They team played its games at the stadium on the grounds of Peter Johansen High School in the city of Modesto, California.

Prior to 2002 the team was known as the Stanislaus United Cruisers, owned by a different management group, and playing in the USL Pro league.

They finished their first year in competition with a commendable 9–10–1, still fourth in the Western Conference behind divisional champs Utah Blitzz, but still with enough of a foundation on which to build.

[3] They won their opening game as an amateur side, 1–0 over rivals Bakersfield Brigade, and picked up another couple of wins in the early part of the season, 1–0 over both San Diego Gauchos and Fresno Fuego.

Manuel Brasil and Bertin Loyola were Gold's top scorers, with 6 and 5 goals respectively, while Jonathan Domingos and Glenn Tafolla contributed 3 assists each.

The 3–1 opening day loss to Orange County Blue Star was a sign of things to come; they suffered one of the worst campaigns in PDL history, losing every one of their 16 regular season games, scoring just 13 goals while conceding an astonishing 71.