Semifinals of USL PRO Set as Charleston and Wilmington Advance
The Wilmington Hammerheads put an end to the Richmond Kickers’ 20th season with a 3-2 quarterfinal victory.
TAMPA, Fla. – The semifinals of the USL PRO Playoffs were set on Saturday night as the No.3-seed Charleston Battery took a 2-1 victory against the No.6-seed Harrisburg City Islanders and No.5-seed Wilmington Hammerheads took victory against the No.4-seed Richmond Kickers. The Battery will face the No.2-seed Rochester Rhinos and the Hammerheads the No.1-seed Orlando City in Friday night’s semifinals.
Wilmington took revenge for their defeat against Richmond in last season’s playoffs as Tom Parratt’s stoppage-time goal earned his side a dramatic late victory on the road at City Stadium. The Kickers took the lead in the 12th minute, Jason Yeisley opening the scoring, but the Hammerheads took the lead as they scored twice in four minutes midway through the second half, Troy Cole getting his side on level terms before Steven Perry headed home a corner in the 72nd minute.
The Kickers got back on level terms in the 79th minute as Edson Elcock headed home from a corner, but Parratt scored the game-winner in the third minute of stoppage time, sending his side into the semifinals. The Hammerheads had fallen in a penalty shootout to the Kickers a season ago, but will now face Orlando City on Friday night at the Florida Citrus Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The Battery advanced to the semifinals as a late first-half rally earned a 2-1 victory against the City Islanders through goals by Nicki Paterson and Tony Donatelli. Harrisburg took the lead in the 15th minute as Brian Ombiji found the back of the net, but the Battery pressed late in the half, and earned a penalty kick in the 40th minute after a handball in the Harrisburg penalty area. Paterson converted from the spot to tie the game, and Charleston then took the lead in first-half stoppage time as Jose Cuevas played Donatelli in through the right channel for a fine finish.
The Battery pressed to add to their lead early in the second half, and Harrisburg’s Nick Noble did well to save from Ryan Richter 10 minutes into the second half, but while the City Islanders pressed late for an equalizer, the Battery were able to hold on to take victory. Charleston will now travel to face the Rhinos next Friday night at Sahlen’s Stadium at 7:35 p.m. ET.
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This is going to be interesting. This league is indeed the most professional and well managed league below MLS.
Clean, crisp and professional, now that is what it is all about!
bart never see too many uslpro game stories or comments mentioning play in the league. what r some good uslpro game blog with fans posting like one finds here for NASL on this blog?
also how hs attendance been in the league Bart
@jspech
The best place to look at USL Pro, not unlike NASL, is the official website, http://www.uslsoccer.com
For daily updates you can go to the website and be placed on their email list, which provides very good updates.
Also, you want to check the individual team’s websites out as well.
Attendance in the league has been great with certain teams averaging over 13,000 paid fans.
You may not know this, but when BQ first start reporting on lower level pro division soccer, he was all about USL.
Of course, your best bet is to call the USL office directly, and they can set you up with free scarves, balls and other trinkets that are branded with your favorite USL Pro team. I have a Rhino sweatshirt that is fantastic. If you are ever in Tampa, they will give you a free tour of their league offices as well and you can partake in a cup of cold water with them. Sometimes, they throw in some pretzels.
13,000! What are you talking about? No ‘certain teams’ are averaging 13,000 paid fans. The highest of any team in the league is of course Orlando at 6,544 per game.
If you want to stay up on average attendance Kenn Tomasch does the best job of it at his site. Here is a link to the last tally.
http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=4770
What Bart is saying is their is no website like IMS that covers USL. Former USL PR man Gerald Barnhart does a nice job with good USL coverage at The Soccer Barn.
http://soccerna.blogspot.com/
And of course you get your weekly updates from SA and Ives.
While Bart is correct that USL was the featured league at IMS in the beginning it was because my team, the Thunder, played in the league and it was D2. When the two separated and USL dropped to D3 and the NASL took over the D2 role I tried to cover both but working a full time job and trying to cover two leagues was impossible. Plus my team was a D2 NASL team so it was strictly a business decision. I still try to cover the highlighted USL story here and there as time allows.
@Bart: Barrister, one day, I hope to live in your world. I emailed USLHQ at least two times in the spring to try to get a press credential and I got no response. None. I got no love. At all. Kinda disappointing after so many years of supporting their products.
I must have popped off one too many times for the Tamper types. Nonetheless, I still purchased tickets to view one of their products this summer (I’m trying to not hold a grudge :0).
Maybe next time I’ll recruit your help. I wasn’t even asking for a tour or some swag. Just a press credential to have better access to try and cover their clubs.
I gotta start hanging with you, Primetime Playah!
@Bart
Like your USL propaganda technique…13,000 really?????
Folks, you need to go to the games. 13,000 at Orlando is not unusual. You can’t just count the fans in the seats, lot’s of them are eating at the food stands. This is a big stadium.
@yankiboy, if you want something from USL, and while I have absolutely no pull, I will certainly see if I can assist you, next time you have a request.
This is a kinder, more gentle and certainly more fan focused USL.
@Bart
So now are you going to start counting security,vendor staff,etc…
Bart, I just don’t get the humor here. 13,000? What am I missing?
As to the kinder more friendly side of USL, I actually contacted USL for Yanki and was basicly told to take a hike since I no longer cover the league. Needless to say I was not happy for being slighted like that when I had indeed tried to cover an item here or there in regard to USL news and because I have always tried to be fair about the whole NASL V USL thing. Also, as you pointed out, I used to spend a great deal of time covering the league. So needless to say when I was treated in such a way the conversation ended abruptly.
I had no intention of bringing that up but since you went down that road…
i hope charleston or rochester win
also orlando its not pulling in more attendence than san antonio
i was reading a newspaper piece and orlando is second behind san antonio in attendence
heres in more detail
PRO SOCCER ATTENDANCE
Per-game averages for 2012 season through Aug. 6-7:
Lower Division top 10
1. Scorpions, NASL: 9,613
2. Orlando, USL Pro: 6,395
3. Rochester, USL Pro: 6,248
4. Atlanta, NASL: 4,639
5. Wilmington, USL Pro: 4,164
6. Charleston, USL Pro: 3,887
7. Ft. Lauderdale, NASL: 3,338
8. Carolina, NASL: 3,208
9. Tampa Bay, NASL: 3,208
10. Minnesota, NASL: 3,114
-NASL average: 3,379 (eight teams)
-USL Pro average: 2,608 (11 teams)
-MLS average: 18,811 (19 teams)
Source: Express-News research
MLS TOP FIVE
1. Seattle: 41,418
2. Montreal: 23,628
3. Los Angeles: 22,729
4. Houston: 21,136
5. Portland: 20,438
MLS BOTTOM FIVE
15. San Jose: 14,802
16. Dallas: 14,221
17. D.C. United: 14,178
18. Chivas USA: 13,191
19. New England: 12,922
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Franchise-s-quick-strike-reawakens-MLS-dream-3798895.php#ixzz24uHWpGug
how atlanta brings in more attendance than the top teams in NASL baffles me but i respect their fans thats true soccer i hope the rest of NASL teams make attendance a priority for next season
but the source shows that NASL attendance is quiet good
I realize that USL attendance is high because of orlando
@All the Folks that Posted
Thanks for the posts, I was hoping that some outlandish claims would bring about the true feelings about USL to the forefront.
So, BQ and Yankiboy feel slighted because they felt they were not treated with the respect they thought they deserved as blogger announcers. I get it, and frankly, will write a strongly worded letter to the USL folks about that. It will not matter much, however, I suspect.
On the other hand, IMS made its name on the TOA and from what I read on this site, these were not exactly unbiased opinions from the authors on this matter.
I stand by what I stated yesterday, Yankiboy. If you want something from USL, give Tim Holt or Chris Economides a call. You may find that they are no longer feeling the pinch of their jobs now that the TOA issue is resolved. Or you can email them, and you can find all of the email addresses on the USL website.
BQ, now you may be another matter.
@Bart – This was a weird series of posts…even for you chief. Very…odd…..
Anyhow, personally I’m rooting for the Battery. Hard to find anyone who has bad or questionable things to say about that organization. To me they are the classic example of a club that has managed to not only survive, but thrive, despite the knuckleheadedness of their league overall for years and years.
And I have to say this about BQ. He has always been more than fair when the rest of us have clashed about the whole NASL vs. USL thing. Anyone who would hold against him the fact that he focuses his coverage on the league HIS TEAM plays in can take a hike right now, because that’s ridiculous. Personally I’m not surprised at all by the attitude of the USL FO toward him. It’s the same petty, pathetic attitude we’ve seen from them time and again over the last few years. Instead of giving grief to a fantastic journalist for deciding to spend the lion’s share of his limited time and resources covering his team and the league they play in, maybe they should be more concerned with trying to make some better decisions and raising the profile of their own league to a point where someone might care enough to do the same for one of their teams, and by proxy USL Pro.
@ Strikers Return
Well said! USL should simply give anyone who writes (and maybe posts) on this site the keys to their offices. The absolute indignity of it all, when these USL folks have the audacity to turn their backs on the staunch followers of the NASL.
It does beg the question, why in the world should USL even stay in this business? They are not NASL fan friendly and don’t go out of their way to pucker up to those opinionated folks that want to see them drop off the face of the universe.
For 30 years, USL has been turning their face on the true soccer fans here in the US and Canada, and frankly, the irresponsibility of their inept and immature decisions leave much to be desired. I wonder if USSF can be persuaded to ban them from participation, USL is simply not a good example for soccer here in the US.
USL has always gotten soccer wrong. And obviously at all levels.
I am just thankful that NASL came along and that Davidson and Traffic had the vision and guts to throw millions of corporate dollars into their league, so that a guy like Hartman can finally prove that middle America can have a sustainable soccer team.
It is indeed a shame that USL can’t get quality team owners, at any level, to do the same.
So wonder if Rochester will announce the jump to NASL as soon as their run in the playoffs end?
Sighhhhh!
@Barrister known as “Bart”: Playah-You always keep me in stitches with your takes. Thanks for your kind offers of assistance.
I’m an admitted clown and I’ve never taken myself seriously-everybody knows that. So I pretty much just laughed off what you termed a “slight” coz it didn’t really make any sense to me. I mean, hey–maybe they think USLPRO doesn’t need any additional, unsolicited coverage (from a guy hitting the road to do so, on his own dime).
Maybe the new corporate mandate was to blow off former season tickets holders whose teams are now defunct or have left the league. So much for my dream of being inducted to the USL HOF as a super supporter or contributor.
Nah, my feelings didn’t get hurt over my status of personna non grata down in Tamper.
What did stroke me the wrong way was the way they did Brian. Not because he’s my mentor but because of all that he has contributed to the coverage of pro soccer at his own expense. That Dude has been more than fair and generous with the USL. To infer anything to the contrary is revisionist history.
When I got blown off this past spring the USL had already moved foward, it was post-TOA/NASL split so you assertion that people were sweating over their gigs just doesn’t hold any water. None.
I’m not tripping’ over it. I never brought it up until you mentioned that you could hook a Brutha up. I’ll make a mental note to holla at ya if I need you to advocate for me.
Now, if they do YOU like they did my Boy, Brian Quarstad then I know that I am beyond help.
On a “side note”, I need a guy to be the host and brains behind the YankiboySoccer.com USLPRO podcast that I wanna launch-you’re at the very tippity top of my list of candidates. I need a guy or a couple of guys with cred, with great knowledge, willing to perform almost all of the thankless, hard work while I just try to be edgy, keep it real and expand the YB brand. It’s a tried & true formula. Can’t miss!!!
What are you doing on Tuesday nights, Playah???
@yankiboy
As Carol King so deftly sings, if you need me I’ll be there, but Tuesday night is whipping night with my bride in our dragons and dungeons room. This is the day of the week when I get tied up by my …… wrists (yeah… wrists), and get splapped with hot wet leather and warm banana peels (yeah… banana peels). It is tough to leave that spot and I may get more severely punished if I stray from my calling….(but wait, that might make it even better going forward!).
Now, back to soccer….
I Rochester Rhinos make the jump to NASL they should change their team name to Rochester Lancers and fuse it’s organization with the indoor soccer team name. While the their color logo is bright and does not look appealing, the Rochester Lancers indoor soccer team jersey looks cool. I like.
@John
The Rochester Lancers are part of the MISL, which is part of USL. Ain’t going to happen.
Separate businesses and different owners. You are really serious, are you?
you never know it could happen just like orlando city going NASL
As long it benefits them and the organization not the USL.
@ John
There is no way Orlando is moving to NASL. There is a distinct difference of philosophy between the two camps.
but if a teams see any opportunity to get in to MLS it does not matter what camp they join because their Golding camp they want is MLS
New York Cosmos could have joined USL Pro this year or last year because their U-23 was set to join the PDL
So if their U-23 was in PDL that would mean the New York Cosmos would have to join the USL Pro
Correct me if I am wrong Bart
@John
You are wrong.
bart how am i wrong
explain what is wrong
@John
There is no requirement that if the Cosmos wanted to join USL’s U23 PDL league that they have to join USL Pro.
Vancouver has a PDL league and before they went to MLS, they were in NASL. Vancouver also has a W-League as well.
@Bart – You are seriously tripping on something lately chief. You completely concocted that “response” to my post out of smoke of some variety…. BQ has always run his site and reported his stories with integrity. For example, he explained that he knew ahead of time about Rawlins slinking out of Austin, but he didn’t blow the whistle on it. He still does provide some USL coverage from time to time, but again, only an idiot would question his decision to focus his efforts on the league HIS team is in.
As for USL’s treatment of him, there’s no real excuse for it. He doesn’t post stories bashing the USL, or calling them out on any of the myriad things they could rightly be called out on. Instead of being happy for what coverage a guy like BQ gives the league, thay have to pout and be losers when he approaches them? They should thank someone with his experience and integrity for ANY coverage he provides for the best, most sophisticated, two-bit, chump league below MLS that anyone who writes a check that won’t bounce can get into.
@BQ – I gotta know, was that big SIIGGHHHH directed at Bart? Exasperation? Please say it was!!! LOL
@bart – And quit giving John a hard time. So what if he likes to dream a little. Personally I don’t think Rawlins will join the NASL either, no matter how much sense it might make for his club. But I will tell you one scenario under which he absolutely would, and you’re nuts if you would doubt it – to salvage his MLS chances. His stated goal from day 1 in Orlando has been MLS. Period. I think he’d do anything he had to in order to keep moving forward toward that goal. And if you go back to my post somewhere around here about what the timeline might realistically look like for Orlando to have a shot at getting into MLS (2017 or later?) then he is going to have to weigh his options of what he’s doing in the meantime. This clobbering D3 to the tune of one loss all season is going to wear thin with fans. If you’re going to be stuck waiting on a chance to get into D1 anyway, raising your profile by playing the Cosmos, Rowdies, Strikers, and even a new up and comer like SA is very arguably a much smarter way to do it then continuing to pound Dayton and this year’s USL new batch of soon to be gone teams.
At GaelForce comment about Rochester jumping to NASL. We have covered this ad nauseam. I know, I know. Not everyone reads IMS all the time or the comments. But how many times have we gone over this? Without all the explanation this time, NO! Rochester isn’t going anywhere and neither are Orlando. As far as I know all the USL teams are quite happy being with USL. As Bart has said previously, it’s a different business model.
Can we move on please.
@Strikers Return
I don’t get the comments at all. USL should be banned, they have just been so horrible.
And you are right, I am all for USL praising BQ for his integrity and experience.
I am just glad that NASL has a strong stable of highly qualified and financially consistent team owners that are independent in their ability to fully and completely fund their individual organizations.
That would be eight (8) of them, right? Yup…..
Hey, wait a minute, I just heard something about Rob Clark selling the Rhinos to Traffic so that they can move to NASL in 2013. Something about wanting to be closer to Joey Saputo again.
Say it ain’t so, Mr. Clark, say it ain’t so!!!
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-08-30/sports/os-orlando-city-president-phil-rawlins-20120830_1_mls-franchise-orlando-city-soccer-club-usl-pro
Orlando will continue to promote MLS as it needs the local municipality for funding a soccer stadium, and Orlando might just do this.
Good for Rawlins, the real winner in the TOA war.
Nice article. When’s the last time you read an article about pro soccer in this county and the writer decided to throw in owner’s age??? Seemed kinda odd. If I ever get a trivia question about minor-to-major league Phil’s age it’ll help me build up some points for when I reach the bonus round.
Brian I read your site most days. I read Big Soccer too. I’ve followed expansion a number of years both in MLS and lower leagues. I don’t need any explanation. I’m aware of the different business models and the situations surrounding both leagues. I understand it quite clearly. My own personal opinion (which I’m entitled to) is that Rochester will move, or at the very least should. Being in the same league as the Cosmos (being in New York State and close enough) should be cause enough
@Gaelforce
Look at this differently. Maybe the Cosmos took the wrong path and should be part of USL Pro. Then the Cosmos and Rhinos will be together.
Makes a lot more sense. As you wrote, being in the same league should be cause enough.
@BQ,
Are you deliberately trying to get Strikey all flustered again by posting Orlando/MLS related links? Since he hasn’t hit his quota on these yet in this thread…LOL!
I agree on the USL slight business; both leagues have taken the split bitterness way too far. It’s become downright childish to be holding grudges this long.
@GaelForce,
There’s no reason to cop a ‘tude fella. As BQ stated, that horse was beaten to death a long time ago, and the carcass is decomposing. The Rhinos have already started selling season ticket packages for the 2013 USL-Pro season (I’m on their email list). On a local soccer-related radio show, Rob Clark once referred to the NASL as “a high stakes poker game”. Having made and continuing to make his money in the banking industry, I doubt that he’s much of a gambler. The only reason he was interested in the NASL originally was due to King Joey trying to bring him in. The team was hemorrhaging money at the D2 level, and moved down to minimize losses. You’re entitled to think that they should move back up, but it won’t happen.
By the way, the Cosmos are not just cause to make the move. Pittsburgh and Harrisburg are both closer to Rochester than NYC. Dayton, Richmond, Wilmington, and Charlotte aren’t that much further away. Those are facts. Now here’s an opinion; Rochester soccer fans wouldn’t show up in droves to see a D2 team just because it has a 30 year old brand name slapped on it. They’re smarter than that.
Of course I didn’t mean to have an attitude. I have nothing but respect for BQ but he assumed I don’t read IMS and the comments and am just pulling what I’m saying out of the sky. I’m not. I know what Rob Clark has said. I know what Phil Rawlins has said. I also read clearly here and on other sources too that David Downs stated along the lines of “If we’re announcing a new team for 2013 it’d have to be soon, unless it’s an already established team.” I would imagine that IF there is an already established team making the jump they would do so when their time with USL ends for this season. That time is now so personally I’m interested to see if it happens. It probably won’t for many reasons that have been stated but the possibility remains, however so slight, and it would add an interesting dynamic to the off-season. I really wouldn’t have been surprised if the LA Blues had of jumped. If they really are gonna bow out after 2013 if things don’t improve as has been stated, then why not give it a go for a year somewhere else?
@ Mike – I wasn’t talking so much about distance as in the Cosmos brand. I live in Ireland where the vast majority of people know nothing of the NASL and USL. They know little bits about the MLS because of Robbie Keane and of course David Beckham. Galaxy results are sometimes given due to Keanes involvement. When the Cosmos announcement was made people here talked about it. It was on the radio, in the newspapers and on blogs. People asked me about American soccer. The Cosmos evoke memories in football fans that no other American team can. You ask anyone here to name an American soccer team and they’ll either say LA Galaxy or New York Cosmos which when you consider it is astonishing seeing as they haven’t played since they’ve been gone nearly 30 years. When they start playing next year, the media frenzy will be huge. People around the world are going to pay attention to what is really a fantastic story – the Cosmos return. Perhaps Rochester fans won’t show up in droves to see the Cosmos, but when they play their first game, people will take notice and I think NASL will gain massivly from the attention.
Again, all just my own thoughts and no disrespect meant to anyone.
I don’t think it is the Cosmos name that really counts, however names like Pele and Beckenbauer do, and these names are not part of the resurrected Cosmos.
Fans did not go to see the Cosmos, they went to see the vast stable of superstar soccer players. They came to see the “show”.
@Mike – Don’t worry, “Strikey” isn’t getting flustered at all. Orlando is further away from MLS then their fans think. They are NOT jumping over NY2 into position #20. Won’t happen. The league is focused on getting this deal done in NY. They will be negotiating a new tv deal come 2014, and there is no other market that adds to their cache and what they bring to the table then NY, and especially if they can pass a note under the table that says, and by the way, it’ll be the Cosmos brand. But where does that leave Orlando and others? I’m not saying it means Orlando won’t get a chance eventually, but it’s not happening soon. That goal of being in MLS in 3 – 4 years after joining USL Pro isn’t happening, and Rawlins knows it. Read that article BQ linked real close. They have a lot to do to get a stadium deal, and that will probably rest upon the assurances it will be to play in MLS. The city/county isn’t going to just give them land to build a SSS to keep punishing the likes of Dayton and Harrisburg. And that assumes Rawlins can get the backing to 100% finance it privately. Again, not saying it can’t happen, but as he says in that interview, the timetable isn’t up to him, it’s up to the league. MLS doesn’t need to fall all over themselves to grab at expansion teams anymore. They are way beyond that. So grab a Snickers Orlando fans…..