The 2017 season was

Bethlehem Steel FC Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. ...

's second season of competitive

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

and first season competing in the second division of American soccer. Steel FC competed in the league's Eastern Conference.

Roster

Transfers

In

Out

Loan in

Competitions

compete in

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

, which is the second tier of the

American soccer pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur association football, soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are no ...

. Steel FC's affiliation with the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

has prevented the team from participating in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

competition. The decision to make affiliated "farm teams" ineligible for the U.S. Open Cup was decided since the 2016 iteration of the tournament.

Preseason

USL regular season

The

2017 USL season The 2017 USL season was the seventh season of the United Soccer League. The league was granted provisional Division II status by the USSF. It was organized by the United Soccer Leagues. New York Red Bulls II were the defending champions of bo ...

will be contested by 30 teams, 15 of which compete in the league's Eastern Conference. All teams will play a regular season total of 32 matches between teams within their respective conference. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams from each conference advance to the 2017 USL Playoffs for a chance to compete for the USL Championship Title.

Standings (Eastern Conference)

Results

All times in

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

Results summary

USL Playoffs

Bethlehem Steel FC earned the final playoff spot during the

for the first time in the club's history. Finishing as the 8th seed, Steel FC's first round fixture was away at conference winning

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, which is currently the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club was founded in 2014 after O ...

. All times in

Statistics

''As of October 28, 2017.''

Goalkeepers

''As of October 28, 2017.'' :Players with names ''in italics'' were on loan from

for individual matches with Bethlehem. :Players with names marked ‡ were academy call-ups from Philadelphia Union Academy for individual matches with Bethlehem. :Players with names marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Bethlehem. :Players with names marked † were transferred/released from the club midseason. :League denotes USL regular season :Playoffs denotes USL Playoffs

Honors

* Week 3 Player of the Week: F

Seku Conneh Seku Conneh (born 10 November 1995) is a Liberian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Koninklijke HFC in the Tweede Divisie. Career Youth Born in Voinjama, Liberia, and raised in the Netherlands, Conneh began his youth developmen ...

''Honorable Mention'': M Santi Moar * Week 6 Team of the Week: D Hugh Roberts * Week 8 Team of the Week: G Jake McGuire * Week 9 Save of the Week: G Jake McGuire * Week 10 Team of the Week ''Honorable Mention'': F Cory Burke * Week 11 Team of the Week ''Honorable Mention'': F

* Week 12 Team of the Week ''Honorable Mention'': F

* Week 13 Player of the Week: M Adam Najem
''Honorable Mention'': D Auston Trusty * Week 15 Team of the Week ''Honorable Mention'': D Aaron Jones * Week 20 Team of the Week: M

Chris Nanco Christopher Lenroy Nanco (born February 15, 1995) is a Canadian former professional association football, soccer player. He played as a Forward (association football), forward. Early life He began playing youth soccer with Brampton Youth SC. At a ...

* Week 21 Team of the Week ''Honorable Mention'': F Cory Burke * Week 24 Team of the Week ''Honorable Mention'': M Marcus Epps * Week 27 Team of the Week: F Cory Burke * Week 28 Team of the Week ''Honorable Mention'': F

* Week 29 Team of the Week: M Santi Moar

References

{{2017 in American soccer

Philadelphia Union II seasons