PDL East

Qualifying kicked into full swing in the Eastern Conference with five matches on Saturday. Ocean City got their qualifying run off to a good start with a 1-0 win over the Delaware Dynasty. Jeremy Ortiz scored in the 25th minute from a Sean Boyle corner kick. The match was stopped in the 85th minute due to lightning in the area.....The Virginia Legacy put an end to West Virginia’s hopes of qualification with a 2-0 victory. Erwin Diaz and Andrew Hoxie scored for Virginia, and the loss drops West Virginia to 0-2.....Cape Cod thrashed Albany 4-1. In the first half, Dwight Barnett and Nathaniel Short scored before and after Albany’s Matt Nardone drew the game level, and Ricardo Pierre-Louis tallied twice in the final three minutes for the Crusaders.....Long Island won it’s 2007 opener over Rhode Island on the strength of Gary Sullivan’s goal in the fourth minute.....The Brooklyn Knights rolled over Vermont 5-0.

PDL Central

The Des Moines Menace began their march towards the Open Cup with an emphatic 5-0 victory over the Sioux Falls SpitFire. Menace veteran Tomas Boltnar netted a hat-trick, while Ross Moffat and Nicholas Patterson rounded out the score sheet for Des Moines in the season opening win.....Springfield won it’s opening match of 2007, 3-1m over the Colorado Rapids U23’s

PDL South

Saturday’s slate of games started early in Atlanta, as the Silverbacks U23 side topped the Cary Railhawks U23 team 2-1. Mark Buchholz gave the ’Backs a 1-0 lead at the break, but Corey Lugger equalized for Cary in the 64th minute, just after he was subbed in for Ryan Johnson. Jon Cox netted the game winner for Atlanta seven minutes after. Later in the evening, the Senior Railhawks reversed the score line on the Silverbacks in USL First Division play......Nicholas Torres scored twice to lead the Austin Lightning to a win over the New Orleans Shell Shockers, 3-1. P.J. Kee gave New Orleans the lead through a penalty kick, and Ross Burki added an insurance goal for Austin after the double from Torres.....The DFW Tornados blanked Baton Rouge 2-0.....2006 Cup qualifiers Carolina Dynamo got off to a fine start with a 3-0 win over the Nashville Metros. the loss all but ends Nashville’s Cup hopes, leaving them with four points and only one game remaining.

PDL West

The San Fernando Valley Quakes saw their Open Cup chances diminish with a 1-1 draw vs. Orange County. Ryan Shaw gave the Quakes the lead after 63 minutes, and Cale Rodriguez drew the Blue Star even with eleven minutes remaining. Orange County played with ten men after Matthew Tracy was sent off after his second yellow card. The draw leaves SFV with four points after three matches.....San Jose got goals from Diego Soto and Daniel DeGeer in their 2-1 victory over Southern Calfornia. Conan Hawkins scored the long goal for the Seahorses.....In the Pacific Northwest, the Spokane Spiders won their first game, 3-2 over the Tacoma Tide. Jake Moug gave Spokane a 1-0 lead after three minutes, but Scott Hand tied it up for Tacoma twelve minutes later. Both teams scored again before the break, Grant Lundberg for Spokane, and Beau Macauso for Tacoma. The eventual game winner came in the 66th minute, coutesy of Halvor Mikkelson.....Yakima topped rivals Cascade Surge 2-1 to move up to four points.