Thursday, April 24, 2008

The story of Crystal Palace Baltimore’s inaugural season was no match in comparison to fellow expansion club Cleveland, but the newcomers were turned out to be no pushovers come season’s end after opening the year with four consecutive losses and just one goal.

The rough stretch to open their first campaign saw them face three teams who would eventually reach the postseason, but the signs of their progression just in those four games would be symbolic of their future season as they went from 4-1 and 4-0 losses to Charlotte and Cleveland in the first two to narrow 1-0 defeats in the next two. That run of four defeats, however, gave way to a seven-game unbeaten run (3-0-4) as the club went on to finish the campaign with only two more defeats.

The midseason addition of veteran USL-1 striker Gary Brooks proved critical over the second half of the season as the team went 6-1-0 down the stretch with the lone loss coming against eventual champion Harrisburg. Brooks would provide seven goals in his nine games played. The amazing second half run left the new team just three points shy of being the second expansion team in the four-team playoffs.

The 2008 Season

Finishing last season as arguably one of the hottest clubs, Palace need to tinker very little with the lineup during the offseason and did just that, bringing back all three All-League selections Brooks, Matthew Mbuta and Shintaro Harada. At least 10 players will be returning to the team, most having played in at least half of last year’s games.

There will also be some experienced new faces in Baltimore in 2008 with the club bringing in Cecil Lewis (Wilmington/Richmond), Paul Robson (Long Island) and a trio from the defending champion City Islanders. Two-year City Islander Carlos Morales is joined by All-League defender Michael Lookingland, who posted two goals and two assists in 17 games last year and All-League goalkeeper selection Matt Nelson.

Nelson finished among the leaders in nearly every statistical category, including finishing first in shutouts (10) and second in goals against average (0.61). The former USL-1 veteran will be competing with returning keeper Brian Rowland, who was also among the league leaders with a 0.84 GAA, making the club’s goalkeeping duo arguably the best in USL-2, perhaps among all USL professional clubs.

The First Five

Palace opens the season with their first three games at home, hosting the expansion Pittsburgh Riverhounds April 25 in their season opener before taking on last year’s regular season champion Richmond Kickers on May 4. They host Wilmington (7th) on May 10 before hitting the road to face Bermuda (10th) on May 17 and Western Mass (6th) on May 24.