LD Update: Bixler retires; USL Pro award winners; MISL sched released

USL Pro News: Veteran Harrisburg City Islanders defender Dustin Bixler, a three-time All-League selection and 2007 USL Second Division championship MVP, announced his retirement... The expansion club in Arizona announced it will play as Phoenix FC, unveiling Wolves as the mascot and prominent feature of the new logo... The league announced the season award winners at the championship banquet, honoring Kevin Molino (Orlando) as MVP, Adrian Heath (Orlando) as Coach of the Year, Troy Roberts (Rochester) as Defender of the Year and Jose Cuevas of the championship finalist Charleston Battery as the Rookie of the Year.  

LD Update: NASL adopts split season; USL Pro award finalists

The big news of the day was the announcement from the North American Soccer League that it is altering its competitive structure to a two-season format in which the spring season will be held from March to July 4 followed by a 3-4 week break before the fall season commences.

LD Update: USL Pro All-League honors; NASL honors; Blues to play Pachuca

LD News: Orlando City of USL Pro is loaning Jamie Watson to the NASL Minnesota Stars for the remainder of the season.

NASL News: The league recognized Matt Horth of the Atlanta Silverbacks as the Offensive Player of the Week and Frankie Sanfilippo of the Tampa Bay Rowdies as the Defensive Player of the Week... The Carolina RailHawks duo of Nick Millington (Guyana) and John Krause (Puerto Rico) have been called in for national team camps in preparation for World Cup qualifiers and the Digicel Caribbean Cup (qualifiers for Gold Cup).

LD Update: NASL Game Night

Home clubs were winless on the night, but with the playoffs looming all the attention is on positioning in the table. The Tampa Bay Rowdies joined the San Antonio Scorpions in the playoff field with a road win against state rival Fort Lauderdale that also allowed the Carolina RailHawks to jump into a tie for fourth with the Strikers with a victory over the Puerto Rico Islanders who only sit two points ahead of the duo in third. Defending champion Minnesota missed out on a chance to pull away and virtually lock up the sixth and final berth, but played to a draw against the league-leading San Antonio Scorpions.