United Soccer Leagues

Realignment is set for three men's divisions.

TAMPA, Fla. (Sunday, December 21, 2003) - As is an annual rite, the United Soccer Leagues changed the alignments for its three divisions of men's soccer.

The second-division A-League, one step below first-division Major League Soccer, has 16 teams with expansion franchises in Edmonton and Puerto Rico. The league will again utilize a two-conference format, but will eliminate the divisions within the conferences. The Eastern Conference will be comprised of nine clubs while the Western will haven seven.

The Edmonton Aviators join the defending Western Conference champion Minnesota Thunder, Calgary Storm, Milwaukee Wave United, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Puerto Rico Islanders were placed in the Eastern Conference and join the A-League champion Charleston Battery, Atlanta Silverbacks, Montreal Impact, Richmond Kickers, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Syracuse Salty Dogs, Toronto Lynx and Virginia Beach Mariners.

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Charlotte Eagles moved down to the third-division Pro Soccer League. The Indiana Blast and El Paso Patriots dropped to the fourth-division Premier Development League. The Cincinnati Riverhawks are gone.

The 2004 playoff format will see the top four teams from each conference advancing to the postseason where they will play in a two-leg, aggregate-score series in the conference semifinals and conference final to determine who will advance to the A-League title match.

"Although the disparity in the number of teams competing in each conference creates the challenge of selecting a playoff structure equitable to teams from both conferences, we are excited to have arrived at a format consistent with recent A-League seasons," A-League director Tim Holt said in a league press release. "Selecting the top four teams from each of the two conferences puts an emphasis on the importance of success throughout the regular season, as well as increasing the likelihood of the added drama when teams face their rivals in the race for the A-League championship."

The 12-team Pro Soccer League will return to a divisional format after going with a single table in 2003. The expansion Harrisburg City Islanders will join Pittsburgh and Charlotte as the new teams.

Harrisburg and Pittsburgh join the 2002 league champion Long Island Rough Riders in the Atlantic Division. Charlotte joins the Northern Virginia Royals and defending champion Wilmington Hammerheads in the Southern Division. The New Hampshire Phantoms, Western Mass Pioneers and 2003 runnerup Westchester Flames comprise the Northern Division. The California Gold, San Diego Gauchos and Utah Blitzz are in the Western Division.

The Carolina Dynamo, New Jersey Stallions and Reading Rage moved down from thhe PSL to the Premier Development League.

Four expansion clubs are among the 55 teams that will play in the upcoming PDL season.

The conferences and divisions remain unchanged from 2003 with the Central Conference (Great Lakes and Heartland divisions), Eastern Conference (Mid Atlantic and Northeast divisions), Southern Conference (Mid South and Southeast divisions) and Western Conference (Northwest and Southwest divisions).

Two of the four expansion clubs will play in the Central Conference. The Cleveland Internationals will join the Columbus Shooting Stars, Fort Wayne Fever, Indiana Invaders, Kalamazoo Kingdom, Michigan Bucks, Toledo Slayers and West Michigan Edge in the Great Lakes Division.

Indiana, along with a new club in Colorado Springs, will join the Boulder Rapids Reserve, the 2003 runnerup Chicago Fire Reserves, Des Moines Menace, Kansas City Brass, Sioux Falls SpitFire, St Louis Strikers, Thunder Bay Chill and Wisconsin Rebels in the Heartland Division.

The Eastern Conference sees three former clubs from the Pro Soccer League come into the mix. The Carolina joins the Chesapeake Dragons, Raleigh CASL Elite, Richmond Kickers Future, West Virginia Chaos and Williamsburg Legacy in the Mid Atlantic Division.

New Jersey and Reading, the former PSL teams, are among the nine in the Northeast Division with the Albany Blackwatch Highlanders, Brooklyn Knights, Jersey Falcons, Rhode Island Stingrays, South Jersey Barons, Vermont Voltage and two-time defending champion Cape Cod Crusaders.

The Southern Conference will see the most change with two new clubs, the addition of a former PSL team and two teams with name changes.

The Mid South Division will look rather different in 2004 with the formation of a club in Las Cruces, N.M., the addition of the one-time A-League side from El Paso, and name changes for the clubs formerly known as the Texas Spurs and Louisiana Outlaws. The new names will be announced at a later date. They are joined by the Austin Lightning, Memphis Express, Nashville Metros and 2003 regular-season champion New Orleans Shell Shockers.

The Southeast Division sees just one change with the addition of the Ajax Orlando Prospects to the 2003 roster of the Bradenton Academics, Central Florida Kraze, Cocoa Expos and Palm Beach Pumas.

The Western Conference remains relatively unchanged. The Abbotsford Rangers became a full member of the Northwest Division after playing a provisional schedule last year, joining the Cascade Surge, Spokane Shadow and Yakima Reds.

The Southwest remains the same with the BYU Cougars, Fresno Fuego, Nevada Wonders, Orange County Blue Star and Southern California Seahorses.