1996 USISL Pro League
Football league season
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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.
| Season | 1996 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Charleston Battery (1st Title) |
| Regular Season title | Charlotte Eagles (1st Title) |
| Matches | 216 |
| Goals | 820 (3.8 per match) |
| Best player |  Craig Beeson Everett BigFoot |
| Top goalscorer |  Patrick Olalere Charleston Battery (20 Goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Chris Carmiento Hawaii Tsumani |
← 1995 1997 → | |
Overview
This season, USISL created a higer caliber professional league called the Select League. Several 1995 Pro League teams moved up and did not compete in the 1996 Pro League.
The USISL aligned its rules with other soccer leagues including the newly created Major Soccer League. Previously USISL had used 60 minute halves and a penalty shot for every foul committed after the seventh foul of each half but these rules were eliminated for the 1996 season. The USISL also changed its regular season points system to award three points for a win and one point for a shootout win.[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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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
| North Jersey Imperials (NJ) | 3–1 | Rhode Island Stingrays (RI) |
|---|---|---|
|
| Charlotte Eagles (NC) | 1–0 Forfeit | Mobile Revelers (AL) |
|---|---|---|
| Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) | 3–1 | Washington Mustangs (DC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| D/FW Toros (TX) | 1–0 | Houston Hurricanes (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Rockford Raptors (IL) | 2–3 | Tulsa Roughnecks (OK) |
|---|---|---|
|
| Chico Rooks (CA) | 3–0 | Valley Golden Eagles (CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Hawaii Tsunami (HA) | 1–2 | Everett BigFoot (WA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Central Jersey Riptide (NJ) | 2-1 | Reading Rage (PA) |
|---|---|---|
Pat O'Kelly  (3:16)Pete Schneiders 74'   |
25' Matt Woolley 43' Eric Puls Archie Moylan |
Conference finals
Northeast Conference
| North Jersey Imperials (NJ) | 5-0 | Central Jersey Riptide (NJ) |
|---|---|---|
|
- North Jersey Imperials advanced to Sizzlin' Six finals.
South Atlantic Conference
| Charlotte Eagles (NC) | 0-3 | Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
- Wilmington Hammerheads advanced to the Sizzlin' Six finals.
Central Conference
| Tulsa Roughnecks (OK) | 1-3 | DFW Toros (TX) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report | 8' Berti Generes (9:30) Victor Medina Jimmy Glenn 64' |
- 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) | 1-0 | Tulsa Roughnecks (OK) |
|---|---|---|
|
- D/FW Toros advanced to the Sizzlin' Six finals.
Western Conference
| Chico Rooks (CA) | 0-0 | Everett BigFoot (WA) |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties | ||
Manny Ugbah  Dean Freeman |
2-1 |  |
- 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 |
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2-1 | Dallas/Fort Worth Toros (TX) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Chico Rooks (CA) | 2-1 OT | DFW Toros (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Dean Freeman 27' Mauricio De Melo 120' |
8' Edgar Hernandez Baltazar Ascensio Jose Bazan |
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2-1 | Chico Rooks (CA) |
|---|---|---|
| Patrick Olalere 12' Files 82' |
45' Juan Lojas |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte Eagles | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7[a] |
| 2 | Wilmington Hammerheads | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4[a] |
| 3 | North Jersey Imperials | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 0 |
- Charlotte and Wilmington scored three or more goals in one game each, giving them each one bonus point.
| Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) | 3-0 | North Jersey Imperials (NJ) |
|---|---|---|
|
| Charlotte Eagles (NC) | 6-2 | North Jersey Imperials (NJ) |
|---|---|---|
| Keith Dakin 11' 24' 46' Jeremy Sorzano 36' Philibert Jones 50' Donovan Francis 59' |
12' David Price 30' Gerry Lucey |
| Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) | 0-1 | Charlotte Eagles (NC) |
|---|---|---|
| 33' Keith Dakin |
Semifinals
| Charlotte Eagles (NC) | 1-0 | Chico Rooks (CA) |
|---|---|---|
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2-0 | Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Final
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2–2 | Charlotte Eagles (NC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
|
2-1 | |
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:
- Goalkeeper: Randy Dedini
- Defenders: Guy Norcott, Tom Finley, Desmond Armstrong
- Midfielders:
David Price, 
Pat O'Kelly, Carlos Rocha - Forward: Craig Beeson, Patrick Olalere, Jimmy Wright,
Philibert Jones
