Year 2 looks like Year 1 without all the question marks for the Ventura County Fusion.

The local entry in the United States Soccer League's Premier Development League enters its second year of existence this month with the experience of its debut season a year ago.

"It means that we're not going into the unknown," said head coach Graham Smith. "We went into last season with some form of ignorance.

"We now have a measuring board of what is required from our team, the players and the club."

The club itself has multiplied in the offseason. Expanding with a women's team in the W-League, a Super-20 men's team and the Fusion Youth Academy, the club's first foray in youth soccer.

"Four programs has made it significantly more challenging," said general manager Ranbir Shergill. "Obviously, there's a lot more work this year."

The Fusion men's team, which opens the PDL season Friday at home against the Bakersfield Brigade, has prepared with a preseason that included matches against two Major League Soccer teams, including a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew on a goal by Fillmore native Sergio Garcia, a Swedish first division team and a flurry of friendlies against college teams.

Development is one of the club's foremost goals, which means last season, despite finishing a game short of the playoffs, was a rousing success as six original Fusion players were snapped up by Major League Soccer.

Thousand Oaks native Chance Myers (Kansas City Wizards) was the first overall pick in the MLS Superdraft. He's joined by Nelson Pizzaro on the Wizards and former teammates Vardan Adzemian, Greg Folk (Los Angeles Galaxy), Johnny Alcaraz (Houston Dynamo) and Eric Avila (FC Dallas) in the league.

Fifteen players return, including goalkeepers Logan Frank and Bryan Hill, UCLA stars Jason Leopoldo and Brad Rusin, Oxnard College alums Gabe Chavez and Gabriel Gonzalez, and the talented Farfan brothers, Gabriel and Michael.

UC Santa Barbara midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan, who played 730 minutes for the Fusion in the PDL last year, has assumed the club captaincy made available by the loss of English striker Mark Draycott.

Draycott, who led the team with 10 goals last year, has been replaced by an army of new attacking players, including former Rio Mesa High star Jaime Ambriz, who has played in the Swiss first division.

The Fusion has also welcomed a number of new corporate sponsors in the fold.

"Sponsorship revenue has tripled," said Shergill, "and we're working on finalizing a couple more this week."

Home then away: A fast start may be important for a successful season.

The Fusion men open the season with a pair of home games at Buena High, Friday against the Bakersfield Brigade and May 10 against its local rivals, the San Fernando Valley Quakes.

After two trips to the Bay Area, the Fusion play five of seven matches between May 30 and June 28 at home, before closing the season by playing four of its five matches in July on the road.

Opening road: The Fusion women's opening road is slightly different.

After opening its inaugural season with its home debut May 10 against the Pali Blues, it hits the road for the rest of the month, traveling to the Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps and Pali Blues in its biggest road trip of the season.

The Fusion women's biggest homestand is a trio of matches from June 27 to July 13 against Fort Collins, Seattle and Real Colorado.

Double dips: Both teams end the regular season July 20 with a doubleheader at the Los Angeles Legends at Citrus College.

It is the fourth and final Fusion men's and women's doubleheader of the season and the only one away from Buena High. The Fusion will host doubleheaders May 10, June 7 and July 13.

"It's very exciting," said Shergill. "It's something that you don't see often. It's great for the fans to get value for money."

Prices for those doubleheaders will be $15 for adults and $8 for children. Single game prices are $10 and $5.

Like the Fusion, the Legends, who have changed their name from the "Storm," have added a W-League team after one year of USL Soccer.

Both Fusion teams will play single games at Newbury Park High. The match there against the Fresno Fuego last year was one of the highlights of the season.

It was a big success and we want to try and give different part of Ventura County the Fusion flavor," said Shergill. "It makes sense."

Season tickets are available on http://www.VenturaCountyFusion.com. Prices for both teams are $99 for adults and $49 for children 16 and under.