1997 USISL A-League

The 1997 USISL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues during the summer of 1997.

USISL A-League
-1997 Season-
Season1997
ChampionsMilwaukee Rampage
(1st title)
PremiersMontreal Impact
(3rd title)
Top goalscorerDoug Miller
(23 goals)
1998 →

Overview

At the end of the 1996 A-League season, the U.S. second division A-League collapsed. Six of the seven teams in the A-League then joined the USISL which had three leagues in 1996, beginning with the third division USISL Select League.[1] With the collapse of the U.S. second division and the transfer of most of its teams to the USISL, the USISL reorganized its divisions to include the new teams. It moved most of the old second division USISL Select League, plus a few new teams, up to a second division level and merged the old A-League teams into this new U.S. second division which was renamed the USISL A-League.

Regular season

Northeast Division
Pos Team Pld W SW SL L GF GA GD Pts
1 Montreal Impact 28 20 1 1 6 58 19 +39 61
2 Rochester Raging Rhinos 28 14 0 5 9 56 47 +9 42
3 Long Island Rough Riders 28 13 3 2 10 44 36 +8 42
4 Toronto Lynx 28 12 2 0 14 44 43 +1 38
5 Connecticut Wolves 28 8 4 1 15 31 45 −14 28
6 Worcester Wildfire 28 6 1 2 19 26 61 −35 19
Source:

Atlantic Division
Pos Team Pld W SW SL L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hershey Wildcats 28 18 1 1 8 56 33 +23 55
2 Carolina Dynamo 28 16 2 2 8 63 33 +30 50
3 Richmond Kickers 28 15 0 2 11 41 35 +6 45
4 Charleston Battery 28 10 2 3 13 39 50 −11 32
5 Raleigh Flyers 28 8 4 3 13 34 52 −18 28
6 Jacksonville Cyclones 29 4 1 1 23 28 73 −45 13
Source:

Central Division
Pos Team Pld W SW SL L GF GA GD Pts
1 New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers 28 13 3 2 10 45 42 +3 42
2 Nashville Metros 28 10 7 2 9 42 34 +8 37
3 Orlando Sundogs 28 12 0 4 12 39 40 −1 36
4 Milwaukee Rampage 28 11 3 2 12 33 36 −3 36
5 Minnesota Thunder 28 11 2 5 10 22 30 −8 35
6 Atlanta Ruckus 28 9 3 1 15 39 48 −9 30
Source:

Pacific Division
Pos Team Pld W SW SL L GF GA GD Pts
1 California Jaguars 28 17 1 0 10 48 34 +14 52
2 Seattle Sounders 28 16 2 3 7 42 19 +23 50
3 Vancouver 86ers 28 15 1 1 11 50 29 +21 46
4 Colorado Foxes 28 15 1 2 10 55 49 +6 46
5 Orange County Zodiac 28 10 1 0 17 35 62 −27 31
6 El Paso Patriots 28 5 3 3 17 30 50 −20 18
Source:

Division Semi-finals

Northeast Semifinal 1
Rochester Raging Rhinos (NY)0–0Long Island Rough Riders (NY)
Kevin Koetters
Fuseini Dauda
Andrew McKay
Leon Minott
Lenin Steenkamp
Gustavo Villagra  78'		 Report  ?'  78' Tom Lips
Daniel Leon
Flávio Ferri
Penalties
Mali Walton
Mike Kirmse
Nate Daligcon
Andrew McKay
Doug Miller
Fuseini Dauda
Chris Kennell 		3–4 Daniel Leon
David Price
Laurence Piturro
Hector Wright
Ernest Inneh
Jim McElderry
Sal Leanti
Attendance: 5,160


Long Island Rough Riders (NY)1–1Rochester Raging Rhinos (NY)
Carlos Ledesma  62:26' (pen.)
Ernest Inneh  29'
Dahir Mohammed  ?'  88'
Travis Rinker 		Report 1
Report 2		  7:43' Nate Daligcon
 ?'  82' Leon Minott
Fuseini Dauda
Nate Houser
Jimmy Glenn
Penalties
Travis Rinker
Hector Wright
Daniel Leon 		3–1 Mali Walton
Garth Miller
Nate Houser
Kevin Koetters
James M. Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, New York
Attendance: 4,361

Long Island advances to the Division final

Northeast Semifinal 2
Toronto Lynx (ON)1–2Montreal Impact (QC)
Terry St. Louis  13'
Peyvand Mossavat  31'
Martin Dugas  42'
Franco Spadafina  43'
Paul Stalteri  45'		 Report  8' Onandi Lowe
 13' John Limniatis
 25' Onandi Lowe
 62' Mauro Biello
Attendance: 1,254
Referee: Tony Camacho (Canada)


Montreal Impact (QC)4–0Toronto Lynx (ON)
Darren Tilley  17' (pen.), 25', 26'
Bill Sedgewick  45'
Attendance: 4,138

Montreal advances to the Division final

Atlantic Semifinal 1
Richmond Kickers (VA)1–2Carolina Dynamo (NC)
Rob Ukrop  63'  23' Robert Rosario
 31' Yari Allnutt
Attendance: 1,362


Carolina Dynamo (NC)1–4Richmond Kickers (VA)
Keiran Breslin  32'  14' Dian Anguelov
 72' Brian Kamler
 75' Mario Lone
 82' Mac Cozier
Attendance: 4,562


Carolina Dynamo (NC)0–0Richmond Kickers (VA)
Penalties
3–1
Attendance: 4,562

Carolina advances to the Division final

Atlantic Semifinal 2
Charleston Battery (CA)1–1Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Juan Castillo  38'
Michael Anhaeuser  50'
Patrick Olalere  85'		 Report  78' Mark Waite
Penalties
1–3
Attendance: 2,024
Referee: Roger Sill


Hershey Wildcats (PA)1–1Charleston Battery (CA)
Lee Tschantret  89' Report Juan Castillo
 75' Patrick Olalere
Penalties
0–1
Attendance: 2,104
Referee: Yanich Wejlak


Hershey Wildcats (PA)0–0Charleston Battery (CA)
Report
Penalties
4–2
Attendance: 2,104
Referee: Yanich Wejlak

Hershey advances to the Division final

Central Semifinal 1
Orlando Sundogs (FL)1–2New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers (LA)
Dylan Lewis  ?'  34'
Greg Brick  54'		 Report  12', 23' Stern John
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)


New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers (LA)6–2Orlando Sundogs (FL)
Gabe Gentile  2'
Stern John  10', 89'
Louie Smothermon  23'
Mickey Trotman  39'		 Report  29' Sebastian Barnes
 67' Sheldon Lee
Attendance: 653

New Orleans advances to the Division final

Central Semifinal 2
Nashville Metros (TN)1–2Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Tim Geltz  2'  81' Nick Igel
 85' David Marshall
Attendance: 550


Milwaukee Rampage (WI)3–0Nashville Metros (TN)
Travis Roy  27'
Dan Stebbins  81', 83'
Attendance: 1,229

Milwaukee advances to the Division final

Pacific Semifinal 1
Colorado Foxes (CO)0–3Seattle Sounders (WA)
Rivers Guthrie Report Vicente Figueroa
 20' Erik Storkson
 26' Mike Gailey
 84' (pen.) David Hoggan
Mile High Greyhound Park, Commerce City, Colorado
Attendance: 786
Referee: Rudy Bettmann (USA)


Seattle Sounders (WA)2–0Colorado Foxes (CO)
Henry Gutierrez
Vicente Figueroa
Vicente Figueroa  70'
Esmundo Rodriguez  89'		 Report Chad Ashton
 87'  88' Ray Tomlin
Attendance: 6,927
Referee: Mohammad Zarrabi-Kashani (USA)

Seattle advances to the Division final

Pacific Semifinal 2
Vancouver 86ers (BC)4–1California Jaguars (CA)
Domenic Mobilio  2' (pen.)
 54' (pen.)
Steve Kindel  35'		  86' Paul Holocher
Attendance: 2,716


California Jaguars (CA)2–2Vancouver 86ers (BC)
Mark Baena  55'
Rick Iversen  89'		  22' Steve Kindel
 73' Domenic Mobilio
Penalties
1–2
Attendance: 1,859

Vancouver advances to the Division final

Division Finals

Northeast Division final
Long Island Rough Riders (NY)2–1Montreal Impact (QC)
Hector Wright  4'
Flavio Ferri  55'		  5' Lloyd Barker
James M. Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, New York
Attendance: 3,585


Montreal Impact (QC)2–0Long Island Rough Riders (NY)
Mauro Biello  34'
Lyndon Hooper  77'
Attendance: 6,679


Montreal Impact (QC)0–0Long Island Rough Riders (NY)
Penalties
1–4
Attendance: 6,679

Atlantic Division final
Charleston Battery (SC)3–3Carolina Dynamo (NC)
Todd Miller  37'
Juan Castillo  52' (pen.)
Alvin Boisson  53'		  43' Danny Care
 54' John Ball
 81' Mike Saunders
Penalties
4–3
Attendance: 1,422


Carolina Dynamo (NC)2–1Charleston Battery (SC)
Maher Atta  29'
Yari Allnutt  89'		  27' (pen.) Andy Schmetzer
Attendance: 1,506


Carolina Dynamo (NC)1–0Charleston Battery (SC)
Ed Radwanski  12'
Attendance: 1,506

Central Division final
Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–1 (OT)New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers (LA)
Nick Igel  81'
Nick Igel  92' 		 9' Ricardo Blanchard
Attendance: 2,818


New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers (LA)3–4Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Stern John  64' (pen.)
Gabe Jones  67'
Mickey Trotman  78'		  51' (pen.), 78' (pen.) Jon Szczepanski
 60' Dan Stebbins
 74' David Marshall
Attendance: 898

Pacific Division final
Vancouver 86ers (BC)3–0Seattle Sounders (WA)
Craig Dalrymple
Domenic Mobilio  62'
Nico Berg  70'
Chris Clarke  86'		 Report Henry Gutierrez
Kieran Barton
Vicente Figueroa
Attendance: 3,607
Referee: Rene Perott (Canada)


Seattle Sounders (WA)0–0 (a.e.t.)Vancouver 86ers (BC)
Neil Megson
Henry Gutierrez 		Report Chris Franks
Richie Sumner
Penalties
Bernie James
David Hoggan
Henry Gutierrez
Esmundo Rodriguez 		1–0 Domenic Mobilio
Ollie Heald
Jason Jordan
Paul Dailly
Chris Franks


Seattle Sounders (WA)1–1 (a.e.t.)Vancouver 86ers (BC)
Erik Storkson  29' Report  7' Domenic Mobilio
Penalties
Bernie James
David Hoggan
Vicente Figueroa
Esmundo Rodriguez 		1–3 Domenic Mobilio
Ian Clarke
Steve Kindel
Doug Muirhead

Conference finals

Eastern Conference
Long Island Rough Riders (NY)1–2Carolina Dynamo (NC)
Laurence Piturro  71'  72', 89' (pen.) Brian Loftin
Hofstra Stadium Hempstead, New York
Attendance: 1,044


Carolina Dynamo (NC)2–0Long Island Rough Riders (NY)
Brian Loftin  84'
Laurence Piturro  86' (o.g.)
Attendance: 2,105

The Carolina Dynamo advance.

Western Conference
Milwaukee Rampage (WI)3–1Vancouver 86ers (BC)
Dan Stebbins  65', 82', 87'  51' Domenic Mobilio
Attendance: 2,888


Vancouver 86ers (BC)1–0Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Domenic Mobilio  63' (pen.)
Attendance: 4,323


Vancouver 86ers (BC)0–0Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Penalties


 0–3 Dan Stebbins
Eddy Berdusco
Nick Igel

The Milwaukee Rampage advance, winning two out of three games.

Final
Milwaukee Rampage (WI)1–1 (a.e.t.)Carolina Dynamo (NC)
Dan Stebbins  65' Report  80' Brian Loftin
Penalties
Jon Szczepanski
Dan Stebbins
Nick Igel 		3–0 Maher Atta
Yari Allnutt
Ed Radwanski
Attendance: 6,381

MVP: Carmine Isacco, Milwaukee Rampage

Points leaders
Rank Scorer Club Goals Assists Points
1 Doug Miller Rochester Rhinos 23 5 51
2 Mark Baena California Jaguars 20 4 44
3 Stern John New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers 16 5 37
4 Steve Patterson Colorado Foxes 16 3 35
5 Jamel Mitchell Nashville Metros 17 0 34
Jimmy Glenn Rochester Rhinos 13 8 34
7 Yari Allnutt Carolina Dynamo 12 9 33
Domenic Mobilio Vancouver 86ers 14 5 33
Darren Tilley Montreal Impact 13 7 33
Gustavo Leal Orange County Zodiac 16 1 33
11 Sebastian Barnes Orlando Sundogs 14 3 31
12 Garret Kusch Vancouver 86ers 10 10 30
13 Mike Gailey Seattle Sounders 10 7 27
Rob Ukrop Richmond Kickers 12 3 27

Honors

References
  1. "The Year in American Soccer – 1996". Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
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