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Slight change to PDL qualifying
Top team from each division will advance
 Fans will be thrilled if the PDL Open Cup Qualifying for 2007 is even half as good as it was in 2006. Many of last year’s entries were decided during the final weekend. The second entry in the Central Conference came down to a rare lottery, and two teams from Utah (BYU and Ogden) qualified for the first time against amazing odds on the final weekend.
Each conference will send two teams to the Open Cup, however, this year, the two teams are based on division standings rather than conference standings. The top team from each division will advance to the tournament. Standings, schedules and results can be found on the right side of the page.
Bucks deny the Invaders once again
Michigan claims final spot in 40-team field with 3-3 draw
 If only the Indiana Invaders could avoid the Michigan Bucks, they just might make the U.S. Open Cup one of these days.
Once again, the Bucks denied Indiana an Open Cup trip, in what has become an almost annual occurrence, with a wild 3-3 draw in South Bend, Indiana. 
Barons, Brass are Open Cup bound
Michigan and Indiana vie for final PDL spot on Monday
A familiar theme continued on Sunday in PDL U.S. Open Cup qualifying, one team clinched on the field with a victory, while another got the right result from a game they were not involved in.
The Ocean City Barons became the 6th PDL club to qualify for the cup, after a 1-1 draw between Fredericksburg and Reading. Scott Rowling put Reading ahead in the 14th minute, and carried that lead into halftime. Fifteen minutes after the restart, Cameron McCarthy drew the game level for the Gunners. Fredericksburg were not able to get the go-ahead goal they were looking for, settling for a draw, leaving them unable to match Ocean City’s 4-0 record. The Barons return to the Open Cup after a year’s absence, last qualifying in 2005, where they made it to the third round before losing to the Richmond Kickers in a wild 8-4 affair.
Central Florida "Kraze"y for the Open Cup!
BYU avoids tiebreaking mess, qualifies with 3-1 win
BYU and Central Florida added their names to the list of PDL clubs in the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
BYU and Central Florida add their names to the list of PDL clubs in the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
With a 3-1 victory against Spokane, BYU avoided having their return trip to the cup lost in a tangle of tiebreakers. If the game had ended in a draw, the Cougars would have found themselves in a three-way tie for first with Spokane and Tacoma, and possible a four way tie with a win from Yakima. Instead, BYU move past Tacoma for first with nine points, while rendering Yakima’s 1-0 win over Ogden meaningless, as far as qualification goes. It is the second year in a row BYU has qualified for the Cup. Last year the Cougars fell to the USASA’s Arizona Sahuaros 5-1.
El Paso, Long Island return to the Cup!
Ocean City finishes 4-0, Northwest down to the wire
The final weekend of PDL qualifying is under way, and two more teams have made the cut. A total of fifteen clubs are still in the running for the final five spots.
After a year’s absence, the El Paso Patriots and Long Island Rough Riders are making their return to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Rough Riders found their way in without kicking a ball on Friday night, courtesy of a 1-1 draw between Cape Cod and Vermont. The draw left Cape Cod with seven points out of their four qualifying matches, not enough to catch Long Island’s nine. The Brooklyn Knights were the only team capable of equaling the Riders point total, but would have lost the first tiebreaker, head to head record, via a 3-1 loss on May 20. Long Island were last in the Open Cup in 2005 as a member of the USL Second Division, losing to the PDL Ocean City Barons 4-0 in the second round.
Silverbacks U23s top the Southeast
Seven divisions still undecided heading into final weekend
As Memorial Day weekend approached, the PDL is set for an exciting race to the finish. Entering Friday night’s action, only the Bakersfield Brigade have clinched. The remaining seven divisions are up for grabs. Of those, five of them have more than two teams fighting to be the division’s representative.
The Atlanta Silverbacks U23s (2-0-1) took the first step toward representing the Southeast Division with a 3-1 win over the Bradenton Academics. The Academics are now eliminated and the Silverbacks are the division’s last remaining unbeaten. They just need to win their last qualifying game and they are in. However, their final game is no walk in the park. They travel to Greensboro to take on the Carolina Dynamo on Saturday.
Dynamo's unbeaten run ends in Cary
Chicago joins Indiana at the top of the Great Lakes Division
The Cary Railhawks U23s played spoiler with a 2-1 win over the Carolina Dynamo on Wednesday night.  The Railhawks, who were eliminated from Open Cup contention last weekend, handed Carolina their first loss since the 2005 season, a span of 21 games. The Dynamo’s loss gives hope to the rest of the teams in the Southeast Division.
Carolina remains in a three-way tie with Bradenton and Central Florida for first place. All three teams have one game left to play. In control of their own destiny is the Atlanta Silverbacks U23s, the only remaining unbeaten team in the division at 1-0-1. Wins in their final two games and they can book their ticket to the Open Cup.
Two for Tuesday
Indiana and Ocean City remain unbeaten with wins
The Ocean City Barons opened their 2007 home schedule with a convincing 5-0 victory over the Reading Rage. The home side received goals from five different players, including Byron Carmichael, Scott Hawkins, Brad Peters, Sean Boyle and Kyle Evans. Adam Edwards continued to be outstanding in goal, making eight saves, one of which was a spectacular penalty kick stop in the final minutes of the game. With the win, the Barons improve to 3-0-0 and currently sit in first place in the Mid-Atlantic Division with only one game left to play. The Reading Rage (1-1-1), on the other hand, are eliminated from Open Cup contention with the loss.
In the Great Lakes Division, the Indiana Invaders took care of business with a 2-0 win over the Cleveland Internationals. Indiana remains unbeaten at 2-0-1, but have a big mountain to climb as they will face off with the Michigan Bucks on the final day of qualifying for the third year in a row. WIth that being their only remaining game, the Invaders will be doing a lot of scoreboard watching in hopes that other teams in the division drop points.
PDL home stretch report
USOpenCup.com takes a look at what's left in qualifying
As we approach the final week of qualifying, MLS has it’s final play-in game (RSL vs. Colorado on May 23), the USL Second Division is nearly done, and Region III will wrap things up for the USASA this weekend.  However, for the PDL, there’s still plenty of soccer to be played with seven of the eight divisions up for grabs heading into the home stretch.
The Bakersfield Brigade from the Southwest Division are the first PDL team to clinch. For the rest of the league, it promises to be an exciting week of Open Cup qualifying with scenarios and storylines galore.
PDL Qualifying Update
East and Central still tight, South and West get clearer
After Saturday's PDL action, we learned that the 2007 tournament will be without a PDL powerhouse, and in the Western Conference, we're likely to see two new faces make the cut. Click "continue" for a recap of all of Saturday’s PDL Qualifying action.
Stepping Up, Stepping Out
Three stake their claims for the cup, while a few more see their claims dry up
Friday Night’s PDL action saw El Paso, Bakersfield and Ventura County make major strides in the Southern and Western Conferences towards qualifying for the U.S. Open Cup. In the East, a four-pack of 1-0 results kept the standings packed, and it was business as usual for the Michigan Bucks in the Central.
PDL champs cruise in season opener
Kansas City's upset of Des Moines highlights Wednesday action
The Michigan Bucks, who are returning the majority of their championship roster from last year, got their season off on the right foot with a 4-0 win at West Michigan on Wednesday. Khelli Dube scored twice and last year’s PDL assist leader Nate Jafta scored a goal and added an assist. With a "maximum points win" (winning a game by three or more goals and scoring three or more goals), the Bucks held onto first place in the Central Conference, that was until the Indiana Invaders score came in.
After opening their season with a road win on Monday at Fort Wayne, the Invaders were held to a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Fire Premier at Toyota Park. Indiana would have claimed all three points, but Northern Illinois striker Marcus McCarty scored the equalizer for the Fire Premier in the 90th minute.
Invaders beat the Fever
Indiana hoping to avoid another qualifying heartbreak
The Indiana Invaders got their first win in Central Conference qualifying, 2-1 over the Fort Wayne Fever. The Invaders scored twice just after halftime and held on for the crucial three points. The Invaders have never qualified for the Open Cup, mainly because they are a victim of playing in the Central Conference, one of the toughest in the PDL. Teams like the Michigan Bucks, Des Moines Menace, Chicago Fire Premier, and the Colorado Rapids U-23s (formerly the Boulder Rapids Reserve) have made qualifying extremely difficult.
West is packed after Sunday's PDL games
Wheeler scores four for unbeaten Piranhas
The PDL Western Conference qualifying picture didn’t get much clearer after Sunday’s matches. The Spokane Spiders, San Jose Frogs and the Fresno Fuego all picked up their second wins, leaving five teams at the top of the standings tied with six points.
PDL action kicks into full gear!
15 games on Saturday get the tables moving
With a total of fifteen games on Saturday, the PDL qualifying schedule has finally hit it’s stride.
PDL Eastern Conference
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.....
Click "continue" to read about the rest of Saturday’s PDL action.
El Paso topples rival Laredo for 2nd win
Bradenton, Mississippi, Hampton Roads, Fresno win their 1st
The El Paso Patriots defeated the Laredo Heat 2-1 in a rivalry game featuring the last two PDL runners-up. The Patriots’ game-winner came in the 77th minute from Geraldo Moreira, moving El Paso in first place in the PDL Southern Conference qualifying standings with a perfect 2-0 record.
Also in the South, Mississippi Brilla picked up their first win as a franchise over DFW Tornados, 2-1. Paul Babba and Ousmane Coulibaly scored first half goals for Brilla to lead the way. Combined with their opening draw against the New Orleans Shell Shockers, Mississippi is very much in the hunt for an Open Cup spot in their inaugural season.
Cary and Nashville call it even
Kickers Future score three in second half to earn a point
The Cary Railhawks U23s played their first game with their new name (formerly known as the Raleigh Elite), and earned a point against the visiting Nashville Metros. The visitors were playing their second game of qualifying, but it was the home side who scored first with Ryan Johnson putting the Railhawks ahead in the 17th minute. Nashville would later equalize in the 83rd minute thanks to Mark Photivihok. (PDL Southern Conference Standings)
The most exciting match of the night was at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond where the Kickers Future hosted the Northern Virginia Royals. George Mason University standout Francis McCardle stole the show scoring the first three goals of the match to put the Royals up 3-0. The Kickers didn’t answer until the 76th minute when Matthew Pool converted a penalty kick to make it 3-1. Two minutes later Jordan Evans cut the lead to one, and later equalized in the 90th minute to save the point for Richmond. (PDL Eastern Conference Standings)
Nashville opens qualifying with win
Short-handed Metros hoping to return to Open Cup
With some of their top players still away at college, the Nashville Metros managed to pull out a convincing opening day win in front of their home fans. Four different goal scorers tallied in a 4-2 win over the Palm Beach Pumas in the first qualifying match for both teams. With still a long way to go in PDL Southern Conference qualifying, Nashville joins Central Florida, Laredo and El Paso as the other teams who have already won their opening game. For a full match report, visit USLSoccer.com.
Laredo open season with 3-0 win
Bakersfield are 2-0 after win over Orange County
The Laredo Heat opened their season with a dominating 3-0 win over the Baton Rouge Capitals. Three different goals scorers led the way for the Heat, but the story of the match is the one-sided play where Baton Rouge wasn’t able to get off a single shot in the match.
Southern Conference begins qualifying
El Paso and Central Fla earn wins, Quakes debut out west
The PDL Southern Conference kicked off their 2007 qualifying season with two games on Friday. The El Paso Patriots, always a challenger for an Open Cup spot, got off on the right foot with a 1-0 win over the Austin Lightning. It was an 11th minute penalty kick that proved to be the difference. The Patriots managed to survive the last 15 minutes of the match playing with ten players after Carlos Martinez was sent off.
In the other match down south, the Central Florida Kraze had little trouble with the Bradenton Academics in a 4-1 win at the IMG Soccer Academy.
Go West, Cup Fans!
Bakersfield and Ventura County open PDL qualifying with wins
Premier Development League qualifying got under way Saturday night in California, with two established clubs facing off, and two debuting teams taking the pitch.
In Bakersfield, the Brigade made a strong statement with a 3-0 win over the Fresno Fuego. Goals from Santiago Aguilera, both assisted by Jason Ashurst, in the 10th and 30th minutes paced Bakersfield. Ryan Gay added the final goal in the 72nd muinute.
In the match-up of PDL newcomers, Ventura County left Lancaster with a 2-1 victory over the Rattlers.
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