1996 USISL Pro 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.

USISL Pro League

Season	1996
Champions	Charleston Battery (1st Title)
Regular Season title	Charlotte Eagles (1st Title)
Matches played	216
Goals scored	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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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: ^{[citation needed]}

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: ^{[citation needed]}

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: ^{[citation needed]}

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)
Dave Fitzgerald 10', 63', 77'		Carlos Rocha

August 10, 1996

5:00 PM

FDU Field, Teaneck, New Jersey

Charlotte Eagles (NC)	1–0 Forfeit	Mobile Revelers (AL)

August 10, 1996

Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)	3–1	Washington Mustangs (DC)
Chris Gonzalez 48' Dewan Bader pen.' Dan Farnham  18:33'  Scott Schaeper	Report	3' James Wright

August 10, 1996

8:00 PM

Laney Stadium, Wilmington, North Carolina

D/FW Toros (TX)	1–0	Houston Hurricanes (TX)

August 10, 1996

Rockford Raptors (IL)	2–3	Tulsa Roughnecks (OK)
		10', 18' Kimberly Thomas

August 10, 1996

Chico Rooks (CA)	3–0	Valley Golden Eagles (CA)
Juan Calvet Mauricio De Melo	Report	Jesus Gonzalez Jake Gwin

August 10, 1996

Chico State Stadium, Chico, California

Hawaii Tsunami (HA)	1–2	Everett BigFoot (WA)
Chris Gilmore 77'	Report	47', 57' Craig Beeson

August 10, 1996

Cooke Field, Honolulu, Hawaii

Attendance: 1,750

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

August 10, 1996

7:30PM

Raritan High School, Hazlet, New Jersey

Conference finals

Northeast Conference

North Jersey Imperials (NJ)	5-0	Central Jersey Riptide (NJ)
Pedro Lopes 34' Dave Fitzgerald Dave Price

August 16, 1996

FDU Field, Teaneck, New Jersey

Attendance: 300

Central Jersey Riptide (NJ)	2-2 OT	North Jersey Imperials (NJ)
Ozrek Crowley	Report	DeLuca (PK) Lucey
Penalties
	2-3

August 17, 1996
7:30 PM EST

Raritan High School, Hazlet, New Jersey

Attendance: 2,004 or 1,500

• North Jersey Imperials advanced to Sizzlin' Six finals.

South Atlantic Conference

Charlotte Eagles (NC)	0-3	Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)
	Report	29:27' (pen.), 54:51' Dewan Bader 36:35' Bucky Corbin

August 15, 1996

Charlotte Christian School, Charlotte, North Carolina

Attendance: 1,045

• Wilmington Hammerheads advanced to the Sizzlin' Six finals.

Central Conference

Tulsa Roughnecks (OK)	1-3	DFW Toros (TX)
Virgil Stevens 56:13'	Report	8' Berti Generes 9:30' Victor Medina Jimmy Glenn 64'

August 16, 1996

Tulsa, Oklahoma

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)	1-0	Tulsa Roughnecks (OK)
20'

August 18, 1996
7:00 AM CST

Dallas, Texas

• 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

August 17, 1996

Chico State Stadium, Chico, California

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: ^{[citation needed]}

Charleston Battery (SC)	2-1	Dallas/Fort Worth Toros (TX)
Chris Dias 66' Jim Foley 72:07'	Report	11:07' Rene Ortiz

August 19, 1996
8:00 PM EST

Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina

Attendance: 1,526

Chico Rooks (CA)	2-1 OT	DFW Toros (TX)
Dean Freeman 27' Mauricio De Melo 120'		8' Edgar Hernandez Baltazar Ascensio Jose Bazan

August 20, 1996
8:00 PM EST

Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina

Attendance: 320

Charleston Battery (SC)	2-1	Chico Rooks (CA)
Patrick Olalere 12' Files 82'		45' Juan Lojas

August 21, 1996
8:00 PM EST

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[a]
2	Wilmington Hammerheads	2	1	1	3	1	+2	4[a]
3	North Jersey Imperials	2	0	2	2	9	−7	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. 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)
Chris Gonzalez 31' Dewan Bader pen' Shawn Kowaleski

August 19, 1996
8:00 PM EST

Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina

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

August 20, 1996
8:00 PM EST

Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina

Attendance: 236

Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)	0-1	Charlotte Eagles (NC)
		33' Keith Dakin

August 21, 1996
8:00 PM EST

Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina

Attendance: 1,250

Semifinals

Charlotte Eagles (NC)	1-0	Chico Rooks (CA)

August 23, 1996
6:00 PM EST

Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston Battery (SC)	2-0	Wilmington Hammerheads (NC)
Patrick Olalere 30' Chris Dias 87'

August 23, 1996
8:00 PM EST

Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina

Attendance: 2,642

Final

Charleston Battery (SC)	2–2	Charlotte Eagles (NC)
Chris Dias 29' Alvaro Betancur 52'	Report	44' Josh Farrar 74' Jeremy Sorzano
Penalties
Stephen Winters Patrick Olalere	2-1

August 24, 1996
8:00 PM EST

Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina

Attendance: 3,429

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

^[4]

External links

• United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)
• The Year in American Soccer - 1996