2011 NPSL season

National Premier Soccer League
Official 2011 NPSL Championship logo
Season2011
ChampionsJacksonville United
Matches played220
Goals scored710 (3.23 per match)
Biggest home win11–0, Hollywood United Hitmen over Real San Jose
Biggest away win9–0, Madison 56ers over Eau Claire Aris
Highest scoring12 goals, Bay Area Ambassadors 4–8 Lancaster Rattlers
← 2010
2012 →

The 2011 National Premier Soccer League season was the 9th season of the NPSL. The regular season began on April 1, 2011, and ended on July 17. The playoffs concluded with the NPSL Championship Game, which was held at the home of Rocket City United in Madison, Alabama on July 30.

Jacksonville United ended the season as national champions, beating the Hollywood United Hitmen 3–2 in the 2011 NPSL Championship game.[1] Jacksonville were the lowest seeded-team in the playoffs, having finished champions of the Southeast Division with a 6–0–4 record after starting their campaign with four straight losses, and beat number one seed and Northeast Division champions Erie Admirals on their way to the final. Both Jacksonville and Hollywood were first-year NPSL teams, although Hollywood had previously spent two seasons playing in the USL Premier Development League.

The Erie Admirals had the best regular season record, with a points-per-game average of 2.583, just ahead of the Hollywood United Hitmen (2.429) and FC Sonic Lehigh Valley (2.417), who were in such a strong division they did not even qualify for the post-season.

Jacksonville striker Tommy Krizanovic scored a hat trick in the NPSL final, and was named MVP of the championship tournament.[2]

Changes From 2010

Name Changes/Rebrands

New Franchises

  • 13 franchises were announced as joining the league this year:
Team Name Metro Area Location Previous Affiliation
AC Crusaders Atlantic County area Egg Harbor Township, NJ expansion
Buxmont Torch FC Montgomery County area Souderton, PA expansion
Georgia Revolution Rockdale County area Conyers, GA expansion
FC Hasental Conejo Valley area Thousand Oaks, CA expansion
Hollywood United Hitmen Los Angeles area Los Angeles, CA USL Premier Development League
Jacksonville United Jacksonville area Jacksonville, FL expansion
Knoxville Force Knoxville area Knoxville, TN expansion
Lancaster Rattlers Antelope Valley area Lancaster, CA USL Premier Development League
Mass United Boston area Boston, MA expansion
Quad City Eagles Quad Cities area Moline, IL expansion
San Diego Flash San Diego area San Diego, CA USL A-League
Santa Ana Winds Orange County area Santa Ana, CA expansion
Seacoast United Phantoms Rockingham County area Hampton, NH expansion

Folding

Standings

Purple indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched

Northeast Division - Atlantic Conference

Place Team Pld. W T L GF GA GD Points
1 Brooklyn Italians 10 7 1 2 26 11 +15 22
2 Seacoast United Phantoms 10 5 1 4 16 19 -3 16
3 New York Red Bulls NPSL 10 4 3 3 16 11 +5 15
4 New York Athletic Club 10 4 3 3 15 12 +3 15
5 Morris County Colonials 10 2 3 5 13 21 -8 9
6 Mass United 10 2 1 7 13 25 -12 7

Northeast Division - Keystone Conference

Place Team Pld. W T L GF GA GD Points
1 Erie Admirals 12 10 1 1 30 11 +19 31
2 FC Sonic Lehigh Valley 12 9 2 1 25 7 +18 29
3 Reading Revolution 12 8 1 3 28 13 +15 25
4 AC Crusaders 12 6 3 3 27 15 +12 21
5 FC Buffalo 12 5 1 6 21 15 +6 16
6 Pocono Snow 12 2 2 8 11 27 -16 8
7 Buxmont Torch FC 12 2 0 10 11 36 -25 6
8 New Jersey Blaze 12 1 0 11 12 41 -29 3

Southeast Division

Place Team Pld. W T L GF GA GD Points
1 Jacksonville United 10 6 0 4 16 12 +4 18
2 Georgia Revolution 10 5 3 2 20 15 +5 18
3 Chattanooga FC 10 5 2 3 15 10 +5 17
4 Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves 10 4 2 4 14 13 +1 14
5 Knoxville Force 10 3 1 6 7 16 -9 10
6 Rocket City United 10 3 0 7 12 18 -6 9
7 FC Tulsa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

*Note: Jacksonville finished ahead of Georgia as NPSL rules state that the second tiebreaker after total points is number of victories. FC Tulsa chose not to compete in league play in 2011, and only played in the US Open Cup qualification tournament.

Midwest Division

Place Team Pld. W T L GF GA GD Points
1 Milwaukee Bavarians 12 8 2 2 25 9 +16 26
2 Quad City Eagles 12 6 5 1 27 11 +16 23
3 Madison 56ers 12 6 3 3 34 14 +20 21
4 Minnesota TwinStars FC 12 6 1 5 23 15 +8 19
5 Chicago Fire NPSL 12 4 3 5 18 16 +2 15
6 Minnesota Kings 12 2 2 8 9 34 -25 8
7 Eau Claire Aris 12 1 2 9 8 45 -37 5

West Division - Flight Northwest

Place Team Pld. W T L GF GA GD Points
1 Hollywood United Hitmen 14 11 1 2 54 14 +40 34
2 Sacramento Gold 14 7 4 3 30 20 +10 25
3 Sonoma County Sol 14 7 3 4 38 23 +15 24
4 Bay Area Ambassadors 14 2 1 11 19 48 -29 7
5 Real San Jose 14 2 0 12 11 45 -34 6

West Division - Flight Southwest

Place Team Pld. W T L GF GA GD Points
1 San Diego Flash 14 10 1 3 37 16 +21 31
2 Santa Ana Winds FC 14 8 2 4 25 19 +6 26
3 FC Hasental 14 6 3 5 27 27 0 21
4 San Diego Boca 14 6 1 7 29 32 -3 19
5 Lancaster Rattlers 14 3 0 11 26 52 -26 9

Source: [1][usurped]

NPSL Playoffs

Format

Bracket

Division Semifinals Division Finals National Semifinals National Final
K1 Erie Admirals 1
A1 Brooklyn Italians 0
1 Erie Admirals 2
4 Jacksonville United 4
4 Jacksonville United 3
2 Hollywood United Hitmen 2
3 Milwaukee Bavarians 0
NW1 Hollywood United Hitmen 3 2 Hollywood United Hitmen 3
SW2 Santa Ana Winds FC 1 NW1 Hollywood United Hitmen 1
SW1 San Diego Flash 1 NW2 Sacramento Gold 0
NW2 Sacramento Gold 2

Northeast Division Playoffs

Erie Admirals1 - 0Brooklyn Italians
Colton 72' Report
Attendance: 450

West Division Playoffs

Hollywood United Hitmen3 - 1Santa Ana Winds
Bentil 17'
Whitfield 31'
Blanco 50'		 Report Hernandez Red card 10'
G. Piechota 35'
Attendance: 165
Referee: Omar Meza (USA)
San Diego Flash1 - 2Sacramento Gold
Pizarro 43' Report O. Sandoval 35'
Cabadas 76'
Hollywood United Hitmen1 - 0Sacramento Gold
Blanco 45' Report C. Sandoval Red card 28'
Madu Red card 44'
Attendance: 135
Referee: Daniel Radford (USA)

NPSL Championship Tournament

Semi-finals

Hollywood United Hitmen3 - 0Milwaukee Bavarians
Bentil 48'
Whitfield 67' 88'		 Report[usurped]
Erie Admirals2 - 4Jacksonville United
Falconer 22'
Kennedy 58'		 Report[usurped] Williams 42'
Krizanovic 61'
Leyimu 72'
Salafrio 73'

Third Place Playoff

Milwaukee Bavarians0 - 5Erie Admirals
Report Falconer 33' 72'
Meehl 67'
Blythe 82'
Howard 88'

NPSL All-Star Game

Rocket City United3 - 1NPSL All-Stars
Hyde 27' 61'
Nkurunungi 90'		 Report[usurped] Omondi 63'
Referee: Joshua Morgan (USA)

NPSL Championship Game

Hollywood United Hitmen2 - 3Jacksonville United
Albarrán 31' 77' Report[usurped] Krizanovic 17' 40' 87'

Award Winners and Conference Teams

MVP: Tommy Krizanovic (JAC)

NPSL All-Star Team

F: Jumol Harewood (GEO), Jose Miranda (HOL), Justin Picou (SDB), Afrim Latifi (ERI), Chris Tsonis (SEA)
M: Cody Antonini (SLV), Carlington Lamont (REA), Carlos McCrary (MAD), Kingsley Morgan (ATL), Anthony Santaga (MAD), Billy Sweatra (ACC), Tyler Williams (JAC)
D: Peassio Denev (ECA), Adrian Kawuba (MAS), Marcos Mendez (GEO), Joseph Omondi (RCU), Corey Phillips (BUF), Dan Sauerhoff (MCC), Andy Stewart (CFC)
G: Zach Brunner (LAN), Thomas Hunter (CFC)[4]

2011 National Championship Best 11

F: Tommy Krizanovic (JAC), Brent Whitfield (HOL)
M: Arturo Albarrán (HOL), Gavin Falconer (ERI), Amilcar Herrera (MIL), Shane Howard (ERI), Ramak Safi (JAC)
D: Jacobi Goodfellow (JAC), Garrett Teague (JAC), Marcus Watson (HOL)
G: Stuart McCrory (JAC)[5]

U.S. Open Cup Qualifying

Four NPSL clubs gained berths to the 2011 U.S. Open Cup, one each from the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and West divisions.[6]

Northeast Division

Brooklyn Italians1 - 0FC Buffalo
Joseph 25' Report
FC Sonic Lehigh Valley1 - 2Brooklyn Italians
Report

Southeast Division

First round

Knoxville Force0 - 1Jacksonville United
Report Williams 53'
Rocket City United7 - 1FC Tulsa
Hyde 13' 22' 33' 64'
Nkurunungi 59'
Nunez 80'
Omondi 88'		 Report Cottage 31'

Second round

Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves3 - 1Jacksonville United
Nandi 28'
Morgan 86'
Duque 90+'		 Report Williams 23'
Chattanooga FC2 - 0Rocket City United
Moore 65'
Ochieng 74'		 Report

Final

Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves0 - 1
(AET)		Chattanooga FC
Report Ochieng 116'

Midwest Division

Madison 56ers were granted the automatic berth for the Midwest Division by virtue of their 2010 division championship. The Midwest was the only NPSL division granting its 2011 U.S. Open Cup berth based on performance in the 2010 season.[7]

West Division

The Hollywood United Hitmen were given the berth for the West Division as a result of being the team with the best record over the first seven games of the 2011 regular season.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Krizanovic Leads Jacksonville to the NPSL Championship". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  2. ^ "2011 National Championships' Best 11". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  3. ^ Silverbacks Reserves to Play in NPSL
  4. ^ "2011 NPSL All-Star Team". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  5. ^ "2011 National Championships' Best 11". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  6. ^ "NPSL In The US Open Cup - National Premier Soccer League". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  7. ^ "Madison 56ers awarded NPSL Midwest US Open Cup spot".
  8. ^ "2011 US Open Cup qualifying update: Hollywood claims NPSL West berth after league ruling".