2000 USL A-League
Football league season
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The 2000 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer League during the summer of 2000.
| Season | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 25 |
| Champions | Rochester Rhinos (2nd Title) |
| Premiers | Minnesota Thunder (1st Title) |
| Matches | 350 |
| Goals | 1,138 (3.25 per match) |
| Best Player |  Digital Takawira, Milwaukee Rampage |
| Top goalscorer |  Paul Conway, Charleston Battery, Greg Howes, Seattle Sounders,  Johnny Menyongar, Minnesota Thunder(17 goals each) |
| Best goalkeeper | Scott Vallow, Rochester Raging Rhinos |
← 1999 2001 → | |
League standings
Eastern Conference
Northeast Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Long Island Rough Riders | 28 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 54 | 36 | +18 | 9 | 76 |
| 2 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 28 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 5 | 75 |
| 3 | Toronto Lynx | 28 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 35 | 30 | +5 | 3 | 59 |
| 4 | Montreal Impact | 28 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 34 | 41 | −7 | 3 | 54 |
| 5 | Boston Bulldogs | 28 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 32 | 41 | −9 | 3 | 42 |
| 6 | Connecticut Wolves | 28 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 22 | 57 | −35 | 1 | 13 |
Atlantic Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charleston Battery | 28 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 13 | 87 |
| 2 | Richmond Kickers | 28 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 3 | 84 |
| 3 | Hershey Wildcats | 28 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 49 | 30 | +19 | 7 | 70 |
| 4 | Hampton Roads Mariners | 28 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 44 | 38 | +6 | 4 | 62 |
| 5 | Raleigh Capital Express | 28 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 48 | 52 | −4 | 6 | 58 |
| 6 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 28 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 51 | 42 | +9 | 8 | 55 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 28 | 10 | 14 | 4 | 41 | 43 | −2 | 5 | 49 |
Western Conference
Central Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota Thunder | 28 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 74 | 30 | +44 | 15 | 99 |
| 2 | Milwaukee Rampage | 28 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 69 | 47 | +22 | 16 | 89 |
| 3 | Indiana Blast | 28 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 40 | 57 | −17 | 5 | 45 |
| 4 | MLS Project 40 | 28 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 35 | 60 | −25 | 3 | 36 |
| 5 | Tennessee Rhythm | 28 | 6 | 22 | 0 | 36 | 103 | −67 | 1 | 25 |
| 6 | Cincinnati Riverhawks | 28 | 2 | 23 | 3 | 25 | 80 | −55 | 2 | 13 |
Pacific Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle Sounders | 28 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 56 | 38 | +18 | 10 | 85 |
| 2 | San Diego Flash | 28 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 54 | 32 | +22 | 8 | 75 |
| 3 | Vancouver 86ers | 28 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 62 | 41 | +21 | 11 | 70 |
| 4 | El Paso Patriots | 28 | 12 | 14 | 2 | 48 | 50 | −2 | 7 | 57 |
| 5 | Bay Area Seals | 28 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 5 | 56 |
| 6 | Orange County Waves | 28 | 12 | 15 | 1 | 44 | 52 | −8 | 6 | 55 |
Conference Quarterfinals
Eastern Conference
| Long Island Rough Riders (NY) | 1–2 | Toronto Lynx (ON) |
|---|---|---|
Dahir Mohammed  78' |
Report | 5' Brian Ashton 43' Juan Pablo Arango |
Attendance: 758
Attendance: 3,091
| Rochester Rhinos (NY) | 4–2 | Hershey Wildcats (PA) |
|---|---|---|
Mali Walton 47:38',  59'Yari Allnutt 51:28'Dan Stebbins 57', 85'Martin Nash 62'Onandi Lowe 71', 78'Scott Schweitzer  90' |
Report | 40:52' Greg Simmonds 32' Mike Williams 36' Mike Henning 59' Ze Roberto 90' Timothy Leonard |
Attendance: 10,456
| Richmond Kickers (VA) | 2–1 (OT) | Hampton Roads Mariners (VA) |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Lekics 90' Rob Ukrop  113' |
41' Jakob Fenger |
Attendance: 3,927
Western Conference
| Milwaukee Rampage (WI) | 3–2 | El Paso Patriots (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Takawira 5', 94' Igor Soso 85' |
41' Mark Rowland 63' Kirk Wilson |
Attendance: 3,122
| Minnesota Thunder (MN) | 7–0 | Indiana Blast (IN) |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Winters 2', 61' Chugger Adair 27'Morgan Zeba 47', 63'Johnny Menyongar 53'Paul Schneider 80' |
Report |
| Seattle Sounders (WA) | 2–1 | Bay Area Seals (CA) |
|---|---|---|
| Craig Waibel 26', 57' Viet Nguyen 45'Scott Jenkins 48'Tim Steidten 79' |
Report | 5' Marquis White 44' Jeremy Sweet 55' Kevin Jeffrey |
| San Diego Flash (CA) | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Vancouver 86ers (BC) |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Farace 21' Carlos Farias 53'Leighton O'Brien 77'Raul Calderon 103' |
Report | 2' Chris Franks 38' Carmen D'Onofrio 43' Paul Dailly |
| Penalties | ||
Carlos Farias  Carlos Calderson Emmanuel Ayim Jerome Watson  Brian O'Connor |
3–4 | Darren Tilley Domenic Mobilio Steve Kindel Chris Franks Rick Titus |
Conference semifinals
Eastern semifinal 1
| Rochester Rhinos (NY) | 2–0 | Charleston Battery (SC) |
|---|---|---|
| Onandi Lowe 8', 42' Yari Allnutt 10' |
Report | 2' Darren Warham 56'  76' Brent Sancho |
Attendance: 7,531
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 0–1 | Rochester Rhinos (NY) |
|---|---|---|
| Report | 28' Dan Stebbins 82' Scott Vallow |
Attendance: 2,806
The Rochester Rhinos advanced 3–0 on aggregate.
Eastern semifinal 2
| Toronto Lynx (ON) | 1–0 | Richmond Kickers (VA) |
|---|---|---|
| Milan Kojić 32' Nikola Vignjević 36' (pen.) |
Report |
| Richmond Kickers (VA) | 0–1 | Toronto Lynx (ON) |
|---|---|---|
| Report | 39' Milan Kojić |
Attendance: 4,027
Toronto Lynx advanced 2–0 on aggregate.
Western semifinal 1
| Vancouver 86ers (BC) | 3–0 | Minnesota Thunder (MN) |
|---|---|---|
| Alfredo Valente 30' John Sulentic 69', 90' |
Report | 69' John Sylvester 72' John Coughlin |
| Minnesota Thunder (MN) | 4–0 (OT) | Vancouver 86ers (BC) |
|---|---|---|
| Don Gramenz 30' Mike Gentile 35'Chugger Adair 45'Brian Winters 86'Morgan Zeba 94' |
Report | 13' Darren Tilley 90' Joe Scigliano 90' Domenic Mobilio |
The Minnesota Thunder advanced 4–3 on aggregate.
Western semifinal 2
| Milwaukee Rampage (WI) | 2–1 | Seattle Sounders (WA) |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Takawira 1' Jason Willan 33'Steve Bernal 60' |
Report | 20', 90' Andrew Gregor 75' Ali John Utush 90' Craig Tomlinson |
| Seattle Sounders (WA) | 1–2 | Milwaukee Rampage (WI) |
|---|---|---|
| Greg Howes 10' Ali John Utush 39'Craig Waibel 57' |
Report | 34' Yuri Lavrinenko 54' Todd Dusosky 82' Jake Provan 90' Brian Loftin 90' Dan Popik |
Milwaukee Rampage advanced 4–2 on aggregate.
Conference finals
Eastern Conference
| Toronto Lynx (ON) | 1–1 | Rochester Rhinos (NY) |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Ashton 20' Francisco Dos Santos 63', 66' |
Report | 41' Onandi Lowe 75' Dan Stebbins |
| Rochester Rhinos (NY) | 1–0 | Toronto Lynx (ON) |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Hardy 33' Craig Demmin 80' |
Report | 11' Brian Ashton |
Attendance: 8,058
Western Conference
| Milwaukee Rampage (WI) | 3–4 | Minnesota Thunder (MI) |
|---|---|---|
| Todd Dusosky 23', 90' Yuri Lavrinenko 51'David Marshall 90'Jason Willan 90'Jon Cantwell 90' |
9', 41' Morgan Zeba 57' Johnny Menyongar 64' John Coughlin |
Attendance: 1,187
| Minnesota Thunder (MI) | 5–0 | Milwaukee Rampage (WI) |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Menyongar 15', 89', 67' Chugger Adair 45', 62'Stoian Mladenov 74' |
Report | 18' Brian Loftin 51' Nate Houser |
Final
| Rochester Rhinos (NY) | 3–1 | Minnesota Thunder (MI) |
|---|---|---|
| Dan Stebbins 13:55' Carlos Zavala 15' Yari Allnutt 38:00'Martin Nash 77'Onandi Lowe 77:10' |
Report | 63' John Coughlin 76' Morgan Zeba 78:12' Chugger Adair 81' Don Gramenz |
Points leaders
| Rank | Scorer | Club | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Digital Takawira | Milwaukee Rampage | 21 | 16 | 10 | 42 |
| Paul Conway | Charleston Battery | 26 | 17 | 8 | 42 | |
| 3 | Greg Howes | Seattle Sounders | 27 | 17 | 7 | 41 |
| Darren Sawatzky | Seattle Sounders | 28 | 16 | 9 | 41 | |
| 5 | Johnny Menyongar | Minnesota Thunder | 28 | 17 | 3 | 39 |
| 6 | Saul Martínez | Hampton Road Mariners | 26 | 16 | 5 | 37 |
| Gregory Simmonds | Hershey Wildcats | 25 | 16 | 5 | 37 | |
| 8 | Dwayne DeRosario | Richmond Kickers | 23 | 15 | 5 | 35 |
| 9 | Paul Schneider | Minnesota Thunder | 23 | 15 | 4 | 34 |
| 10 | Patrick Beech | Atlanta Silverbacks | 22 | 14 | 5 | 33 |
| Ignace Moleka | Atlanta Silverbacks | 28 | 14 | 5 | 33 | |
| 12 | Ihor Dotsenko | Raleigh Capital Express | 28 | 15 | 2 | 32 |
| Darren Tilley | Vancouver 86ers | 13 | 12 | 6 | 30 | |
| 14 | Seamus Donnelly | Hampton Roads Mariners | 28 | 14 | 1 | 29 |
| Jason Boyce | Orange County Zodiac | 24 | 11 | 7 | 29 | |
| 15 | Jamel Mitchell | Hershey Wildcats | 28 | 13 | 2 | 28 |
| 16 | Kevin Jeffrey | Bay Area Seals | 24 | 12 | 3 | 27 |
| Mac Cozier | Charleston Battery | 24 | 11 | 5 | 27 | |
| 18 | Edson Buddle | Long Island Rough Riders | 26 | 11 | 4 | 26 |
| David Flavius | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 25 | 11 | 4 | 26 |
Honors
- MVP: Digital Takawira
- Goals Leaders (tied): Paul Conway, Greg Howes, Johnny Menyongar
- Goalkeeper of the Year: Scott Vallow
- Defender of the Year: Scott Cannon
- Rookie of the Year: Greg Howes
- Coach of the Year: Neil Megson
- First Team All A-League
- Goalkeeper: Scott Vallow
- Defenders: Chris Fox, Craig Demmin, Scott Cannon, Scott Schweitzer
- Midfielders: Brian Loftin, Yari Allnutt, Stoian Mladenov
- Forwards: Paul Conway, Darren Sawatzky, Digital Takawira
- Second Team All A-League
- Goalkeeper: Theo Zagar
- Defenders: Gilbert Jean-Baptiste, Adrian Serioux, David Banks, Rick Titus
- Midfielders: Lenin Steenkamp, Gerry Lucey, Martin Nash
- Forwards: Dwayne DeRosario, Johnny Menyongar, Greg Howes