2001 USL A-League

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

September 20, 2001
7:35 PM (EDT)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA) 2 – 1 Charleston Battery (SC)
Gary DePalma  45'
Phil Karn  76'		 (Report) YC 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

September 19, 2001
10:00 PM (EDT)
San Diego Flash (CA) 2 – 0 Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)
Brian O'Connor YC 43'
Thiago Martins  63', 72'		 (Report) YC 5' Shaun McSkimming
YC 36' Ian Checcio
YC 54' Randy Merkel
YC 74' Sean Michael Callahan
San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, California
Attendance: 370
Referee: Richard Heron (USA)


September 23, 2001
5:30 PM (EDT)
Atlanta Silverbacks (GA) 2 – 2 San Diego Flash (CA)
Danny Care YC 32'
Sean Finn  45'
Sean Finn YC 60'
Ryan Walker  90'		 (Report)  42' Chugger Adair
 66' Thiago Martins
YC 73' Thiago Martins

Portland vs Charlotte

September 20, 2001
10:35 PM (EDT)
Portland Timbers (OR) 2 – 0 Charlotte Eagles (NC)
Darin Lewis  10'
Mark Baena  19'
Neil Ryan YC 26'
Darren Sawatzky YC 43'
Michael O'Neill YC 63'		 (Report) YC 32' Jose Correa
YC 73' Nate Watkins
PGE Park, Portland, Oregon
Attendance: 4,771


Milwaukee vs Nashville

September 19, 2001
7:00 PM (CDT)
Nashville Metros (TN) 2 – 3 Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Chris Morman YC 20'
Brandon Wright YC 72'
Chris Morman Yellow cardRed card 73'
Jakob Fenger  82'
Jaymi Bailey  90'		 (Report) YC 13' Judah Cooks
 30', 61' Steve Butcher
YC 77' David Hayes
Red card 77' Jason Russell
 83' Igor Soso
YC 90' Dennis Fadeski
Ezell Park, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 810
Referee: Ali Saheli (USA)


September 22, 2001
3:00 PM (CDT)
Milwaukee Rampage (WI) 0 – 1 OT Nashville Metros (TN)
Matt Bobo YC 28'
Philippe Godoy YC 72'
Destin Makumbu YC 93'
Josh Provan YC 98'
Judah Cooks YC 99'		 (Report) YC 27' Jeff Dominguez
YC 84' Jakob Fenger
YC 93' Andreas Maier
 90' Jeff Houser
YC 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

September 28, 2001
7:00 PM (CDT)
Milwaukee Rampage (WI) 2 – 2 Richmond Kickers (VA)
Alen Soso YC 10'
Philippe Godoy YC 18'
Matt Bobo YC 43'
Judah Cooks YC 45'
Dennis Fadeski YC 66'
Digital Takawira  73'
Alen Soso Yellow cardRed card 82'		 (Report)  17' Josh Henderson
YC 26' Josh Henderson
YC 44' Mike Burke
YC 63' Kevin Knight
 74' Kevin Knight
YC 90' Chris Brown
Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 1,318
Referee: Michael Kennedy (USA)


September 30, 2001
5:00 PM (CDT)
Richmond Kickers (VA) 1 – 2 OT Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Peter Luzak YC 68'
Rob Ukrop YC 88'
Josh Henderson  90' (pen.)		 (Report)  35' Jim Curtin
 93' Igor Soso
Richmond City Stadium, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Hershey vs Portland

September 27, 2001
5:00 PM (CDT)
Portland Timbers (OR) 0 – 2 Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Gavin Wilkinson YC 19'
Mark Baena YC 43'
Michael O'Neill YC 86'		 (Report) YC 23' Nigel Henry
YC 49' Mike Feniger
YC 59' Chris Marinos
Red card 62' Chad Evans
 71' Doug Watson
 85' Fred DeGand
PGE Park, Portland, Oregon
Attendance: 4,894


September 29, 2001
Hershey Wildcats (PA) 1 – 0 Portland Timbers (OR)
Mike Feniger  28'

Attendance: 1,048

Vancouver vs San Diego

September 26, 2001
San Diego Flash (CA) 2 – 0 Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar  67'
Emmanuel Ayim  84'		 (Report)
Douglas Stadium, San Diego, California
Attendance: 468


Rochester vs Pittsburgh


September 29, 2001
Rochester Rhinos (NY) 3 – 0 Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Martin Nash  30'
Neathan Gibson  53'
Jimmy Tanner  90'
Richmond City Stadium, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Semifinals

Semifinal 1


October 6, 2001
6:36 PM (CST)
Rochester Rhinos (NY) 1 – 0 Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Scott Schweitzer YC 16'
Neathan Gibson  41'
Mike Kirmse YC 90'		 (Report) YC 38' Igor Soso
YC 45' Judah Cooks
YC 45' Philippe Godoy
YC 81' Brian Doherty

Semifinal 2


Final

October 13, 2001
Rochester Raging Rhinos (NY) 2 – 0 Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Martin Nash YC 38'
Carlos Zavala YC 38'
Stoian Mladenov  63', 87'		 (Report)
Frontier Field Rochester, New York
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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