Belated congratulations to the Premier Development League champion Ventura County Fusion, who beat the Chicago Fire Premier 2-1 on Alfonso Motagalvan's scrappy, late goal on Aug. 8 to win its first North American title.

I wouldn't have missed it for anything but my wedding.

Star teammate Rhiannon Potkey covered the final fantastically, as this preview, this game story and this wrapup featuring Fusion midfielder Bedel Guei attest.

Fusion general manager Ranbir Shergill on the Fusion's 2-1 win in the Western Conference title game Friday in Laredo, Tex.

"Two trophies on the mantelpiece. All that's left is the big one now."

Midfielder Rodrigo Lopez begins his first Premier Development League game of the season on the bench as the Fusion open the Western Conference final. Updates from Greg Asatourian in Laredo, Tex.

4th minute -- Early on, the Fusion look strong with a lot of better touches. Kitsap seems more physical. They have struggled early to maintain possession.
8th minute -- Kitsap puts a strong shot just over the Fusion goal. Becerra sends a shot wide from long range.
11th minute -- Kitsap sends another chance over the net.
14th minute -- Smarte sends a strong shot over the net.
17th minute -- Kitsap sends a free kick high.
23rd minute -- Kitsap midfield Kyle Johnson rattles the Fusion crossbar from 30 yards.
26th minute -- Fusion 1, Kitsap 0: Anthony Hamilton dribbled into the Kitsap half and sends a 30-yard drive crashing into the Pumas net! It's the second goal in three postseason games for the former Chivas USA player. Hamilton leads the team with nine goals on the season.
38th minute -- Fusion substition: Hakop Avesyan on for Bryan Byrne.
45th+1 minute -- Fusion 1, Kitsap 1: Kitsap equalize in first half stoppage time. Defender Matt Lipset got forward on a long throw in and headed home his second goal of the season.
45th+2 minute -- Fusion substitution: Fusion defensive midfielder Manny Guzman limps off and is replace by creative midfielder Rodrigo Lopez, who had three goals and four assists in 12 matches for the Fusion in 2008. It is the former Santa Barbara High star's season debut.

Halftime

46th minute -- Avesyan ends a nice run with a ball through the Kitsap penalty area.
51st minute -- Kitsap defender Stephen Mohn is cautioned for delay of game.
64th minute -- The Laredo Heat twitter feed says both teams look exhausted.
70th minute -- Fusion have had the better of the possession in the second half, behind the substitute combination of Avesyan and Lopez, but have yet to find the break through.
77th minute -- Fusion coach Graham Smith ready to make a few aggressive changes. Artur Aghasayan comes on for the goalscorer, Hamilton, and Hagop Chrisian is also warming up. Sam Myerson, the Agoura High striker who scored the game-winner against Hollywood, is also on.
80th minute -- Lopez and Avesyan set up a chance for Myerson, but the final ball is too strong.
81st minute -- Aghasayan has a 1 on 1 with the Kitsap keeper but the ball is deflected wide. Aghasayan also blasts high from the corner kick.
90th+1 minute -- Fusion 2, Kitsap 1: Lopez shows by the Fusion wanted him so bad, even this late in the season, by smashing in a free kick to score the potential game-winning goal in second half injury time.
90th+4 minute -- Fusion win 2-1 to go through to the PDL Final Four!

Team news -- Premier League meets Premier Development League tonight at Buena High. Westlake High product Danny Barrera gets the start for the Fusion, who aren't expected to play many players more than 45 minutes with the franchise's first playoff game looming 48 hours away.

First half
Kickoff -- Fusion in blue. Barnsley in its road white shirts.
4th minute -- Fusion earn a free kick along the right side. The result is a fantastic volley by Fusion winger Brian Byrne that's palmed away by Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen.
6th minute -- Richard Eckersley's makes his first chance-saving tackle on Fusion forward Artur Aghasayan, who was nearly clear on goal. The Fusion corner comes to nothing.
8th minute -- Burnley's first chance of the match falls to Ecuadorian trialist Fernando Guerrero, who's chip at speed goes over the Fusion bar.
9th minute -- Barrera sets up Aghasayan with a chance but Jensen makes a nice save for a Fusion corner. Byrne heads the corner into the Burnley side netting for a goal kick.
11th minute -- Fusion striker Anthony Hamilton is played clear through on goal, but Jensen, knicknamed "Beast," comes up big by foiling the breakway with a one-on-one save.
13th minute -- The Fusion's Irish winger, Brian Byrne, has had a lot of early success down the right against new Burnley fullback Easton.
14th minute -- Burnley 1, Fusion 0: Burnley strike first as midfielder Chris McCann beats Fusion goalkeeper Bryan Hill from 18 yards.
20th minute -- Burnley nearly score its second after a nice run from Guerrero, but Fusion defender Dillion Barna is there to pull the ball off the goal line, drawing 'oohs' from the crowd.
21st minute -- Barna falls down allowing Chris Eagles some space, but fullback Adam Smarte is there to clear the danger for the Fusion.
22nd minute -- Very impressed with the crowd on hand. The main stand is as full as I've seen it in the stadium's 4-year history. There's got to be at least 3,000-4,000 people on hand.
27th minute -- Burnley 2, Fusion 0: Burnley take a two-goal lead on the break as Steven Fletcher pulls the ball back for Chris Eagles to finish from the penalty spot. Steven Thompson let the ball run to Eagles with a fantastic dummy.
29th minute -- Guerrero's nice sets up Fletcher for a chance from 18 yards. The ball flies over Hill's goal.
30th minute -- The Fusion's fourth corner of the first half is headed to safety by Brian Easton.
32nd minute -- Move down Burnley's right sees Aghasayan nearly set up Hamilton for a close chance. Down the other end, Hill rises to grab a cross from Eagles.
38th minute -- Eagles sends a Burnley corner in, which Guerrero lashes over from 20 yards.
39th minute -- Guerrero flies around the left side and goes to ground against Smarte to earn a penalty kick. Burnley 3, Fusion 0. Fletcher easily puts the penalty past Hill.
45th minute -- Aghasayan springs another breakaway and Jensen, once again, makes an incredible one-on-one save. With some better finishing, Fusion
could be even.

Halftime

Fusion team to start the second half: Jordan King, Kyle Kaveny, Peter Savidis, Motagalvan, Sam Nicholson, Hakop Avesyan, Brennan Tennelle, Rodrigo Lopez, Matt McManus, Gurgen Adzemian, Sam Myerson.
Burnley team to start the second half: Diego Penny, Easton, Steven Caldwell, Steven Jordan, Eckersley, Gudjonsson, Guerrero, Jay Rodriguez, Eagles, Fletcher.
50th minute -- Great tackle by Tennelle to thwart one Burnley attack.
59th minute -- Lopez sends a free kick just wide in his Fusion return.
60th minute -- Robbie Blake, Remco Van der Schaff and Wade Elliott come on for Fletcher, Gudjonsson and Eagles for Burnley.
63rd minute -- Elliott is booked for elbowing Adzemian.
69th minute -- Guerrero drags a low shot off the right post.
70th minute -- Burnley 4, Fusion 0: Wade Elliott sends the ball comes back in and Guerrero finishes in the 6-yard box with a flying header.
73rd minute -- Kaveny gets back to keep Robbie Blake from walking in alone on Fusion goalkeeper Jordan Hill.
75th minute -- McManus' long throw is nearly headed in by Avesyan, but Penny fists over. The Fusion can't convert from a pair of corner kicks.
77th minute -- King saves a Blake header from point blank range.
79th minute -- 
81st minute -- Burnley 5, Fusion 0: Elliott's cross finds Kevin McDonald in the 6-yard box. McDonald fires it through King from point-blank range,
85th minute -- Going down to the field. More to come.

Final score -- Burnley 5, Fusion 0.

Interviews with Burnley manager Owen Coyle, Burnley winger Chris Eagles and Fusion manager Graham Smith to come.

The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team is playing for a home playoff game Sunday night.

The Fusion hosts its probable opening-round playoff foe, the Los Angeles Legends, at Buena High.

The match is the second half of a Fusion-Legends doubleheader. The Fusion women's W-League finale kicks off at 4 p.m.

The Fusion men enter play even on points with the second-place Legends. Both teams, which drew scorelessly June 7, have already clinched playoff births. The second-place finisher hosts the third-place finisher Thursday night.

"It's basically a playoff game," said Fusion coach Graham Smith. "Fortunately, this year, we've managed to reach the playoffs, but we want to make it to the Big One."

Only one team in the entire 68-team Premier Development League has lost fewer games than the Fusion this season. The Ottawa Fury (11-0-4) has clinched the Northeast Division title.

The Fusion's title chances were all but lost on draws in four of the past five matches. Although, entering Saturday, tonight's winner had an outside chance at the Southwest Division title, but the first-place Hollywood United Hitman have to lose both Saturday at Southern California or Sunday at Fresno.

"I feel that we should have won the league," said Smith. "We haven't lost a game since (May 8). We've remained undefeated. I think the players themselves would admit that half the ties were there for the winning."

The postseason has been expanded this season to include the third-place finisher in each division. The two division runner ups meet in midweek for the right to visit the division champions on the weekend. Division champions will via next week for conference titles and berths in the PDL Final Four.

Burnley Football Club, 1-0 Promotion Final winners over Sheffield United last May, becomes the first English Premier League team to train in Ventura County in recent memory Friday morning.

Burnley will train for four days at Oxnard College before playing a friendly against the Ventura County Fusion Tuesday night at Buena High and a closed-doors training match Wednesday against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.

Here are the Clarets training times for Oxnard College --

Friday: 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Saturday: 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Sunday: 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Monday: 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Artur Aghasyan and Hagop Chirishian scored as the Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games with a 2-2 draw with the Lancaster Rattlers Friday night at Antelope Valley High.

The Fusion (7-1-6) entered the game three points behind first-place Hollywood, but Moises Alvarez's equalizing goal with nine minutes handed the Fusion its sixth tie in 14 games.

Aghasyan opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with his team-high-tying seventh goal of the season and Chirishian gave the Fusion a 2-1 lead with his fifth strike in the 54th minute.

Randi Johns' second goal in three days allowed the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team to grab four of a possible six points on its annual two-game trip to Colorado.

Johns' second-half goal, set by up a Colleen Gibson pass, gave the Fusion a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Force at Loveland Sports Park in Fort Collins, Colo.

The UC Santa Barbara graduate scored the winner in a 1-0 win at Real Colorado Monday.

"Every game we're looking better as a team," said coach Ranbir Shergill. "Today we showed a lot of character coming down from a goal down. Towards the end, we could have won it with some of the chances we created."

The game kicked off nearly 90 minutes late because of thunderstorms. But it is the Fusion (1-1-2) storming up the standings. Five points in its last three games has moved Ventura County up to fourth place in the Western Conference with four games in hand on third-place Real Colorado.

After more than a month without a home game, the Fusion return home for Saturday's doubleheader at Buena High, hosting fifth-place Vancouver in the 5 p.m. opener.

"We can't wait to get in front of the home fans," said Shergill.

The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team suffered the worst loss in the three-year history of the club Friday night against the Hollywood United Hitmen.

Jamie Chaves scored in the third minute as the Hitmen rolled, 4-0.

"It was a performance of outstanding mediocrity," Fusion head coach Graham Smith told Star corresponded Danny Page. "Sadly tonight we were lacking a will to win."

Former UC Irvine and Chivas USA forward Anthony Hamilton on his rebound goal Monday night that beat GAIS of Gothenburg, 1-0, in a stadium at Buena High:

"It was a good shot by Andrew (Villalobos). The keeper couldn't hold it and I was able to get to it.

Hamilton said that he expects to sign with Cleveland or Portland of USL Soccer soon.

GAIS manager Alex Axen on his team's 1-0 loss to the Ventura County Fusion Monday night at Buena High:

"We started well. But when Ventura scored, we panicked and played a lot of long balls."

"It was a good game. (Ventura) was a good side. In the second half, they threatened more with their counterattacking play."

Head coach Graham Smith on the Ventura County Fusion's 1-0 win over GAIS of Gothenburg Monday night at Buena High:

"What this has shown is that, when you're looking around for players, there are players there to come to the plate. We had a mixed bag out there."

"After 20 minutes, I thought we were in trouble. They were very good going forward. But really, it all went well and it was a decent crowd considering the weather."

22nd -- Fusion take a 1-0 lead on Anthony Hamilton's rebound goal from Andrew Villalobos' shot.

GAIS Gothenburg
GK 30 Emir Jazvin
16 Mikael Dahlgren
3 Andreas Tobiasson
15 Fredrik Lundgren (Capt.)
5 Gudinnudur Gunnarsson
6 Reuben Ayarna
23 Eygoldar Hedrusson
14 Daniel Nicklasson
21 Johan Pettersson
10 Daniel Morais
9 Gudjon Baldvinsson
BENCH: 12 Magnus Jonasson (GK), 2 Rickard Ekunde, 7 Jonas Lunden, 8 Rickard Spong, 11 Tommy Lycen, 13 Ebo Camara, 17 Johan Martensson, 18 Par Ericsson, 20 Kenneth Gustafsson, 25 Wanderson do Carmo

Ventura County Fusion
GK 1 Jordan King (Styles 18th)
19 Nikola Andelic
26 Dillon Barna
28 Armando Guerrero Y38th
20 Brian Byrne
6 Andrew Villalobos
18 Kyle Schmid Y74th
3 Peter Savadis
4 Anton Peterlin
22 Arturo Aghasyan
21 Anthony Hamilton G22nd
BENCH: 7 Gurgen Adzemian, 21 Johnny Alcaraz, 10 Hagop Chirishian, 9 Manny Guzman, 15 Guiherme Mitrovitch, 27 Fabrian Sandoval, 13 Trevor Styles, 18 Adam Smart

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.

Ahead of its third season in USL Soccer's Premier Development League, the Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team has announced a schedule of seven friendlies against professional and international opposition.

The opposition includes MLS clubs Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders and Chivas USA, Japanese cup holders Oita Trinita, Chinese Super League champion Shandong Luneng Taishan F.C., and Swedish clubs GAIS Gothenburg and Hammarby.

Feb. 8 Real Salt Lake, Buena High, 5 p.m.
Feb. 11 Seattle Sounders, Buena High, 7 p.m.
Feb. 14 Oita Trinita, Home Depot Center
Feb. 16 GAIS Gothenburg, Buena High, 7 p.m.
Feb. 21 Hammarby, Home Depot Center
March 1 Charity game at College of the Canyons vs. Chivas USA (Michael Hoefflin cancer foundation)
Unknown Shandong Luneng Taishan F.C. (private game)

"Fans can pre-purchase special 3-game admission packages to all the exhibition games (adult $25, youth $20, family pack [2 adult & 2 youth] $80) or pay by the game (adult $10, youth $8, family pack [2 adult & 2 youth] $30). Tickets can be purchased in advance online at www.vcfusion.com; at the Ventura County Fusion Office, 701 E. Santa Clara St., Suite #42, Ventura, CA 93001; and at Xtreme Soccer, 23777 N. Oxnard Blvd., Oxnard, CA 93036. Tickets purchased at the games will be available at $15 for adults and $10 for youth." -- VCFusion.com

Ventura County soccer fans can look forward to a treat next week as two teams from Major League Soccer will set up preseason training camp at Oxnard College Monday.

Real Salt Lake, which saw its Cinderella 2008 season end in the Western Conference finals, and enthusiastic expansion franchise Seattle Sounders

Both teams will train in Oxnard until Feb. 14.

Four-time Swedish champion GAIS of Gotheberg will arrive Feb. 6 and also train until Valentine's Day.

Chinese Super League champions Shandong Luneng Taishan is also expected to arrive next week.

All four teams will play friendlies in February against the Ventura County Fusion, which defeated the Columbus Crew last February, 1-0, on a goal by Oxnard College striker Sergio Garcia.

The Crew went on the raise the MLS Cup.

"The preparation that they had in Ventura (County) helped them go on and win the league," said Fusion general manager Ranbir Shergill.