In just their second season in the Premier Development League, the Charlotte (N.C.) Eagles -- bolstered by five John Brown University men's soccer players -- are on the verge of capturing a divisional and conference regular season title.
The PDL is a developmental league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the U.S. and Canada and features some of the top-level men's amateur soccer competition in the United States.
The quintet of John Brown University standouts -- rising sophomores Kelvin Omondi, Ryan Williams, Giovani Bejarano and rising juniors Collin Smith and Douglas Oliveira -- have emerged as essential contributors to Charlotte's run.
Omondi is currently second on the squad with four goals, all coming off the bench. Dubbed the team's "super sub," Omondi helped Charlotte exact retribution on July 9 with a two-goal outburst in a 3-0 victory at South Georgia Tormenta FC.
Boasting a conference-leading 10-2-1 record, just one of Charlotte's two losses on the season came at home against Tormenta FC, a 2-0 setback on June 16.
Omondi maneuvered his way to within one goal of the team's leader with two second-half strikes, cementing the win, Charlotte's fourth-straight and sixth in its last seven matches.
Williams helped setup both tallies, including the primary assist on Omondi's first goal of the match. Williams' assist was his first of the season, but after starting the summer season nursing a knee injury, the midfielder has moved his way into the starting lineup.
Smith has seen action in eight contests, filling in for Jorge Buzzo, a member of the Pfeiffer (N.C.) team that captured the 2015 NCAA Division II National Championship.
Oliveira and Bejarano have seen limited time this season, however, as Oliveira is still recovering from an injury suffered early in the season while Bejarano competes with Macauley King, a second-team selection on both the NSCAA and NCAA II All-Southeast Region teams.
Housed within a three-division Eastern Conference, Charlotte only moved up to the PDL in 2015. Although experiencing success in its first season, including a win in the conference playoffs, the team needed just one point to capture a regular season title heading into its final contest on Saturday against the Tri-City Otters. Results were not available at presstime.
With a 3-0 win at Tri-City already recorded this year, Charlotte's chances at history look good. With a regular season division and conference title sewn up, the Eagles will earn a bye to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where the top four teams from the three divisions will face off to determine the conference's representative in the PDL semifinals. The PDL regular season will conclude on Sunday with conference tournaments set to begin the following week.
The PDL Conference Championships will be held on the weekend of July 22-24, with the four conference champions advancing to the PDL Semifinals, to be held on the week of July 24-31. The 2016 PDL Championship Game will be held on the weekend of August 5-7.
Sports on 07/17/2016