Opening Weekend for USL Pro Divisions a Month Away
Published on March 16, 2005 under United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release
TAMPA, FL -- The Charlotte Eagles will play host to the Northern Virginia Royals in a USL Second Division clash April 15 that will mark the opening of the 2005 season for United Soccer Leagues. The weekend continues with a pair of USL First Division matches as the Atlanta Silverbacks head to Richmond and Virginia Beach on the 16th and 17th, respectively, and two more USL Second Division games on the 16th with Northern Virginia at Wilmington and Harrisburg at expansion Cincinnati.
USL Opening Weekend
April 15 â USL Opener (USL Second Division)
Northern Virginia Royals @ Charlotte Eagles
April 16 â USL First Division Opener
Atlanta Silverbacks @ Richmond Kickers
April 16 â USL Second Division
Northern Virginia Royals @ Wilmington Hammerheads
Harrisburg City Islanders @ Cincinnati Kings
April 17 â USL First Division
Atlanta Silverbacks @ Virginia Beach Mariners
About the Opening Weekend Teams
Northern Virginia Royals: Heading into the club's eighth season, the Royals will be looking to break their trend of finishing at the bottom after posting a 3-16-0 record last year.
Charlotte Eagles: The Eagles returned to the league final last year after spending three seasons in the USL First Division. They captured the 2000 USL Second Division championship before making the move up. League MVP and scoring champion Jacob Coggins will likely return along with team veteran Dustin Swinehart.
Atlanta Silverbacks: After falling in their first two matches last season, the Silverbacks won 13 straight games. The rest of the season was up and down as the club missed the postseason by three points. Mac Cozier, the league's fifth best scorer in '04 is likely to return with starting âkeeper Joe Barton while the club saw 2003 All-League defender Alan Woods go to Charleston.
Richmond Kickers: The Kickers have established themselves as regular contenders since reaching the final in 2002 and finishing second in the Eastern Conference last year. For the second straight year, the team lost a standout rookie to MLS with Clyde Simms signing with DC United after an eye-opening performance at a US Men's National Team camp.
Wilmington Hammerheads: The 2003 champion Hammerheads are 41-16-5 over the last three seasons and were edged out of the playoffs by one goal in their two-game series against Charlotte last year, preventing the club from making a possible third straight championship appearance.
Harrisburg City Islanders: Heading into their second season, the City Islanders did well in their opening campaign, posting a 10-7-3 record and making the playoffs.
Cincinnati Kings: The expansion Kings are in the same position their opening opponents were in last year. The club has former USL First Division player Jon Pickup as coach and is bringing in several players with USL First and Second Division experience.
Virginia Beach Mariners: The Mariners will be looking to rebuild up front with league scoring champion Dante Washington's return to MLS at the close of last season when the Mariners missed the playoff cut at 11-14-3. Washington led the team in scoring over his two years in Virginia Beach team with 35 goals.
Preseason Underway
In a pair of preseason exhibition matches Saturday night, the Virginia Beach Mariners played the Columbus Crew to a 1-1 draw in Virginia Beach on a pair of penalty kicks and the Fresno Fuego fell 6-2 to MLS expansion club Chivas USA in front of over 5,000 fans in Fresno, California. The Kings fell 3-0 to the Columbus Crew in their preseason debut Tuesday night.
This week, the Charleston Battery kick off the second edition of the Carolina Challenge Cup, which will feature the Battery and MLS' Columbus Crew, DC United and San Jose Earthquakes.
Signing Season in Full Swing
As the season approaches, the pace of transaction announcements continues to quicken. A number of teams have signed key players in the past weeks, including W-League teams chasing after the top international players.
Team scoring leaders Welton Melo (Seattle) and Ali Gerba (Toronto) re-signed with their respective clubs while Vancouver has made several acquisitions of top players from other USL First and Second Division clubs like Portland's Jake Sagare, Pittsburgh's Said Ali and Charleston's Mark Watson.
In the W-League, the New Jersey Wildcats, Hampton Roads Piranhas and Atlanta Silverbacks have been busy adding the likes of former WUSA players and senior and youth internationals like Heather O'Reilly (NJ), Karina LeBlanc (NJ), Alicia Wilson (NJ), Kelly Golebiowski (HR), Mercy Akide (HR), Florence Omagbemi (HR), Kerry Gragg (ATL) and Nel Fettig (ATL).
United Soccer League Championship Stories from March 16, 2005
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