The Cape Cod Crusaders was an American soccer team based in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Founded in 1994, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when the franchise folded and the team left the league.
The team played its home games at several different venues in eastern Massachusetts: mainly in stadium on the campus of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, but also at Whitman-Hanson High School in Whitman, Massachusetts, and at Bowditch Stadium in Framingham, Massachusetts. Also played at Barnstable High School in the town of Hyannis, Massachusetts. The Crusaders' historical home was the stadium on the grounds Dennis Yarmouth High School in the town of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, where they won back to back championships in 2002 and 2003. The team's colors were red and white.
The team had a sister organization, the Boston Renegades, who play in the women's USL W-League. The club still fields a team in the USL's Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the United Soccer Leagues umbrella.
History
The Crusaders were one of the most successful minor-league soccer teams in the United States, having been national PDL champions twice, in 2002 and 2003. The team was also one of the most long-lasting teams, having played in four different leagues, at two different levels, over the course of more than a decade. In the mid-2000s the Crusaders became part of the Massachusetts Premier Soccer (MPS) organization, which runs soccer schools and north senior and junior amateur leagues across Massachusetts, with the intent of developing and promoting the game.
For each season the Crusaders also fielded a Futures Team that won 3 Championships in a four year span led by Striker Keith Simpson, a four time scoring champion.
In 2007, Crusaders striker Ricardo Pierre-Louis was part of the Haiti squad which took part in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Pierre-Louis was the only PDL player to take part in the tournament, coming on as a substitute in the 1–1 draw with Costa Rica, and playing a full 90 minutes in the 2–0 defeat to Canada.
Players
Final squad vs. Brooklyn Knights, 25 July 2008
Year-by-year YearDivisionLeagueReg. seasonPlayoffsOpen Cup19943USISL3rd, NortheastDivisional SemifinalsDid not enter19953USISL Pro League4th, CoastalDivisional SemifinalsDid not qualify19963USISL Select League5th, North AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify19973USISL D-3 Pro League7th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify19983USISL D-3 Pro League4th, NortheastDivision SemifinalsDid not qualify19993USL D3-Pro League7th, NorthernDid not qualify1st Round20003USL D3-Pro League6th, NorthernDid not qualify2nd Round20014USL PDL6th, NortheastDid not qualify2nd Round20024USL PDL2nd, NortheastChampionDid not qualify20034USL PDL2nd, NortheastChampionDid not qualify20044USL PDL2nd, NortheastConference Semifinals3rd Round20054USL PDL1st, NortheastConference SemifinalsDid not qualify20064USL PDL1st, New EnglandConference Finals1st Round20074USL PDL1st, NortheastConference FinalsDid not qualify20084USL PDL1st, New EnglandConference SemifinalsDid not qualify
Honors USL PDL New England Division Champion 2008 USL PDL Northeast Division Champion 2007 USL PDL New England Division Champion 2006 USL PDL Northeast Division Champion 2005 USL PDL Champion 2003 USL PDL Eastern Conference Champion 2003 USL PDL Champion 2002 USL PDL Eastern Conference Champion 2002
Head coaches Methembe Ndlovu (2003) Paul Baber (2005–2008)
Stadiums
Stadium at Dennis Yarmouth High School, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts (1994–2003) Stadium at Barnstable High School, Hyannis, Massachusetts (2004–2007) Stadium at Nauset Regional High School, North Eastham, Massachusetts 1 game (2005) Stadium at Weymouth High School, Weymouth, Massachusetts 1 game (2006) Stadium at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, Whitman, Massachusetts 3 games (2007–2008) Stadium at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts (2008) Stadium at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, Bridgewater, Massachusetts 1 game (2008) Bowditch Stadium, Framingham, Massachusetts 1 game (2008)
Average attendance 1994: NA 1995: NA 1996: 1,073 (16th in Select League) 1997: 783 1998: 433 1999: 511 2000: 554 2001: 331 (15th in PDL) 2002: 385 (15th in PDL) Playoffs: 2,239 Overall: 591 2003: 392 (20th in PDL) Playoffs: 1,238 Overall: 477 2004: 413 (22nd in PDL) 2005: 306 (32nd in PDL) 2006: 330 (27th in PDL) 2007: 284 (36th in PDL) 2008: 309 (35th in PDL)
References
External links Cape Cod Crusaders FC