1997 USISL D-3 Pro League

The 1997 USISL D-3 Pro League was the 11th season of third-division soccer in the United States, and was the first season of now-defunct USISL D-3 Pro League.

USISL D-3 Pro League

Season	1997
Champions	Albuquerque Geckos (1st Title)
Regular Season title	Albuquerque Geckos (1st Title)
Matches	349
Goals	1,221 (3.5 per match)
Best Player	Orett Prendergast Florida Strikers
Top goalscorer	Orett Prendergast Florida Strikers (29 Goals)
Best goalkeeper	J. J. Wozniak San Francisco Bay Seals
← 1996 1998 →

New clubs

• Arizona Sahuaros
• Cleveland Caps
• Daytona Tigers
• Indiana Blast
• Los Angeles Fireballs
• Myrtle Beach Seadawgs
• South Jersey Barons
• Stanislaus County Cruisers
• Tallahassee Tempest
• Vermont Voltage

League standings

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	North Jersey Imperials	18	10	1	0	7	39	23	+16	31
2	Rhode Island Stingrays	18	10	1	1	6	32	25	+7	31
3	New Hampshire Phantoms	18	9	2	2	5	36	27	+9	29
4	Central Jersey Riptide	18	8	2	3	5	26	24	+2	26
5	Vermont Wanderers	18	6	1	1	10	21	39	−18	19
6	NYCD Alleycats	18	6	0	1	11	25	38	−13	18
7	Cape Cod Crusaders	18	4	1	0	13	19	32	−13	13

Source: rsssf.com

Mid-Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Reading Rage	18	13	1	0	4	46	22	+24	40
2	Philadelphia Freedom	18	10	1	0	7	29	32	−3	31
3	Baltimore Bays	18	8	0	2	8	30	34	−4	24
4	New Jersey Stallions	18	7	2	1	8	25	26	−1	23
5	Delaware Wizards	18	7	0	2	9	23	32	−9	21
6	South Jersey Barons	18	4	1	3	10	22	28	−6	13

Source: rsssf.com

South Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Myrtle Beach Seadawgs	18	14	1	0	3	40	19	+21	43
2	South Carolina Shamrocks	18	11	2	0	5	37	27	+10	35
3	Charlotte Eagles	18	10	2	1	5	38	21	+17	32
4	Florida Strikers	18	10	0	0	8	51	34	+17	30
5	Wilmington Hammerheads	18	8	1	1	8	37	24	+13	25
6	Mobile Revelers	18	4	0	0	14	25	54	−29	12
7	Daytona Tigers	18	3	0	1	14	14	61	−47	9

Source: rsssf.com

North Central Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chicago Stingers	18	12	1	0	5	32	19	+13	37
2	Indiana Blast	18	7	1	1	9	28	31	−3	22
3	Cleveland Caps	18	6	3	0	9	28	32	−4	21
4	Rockford Raptors	18	6	2	2	8	32	33	−1	20

Source: rsssf.com

South Central Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Albuquerque Geckos	18	13	2	1	2	51	15	+36	41
2	Austin Lone Stars	18	11	1	0	6	38	28	+10	34
3	Houston Hurricanes	18	9	0	2	7	35	30	+5	27
4	Tulsa Roughnecks	18	9	0	0	9	36	40	−4	27
5	San Antonio Pumas	18	5	0	2	11	23	45	−22	15
6	Dallas Toros	18	2	0	0	16	22	53	−31	6

Source: rsssf.com

• Albuquerque gets a bye to the national semifinal as hosts.

West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	San Francisco Bay Seals	18	13	2	0	3	41	16	+25	41
2	Sacramento Scorpions	18	11	0	0	7	39	36	+3	33
3	Chico Rooks	18	9	3	3	3	38	28	+10	30
4	San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles	18	9	2	0	7	30	31	−1	29
5	Stanislaus County Cruisers	18	8	0	3	7	31	27	+4	24
6	Arizona Sahuaros	18	6	1	1	10	39	40	−1	19
7	Hawaii Tsunamii	16	4	1	1	10	24	29	−5	13
8	Reno Rattlers	16	4	0	0	12	17	34	−17	12
9	Los Angeles Fireballs	18	3	0	2	13	22	40	−18	9

Source: rsssf.com

Playoffs

Division Semi-finals

• Central Jersey defeated North Jersey 2–1 (SO)
• New Hampshire defeated Rhode Island 2–1 (OT)
• Baltimore defeated Philadelphia 2–1
• New Jersey defeated Reading, 2–1
• Myrtle Beach defeated Florida, 5–1
• Charlotte defeated South Carolina 3–2
• Indiana defeated Cleveland 3–2
• San Antonio defeated Austin, 4–2
• Houston defeated Tulsa, 4–1
• San Francisco Bay defeated San Fernando Valley, 5–0
• Chico defeated Sacramento, 6–1

August 2, 1997

7:30 PM CDT

Austin Lone Stars	2–4	San Antonio Pumas
Judd Willmann 30' Gabe Jones 60'	Report	18' Omar Millan 20' Alejandro Ojeda 52' Americo Ayala 57' Oscar Munoz

House Park, Austin, Texas

Attendance: 1,506

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August 2, 1997

Houston Hurricanes	4–1	Tulsa Roughnecks
Gustavo Gongora 6' Marco Palomino 32', 37', 38'	Report	37' (o.g.)

Butler Stadium, Houston, Texas

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August 15, 1997

7:00 PM

Philadelphia Freedom	1–2	Baltimore Bays
		87:30' Dan Santoro

Marple Newtown High School, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania

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August 15, 1997

Myrtle Beach Seadawgs	5–1	Florida Strikers
Ryan Walker 28' Eric Schmitt 36' Jeremy Eason		22:15' Rodolfo Orellana

Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

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August 15, 1997

Sacramento Scorpions	1–6	Chico Rooks
Jeremy Sweet 33'	Report 2	12', 22' Jake Gwin 90' Armando Ceja

Cosumnes River College, Sacramento, California

Attendance: 1,743

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August 16, 1997

5:00 PM

North Jersey Imperials	0–1	Central Jersey Riptide
Penalties
Howard	1–2	DiCuollo

University Stadium, Teaneck, New Jersey

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August 16, 1997

Rhode Island Stingrays	1–2 (OT)	New Hampshire Phantoms
Bjorn Hansen 16:47'	Report	0:23' Rich Fleming  58' Willy Schweitzer 94:21' Jamie Williams

Pierce Memorial Field, East Providence, Rhode Island

Attendance: 1,505

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August 16, 1997

Reading Rage	1–2	New Jersey Stallions

Ray Buss Field, Fleetwood, Pennsylvania

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August 16, 1997

Indiana Blast	3–2	Cleveland Caps
Mark Phillips 57' Steve Weiger 59' Dustin Swinehart 75'	Report	33' Freddie Smith 48' Chad James

Kuntz Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

Attendance: 3,047

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August 16, 1997

7:30 PM

South Carolina Shamrocks	2–3	Charlotte Eagles
David Mcmahon 5' Nate Ormondt 50' (pen.)	Report	39' Jeremy Sorzano 66' John Clare 77:35' Joshua Farrar

Shamrock Stadium, Greer, South Carolina

Attendance: 1,700

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August 16, 1997

San Francisco Bay Seals	5–0	San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles
Gallo Simpson pen.' Folan Cowell

Boxer Stadium, San Francisco, California

Division Finals

• New Hampshire defeated Central Jersey, 2–0
• Baltimore defeated New Jersey, 3–0
• Charlotte defeated Myrtle Beach, 3–3 (SO)
• Indiana defeated Chicago, 1–0
• Houston defeated San Antonio, 2–0
• San Francisco defeated Chico, 2–0

South Central Division Championship

August 9, 1997

Houston Hurricanes	2–0	San Antonio Pumas
Gongora 59' Palomino 84'	Report

Butler Stadium, Houston, Texas

Attendance: 3,560

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South Atlantic Division Championship

August 22, 1997

Myrtle Beach Seadawgs	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Charlotte Eagles
Moore 36', 63' Eason 68:40'		27', 51' Dakin 59' Wellington
Penalties
Jones Aponowicz Walker Richards Bennett	1–2	McGlaughlin Farrar Wellington

Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Attendance: 1,000

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North Central Division Championship

August 22, 1997

Chicago Stingers	0–1	Indiana Blast
		88' Dustin Swinehart

Forest View Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois

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West Division Championship

August 23, 1997

2:30 PM PDT

San Francisco Bay Seals	2–0	Chico Rooks
Shane Watkins Troya Cowell

Witter Field, Berkeley, California

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Northeast Division Championship

August 23, 1997

7:30 PM EDT

New Hampshire Phantoms	2–0	Central Jersey Riptide
Thomas Dempsey  9' Ron Murphy 13' Richard Flemming  35' Jamie Williams 85'	Report 1 Report 2	31' Radnessa  71' Javier Velazquez  85' Ideahl

Owl Stadium, Keene, New Hampshire

Attendance: 2,623

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Mid-Atlantic Division Championship

August 23, 1997

7:30 PM EDT

Baltimore Bays	3–0	New Jersey Stallions
Matt Tirschman Bill Wnek

UMBC Stadium, Catonsville, Maryland

Quarterfinals/Inter Region Finals

• San Francisco Bay defeated Houston, 3–0
• New Hampshire defeated Baltimore 1–0 (OT)
• Charlotte defeated Indiana, 6–0

West Region Final

August 30, 1997

2:30 PM PDT

San Francisco Bay Seals	3–0	Houston Hurricanes

Boxer Stadium, San Francisco, California

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East Region Final

August 30, 1997

New Hampshire Phantoms	1–0 (OT)	Baltimore Bays
Donnelly  81' Murphy 102'	Report

Owl Stadium, Keene, New Hampshire

Attendance: 2,830

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Central Region Final

August 30, 1997

4:30 PM

Charlotte Eagles	6–0	Indiana Blast
Clare Wellington Dakin 9', 26' Dresser

Charlotte Christian School, Charlotte, North Carolina

Semifinals

• Charlotte defeated San Francisco Bay, 4–2
• Albuquerque defeated New Hampshire 2–1 (OT)

September 5, 1997

6:00 PM

San Francisco Bay Seals	2–4	Charlotte Eagles
Shane Watkins 77' Shani Simpson 85' (pen.)	Report	25', 61' Jamie Wellington 81', 89' Keith Dakin

UNM Soccer Complex, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Attendance: 1,500

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September 5, 1997

8:00 PM

Albuquerque Geckos	2–1 (OT)	New Hampshire Phantoms
Colin Cheshire 14' Brad Moore 96'	Report	24' Jamie Williams

UNM Soccer Complex, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Attendance: 1,145

Third Place Match

September 7, 1997

1:30 PM

San Francisco Bay Seals	1–0	New Hampshire Phantoms
Geise 10:51'	Report

UNM Soccer Complex, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Attendance: 2,013

Championship

• Albuquerque defeated Charlotte, 4–1

USISL D-3 Pro League Championship Game

September 7, 1997

Albuquerque Geckos	4–1	Charlotte Eagles
Jake Joy 13' Justin Head 44' Steve Riddle 70' Luis Labastida 77'	Report 1 Report 2	14' Jon Payne

UNM Soccer Complex, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Attendance: 2,013

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Honors

• Organization of the Year: Cleveland Caps
• Executive of the Year: Monika Suhnholz, Austin Lone Stars
• Fair Play Award: Charlotte Eagles