The 2015 USL season was the fifth season of the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

(USL) and the first under its new name (previously the league was called USL Pro). This season represented a substantial expansion from 14 teams in 2014 to 24 teams in 2015, and the division of the league into two conferences. It is also the 29th season of third-division soccer in the United States. Seven

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

clubs created reserve franchises in the USL for the 2015 season, following the lead of the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

, who had done so in 2014: FC Montreal, New York Red Bulls II, Portland Timbers 2, Real Monarchs, Seattle Sounders FC 2, Toronto FC II, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2. In 2015, the Austin Aztex,

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E R ...

, Saint Louis FC and

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: * Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. * Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the te ...

joined the league as expansion sides. The

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles are an American professional soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games a ...

and

Dayton Dutch Lions Dayton Dutch Lions is an American soccer team based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. From 2011 to 2014, the team played in the USL Professional Divi ...

, both original founding members of the USL, removed themselves to the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

. The Eagles transferred their USL rights to the new

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memoria ...

club. After joining MLS, Orlando City sold their USL franchise rights to Louisville City.

Teams, stadiums, and affiliations

There are eight USL teams owned and operated by MLS clubs and 11 USL-MLS affiliations among the 24 USL clubs.

Player transfers

For full article, see

List of USL transfers 2015 The following is a list of transfers for the teams of the United Soccer League (2010), United Soccer League, the third tier of the United States soccer league system, United States soccer pyramid, for the 2015 USL season, 2015 season. The transacti ...

Competition format

Due to expansion, the league was divided into two conferences, Eastern and Western. Each team plays the clubs within their conferences in a home and away series plus six additional games with geographic rivals regardless of conference for a 28-game schedule. The top six finishers in each conference qualify for the four-week playoffs.

League table

;Eastern Conference ;Western Conference

Results table

USL published schedule and results.

Playoffs

Teams will be seeded No. 1 through No. 6 in each conference, with the top two seeds receiving first-round byes and the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed. The winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 game will then travel to face the No. 2 seed, and the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game will travel to face the No. 1 seed. The winners will meet in the Eastern and Western Conference Championship games with the remaining two teams advancing to square off in the 2015 USL Championship, hosted by the higher seeded club.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

USL Championship

Championship Game MVP:

Asani Samuels Asani Samuels (born 20 March 1992) is a Jamaican professional footballer. Career College & Youth Samuels played four years of college soccer at Canisius College between 2011 and 2014. Samuels also made 10 appearances for NPSL club FC Buffal ...

( ROC)

Attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance. ^† 1 game not reported

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

(Minimum of 50% of Team Games Played) Source:

Top assists

(Minimum of 50% of Team Games Played) Source:

Top Goalkeepers

(Minimum of 33% of Team Minutes Played) Source:

League Awards

Individual Awards

* Most Valuable Player: Matt Fondy ( LOU) * Rookie of the Year: Kharlton Belmar ( POR) * Defender of the Year:

Bryan Burke Bryan Burke (born January 3, 1989) is an American soccer player who last played professionally for San Francisco Deltas in the North American Soccer League. Youth Burke was born and raised in Newport Beach, California and played at the colleg ...

( LOU) * Goalkeeper of the Year: Brandon Miller ( ROC) * Coach of the Year: Bob Lilley ( ROC)

All-League Teams

First Team F: Matt Fondy ( LOU), Danni König ( OKC), Long Tan (

AZU Azu (born December 8, 1981) is a Japanese R&B singer. She is well known for her collaborations with rapper Seamo, such as her first major release, the leading track from Seamo's second album ''Live Goes On'', "Kokoro no Koe". Biography Azu first ...

)
M: Luke Vercollone (

COL In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103. . It may also be called a gap. Particularly rugged and forbidding co ...

), Rob Vincent (

PIT Pit or PIT may refer to: Structure * Ball pit, a recreation structure * Casino pit, the part of a casino which holds gaming tables * Trapping pit, pits used for hunting * Pit (motor racing), an area of a racetrack where pit stops are conducted * ...

), Tony Walls ( ROC)
D: Bryan Burke ( LOU), Shawn Ferguson (

CHB CHB may refer to: * Camp Half-Blood, a camp in ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians'' * Central Hawkes Bay * Centre for the History of the Book, University of Edinburgh *Centre half-back in Australian rules football *CHB Bank of South Korea *Champion ...

), Daniel Steres ( LAG), Grant Van De Casteele ( ROC)
G: Brandon Miller ( ROC) Second Team F: Kharlton Belmar ( POR), Dane Kelly (

), Jason Yeisley ( RIC)
M: Gareth Evans ( OKC), Kevin Kerr (

), Rodrigo Lopez (

SAC SAC or Sac may refer to: Organizations Education * Santa Ana College, California, US * San Antonio College, Texas, US * St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada * Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada * SISD Student Activiti ...

)
D: Mickey Daly (

), Brenton Griffiths ( OCB), Mechack Jerome ( CHA), Nemanja Vukovic (

)
G: Odisnel Cooper (

)

References

{{2015 in American soccer USL Championship seasons 2015 in American soccer leagues