# 1998 PDSL season

The 1998 Premier Development Soccer League season was the 4th PDSL season. The season began in April 1998 and ended in August 1998.
San Gabriel Valley Highlanders won the championship, defeating the Jackson Chargers 3–2. Jackson won the regular season title, winning all 16 games and posting a whopping +84 goal difference. Four teams from the Pacific Coast Soccer League joined as associate members this season, with two (Abbotsford and Seattle) going on to become full members in 1999.

## Changes from the 1997 season
### Name changes

* Puget Sound BigFoot changed name to Seattle BigFoot.

### New teams

13 teams were added for the season, 9 expansion teams and four associates from the Pacific Coast Soccer League.
| Team | Area | Location | Previous affiliation |
| Abbotsford Athletes In Action | Abbotsford area | Abbotsford, BC | Pacific Coast Soccer League |
| Bradenton Academics | Southwest Florida area | Bradenton, FL | expansion |
| Central Florida Lionhearts | Central Florida area | Seminole, FL | expansion |
| Colorado Comets | Denver area | Commerce City, CO | expansion |
| Fox River Rebels | Fox Cities area | Menasha, WI | expansion |
| Indiana Invaders | Michiana area | South Bend, IN | expansion |
| Kansas City Brass | Kansas City area | Liberty, MO | expansion |
| Miami Tango | Greater Miami area | Miami, FL | expansion |
| Northern Arizona Prospectors | Prescott-Chino Valley area | Prescott Valley, AZ | expansion |
| Okanagan Valley Challenge | Okanagan Valley area | Kelowna, BC | Pacific Coast Soccer League |
| Seattle Hibernian | Seattle area | Seattle, WA | Pacific Coast Soccer League |
| Silicon Valley Ambassadors | South San Francisco Bay area | Santa Clara, CA | expansion |
| Victoria Umbro Select | Vancouver Island area | Victoria, BC | Pacific Coast Soccer League |

### Teams leaving

The Cincinnati Riverhawks were promoted to the A-League and the Miami Breakers were promoted to the D3 Pro League following the 1997 season.
7 teams folded after the 1997 season:
* Bellingham Orcas
* Chattanooga Express
* Lincoln Brigade
* Michigan Madness
* Omaha Flames (team folded early in 1998 season, division games were rescheduled)
* Southwest Florida Manatees
* West Florida Fury
The Lexington Bluegrass Bandits and Tucson Amigos went on hiatus for this year.

## Standings

* Legend
* Division champion
* Team qualified for playoff berth
* Team gets bye into semifinals as host.

### Central Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Colorado Comets | 16 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 16 | +24 | 39 |
| 2 | Des Moines Menace | 16 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 51 | 27 | +24 | 29 |
| 3 | Twin Cities Tornado | 16 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 27 |
| 4 | Kansas City Brass | 16 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 21 |
| 5 | Sioux City Breeze | 16 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 28 | 31 | −3 | 17 |
| 6 | Colorado Springs Stampede | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 20 | 46 | −26 | 13 |
* 1 2 Des Moines and Sioux City were both penalized 2 points.
* ↑ Colorado Springs was penalized 1 point.

### Great Lakes Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Dynamite | 16 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 38 |
| 2 | Mid-Michigan Bucks | 16 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 38 | 19 | +19 | 33 |
| 3 | Kalamazoo Kingdom | 16 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 21 |
| 4 | Fox River Rebels | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 18 |
| 5 | Indiana Invaders | 16 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 19 |
| 6 | Lansing Locomotive | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 6 |
| 7 | Grand Rapids Explosion | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 56 | −50 | 0 |
* ↑ Detroit was penalized 2 points.
* ↑ Indiana was penalized 1 point.
* ↑ Lansing was penalized 3 points.

### Northwest Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Spokane Shadow | 16 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 15 | +47 | 39 |
| 2 | Yakima Reds | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 27 |
| 3 | Seattle BigFoot | 16 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 32 | −4 | 27 |
| 4 | Cascade Surge | 16 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 23 |
| 5 | Seattle Hibernian | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 6 |
| 6 | Okanagan Valley Challenge | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 23 | −17 | 6 |
| 7 | Victoria Umbro Select | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 3 |
| 8 | Abbotsford Athletes In Action | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 28 | −19 | 1 |
* ↑ Seattle BigFoot was penalized 3 points.
* ↑ Cascade was penalized 2 points.
* 1 2 3 4 Abbotsford, Okanagan Valley, Seattle Hibernian, and Victoria are all associate members and do not play a full schedule.
* ↑ Abbotsford was penalized 1 point.

### Southeast Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Jackson Chargers | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 17 | +87 | 48 |
| 2 | Cocoa Expos | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 27 |
| 3 | Bradenton Academics | 16 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 25 |
| 4 | Alabama Saints | 16 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 21 |
| 5 | Miami Tango | 16 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 19 |
| 6 | Central Florida Lionhearts | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 40 | 55 | −15 | 16 |
| 7 | South Florida Future | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 28 | 79 | −51 | 13 |
* 1 2 3 Bradenton, Central Florida, and South Florida were all penalized 1 point.
* ↑ Miami was penalized 1 point.

### Southwest Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Silicon Valley Ambassadors | 16 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 20 | +24 | 43 |
| 2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 16 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 45 | 27 | +18 | 31 |
| 3 | Southern California Chivas | 16 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 21 |
| 4 | Central Coast Roadrunners | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 31 | 39 | −8 | 15 |
| 5 | Northern Arizona Prospectors | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 23 | 66 | −43 | 4 |
* 1 2 3 Northern Arizona, San Gabriel Valley, and Silicon Valley were all penalized 1 point.

## Playoffs
### Format

Kalamazoo hosted the Finals and received a bye to the National Semi-Finals. The top four teams from the Central, Great Lakes, Southeast, and Southwest divisions, however, if Kalamazoo places in the top four in the Central Division, the fifth place team will take their spot. The top two teams in the Northwest Division will play the top two associate teams from the PCSL. The team with the most points to lose in the Divisional rounds will play in the Regional round as a wild card against the Divisional champion with the most points. The remaining four teams will play each other based on geography.

### Divisional brackets

| Southeast Semifinals | Southeast Semifinals | Southeast Semifinals | Southeast Finals | Southeast Finals | Southeast Finals |
| SE1 | Jackson Chargers | 7 | | | |
| SE4 | Miami Tango | 0 | | | |
| SE4 | Miami Tango | 0 | SE1 | Jackson Chargers | 8 |
| | | | SE2 | Cocoa Expos | 2 |
| SE2 | Cocoa Expos | 4 | SE2 | Cocoa Expos | 2 |
| SE3 | Bradenton Academics | 3 | | | |
| Southwest Semifinals | Southwest Semifinals | Southwest Semifinals | Southwest Finals | Southwest Finals | Southwest Finals |
| SW1 | Silicon Valley Ambassadors | 1 | | | |
| SW4 | Central Coast Roadrunners (AET) | 2 | | | |
| SW4 | Central Coast Roadrunners (AET) | 2 | SW4 | Central Coast Roadrunners | 2 |
| | | | SW2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 4 |
| SW2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 2 | SW2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 4 |
| SW3 | Southern California Chivas | 0 | | | |
| Northwest Semifinals | Northwest Semifinals | Northwest Semifinals | Northwest Finals | Northwest Finals | Northwest Finals |
| NW1 | Spokane Shadow | 1 | | | |
| NWA2 | Okanagan Valley Challenge | 2 | | | |
| NWA2 | Okanagan Valley Challenge | 2 | NWA2 | Okanagan Valley Challenge | 1 |
| | | | NW2 | Yakima Reds | 4 |
| NW2 | Yakima Reds | 1 | NW2 | Yakima Reds | 4 |
| NWA1 | Seattle BigFoot | 0 | | | |
| Central Semifinals | Central Semifinals | Central Semifinals | Central Finals | Central Finals | Central Finals |
| C1 | Colorado Comets | 0 | | | |
| C4 | Kansas City Brass | 1 | | | |
| C4 | Kansas City Brass | 1 | C4 | Kansas City Brass | 2 (0) |
| | | | C2 | Des Moines Menace (AET/PSO) | 2 (1) |
| C2 | Des Moines Menace (AET) | 2 | C2 | Des Moines Menace (AET/PSO) | 2 (1) |
| C3 | Twin Cities Tornado | 1 | | | |
| Great Lakes Semifinals | Great Lakes Semifinals | Great Lakes Semifinals | Great Lakes Finals | Great Lakes Finals | Great Lakes Finals |
| GL1 | Detroit Dynamite | 3 | | | |
| GL4 | Fox River Rebels | 2 | | | |
| GL4 | Fox River Rebels | 2 | GL1 | Detroit Dynamite | 0 |
| | | | GL2 | Mid-Michigan Bucks | 2 |
| GL2 | Mid-Michigan Bucks | 3 | GL2 | Mid-Michigan Bucks | 2 |
| GL3 | Indiana Invaders | 0 | | | |

### Round of Six

| Region A | Region A | Region A |
| GL2 | Mid-Michigan Bucks | 2 |
| WC | Jackson Chargers | 3 |
| Region B | Region B | Region B |
| SW2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 4 |
| NW2 | Yakima Reds | 2 |
| Region C | Region C | Region C |
| C2 | Des Moines Menace | 3 |
| SE2 | Cocoa Expos | 1 |

### PDSL finals bracket

| PDL Semifinals | PDL Semifinals | PDL Semifinals | PDL Finals | PDL Finals | PDL Finals |
| WC | Jackson Chargers | 2 | | | |
| H | Kalamazoo Kingdom | 0 | | | |
| H | Kalamazoo Kingdom | 0 | WC | Jackson Chargers | 2 |
| | | | SW2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 3 |
| SW2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 3 | SW2 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders | 3 |
| C2 | Des Moines Menace | 1 | PDL Third Place | PDL Third Place | PDL Third Place |
| | | | H | Kalamazoo Kingdom | 1 |
| | | | C2 | Des Moines Menace | 4 |

## Honors

* Organization of the Year: Jackson Chargers
* Executive of the Year: Dave Nesbit, Des Moines Menace
* Fair Play Award: Spokane Shadow