2001 USL A-League

USL A-League
-2001 Season-
Season 2001
Champions Rochester Rhinos
(3rd title)
Premiers Richmond Kickers
(1st title)
Top goalscorer Paul Conway
(22 goals)
← 2000
2002 →

The 2001 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer Leagues during the summer of 2001.

History

The addition of the Portland Timbers this season saw the renewal of a Pacific Northwest rivalry between them, the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps which dated back to the North American Soccer League. Although Vancouver was not new to the league, this was the first season they competed in under the Whitecaps name. Beginning with their founding in 1986 through the 2000 A-League season, Vancouver had operated under the 86ers name. An ownership change in August 2000 brought a revival of the old Whitecaps name for the 2001 season. At the end of the regular season, the Richmond Kickers topped the league with seventy-six points. The post-season was marred by two tragedies. First, the September 11 attacks forced the league to reschedule the first-round games which had been set to begin on September 12. Then, Mickey Trotman, a starter for the Rochester Rhinos, was killed in an automobile accident two days before the team's first semifinal match with the Milwaukee Rampage. In the end, the Rhinos overcame the Hershey Wildcats to take its third league title in four seasons.

League standings

Northern Conference

Place Team GP W D L GF GA GD BP Points
1 Hershey Wildcats 26 16 3 7 45 20 +25 8 75
2 Rochester Raging Rhinos 26 16 4 6 43 27 +16 6 74
3 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 26 10 4 12 39 39 0 6 50
4 Montreal Impact 26 10 2 14 29 37 -8 3 45
5 Connecticut Wolves 26 9 6 11 30 37 -7 1 43
6 Long Island Rough Riders 26 8 4 16 31 50 -19 5 33
7 Toronto Lynx 26 7 3 16 20 41 -21 1 32

Central Conference

Place Team GP W D L GF GA GD BP Points
1 Richmond Kickers 26 16 3 7 47 34 +13 9 76
2 Charleston Battery 26 16 1 9 51 34 +17 8 73
3 Charlotte Eagles 26 14 2 10 50 41 +9 8 66
4 Nashville Metros 26 14 2 10 47 48 -1 5 63
5 Atlanta Silverbacks 26 13 1 12 48 39 +9 6 59
6 Indiana Blast 26 8 0 18 38 55 -17 3 35
7 Cincinnati Riverhawks 26 6 0 20 39 80 -41 3 27

Western Conference

Place Team GP W D L GF GA GD BP Points
1 Vancouver Whitecaps 26 16 2 8 44 33 +11 8 74
2 San Diego Flash 26 14 1 11 55 42 +13 11 68
3 Milwaukee Rampage 26 14 2 10 45 40 +5 5 63
4 Portland Timbers 26 13 3 10 41 38 +3 7 62
5 Seattle Sounders 26 13 1 12 40 39 +1 4 57
6 Minnesota Thunder 26 9 2 15 29 34 -5 3 41
7 El Paso Patriots 26 8 4 14 39 42 -3 4 40

Playoffs

Bracket

  First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
                                         
Charlotte Eagles 0 2 2  
Portland Timbers 2 3 5  
  Hershey Wildcats 2 1 3  
  Portland Timbers 0 0 0  
  Hershey Wildcats 4 0 4  
  Vancouver Whitecaps 0 1 1  
San Diego F.C. 2 2 4  
Atlanta Silverbacks 0 2 2  
  Vancouver Whitecaps 0 4 4
  San Diego F.C. 2 1 3  
 
  Hershey Wildcats 0
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 2
Charleston Battery 1 1 2  
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 3 5  
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 1 3 4
  Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 0 2  
 
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 3 1 4
  Milwaukee Rampage 2 0 2  
Milwaukee Rampage (aet) (p) 3 0 3 (4)  
Nashville Metros 2 1 3 (2)  
  Richmond Kickers 2 1 3
  Milwaukee Rampage (aet) 2 2 4  
 

First round

Pittsburgh vs Charleston

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA) 2–1 Charleston Battery (SC)
Gary DePalma  45'
Phil Karn  76'		 (Report) Yellow card 36' John Ball
 38' Paul Conway
Yellow cardRed card 44' John Ball
Bethel Park Stadium, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,152


San Diego vs Atlanta

San Diego Flash (CA) 2–0 Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)
Brian O'Connor Yellow card 43'
Thiago Martins  63', 72'		 (Report) Yellow card 5' Shaun McSkimming
Yellow card 36' Ian Checcio
Yellow card 54' Randy Merkel
Yellow card 74' Sean Michael Callahan
Attendance: 370
Referee: Richard Heron (USA)


Atlanta Silverbacks (GA) 2–2 San Diego Flash (CA)
Danny Care Yellow card 32'
Sean Finn  45'
Sean Finn Yellow card 60'
Ryan Walker  90'		 (Report)  42' Chugger Adair
 66' Thiago Martins
Yellow card 73' Thiago Martins
Attendance: 722

Portland vs Charlotte

Portland Timbers (OR) 2–0 Charlotte Eagles (NC)
Darin Lewis  10'
Mark Baena  19'
Neil Ryan Yellow card 26'
Darren Sawatzky Yellow card 43'
Michael O'Neill Yellow card 63'		 (Report) Yellow card 32' Jose Correa
Yellow card 73' Nate Watkins
Attendance: 4,771


Charlotte Eagles (NC) 2–3 Portland Timbers (OR)
Jacob Coggins  16'
Joey Johnson  19'		 (Report)  23' Michael O'Neill
 82' Scott Benedetti
 85' Greg Howes
Attendance: 2,100

Milwaukee vs Nashville

Nashville Metros (TN) 2–3 Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Chris Morman Yellow card 20'
Brandon Wright Yellow card 72'
Chris Morman Yellow cardRed card 73'
Jakob Fenger  82'
Jaymi Bailey  90'		 (Report) Yellow card 13' Judah Cooks
 30', 61' Steve Butcher
Yellow card 77' David Hayes
Red card 77' Jason Russell
 83' Igor Soso
Yellow card 90' Dennis Fadeski
Attendance: 810
Referee: Ali Saheli (USA)


Milwaukee Rampage (WI) 0–1 (OT) Nashville Metros (TN)
Matt Bobo Yellow card 28'
Philippe Godoy Yellow card 72'
Destin Makumbu Yellow card 93'
Josh Provan Yellow card 98'
Judah Cooks Yellow card 99'		 (Report) Yellow card 27' Jeff Dominguez
Yellow card 84' Jakob Fenger
Yellow card 93' Andreas Maier
 90' Jeff Houser
Yellow card 98' Jeff Houser
Penalties
Steve Bernal
Igor Soso
David Hayes
Steve Butcher
Mike Slivinski 		4–2 Dominic Schell
Jakob Fenger
Andreas Maier
Jeff Houser
Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 2,152

Quarterfinals

Milwaukee vs Richmond

Milwaukee Rampage (WI) 2–2 Richmond Kickers (VA)
Alen Soso Yellow card 10'
Philippe Godoy Yellow card 18'
Matt Bobo Yellow card 43'
Judah Cooks Yellow card 45'
Dennis Fadeski Yellow card 66'
Digital Takawira  73'
Alen Soso Yellow cardRed card 82'		 (Report)  17' Josh Henderson
Yellow card 26' Josh Henderson
Yellow card 44' Mike Burke
Yellow card 63' Kevin Knight
 74' Kevin Knight
Yellow card 90' Chris Brown
Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 1,318
Referee: Michael Kennedy (USA)


Richmond Kickers (VA) 1–2 (OT) Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Peter Luzak Yellow card 68'
Rob Ukrop Yellow card 88'
Josh Henderson  90' (pen.)		 (Report)  35' Jim Curtin
 93' Igor Soso
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Hershey vs Portland

Portland Timbers (OR) 0–2 Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Gavin Wilkinson Yellow card 19'
Mark Baena Yellow card 43'
Michael O'Neill Yellow card 86'		 (Report) Yellow card 23' Nigel Henry
Yellow card 49' Mike Feniger
Yellow card 59' Chris Marinos
Red card 62' Chad Evans
 71' Doug Watson
 85' Fred DeGand
Attendance: 4,894


Hershey Wildcats (PA) 1–0 Portland Timbers (OR)
Mike Feniger  28'
Attendance: 1,048

Vancouver vs San Diego

San Diego Flash (CA) 2–0 Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar  67'
Emmanuel Ayim  84'		 (Report)
Douglas Stadium, San Diego, California
Attendance: 468


Vancouver Whitecaps (BC) 4–1 Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Darren Tilley  6'
John Sulentic  17', 90'
Steve Kindel  42'		 (Report)  35' Chugger Adair
Attendance: 6,782

Rochester vs Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA) 2–1 Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Welton Melo  62'
John Jones  81'		  25' (pen.) Stoian Mladenov
Attendance: 1,073


Rochester Rhinos (NY) 3–0 Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Martin Nash  30'
Neathan Gibson  53'
Jimmy Tanner  90'
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Semifinals

Semifinal 1


Rochester Rhinos (NY) 1–0 Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Scott Schweitzer Yellow card 16'
Neathan Gibson  41'
Mike Kirmse Yellow card 90'		 (Report) Yellow card 38' Igor Soso
Yellow card 45' Judah Cooks
Yellow card 45' Philippe Godoy
Yellow card 81' Brian Doherty
Attendance: 6,817

Semifinal 2

Vancouver Whitecaps (BC) 0–4 Hershey Wildcats (PA)
(Report)  21', 39' Kyle Swords
 85' Zé Roberto
 90' Doug Miller
Attendance: 6,685


Final

Rochester Raging Rhinos (NY) 2–0 Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Martin Nash Yellow card 38'
Carlos Zavala Yellow card 38'
Stoian Mladenov  63', 87'		 (Report)
Attendance: 13,692
Referee: Eric Simmons (USA)

Points leaders

Rank Scorer Club GP Goals Assists Points
1 Paul Conway Charleston Battery 25 22 3 47
2 Dustin Swinehart Charlotte Eagles 23 18 3 39
3 Jakob Fenger Nashville Metros 24 14 6 34
4 Jeff Houser Nashville Metros 24 14 5 33
5 Digital Takawira Milwaukee Rampage 20 13 4 30
6 Kevin Jeffrey Richmond Kickers 24 11 7 29
Leighton O'Brien Seattle Sounders 24 11 7 29
Mark Baena Portland Timbers 24 13 3 29
9 Ignace Moleka Atlanta Silverbacks 19 12 1 25
Luis Macias El Paso Patriots 23 12 1 25
Chugger Adair San Diego Flash 22 10 5 25
Jason Jordan Vancouver Whitecaps 18 9 7 25
Rodrigo Costa Indiana Blast 21 11 3 25
14 Mark Rowland El Paso Patriots 26 7 10 24
15 Josh Henderson Richmond Kickers 21 10 3 23

Honors

Annual awards

References

  1. ↑ 2001 A-League Awards Archived 2012-03-05 at the Wayback Machine.
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