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Breakaway No. 7 Premieres Saturday

August 20, 2010
USL News Release

TAMPA, Fla. – The seventh episode of “USL Breakaway” makes its debut at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday on Fox Soccer Channel, and the focus is on two of the top developmental leagues in North American soccer – the W-League and the Premier Development League. A 30-minute magazine show highlighting the teams and personalities throughout United Soccer Leagues, “USL Breakaway” is in its fifth consecutive season on Fox Soccer Channel.

In Episode 7 viewers will see a recap of the 2010 PDL Championship in Portland, where the Timbers U23s became the first undefeated champions in league history. Portland cruised through the regular season to become the first 16-0-0 PDL team since 1998, and they continued their run of perfection in the playoffs.

Leading the way on Portland’s magical run was forward Brent Richards, and “USL Breakaway” profiles the local product who earned a trophy case full of accolades in 2010. Not only did Richards earn the nod for the PDL All-League Team, but he pulled off a rare double by capturing the MVP and Rookie of the Year Awards after a vote of PDL coaches and managers.

Richards tallied two goals in Portland’s 4-1 win against the Thunder Bay Chill in the finals. It was Thunder Bay’s first trip back to the finals since winning it all in 2008, and Episode 7 of “USL Breakaway” also takes a look at the PDL’s first team from Western Ontario. The Chill organization produces contenders year in and year out, and in 2010 they were led back to the finals by scoring and goal scoring leader Brandon Swartzendruber.

Finally, Episode 7 introduces fans to 2010 W-League MVP Kelly Parker of the Buffalo Flash. Parker, who helped Buffalo to the W-League title last month in Santa Clarita, California, recently made the move up to WPS with Sky Blue FC.

Episode 7 re-airs Saturday September 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET and Wednesday September 8 at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Produced by Cultural Videos and Sports Communications Inc., “USL Breakaway” includes eight episodes in 2010.