Danny Page e-mails in from the Fusion bus, which is currently northbound.

"We've just set off from the Crowne Plaza for the long haul to Fresno
for tonights showdown between Fusion and the FuegoN kickoff at 7PM.

The bus is buzzing with talk of Brazil's game with South Africa and
the United States win over Spain.

But of more immediate importance is last nights result from the PDL
Southwest Division; Los Angeles Legends beat Orange County Blue Star,
2-1, to move to the top of the table with Hollywood United.
Nonetheless, a win tonight will move Fusion into sole possesion of
first place and leave their souther rivals LA and Hollywood a point
behind.

Broadcast at 7 p.m. live on HomeFieldSports.com

- DP"

With its two Bay Area clubs, the San Francisco Seals and San Jose Frogs, not fielding teams this season, the Premier Development League has replaced them within two teams from Utah, the BYU Cougars and the Ogden Outlaws.

Which means the 10-team Southwest Division looks like this:

Bakersfield Brigade, BYU Cougars, Fresno Fuego, Lancaster Rattlers, Los Angeles Storm, Ogden Outlaws, Orange County Blue Star, San Fernando Valley Quakes, Southern California Seahorses, Ventura County Fusion

"The Bay Area is a tough market," Seals general manager Tom Simpson told the club's official website, OurSFSeals.com. "Like the Frogs, we just had a tough time finding enough support. Ticket sales covered less than 5% of the expenses in 2008.

"While we had reasonable relationships with some of the youth clubs and had some good turnout with club fundraisers, the consistency just wasn't there. In addition, I don't believe the current PDL format is that good of a fit for college players who cannot commit to the team until too late."

A little more than three months before its third Premier Development League season kicks off, the Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team has plenty of time to full out its 28-player roster.

But the Fusion have already held two tryout sessions and have 11 players confirmed to return to the team, according to general manager Ranbir Shergill.

The 11 returning players include Gurgen Adzemian, Arturo Aghasyan, Dylan Barna, Joe Buppert, Danny Barerra, Bryan Byrne, Hagop Chirishian, Armondo Guerrero, Patrick McLain, Guilherme Mitrovitch and Anton Peterlin

Shergill confirmed that neither of the two goalkeepers, Logan Frank or Bryan Hill, who backstopped consecutive third-place finishes in the Southwest Division will return.

It is a big blow to a team that conceded a Western Conference-low 14 goals in 2008.