Abbotsford, Okanagan Valley, Seattle Hibernian, and Victoria are all associate members.
* Seattle BigFoot was penalized 6 points. Abbotsford was penalized 3 points.

Southeast Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Jackson Chargers	16	16	0	0	0	104	17	+87	48
2	Cocoa Expos	16	9	7	0	0	41	36	+5	27
3	Bradenton Academics*	16	9	7	1	0	50	42	+8	25
4	Miami Tango	16	7	9	1	0	41	39	+2	22
5	Alabama Saints	16	7	9	0	3	40	48	-8	21
6	Central Florida Lionhearts*	16	6	10	1	0	40	55	-15	16
7	South Florida Future*	16	5	11	1	1	28	79	-51	13

* Bradenton, Central Florida, and South Florida were all penalized 3 points.

Southwest Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	SW	SL	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Silicon Valley Ambassadors*	16	15	1	1	0	44	20	+24	43
2	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders*	16	11	5	1	0	45	27	+18	31
3	Southern California Chivas	16	7	9	0	1	30	26	+4	21
4	Central Coast Roadrunners	16	5	11	0	0	31	39	-8	15
5	Northern Arizona Prospectors*	16	2	14	1	1	23	66	-43	4

* Northern Arizona, San Gabriel Valley, and Silicon Valley were all penalized 3 points.

Playoffs

Format

Kalamazoo hosted the Finals and received a bye to the National Semi-Finals.
The top four teams from the Central, Great Lakes, Southeast, and Southwest divisions, however, if Kalamazoo places in the top four in the Central Division, the fifth place team will take their spot. The top two teams in the Northwest Division will play the top two associate teams from the PCSL. The team with the most points to lose in the Divisional rounds will play in the Regional round as a wild card against the Divisional champion with the most points. The remaining four teams will play each other based on geography.

Divisional Brackets

	Southeast Semifinals					Southeast Finals
	SE1	Jackson Chargers	1
	SE4	Miami Tango	0
						SE1	Jackson Chargers	0
						SE2	Cocoa Expos	1
	SE2	Cocoa Expos	4
	SE3	Bradenton Academics	3

	Southwest Semifinals					Southwest Finals
	SW1	Silicon Valley Ambassadors	1
	SW4	Central Coast Roadrunners (AET)	2
						SW4	Central Coast Roadrunners	2
						SW2	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders	4
	SW2	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders	2
	SW3	Southern California Chivas	0

	Northwest Semifinals					Northwest Finals
	NW1	Spokane Shadow	1
	NWA2	Okanagan Valley Challenge	2
						NWA2	Okanagan Valley Challenge	1
						NW2	Yakima Reds	4
	NW2	Yakima Reds	1
	NWA1	Seattle Hibernian	0

	Central Semifinals					Central Finals
	C1	Colorado Comets	0
	C4	Kansas City Brass	1
						C4	Kansas City Brass	2 (0)
						C2	Des Moines Menace (AET/PSO)	2 (1)
	C2	Des Moines Menace (AET)	2
	C3	Twin Cities Tornado	1

	Great Lakes Semifinals					Great Lakes Finals
	GL1	Detroit Dynamite	3
	GL4	Fox River Rebels	2
						GL1	Detroit Dynamite	0
						GL2	Mid-Michigan Bucks	2
	GL2	Mid-Michigan Bucks	1
	GL3	Indiana Invaders	0

Regional Finals

	Region A
	GL2	Mid-Michigan Bucks	2
	WC	Jackson Chargers	3

	Region B
	SW2	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders	4
	NW2	Yakima Reds	2

	Region C
	C2	Des Moines Menace	3
	SE2	Cocoa Expos	1

PDSL Finals Brackets

	PDL Semifinals
	WC	Jackson Chargers	2
	H	Kalamazoo Kingdom	0			PDL Finals
						WC	Jackson Chargers	2
	PDL Semifinals				SW2	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders	3
	SW2	San Gabriel Valley Highlanders	3
	C2	Des Moines Menace	1			PDL Third Place
						H	Kalamazoo Kingdom	1
						C2	Des Moines Menace	4