1996 USISL Professional League

The 1996 USISL Professional League was the second highest of the three outdoor men's leagues run by the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues during the summer of 1996.

Overview

This season, the USISL introduced several changes. First, the league added a third, higher league above the professional league. Consequently, several 1995 Pro League teams moved up and did not compete in the 1996 Pro League. Second, the USISL aligned its rules with the newly created Major Soccer League. In previous seasons, the USISL had used 60 minute halves and a shootout for every foul committed after the seventh foul of each half. Both of these were gone for the 1996 season. The USISL also changed its regular season points system to match MLS. This meant each win was worth 3 points and each shootout win was worth 1 point.[1] The average pay for Pro League players was $200 per week. The regular season began in mid-April 1996.

Prime Network provided live broadcast of the USISL All Star Game and delayed broadcast of the Pro League championship game.[2]

All Star Game

The USISL held its All Star Game on July 17 in Blaine, Minnesota. The game pitted the USISL Select League All Stars against a team composed of USISL Professional League and USISL Premier League players. The league coaches voted to select the players.[3] Players from the USISL Professional League included Goalkeeper Randy DeDini of the Chico Rooks, Defenders Paul Edwards (North Jersey Imperials) and Guy Norcott (Charleston Battery); Midfielders Craig Beeson (Everett BigFoot) and Pat O'Kelly (Central Jersey); Forwards Victor Medina (D/FW Toros) and Jon Payne (Charlotte Eagles).

Regular season
  • Regulation win = 3 points
  • Shootout win (SW) = 1 points
  • Loss = 0 points

Northeast Conference
Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 Central Jersey Riptide 16 11 2 3 44 24 +20 35
2 North Jersey Imperials 16 11 0 5 42 26 +16 33
3 Rhode Island Stingrays 16 10 0 6 26 20 +6 30
4 Reading Rage 16 9 1 6 39 31 +8 28
5 Philadelphia Freedom 16 8 2 6 40 25 +15 26
6 New Hampshire Phantoms 16 8 1 7 32 40 −8 25
7 Baltimore Bays 16 5 0 11 34 15 +19 15
8 Albany Alleycats 16 4 0 12 34 44 −10 12
9 Worcester Wildfire 16 0 1 15 19 57 −38 1
Source:

South Atlantic Conference
Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 Charlotte Eagles 16 12 0 4 49 25 +24 36
2 Charleston Battery 16 11 1 4 46 23 +23 34
3 Wilmington Hammerheads 16 6 1 9 20 30 −10 19
4 Washington Mustangs 16 6 0 10 25 37 −12 18
5 Mobile Revelers 16 3 2 11 15 33 −18 11
6 Chattanooga Express 16 1 0 15 18 55 −37 3
Source:

Central Conference
Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 Dallas/Fort Worth Toros 16 9 0 7 33 31 +2 27
2 Rockford Raptors 16 8 1 7 34 28 +6 25
3 Tulsa Roughnecks 16 8 0 8 38 34 +4 24
4 San Antonio Pumas 16 6 0 10 25 37 −12 18
5 Houston Hurricanes 16 5 0 11 28 43 −15 15
Source:

Western Conference
Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hawaii Tsumani 16 10 0 6 31 19 +12 30
2 Chico Rooks 16 9 1 6 23 16 +7 28
3 Everett Bigfoot 16 7 3 6 27 20 +7 24
4 San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles 16 7 3 6 20 22 −2 24
5 Yakima Reds 16 8 0 8 29 20 +9 24
6 Cascade Surge 16 7 0 9 33 23 +10 21
7 Central Valley Hydra 16 3 0 13 16 48 −32 9
Source:

Playoffs

The Mobile Revelers made the playoffs despite having only eleven points. This happened because the South Atlantic Conference had four guaranteed play-off spots. The Charleston Battery received a bye into the playoffs as host of the championship final. Therefore, the league went to the Revelers as the next South Atlantic Conference team in line.

Conference Semifinals
  • North Jersey Imperials 3-1 Rhode Island Stingrays
  • Charlotte Eagles 1-0 Mobile Revelers (forfeit)
  • Wilmington Hammerheads 3-1 Washington Mustangs
  • D/FW Toros 1-0 (SO) Houston Hurricanes
  • Tulsa Roughnecks 3-2 (SO) Rockford Raptors
  • Chico Rooks 3-0 Valley Golden Eagles
  • Everete BigFoot 2-1 Hawaii Tsunami
Reading Rage (PA)1-2Central Jersey Riptide (NJ)
Matt Woolley  25'
Eric Puls  43' 
Archie Moylan  		  4' Pat O'Kelly
 74' Pete Schneiders
Pete Schneiders  

Northeast Conference
North Jersey Imperials (NJ)5-0Central Jersey Riptide (NJ)
Dave Fitzgerald
Attendance: 300


Central Jersey Riptide (NJ)2-2 OTNorth Jersey Imperials (NJ)
Ozrek
Crowley 		DeLuca
(PK) Lucey
Penalties
2-3
Attendance: 2,004
  • North Jersey Imperials advanced to Sizzlin' Six finals.

South Atlantic Conference
Charlotte Eagles (NC)0-3Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)
 31' Dewan Bader
Attendance: 1,045
  • Wilmington Hammerheads advanced to the Sizzlin' Six finals.

Central Conference
Tulsa Roughnecks (OK)1-3DFW Toros (TX)
Berti Generes
Victor Medina
Attendance: 704
  • Originally planned for August 17, the second game was postponed until Sunday morning, August 18, because of heavy rainfall and flooding which rendered the playing field unusable on Saturday.
DFW Toros (TX)1-0Tulsa Roughnecks (OK)
  • D/FW Toros advanced to the Sizzlin' Six finals.

Western Conference
Chico Rooks (CA)0-0Everett BigFoot (WA)
Penalties
Manny Ugbah
Dean Freeman 		2-1


Attendance: 1,056
  • Chico Rooks advanced to Sizzlin' Six finals.

Sizzlin' Six Tournament

The Sizzlin’ Six Tournament was a six-team, two group, round robin tournament. Each of the four conference champions entered the tournament, along with national finals host Charleston Battery and the Charlotte Eagles who had the best regular-season record among the conference runners-up.

Each team received 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie and 1 bonus point for each game in which they scored three or more goals. The top two teams in each group with the most points advanced to the semifinals in Charleston, South Carolina.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1 Charleston Battery 2 2 0 4 2 +2 6
2 Chico Rooks 2 1 1 3 3 0 3
3 DFW Toros 2 0 2 2 4 −2 0
Source:
Charleston Battery (SC)2-1Dallas/Fort Worth Toros (TX)
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Chico Rooks (CA)2-1 OTDFW Toros (TX)
Dean Freeman  27'
Mauricio De Melo  120'		  8' Edgar Hernandez
Baltazar Ascensio
Jose Bazan
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 320
Charleston Battery (SC)2-1Chico Rooks (CA)
Patrick Olalere  12'
Files  82'		  45' Juan Lojas
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 1,539

Group B
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1 Charlotte Eagles 2 2 0 7 2 +5 7[lower-alpha 1]
2 Wilmington Hammerheads 2 1 1 3 1 +2 4[lower-alpha 1]
3 North Jersey Imperials 2 0 2 2 9 −7 0
Source:
Notes:
  1. Charlotte and Wilmington scored three or more goals in one game each, giving them each one bonus point.
Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)3-0North Jersey Imperials (NJ)
Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina
Charlotte Eagles (NC)6-2North Jersey Imperials (NJ)
Keith Dakin  11'  24'  46'
Jeremy Sorzano  36'
Philibert Jones  50'
Donovan Francis  59'		  12' David Price
 30' Gerry Lucey
Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina
Attendance: 236
Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)0-1Charlotte Eagles (NC)
 33' Keith Dakin
Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina
Attendance: 1,250

Semifinals
Charlotte Eagles (NC)1-0Chico Rooks (CA)
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston Battery (SC)2-0Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina

Final
Charleston Battery (SC)vCharlotte Eagles (NC)
Penalties
3-2
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina

Points leaders
Rank Scorer Club Goals Assists Points
1 Philibert Jones Charlotte Eagles 18 20 45
2 Patrick Olalere Charleston Battery 20 5 45
3 Craig Beeson Everette BigFoot 17 2 36
4 Jon Payne Charlotte Eagles 14 8 36
5 Carlos Rocha Rhode Island Stingrays 14 3 33
6 Robert DeLuca North Jersey Imperials 14 3 31
7 Pat O'Kelly North Jersey Imperials 12 6 30

Honors
  • MVP: Craig Beeson
  • Points leader: Patrick Olalere
  • Defender of the Year: Guy Norcott
  • Goalkeeper of the Year: Chris Carmiento
  • Rookie of the Year: Juan Sastoque
  • Coach of the Year: Nuno Piteira
  • Organization of the Year: Reading Rage

All-League:

[4]

References
  1. Owners limit rule changes
  2. USISL: TV Deal With Prime Announced
  3. USISL: rosters for 1996 All-Star game
  4. USISL: 1996 Postseason Awards
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