West Texas United Sockers

The 2011 US Open Cup qualifying process for the Premier Development League begins April 30 when the Central Florida Kraze play host to Fort Lauderdale Schulz. The match marks the beginning of what is arguably the most intense opening to any league season, making it the most pressure-packed portion of the PDL schedule league-wide. The task of qualifying can be more daunting than the professional opponents awaiting them in the tournament proper.

In the upcoming edition of the tournament, the PDL will be represented by a record nine clubs after seven consecutive years with eight representatives. With nine berths available, the league will send one from each division based on four league contests that will double as qualification matches – a format long established by the parent United Soccer Leagues.

Here is the Southern Conference portion of the four-part series of breakdowns:

Southern Conference Qualifying Breakdown

Mid South Division
Baton Rouge Capitals, Chivas El Paso Patriots, Laredo Heat, New Orleans Jesters, RGV Grandes FC, West Texas United Sockers

Previously an all-Texas group, the addition of the Baton Rouge Capitals and New Orleans Jesters marks the return of Lone Star State outsiders to the qualification process after a two-year absence.

The bigger news for this division is how compact the nature of the qualification process will be as four of the six clubs will play all four of their designated matches within, at most, an 11-day span. The Capitals will play all four games in that period while their Louisiana counterparts will do the same in one fewer. The Chivas El Paso Patriots and West Texas United Sockers both will determine their fate during a stretch of nine days.

The only two clubs that will have the opportunity to relax and take their time in qualifying are the Laredo Heat and expansion side RGV Grandes. Both open the group’s fixture list May 13 at home as RGV plays host to El Paso and Laredo takes on West Texas. They also close out the campaign with RGV traveling to New Orleans May 28 and Laredo visiting Baton Rouge the following day.

But while the Louisiana duo are making a return to the group, the pair will not see one another during the qualifying process as each club will face their four Texas rivals, leaving the local derby for the rest of the season.

US Open Cup tournament history is extremely limited outside of El Paso, where the Patriots have appeared in the official bracket eight times through its storied past, which includes the 1995 US Open Cup Final. The only other appearance in the tournament proper among the six-team field was Laredo’s 2006 appearance.

El Paso and Laredo, historically, have been among the leaders in the qualifying process from the group with the Patriots boasting a 9-4-3 record over the past four years while the Heat were 7-5-4. The other three clubs, though, have respectable records for the past four years with New Orleans at 6-4-6, Baton Rouge at 5-7-4 and West Texas at an even 3-3-2 in its two-year history.

MID-SOUTH DIVISION	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GF	GD
Baton Rouge Capitals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
El Paso Patriots	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
Laredo Heat	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
New Orleans Jesters	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
Rio Grande Valley Grandes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
West Texas United Sockers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0

Top team qualifies for the U.S. Open Cup

Clinched Open Cup berth – Eliminated from contention

Note: Columns on the far right are for tiebreaker purposes

USL Premier Development League tiebreakers

(1) Head-to-head record based on total points in Open Cup qualifiers

(2) Total wins in Open Cup qualifying games

(3) Goal difference (+/- 3 goals maximum for each USOC qualifier)

(4) Goals scored (+/- 3 goals maximum for each USOC qualifier)

(5) Lottery conducted by the USL

All times Eastern

May 13	El Paso Patriots	at	Rio Grande Valley Grandes	9:00
May 13	West Texas United Sockers	at	Laredo Heat	9:15
May 14	West Texas United Sockers	at	Rio Grande Valley Grandes	9:00
May 14	El Paso Patriots	at	Laredo Heat	9:15
May 19	Baton Rouge Capitals	at	West Texas United Sockers	8:30
May 19	New Orleans Jesters	at	El Paso Patriots	10:00
May 21	New Orleans Jesters	at	West Texas United Sockers	8:30
May 21	Baton Rouge Capitals	at	El Paso Patriots	10:00
May 27	Rio Grande Valley Grandes	at	Baton Rouge Capitals	8:00
May 27	Laredo Heat	at	New Orleans Jesters	8:00
May 28	Rio Grande Valley Grandes	at	New Orleans Jesters	8:00
May 29	Laredo Heat	at	Baton Rouge Capitals	8:00

Southeast Division
Central Florida Kraze, FC Jax Destroyers, Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy, IMG Bradenton Academics, Mississippi Brilla, Nashville Metros

While it is one of four six-team groups across the PDL, the Southeast faction is completely unique in that the fixture schedule features two sub-groups of three playing home and away schedules as their qualifying matches. As the northern-most Floridian side, the expansion Jax Destroyers of Jacksonville have been paired up with the Nashville Metros and Mississippi Brilla in one half while the trio of the Bradenton Academics, Central Florida Kraze and second-year Fort Lauderdale Schulz are in the other.

The threesomes are fairly comparable as both feature a pair of veteran clubs along with a third that is only in its first or second season in the league.

Mississippi, a qualifier in 2009, is the standout of the northern trio as the club boasts an 8-4-4 record in qualifying over the last four years. Although Nashville has not been in the tournament since 2003, the club has not exactly been a doormat over the last four years with a record of 5-7-4. A year ago, Brilla won the lone qualifier between the two by a 3-0 scoreline as they swept the four game season series en route to finishing the season unbeaten at 11-0-3.

The all-Florida trio is a little more balanced as Central Florida is 9-5-2 over the past four years in its qualification efforts and Bradenton is 8-4-4. The Kraze took the top spot a year ago for their third appearance in the tournament while Bradenton’s lone appearance came in 2008. Fort Lauderdale had a rough outing a year ago with four losses, including a 3-1 defeat to the Kraze and 1-0 to the Academics. Bradenton and Central Florida did not face one another head-to-head a year ago, but split the regular season series with a pair of 1-0 decisions.

SOUTHEAST DIVISION	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GF	GD
Bradenton Academics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
Central Florida Kraze	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
FC Jax Destroyers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
Mississippi Brilla	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0
Nashville Metros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	+0

Top team qualifies for the U.S. Open Cup

Clinched Open Cup berth – Eliminated from contention

Note: Columns on the far right are for tiebreaker purposes

USL Premier Development League tiebreakers

(1) Head-to-head record based on total points in Open Cup qualifiers

(2) Total wins in Open Cup qualifying games

(3) Goal difference (+/- 3 goals maximum for each USOC qualifier)

(4) Goals scored (+/- 3 goals maximum for each USOC qualifier)

(5) Lottery conducted by the USL

All times Eastern

April 30	Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy	at	Central Florida Kraze	4:00
May 6	Central Florida Kraze	at	Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy	7:00
May 8	Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy	at	Bradenton Academics	5:30
May 12	Central Florida Kraze	at	Bradenton Academics	5:30
May 13	FC Jax Destroyers	at	Mississippi Brilla	8:00
May 15	FC Jax Destroyers	at	Nashville Metros	4:00
May 15	Bradenton Academics	at	Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy	6:00
May 19	Mississippi Brilla	at	FC Jax Destroyers	7:00
May 23	Nashville Metros	at	FC Jax Destroyers	7:00
May 26	Mississippi Brilla	at	Nashville Metros	8:00
May 28	Bradenton Academics	at	Central Florida Kraze	4:00
May 30	Nashville Metros	at	Mississippi Brilla	6:00

Here is a quick look at all of the eligible clubs with links to previews by conference (as available):

Central Conference (Coming Soon)

Great Lakes Division: Akron Summit Assault, Chicago Fire, Cincinnati Kings, Indiana Invaders, Michigan Bucks, River City Rovers
Heartland Division: Des Moines Menace, Kansas City Brass, Real Colorado Foxes, Springfield Demize, St Louis Lions

Eastern Conference (Coming Soon)

Mid Atlantic Division: Brooklyn Knights, Central Jersey Spartans, Jersey Express, Long Island Rough Riders, New Jersey Rangers, Ocean City Nor’easters, Reading United AC, Westchester Flames
Northeast Division: MPS Portland Phoenix, New Hampshire Phantoms, Vermont Voltage, Western Mass Pioneers
South Atlantic Division: Carolina Dynamo, Fredericksburg Hotspur, Northern Virginia Royals, Real Maryland Monarchs, Virginia Beach Piranhas, West Virginia Chaos

Southern Conference

Mid South Division: Baton Rouge Capitals, Chivas El Paso Patriots, Laredo Heat, New Orleans Jesters, RGV Grandes FC, West Texas United Sockers
Southeast Division: Central Florida Kraze, FC Jax Destroyers, Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy, IMG Bradenton Academics, Mississippi Brilla, Nashville Metros

Western Conference (Coming Soon)

Northwest Division: Kitsap Pumas, North Sound SeaWolves, Portland Timbers U23, Tacoma Tide, Washington Crossfire
Southwest Division: BYU Cougars, Fresno Fuego, LA Blues 23, Los Angeles Legends, Ogden Outlaws, Orange County Blue Star, Southern California Seahorses, Ventura County Fusion