View source for Cape Cod Crusaders

{{Short description|American soccer team}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Cape Cod Crusaders
| image    = capecodcrusaders.jpg
| fullname = Cape Cod Crusaders
| nickname = The Crusaders
| founded  = 1994
| dissolved   = 2008
| ground   = [[Massachusetts Maritime Academy]]
| capacity = 
| chairman = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Joe Bradley (soccer)|Joe Bradley]]
| manager  = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Paul Baber]]
| league   = [[USL Premier Development League]]
| season   = [[2008 PDL Season|2008]]
| position = 1st, New England Division<br>Playoff Conference Semifinals
| American = true
| pattern_la1=_shoulder_stripes_white_stripes
| pattern_b1=_denh06
| pattern_ra1=_shoulder_stripes_white_stripes
| leftarm1=CC0000
| body1=CC0000
| rightarm1=CC0000
| shorts1=000000
| socks1=000000
| pattern_la2=
| pattern_b2=
| pattern_ra2=
| leftarm2=ffffff
| body2=ffffff
| rightarm2=ffffff
| shorts2=ffffff
| socks2=ffffff
| }}

The '''Cape Cod Crusaders''' was an American [[association football|soccer]] team based in [[Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts]]. Founded in 1994, the team played in the [[USL Premier Development League]] (PDL), the fourth tier of the [[American Soccer Pyramid]], until 2008, when the franchise folded and the team left the league.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/harwich/sports/x282367578/End-of-the-line-for-Cape-Cod-Crusaders |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520015636/http://www.wickedlocal.com/harwich/sports/x282367578/End-of-the-line-for-Cape-Cod-Crusaders |archive-date=20 May 2011 |title=End of the line for Cape Cod Crusaders - - Harwich Oracle}}</ref>

The team played its home games at several different venues in eastern Massachusetts: mainly in stadium on the campus of the [[Massachusetts Maritime Academy]], but also at [[Whitman-Hanson High School]] in [[Whitman, Massachusetts]], and at [[Bowditch Stadium]] in [[Framingham, Massachusetts]]. Also played at [[Barnstable High School]] in the town of [[Hyannis, Massachusetts]]. The Crusaders' historical home was the stadium on the grounds [[Dennis Yarmouth High School]] in the town of [[Yarmouth, Massachusetts]], where they won back to back championships in 2002 and 2003. The team's colors were red and white.

The team had a sister organization, the [[Boston Renegades]], who play in the women's [[USL W-League (1995–2015)|USL W-League]]. The club still fields a team in the USL's [[Super-20 League]], a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the [[United Soccer Leagues]] umbrella.

==History==
{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}
The Crusaders were one of the most successful minor-league soccer teams in the United States, having been national PDL champions twice, in 2002 and 2003. The team was also one of the most long-lasting teams, having played in four different leagues, at two different levels, over the course of more than a decade. In the mid-2000s the Crusaders became part of the [[Massachusetts Premier Soccer]] (MPS) organization, which runs soccer schools and north senior and junior amateur leagues across Massachusetts, with the intent of developing and promoting the game.

For each season the Crusaders also fielded a Futures Team that won 3 Championships in a four year span led by Striker Keith Simpson, a four time scoring champion.

In 2007, Crusaders striker [[Ricardo Pierre-Louis]] was part of the [[Haiti national football team|Haiti]] squad which took part in the [[2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup]]. Pierre-Louis was the only PDL player to take part in the tournament, coming on as a substitute in the 1–1 draw with Costa Rica, and playing a full 90 minutes in the 2–0 defeat to Canada.

==Players==

===Final squad===
''vs. [[Brooklyn Knights]], 25 July 2008'' <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/stats/2008/839728.html |title=United Soccer Leagues (USL) |access-date=11 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020020913/http://www.uslsoccer.com/stats/2008/839728.html |archive-date=20 October 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{Fs start}}
{{Fs player|no=0|nat=USA|name=[[Evan Bush]]|pos=GK|}}
{{Fs player|no=4|nat=SCO|name=[[Graham Munro]]|pos=DF|}}
{{Fs player|no=6|nat=USA|name=[[Matthew Narode]]|pos=DF|}}
{{Fs player|no=7|nat=ENG|name=[[Jason Massie]]|pos=MF|}}
{{Fs player|no=8|nat=ENG|name=[[Yan Klukowski]]|pos=MF|}}
{{Fs player|no=9|nat=IRL|name=[[Liam Maloney]]|pos=MF|}}
{{Fs player|no=10|nat=ENG|name=[[Tom Marston]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=11|nat=USA|name=[[Christian Vercollone]]|pos=MF|}}
{{Fs player|no=12|nat=IRL|name=Michael Coburn|pos=DF|}}
{{Fs player|no=14|nat=USA|name=[[Daniel Schultz (soccer)|Daniel Schultz]]|pos=DF|}}
{{Fs player|no=15|nat=USA|name=[[Matt Horth]]|pos=FW|}}
{{Fs player|no=16|nat=USA|name=[[Franklin Daniel]]|pos=FW|}}
{{Fs player|no=17|nat=ENG|name=[[Tony Awor]]|pos=FW|}}
{{Fs player|no=18|nat=HAI|name=Edens Chery|pos=MF|}}
{{Fs player|no=21|nat=USA|name=[[Jordan Lynn]]|pos=MF|}}
{{Fs player|no=23|nat=CIV|name=[[Lee Kouadio]]|pos=FW|}}
{{Fs end}}

==Year-by-year==
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Division
!League
!Reg. Season
!Playoffs
!Open Cup
|-
|1994
|3
|USISL
|3rd, Northeast
|Divisional Semifinals
|''Did not enter''
|-
|1995
|3
|USISL Pro League
|4th, Coastal
|Divisional Semifinals
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|1996
|3
|USISL Select League
|5th, North Atlantic
|''Did not qualify''
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|1997
|3
|USISL D-3 Pro League
|7th, Northeast
|''Did not qualify''
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|1998
|3
|USISL D-3 Pro League
|4th, Northeast
|Division Semifinals
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|1999
|3
|USL D3-Pro League
|7th, Northern
|''Did not qualify''
|1st Round
|-
|2000
|3
|USL D3-Pro League
|6th, Northern
|''Did not qualify''
|2nd Round
|-
|2001
|4
|USL PDL
|6th, Northeast
|''Did not qualify''
|2nd Round
|-
|2002
|4
|USL PDL
|2nd, Northeast
|bgcolor="FFEBAD"|Champion
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|2003
|4
|USL PDL
|2nd, Northeast
|bgcolor="FFEBAD"|Champion
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|2004
|4
|USL PDL
|2nd, Northeast
|Conference Semifinals
|3rd Round
|-
|2005
|4
|USL PDL
|bgcolor="B3B7FF"|1st, Northeast
|Conference Semifinals
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|2006
|4
|USL PDL
|bgcolor="B3B7FF"|1st, New England
|Conference Finals
|1st Round
|-
|2007
|4
|USL PDL
|bgcolor="B3B7FF"|1st, Northeast
|Conference Finals
|''Did not qualify''
|-
|2008
|4
|USL PDL
|bgcolor="B3B7FF"|1st, New England
|Conference Semifinals
|''Did not qualify''
|}

==Honors==
* USL PDL New England Division Champion 2008
* USL PDL Northeast Division Champion 2007
* USL PDL New England Division Champion 2006
* USL PDL Northeast Division Champion 2005
* '''USL PDL Champion 2003'''
* USL PDL Eastern Conference Champion 2003
* '''USL PDL Champion 2002'''
* USL PDL Eastern Conference Champion 2002

==Head coaches==
* {{flagicon|ZIM}} [[Methembe Ndlovu]] (2003)
* {{flagicon|USA}} [[Paul Baber]] (2005–2008)

==Stadiums==
[[Image:Cccrusadersstadium.jpg|thumb|right|Crusaders' last stadium at Massachusetts Maritime Academy]]
* Stadium at [[Dennis Yarmouth High School]], [[South Yarmouth, Massachusetts]] (1994–2003)
* Stadium at [[Barnstable High School]], [[Hyannis, Massachusetts]] (2004–2007)
* Stadium at [[Nauset Regional High School]], [[North Eastham, Massachusetts]] 1 game (2005)
* Stadium at [[Weymouth High School]], [[Weymouth, Massachusetts]] 1 game (2006)
* Stadium at [[Whitman-Hanson Regional High School]], [[Whitman, Massachusetts]] 3 games (2007–2008)
* Stadium at [[Massachusetts Maritime Academy]], [[Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts]] (2008)
* Stadium at [[Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School]], [[Bridgewater, Massachusetts]] 1 game (2008)
* [[Bowditch Stadium]], [[Framingham, Massachusetts]] 1 game (2008)

==Average attendance==
*2008: 309
*2007: 284
*2006: 330
*2005: 306

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* Cape Cod Crusaders FC [https://capecodcrusadersfc.com/]

{{USSoccer}}

[[Category:1994 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:2008 disestablishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Association football clubs established in 1994]]
[[Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:Bourne, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Defunct Premier Development League teams]]
[[Category:Soccer clubs in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Sports clubs and teams in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:USL Second Division teams]]