USL PRO News Release
Sunday, August 19, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – The USL PRO Playoffs field was set on Sunday night, as the Wilmington Hammerheads and Harrisburg City Islanders claimed the final two playoff places on the final day of the regular season earlier on Sunday. Sunday’s results left Orlando City and the Rochester Rhinos as the top two teams in USL PRO’s regular season, earning the two teams a bye to the semifinals on the weekend of August 31-September 2.
The Rhinos claimed the second bye to the semifinals as the Richmond Kickers were upended 2-0 by Antigua Barracuda FC, with the bottom club in USL PRO ending their season on a high through first-half goals by Quinton Griffith and Randolph Burton. The Kickers instead will claim the No.4 seed in the playoffs, and will host the No.5 seed Wilmington Hammerheads next Saturday night at City Stadium at 7 p.m.
The Hammerheads clinched their place in the playoffs as they took a 2-1 victory against the Charlotte Eagles on Sunday night in a contest that weather forced to be rescheduled from Friday night. Corey Hertzog and Steven Perry scored for the Hammerheads, with Perry’s goal coming 13 minutes from full time after he had been brought on as a substitute.
Charlotte was then knocked out of the playoffs as Harrisburg took a 1-0 victory against the Los Angeles Blues to claim the No.6 seed and a contest with the No.3 seed Charleston Battery next Saturday night at Blackbaud Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET. Second-half substitute Yann Ekra scored the only goal of the game in the 66th minute for the City Islanders, who moved one point ahead of the Eagles with their victory.
Orlando City and the Rochester Rhinos will face the two quarterfinals winners the following weekend, with the lower remaining seed traveling to face the regular-season champion Lions, and the higher remaining seed travelling to face the Rhinos. Both semifinals will be played on Friday, August 31, with the Lions hosting at the Florida Citrus Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Rhinos hosting at 7:35 p.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium.
For live updates from both of this weekend’s quarterfinals, plus news, features, previews and game reports from throughout USL PRO, follow the league on Twitter (@USLPRO) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/USLPRO). A full schedule for this weekend’s action can be found below.
USL PRO PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals
Saturday, August 25
No.5 Wilmington Hammerheads at No.4 Richmond Kickers, 7 p.m. ET
No.6 Harrisburg City Islanders at No.3 Charleston Battery, 7:30 p.m. ET
Semifinals
Friday, August 31
Lower remaining seed at No.1 Orlando City, 7:30 p.m. ET
Higher remaining seed at No.2 Rochester Rhinos, 7:35 p.m. ET