CHICAGO (Feb. 8, 2010) — The U.S. Soccer Federation has announced the schedule for the 2010 Division 2 Professional League. The regular season will open in the second weekend of April and run until early October, with the playoffs to be contested during the following weeks.
Each of the 12 teams participating in the league will play 30 regular season games for a total of 180 games. The kickoff times for each match will be determined and announced in the near future. The 12 teams are divided into two conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. The USL Conference includes Austin Aztex, NSC Minnesota, Portland Timbers, Puerto Rico Islanders, Rochester Rhinos and Tampa Bay Rowdies. The NASL Conference will consist of Crystal Palace Baltimore, Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC, Montreal Impact, AC St. Louis and Vancouver Whitecaps. View full schedule
Eight teams will advance to the postseason, with the winners of each conference earning the top two seeds. The next six teams with the most points during the regular season from either conference will also move on to the playoffs. The four teams with the fewest points will be eliminated from post-season play.
Due to travel considerations, the 12 teams were divided into three geographical pods of four teams each to determine the schedule. The teams in Pod 1 are Vancouver, Portland, Minnesota and St. Louis; Pod 2 includes Montreal, Rochester, Baltimore and Carolina; and Pod 3 includes Austin, Tampa Bay, Miami and Puerto Rico.
Within its pod, each team will play the other three teams twice at home and twice away for a total of 12 matches. Each team will also compete against the eight teams from the other two pods twice, one home and once away for a total of 16 matches. To get to a total of 30 matches for each team (15 home and 15 away), each team was paired with a team from a different pod for a final home-and-away series.
The opening two matches of the season will take place on Saturday, April 10, with Miami FC hosting the Rochester Rhinos and the Carolina RailHawks hosting AC St. Louis. The opening weekend will continue with two more matches on Sunday, April 11, with NSC Minnesota visiting the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Montreal Impact traveling to face the Austin Aztex.
The season will come to an end on Oct. 3, with the playoffs will beginning the following week. The first round, semifinal round and championship will be home-and-away series determined by aggregate goals. The final details for the playoff dates and location of the championship match will be announced at a later date.
Ticket information and schedules for AC St Louis are available on their website. All home games will be played at the Soccer Park in Fenton, an easy drive up I-44 for all of us.
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