FC Hasental hosts one of its biggest matches of the season Saturday at Rancho Santa Susana Park in Simi Valley, when it hosts Western Conference-leading San Diego Flash at 5 p.m.

Hasental (3-5-1) is stuck on a three-match losing streak. Unbeaten San Diego (8-0-1), coached by Fox Soccer Channel analyst and former Newcastle United defender Warren Barton, has won seven straight.

"They're a tough team to play," said Hasental coach Eric Warner. "I think they're a lot like the Fusion, real direct with athletes all over the pitch. They just go at you for 90 (minutes)... It appears to be daunting."

But Warner hopes a big opponent will pull a big performance out of his team.

"We usually play better against better teams," said Warner. "I'm sure everyone will be focused... I know we'll show up to play. From that sense, it'll be a good game to watch."

The Ventura County Fusion regained first place in the Premier Development League's Southwest Division Wednesday by winning 5-1 at the Southern California Seahorses.

The Fusion (5-1-1) has won five straight PDL matches by an average margin of more than three goals per game.

"We've have a run of good scoring games," Fusion coach Ole Mikkelsen said.
With 16 points from seven matches, it holds a slender lead over FC Tucson (15 points, six matches) and Orange County Blue Star (14 points, eight matches).

That means tonight's trip to face the Blue Star at Concordia University in Irvine is a key match.

"It should be a tough game and the start time (5 p.m.) offers a few challenges," said Mikkelsen.

Introductions to new players and new combinations are always part of the excitement of any season.

For the Ventura County Fusion, who open its sixth Premier Development League campaign tonight at Ventura College against the Los Angeles Misioneros, excitement is always heightened by the team-building process.

The PDL season annually overlaps with spring practice for NCAA Division I programs, which leaves the Fusion without a chunk of its college-based players for a week or two.

"As you know, the team hasn't fully assembled yet," Fusion coach Ole Mikkelsen. "It's the same challenge at the beginning of the year, you're not quit fully rostered yet

The Fusion will return a core of goalkeeper Sam Hayden, defenders Mickey Daly and Matt Wiet, who played all 24 matches for nationals semifinalist UCLA last fall, and forward Gyasi Zardes, the All-American striker who scored 18 goals in 20 matches for Cal State Bakersfield last fall.

"Those guys have already made their mark on our team in previous seasons," said Mikkelsen.

Zardes, perhaps the most exciting player the Fusion have had in its history, is expected to join the Fusion next week along with Cal State Bakersfield teammate and former Ventura High star Kory Kindle.

"He probably has the most raw talent of any individual I've been involved with in the PDL," said Mikkelsen of Zardes.

Fringe players a year ago, former Oxnard College midfielder Ivan Mirkovic and Bradley University striker Jochen Graf return with more responsibility.

"He started to step it up as we hit our exhibitions last year," said Mikkelsen of Mirkovic, "and I expect him to be a main cog of the team this year."

Other familiar faces who have a chance to make an impact tonight include former Oxnard College stars Gabriel Gonzalez and Emigdio Ramirez, as well as veterans Armando Guerrero and Brent Whitfield.

The backline will be boosted by newcomers like UC Santa Barbara defenders Tim Pontius, the younger brother of DC United star Chris Pontius, and Peter McGlynn and UCLA goalie Earl Edwards.

Midfielder Frankie Lopez, expected to be the next creative midfielder from the Rodrigo Lopez/Danny Barrera mold, is awaiting clearance from the Mexico federation after a spell with Jaguares de Chiapas.

The Fusion are also expecting to add Rio Mesa High graduate Michael Roman, who starred in the NCAA tournament for Louisville, later this month.

"We're looking forward to his return," said Mikkelsen of Roman. "He's so confident on the ball, he looks almost effortless. He's a very smooth player."

United Soccer Leagues released the 2012 Premier Development League alignment and schedule Thursday.

The Ventura County Fusion remain in the Western Conference's Southwest Division, along with the Fresno Fuego, the Orange County Blue Star, the Southern California Seahorses, the Pali Blues (formerly the L.A. Blues), the L.A. Misioneros (formerly the L.A. Legends), the two Utah clubs, the Ogden Outlaws and BYU Cougars, as well as a new team in Arizona, F.C. Tucson.

The Fusion will open and close the season at home May 5 and July 13, respectively, at Ventura College It will take its annual weekend trip to Utah June 22-23 and and go to Arizona for the first time June 30. It will host an afternoon game on July 4 for the first time.

It has also already qualified for the first round of the U.S. Open Cup for the third straight season. That match is scheduled for May 15 against an opponent to be determined.

From the PDL release:

"Thirteen new teams have joined the PDL for 2012, including the Austin Aztex, Baltimore Bohemians, Boston Victory, CFC Azul, Chicago Inferno, FC Tucson, Ocala Stampede, Palmetto FC Bantams, Panama City Beach Pirates, Texas Dutch Lions, Southern West Virginia King's Warriors, VSI Tampa Flames and Worcester Hydra.

"The PDL will feature 73 teams in four geographic conferences and nine divisions. The Eastern Conference features three divisions while the Southern, Central and Western Conferences feature two divisions each. PDL clubs will play 16-game schedules in 2012, eight home and eight away. The defending PDL champion Kitsap Pumas open their 2012 campaign on Friday, May 4, when they travel to play the Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 at Swangard Stadium."

Ventura County Fusion
2012 Premier Development League schedule
Sat. May 5 L.A. Misioneros, 7 p.m.
Sun. May 13 at L.A. Misioneros, 6 p.m.
Tue. May 15 U.S. Open Cup, first round
Fri. May 18 Ogden Outlaws, 7 p.m.
Sun. May 20 Pali Blues, 3 p.m.
Sat. May 26 SoCal Seahorses, 8 p.m.
Thu. May 31 at Fresno Fuego, 7 p.m.
Wed. June 6 at SoCal Seahorses, 7 p.m.
Fri. June 8 at Orange County Blue Star, 7 p.m.
Sat. June 16 F.C. Tucson, 7 p.m.
Fri. June 22 at BYU Cougars, 7 p.m.
Wed. June 27 Orange County Blue Star, 7 p.m.
Sat. June 30 at F.C. Tucson, 7 p.m.
Wed. July 4 Fresno Fuego, 1 p.m.
Wed. July 11 at Pali Blues, 7 p.m.
Fri. July 13 BYU Cougars, 7 p.m.
Note: All home games at Ventura College

While much of the PDL is made up of teams who, like the Fusion, are founded on college-level talent, Kitsap is one of a handful of teams who pay its players.

Kitsap coach Pete Fewing told the Seattle Times in June that the Pumas have a $36,000 budget for its 22-man roster.

"They pay all their players so it's really a professional team," said Fusion attacker Danny Barrera.

Despite the contrast in player compensation, Ventura County and Kitsap have plenty in common.

Both represented their division in the U.S. Open Cup. Ventura County fell 1-0 to the Los Angeles Blues and Kitsap lost 2-1 to the Seattle Sounders.

Both have played international opposition in recent weeks. While Ventura County fell to West Brom (4-2), Manchester City (2-0) and Independiente (3-0) and defeated the New Zealand Under-20s (2-1), Kitsap fell to Port Vale, who play in England's League Two.

Should the Fusion meet Victoria in Sunday's Western Conference final, the touchline will be the site of an unlikely reunion.

Fusion coach Ole Mikkelsen and Victoria coach Ian Bridge have met many times before on the soccer fields of the old North American Soccer League.

Mikkelsen was a striker for the Washington Diplomats and San Jose Earthquakes and Bridge was a central defender for the Seattle Sounders.

The Fusion then will wrap up its regular season Saturday night against the visiting Los Angeles Legends at the Ventura College Sportsplex.

A pair of Fresno wins has seen the defending Southwest Division champion drop into second place, a point behind the Fuego, 36-35. To defend its title, the Fusion will have to win Saturday and hope the Fuego fail to win Saturday at the Southern California Seahorses and Sunday at the Legends.

A second-place finish wouldn't just mean missing out on the division title, but would set up a rematch of last year's postseason meeting with Kitsap, which the Fusion lost on penalty kicks.

The Premier Development League postseason may be coming back to Ventura.

The Ventura County Fusion, who hosted the 2009 PDL Final at Buena High and have already clinched its third straight postseason berth, confirmed Thursday that it has submitted a bid to host the Western Conference playoffs July 29-31 at Ventura College.

"We've already submitted something," said Fusion general manager Ranbir Shergill.

The potential host club submits a bid that outlines what it will provide the three visiting clubs, from hotels, transportation, stadium costs and referee costs.

"It gets relatively expensive," said Shergill. "I think we put a reasonable bid. It comes down to expenses at the end of the day. We'd certainly be covering a large part of different things... We'll wait and see what happens."

Considering the conference includes three of the four unbeaten teams remaining in the 64-team PDL, the Western foursome will feature Final Four-level quality.

Ventura County (10-0-5), Fresno (11-0-3) and Kitsap (12-0-3) have already clinched berths and the fourth will be from the British Columbian duo of Vancouver (7-5-3) and Victoria (7-4-3).

"It'll be fantastic to have it locally," said Shergill.

The Fusion's bid may be boosted by circumstance. Kitsap hosted last year's conference tournament and Fresno's Chukchansi Park is already hosting minor league baseball next weekend.

But Shergill added that there would be an upside to spending the postseason on the road.

"We've been hosting all these other games and hosting another tournament is a lot of work," said Shergill. "If we don't get it, at least you don't have to worry about the work. You can focus on the (soccer)."

The Fusion staff has already been hard at work hosting West Bromwich Albion of the English Premier League, Independiente of Argentina and the New Zealand Under-20 team.

Shergill did add that, if the Fusion missed out on the conference tournament but advanced, the Fusion would pursue hosting the Final Four.

"If we win two games," said Shergill, "we'll have another opportunity to try and host."

The end of the school year is conflicting with the middle of the Premier Development League season, which is creating some hurdles for the Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team.

The Fusion (5-0-3) may have stretched its unbeaten start to eight games with a pair of 1-1 draws over the weekend, against the Los Angeles Blues at Palisades High Thursday and the visiting Southern California Seahorses Saturday.

But, missing several of its college contingent, the Fusion not only dropped four points, it dropped out of first place in the Southwestern Division. The Fresno Fuego (6-0-2), which host the Fusion in a top-of-the-table clash Saturday night at Chukchansi Park, now hold a two-point lead in the division table.

With finals at UCLA and Cal Poly, the Fusion were without goalkeeper Brian Rowe, midfielder Andy Rose, midfielder Jacob Husted and striker Reed Williams for much of the weekend.

The situation isn't improving for the matchup of the unbeatens Saturday in Fresno, as Rowe, Rose and fullback Shawn Singh will not make the trip because of UCLA graduation.

"It's going to be a big week," said Fusion general manager Ranbir Shergill. "It's unfortunate because we're going to missing players this week again because of graduation."

The Fusion will look for a few new faces to fill in the void.

"It's a bit unfortunate," said Shergill, "but in the long term, I think it'll be good because a couple new players are getting opportunities."

Oxnard College midfielder Ivan Mirkovic made his Fusion debut in Saturday's draw, starting in midfield and playing well.

"He took Andy's spot and played very well," said Shergill. "He really got involved."

Another pair of Oxnard College products, Gabriel Gonzalez and Emigdio Ramirez, also made substitute appearances.

The two assists give Barrera nine in just seven games, which leads the entire 64-team PDL. The Westlake High product and UC Santa Barbara attacker is also third in points with 15.

The Ventura County Fusion have local company in the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid.

FC Hasental, based in the Conejo Valley, made the leap from the Gran Liga De Oxnard into the National Premier Soccer League this season.

The NPSL is a 38-team national league similar to the PDL with teams in 19 states from New Hampshire to Georgia, Minnesota to California.

"The league has seen some growth over the past few year," said Hasental general manager Briggs Palmer.

"Los Conejos," who play their matches at Calabasas High and Oxnard College, feature several local products on their roster, including Oxnard College products Jonny Martinez, Abel Pacheco and Alberto Anguiano, as well as Moorpark College products Luis Armondo Gutierrez and Jose Luis Garcia.

With 16 points from 10 matches, Hasental sits in fourth place in the Western Conference with four matches to play in the regular season.

The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team enters its season finale tonight against the Los Angeles Legends with an opportunity to clinch its first Southwest Division title.

The Fusion and Hollywood United have already clinched playoff berths and will travel to Bremerton, Wash. next week for the Western Conference playoffs.

Hollywood took over the top spot last night when it wrapped up its season with a 4-1 win over last place Ogden. Trailing 33 points to 31, the Fusion can only clinch the title with a victory.

The Fusion beat the host Legends, 5-0, June 25.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. There will be live updates on Twitter and the Internet broadcast on HomefieldSports.com.

Ventura County Fusion:
Starting lineup: 13 Bryan Hill; 28 Armando Guerrero, 20 Ivan Becerra, 15 Kyle Johnson, 25 Dylan Riley; 14 Sam Nicholson, 22 Hakop Avesyan, 24 Jacob Hustedt, 7 Andy Rose; 10 Danny Barrera, 19 Tomaz de Barros.
Bench: 0 Brian Rowe, 27 Laurence Gaughan, 6 Manny Guzman, 26 Ousman Jagne, 4 Sung-Hyun Kim, 9 Sam Myerson.

Los Angeles Legends
Starting lineup: 44 Raul Calderon, 30 Manuel Bautista, 15 Ricardo Ramirez, 2 Erly Garcia, 14 Charles Paris, 5 victor Flores, 16 Alberto Racca, 17 Jose Mercado, 23 Eders Roldan, 4 Daniel Gutierrez, 11 Daniel Martinez.

The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team plays a decisive match tonight in the Premier Developement League's Southwest Division.

Down three points with two matches to play, the third-place Fusion visits first-place Orange County Blue Star at Concordia University in Irvine.

The Fusion, the defending PDL continental champions, can clinch a playoff spot with a victory in what is the Blue Star's final match of the regular season.

The Fusion go into the crunch contest without defender Jamie Scope, who was injured in the 2-1 friendly loss to Portsmouth yesterday. Scope has played in 11 of 14 league matches.

Fusion starting lineup: Bryan Hill; Marcus Watson, Ivan Becerra, Sam Nicholson, Dylan Riley, Hakop Avesyan, Manny Guzman, Andy Rose, Jake Hustedt, Danny Barrera, Antonio Thomaz Santos de Barros.

Live updates on Twitter.

First half: Hakop Avesyan scores for the second time in two days, converting Thomaz's pass in the 28th minute, to give the Fusion a 1-0 lead. If it stays like this, the Fusion are in the playoffs and top the Southwest Division with a match to play.

Second half: Midfielder Andy Rose makes it 2-0 Fusion in the 70th minute, set up by Danny Barerra.

The Fusion hold on to win 2-0. The defending PDL champion has clinched a playoff berth for the second straight year and can win its first Southwest Division title with a home win Saturday night against the Los Angeles Legends.

The Ventura County Fusion host first-place Orange County Blue Star tonight at Buena High.

The Blue Star (8-1-3) lost its first match of the season Friday night at second-place Hollywood United. Third-place Fusion (6-3-1) enters play eight points back with two games in hand.

You can follow live updates of the match on our @VCSColleges Twitter feed.

Ventura County Fusion
Lineup: 13 Bryan Hill, 25 Dylan Riley, 29 Jamie Scope, 14 Sam Nicholeson, 28 Armando Guerrero, 24 Jake Hustedt, 6 Manny Guzman, 4 Sung-Hyun Kim, 7 Andy Rose, 10 Danny Barrera, 26 Ousman Jagne
Bench: 18 Artur Aghasyan, 22 Jack Avesyan, 21 Walter Cannavina, 27 Laurence Gaughan, 9 Sam Myerson, 2 Shawn Singh, 3 Abraham Vallbu

Orange County Blue Star
Lineup: 1 Patrick McLain, 3 Corey Attaway, 5 Joel Smith, 8 Wes Feighner, 15 AJ Soares, 4 Jimmy Turner, 21 Christian Ramirez, 24 Richie Wimsatt, 17 Chandler Hoffman, 7 Fernando Monge, 20 Cito Soriano.
Bench: 9 Oscar Aguero, 13 Will Lopez, 14 Amani Walker, 22 Gray Bailey, 26 Kovi Konowiecki, 25 Adrian Avila, 28 Mike Oseguera,

The Ventura County Fusion will host the Arizona Sahuaros in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on June 15 at Ventura College, U.S. Soccer announced Wednesday.

The Fusion will make its Open Cup debut against the Phoenix club, a member of the U.S. Adult Soccer Association.

"Unfortunately, we don't know much about them," said Fusion GM Ranbir Shergil.

The Sahuaros, who, like the Fusion, play in the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, produced Kansas City Wizards striker Roger Espinosa, who is in South Africa as a part of the Honduran World Cup squad. They will be making their fifth appearance in the Cup.

The winner will play either the Dallas-Fort Worth Tornados or the Austin Aztex in the second round. The Aztex, a USSF Division 2 team, visited the Fusion in 2008, when it held tryouts in Ventura.

The Fusion (4-2) leads the Premier Development League's Southwestern Division and host the BYU Cougars Saturday night at Buena High.

The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team continues to break new ground.

The Fusion achieved one of its biggest goals of the new season late Saturday when it clinched the first U.S. Open Cup berth in franchise history when the Los Angeles Legends lost to the Ogden Outlaws.

The result means the defending Premier Development League champion will be the lone Southwest Division team entered into May 31 draw for the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which will be played June 15.

"We've achieved a lot in our first three years of existence, particularly last season," said Fusion general manager Ranbir Shergill. "This year, we wanted to achieve something we haven't done yet.

"One of the big goals for this season was to get into the Open Cup and bring an MLS team to Ventura to play a game that really means something."

The Fusion could be drawn against MLS or United Soccer League opposition.

"It really depends on the luck of the draw," said Shergill.

Ventura County (4-0), which has scored 12 goals and conceded none in winning the first four matches of the PDL season, hosts the Fresno Fuego Sunday at 3 p.m. at Buena High.

Thiago Silva and Brent Whitfield combined to score for the third straight game and Bryan Hill again kept the opposition off the scoreboard as the Ventura County Fusion extended its season-opening winning streak to three matches with a 1-0 win over the Southern California Seahorses Saturday night at Biola University.

The Fusion (3-0) has maximum points through three matches, having scored nine goals and conceded none.

"Not a bad start," said Fusion coach Ole Mikkelson. " What do you think?"

Hill, the Fusion goalkeeper, went the whole way for the club's third straight shutout.

"The clean sheet is probably the thing that I'm really most impressed with," said Mikkelson." We really did knuckle down.

"We had some good scoring chances that we didn't put away and, at halftime, we had to ask the guys to step it up."

Two minutes into the second half, Silva, the creative midfielder, dribbled into space and, as the defense collapsed on him, unleashed a through ball for Whitfield to control atop the 18-yard box.

Whitfield, the reigning Premier Development League Player of the Week, cut across the face of goal and finished a low shot through a defender's legs for his sixth goal in three matches.

In a meeting of the only two Southwestern Division teams to open the season 2-0, the Fusion showed the ability to grind out a result in the second half on the road.

"Those are some important skills to have," said Mikkelson.

Ventura County also improved to 3-0 in U.S. Open Cup competition. A home win over
the Hollywood United Hitman May 28 will see the four-year-old franchise in the nation's oldest soccer competition for the first time, which is one of the season's top goals.

But first, the Fusion look towards a pair of home games this weekend at Buena High, hosting the Seahorses Friday and Fresno Fuego Sunday, May 22.

Ventura County Fusion striker Brent Whitfield was named the first Premier Development League Player of the Week for the 2010 season.

Whitfield had five goals and an assist in Fusion wins over Lancaster and Ogden last week.

"Brent is a great all around player who knows how to put the ball in the net," assistant general manager Brian Nowakowsk told USLSoccer.comi. "He has had a history of scoring goals in this league and is doing a great job of continuing that this season with us.

"Brent has also been aided by some great service from the supporting cast of players that we have.

"Despite Brent's goal scoring totals, he is a great team player that works well with the rest of the team and can distribute the ball just as well as he can finish."

Whitfield scored 14 goals in nine games for the Los Angeles Legends last season, averaging a goal every 36 minutes he played. He is on pace to better that mark, scoring a goal in every 35 minutes thus far.

The Ventura County Fusion return home to Buena High for the first time since winning the Premier Development League last August.

The Fusion host the Ogden Outlaws in the 2010 home opener at 7 p.m.

You can follow the action live on @VCSCollege's Twitter feed.

You can also watch the video broadcast at HomefieldSports.com.

Ventura County lineup: Bryan Hill, Marcus Watson, Jaime Scope, Dylan Riley, Kyle Johnson, Walter Cannavina, Andy Rose, Jacob Hustedt, Mike Enfield, Thiago Rocha, Brent Whitfield.
Subs: Brian Rowe, Danny Barrera, Armando Guerrero, Manny Bautista, Jack Avesyan, Sam Nicholson, Abraham Villon

Ogden Outlaws: Austin Guerrero, Mike Hickman Jr., Kenan Powell, Jonathan Koshko, Taylor Bowlin, Joseph Hickman, Reid Baker, Armin Sedarevic, Santiago Castano, Draion McNair, Colby Liston
Subs: Marco Martinez, Cavel Palmer, Lyudvig Berberyan