2015 Year in Review

REGULAR SEASON

The league's 7th season featured 10 of 12 clubs returning. Replacing Pennsylvania and Ohio was Cumberland Athletic Club from Maryland, and the leagues first Canadian side, named SC Canada. Like many expansion sides, the new kids on the block came out of the gates flying high. Cumberland owned first place in the league table for several weeks. Then, as they began to cool off, clubs like Gold Coast and Capital District began to move up the ladder. The early trends included last years Majors Cup Champion, Rose City, struggling mightily and would end up quitting in week 9. The defending BSL Cup champion Spartans also would struggle and never did rebound to be a threat in the post season races. Even perennial powerhouses, Gateway United and Alamo City struggled, although both rebounded in different stretches of the season to be in the playoff races till the very end. Meanwhile, Second City and Orange County would round out the 8 BSL clubs to post winning records on the season making the seasons playoff race go down to the final week of action. Ultimately, the most consistent club for all 22 weeks was Gold Coast FC and deservingly the Suns won the clubs first Honors Trophy with 15-5-2 record. In the derbies, Gold Coast took this seasons California Cup and River City Cup. Alamo City took the BSL Classic. Capital District won the Empire Cup and Founders Cup.

PLAYOFFS

The 5 clubs to qualify for the playoffs were Gold Coast, Cumberland, Capital District, Union So.Cal, and Orange County. This ended the drought for some clubs like Union SC, who hadn't been in the playoffs since 2010. Gold Coast made the clubs first return since 2011. Cumberland qualified in its inaugural year. Orange County defeated the Union in the Wildcard Round and then proceeded to defeat Gold Coast FC in the Semi-Finals. Capital District defeated Cumberland in the other Semi-Final match. The BSL Cup Final between Orange County/Capital District featured two clubs each making their 3rd trip to the Final. For the Zodiac it marked an impressive feat of a third straight trip to the big game. In the end Orange County finally prevailed over the Gunners to win the club its first BSL Cup.

MAJORS CUP

The 4 BSL clubs to qualify and join the LA Galaxy, Montreal, New England, and Seattle, of the MLS were Cumberland, SC Canada, Capital District, and Gold Coast. Yes, both expansion BSL clubs were featured in the tournament, while previous Majors Cup champions Gold Coast and Capital District returned as well. For the Gunners, it marked a tournament best 6th trip. In the group stage, SC Canada and Gold Coast won their group going undefeated. Capital District and Montreal would also advance. In the Semi-Finals, SC Canada made easy work of the last MLS side in Montreal. Capital District would need extra time to overcome Gold Coast in the other Semi-Final game. The Majors Cup Final between SC Canada/Capital District was a back and forth tight fisted affair that came down to the final moments of the match with the Gunners prevailing to win the clubs 2nd Majors Cup trophy.