1999 USL A-League

The 1999 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer League during the summer of 1999.

USL A-League

Season	1999
Champions	Minnesota Thunder (1st Title)
Premiers	Rochester Raging Rhinos (2nd Title)
Matches played	420
Goals scored	1,427 (3.4 per match)
Best Player	John Swallen, Minnesota Thunder
Top goalscorer	Niall Thompson, Vancouver 86ers, Mark Baena, Seattle Sounders (20 goals)
Best goalkeeper	John Swallen, Minnesota Thunder
← 1998 2000 →

Regular season

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Rochester Rhinos	28	20	2	1	5	47	20	+27	7	92
2	Staten Island Vipers	28	17	2	1	8	53	31	+22	9	82
3	Long Island Rough Riders	28	15	3	0	10	57	44	+13	8	74
4	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	28	15	1	1	11	63	43	+20	9	72
5	Lehigh Valley Steam	28	13	2	1	12	42	44	−2	6	63
6	Boston Bulldogs	28	12	0	5	11	49	36	+13	8	61
7	Toronto Lynx	28	11	1	3	13	49	36	+13	2	51
8	Connecticut Wolves	28	7	0	1	20	32	68	−36	5	34

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Hershey Wildcats	28	15	2	1	10	54	33	+21	10	75
2	Richmond Kickers	28	14	3	1	10	51	44	+7	6	69
3	Charleston Battery	28	14	1	4	9	43	39	+4	6	68
4	Atlanta Silverbacks	28	12	3	2	11	51	61	−10	6	62
5	Jacksonville Cyclones	28	12	1	1	14	51	61	−10	9	60
6	Hampton Roads Mariners	28	10	5	2	11	45	41	+4	5	57
7	Raleigh Express	28	9	2	2	15	32	50	−18	5	47
8	Maryland Mania	28	2	1	1	24	16	85	−69	2	13

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Western Conference

Central Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Minnesota Thunder	28	18	4	4	2	57	17	+40	6	90
2	MLS Project 40	28	15	2	0	11	44	46	−2	4	68
3	New Orleans Storm	28	14	0	0	14	56	61	−5	11	67
4	Indiana Blast	28	11	2	2	13	43	51	−8	5	55
5	Milwaukee Rampage	28	11	2	1	14	44	49	−5	5	54
6	Tennessee Rhythm	28	9	2	3	14	44	52	−8	6	49
7	Cincinnati Riverhawks	28	5	2	3	18	45	71	−26	7	34

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Pacific Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PKW	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	San Diego Flash	28	18	2	3	5	65	30	+35	11	90
2	Vancouver 86ers	28	17	2	2	7	77	31	+46	10	84
3	Seattle Sounders	28	16	3	1	8	56	36	+20	10	81
4	Orange County Zodiac	28	13	4	3	8	59	49	+10	10	73
5	El Paso Patriots	28	12	0	2	14	49	59	−10	6	56
6	San Francisco Bay Seals	28	7	2	4	15	37	54	−17	4	40
7	Sacramento Geckos	28	0	0	1	27	16	91	−75	0	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Conference Quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

Rochester Rhinos (NY)	2–1	Lehigh Valley Steam (PA)
Carlos Zavala 70' Mauro Biello 72'		89' Ian Checcio

September 10, 1999

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 8,437

Staten Island Vipers (NY)	3–2 (OT)	Richmond Kickers (VA)
Ernest Inneh 27', 57' Martin Dugas 97'		30', 80' Gary Glasgow

September 11, 1999

Mitchel Field, Uniondale, New York

Attendance: 1,452

Long Island Rough Riders (NY)	3–4	Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Cordt Weinstein 52' Darko Kolic 68' John Wolyniec 87'		35' Goran Vasic 40' Justin Evans 75' Joenal Castma 77' Allen Eller

September 11, 1999

Mitchel Field, Uniondale, New York

Attendance: 1,452

Hershey Wildcats (PA)	3–2	Charleston Battery (SC)
Gino DiFlorio 54' Greg Simmonds 70' Chris Penny  73' John Smith 90'		58', 88' Dean Sewell  73' Mike Burke  73' Paul Conway

September 11, 1999

Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 2,299

Western Conference

San Diego Flash (CA)	3–1	El Paso Patriots (TX)
Kevin Legg 26', 70' 90' (pen.)		9' Victor Castro

September 10, 1999

Douglas Stadium, San Diego, California

Attendance: 2,984

Vancouver 86ers (BC)	1–3	MLS Project 40
Chris Dailly 85'		39' Alen Kozić 69', 84' Kirk Wilson  70' Jason Moore

September 10, 1999

Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia

Attendance: 5,050

Minnesota Thunder (MN)	4–0	New Orleans Storm (LA)
Craig Gaunt 33' (o.g.) Stoian Mladenov 65' Gerard Lagos 78', 84'

September 11, 1999

National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota

Attendance: 1,560

Seattle Sounders (WA)	6–3	Orange County Zodiac (CA)
Sean Henderson 17', 44' (pen.) Mark Baena 26' Jose Vasquez 38' (o.g.) Kieran Barton  59' Ian Russell 64', 87'	Report	5' Jason Boyce  9' P.J. Polowski  42' Mark Foster  52' Shawn Saunders 62' Jose Vasquez  68' Jason Boyce  71' Martín Vásquez 73' Gustavo Leal  83' Peter Lak

September 11, 1999

Renton Memorial Stadium, Renton, Washington

Attendance: 2,984

Referee: David Bragg (USA)

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference Semifinal 1

Hershey Wildcats (PA)	2–0	Staten Island Vipers (NY)
Jamel Mitchell 65' Matthew Ford 84'

September 16, 1999

Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Referee: Rob Sheker

Staten Island Vipers (NY)	0–2	Hershey Wildcats (PA)
		37', 84' Jamel Mitchell  67' Kyle Swords

September 18, 1999

Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 1,085

The Hershey Wildcats advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.

Eastern Conference Semifinal 2

Rochester Rhinos (NY)	6–2	Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Doug Miller 1:30', 10:50' Darren Tilley 8:30', 71:04' Yari Allnutt 18:00' Mauro Biello 50:00'	Report	38:10' Justin Evans 87:00' Goran Vasic

September 18, 1999

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 9,127

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)	1–0	Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Mike Apple 65'	Report

September 25, 1999
7:35 PM EST

Bethel Park High School, Bethel, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 4,115

Rochester Rhinos (NY)	2–0	Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Doug Miller 35' Tim Hardy  43' Nate Daligcon 49' Mali Walton  52'	https://www.newspapers.com/image/136563379/?terms=Rhinos Report	29' Gary DePalma  44'  64' Tenywa Bonseu

September 28, 1999

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 6,541

The Rochester Rhinos advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.

Western Conference Semifinal 1

Minnesota Thunder (MN)	1–0 (OT)	MLS Project 40
Paul Schneider 105'

September 18, 1999

National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota

Attendance: 1,578

Minnesota Thunder (MN)	2–0	MLS Project 40
Gerard Lagos 28' Stoian Mladenov 42'		89' Judah Cooks

September 20, 1999

National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota

Attendance: 946

The Minnesota Thunder advanced to the Western Conference final.

Western Conference Semifinal 2

San Diego Flash (CA)	6–0	Seattle Sounders (WA)
Chugger Adair 3' Antonio Robles  23' Carlos Farias 34', 53', 60', 84' (pen.) Mauricio Alegre 87'	Report	23' Ollie Heald

September 18, 1999

Merrill Douglas Stadium San Diego, California

Attendance: 2,116

Referee: Kari Seitz

Seattle Sounders (WA)	0–1	San Diego Flash (CA)
Jason Annicchero  82'	Report	11' Jerome Watson

September 25, 1999

Renton Memorial Stadium Seattle, Washington

Attendance: 4,426

Referee: Kevin Stott

The San Diego Flash advanced to the Western Conference final.

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

Hershey Wildcats (PA)	2–1	Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Greg Simmonds 15' Jamel Mitchell 79'		Doug Miller

October 3, 1999
7:35 PM EST

Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 6,541

Rochester Rhinos (NY)	1–0	Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Doug Miller 80'

October 9, 1999
7:35 PM EST

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 9,024

Rochester Rhinos (NY)	3–1	Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Mauro Biello 20' Doug Miller 81' (pen.) Yari Allnutt 85'		78' Tim Leonard

October 11, 1999
7:35 PM EST

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 7,753

The Rochester Rhinos advanced to the final.

Western Conference

Minnesota Thunder (MN)	4–1	San Diego Flash (CA)
Paweł Nowak 10' Stoian Mladenov 58' (pen.) Amos Magee 63', 88'		29' Jamie Munro

October 2, 1999
7:35 PM

National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota

Attendance: 2,072

San Diego Flash (CA)	1–2	Minnesota Thunder (MN)
Nate Hetherington 83'	Report	7'  14' Morgan Zeba 27' Amos Magee 80' (pen.) Kalin Bankov

October 7, 1999
7:35 PM PST

San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, California

Attendance: 2,983

The Minnesota Thunder advanced to the final.

Final

Minnesota Thunder (MN)	2–1	Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Gerard Lagos 43' Paweł Nowak 47'		57' Darren Tilley

October 16, 1999
7:05 PM

National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota

Attendance: 9,987

MVP: Amos Magee, Minnesota Thunder

Points leaders

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals	Assists	Points
1	Niall Thompson	Vancouver 86ers	20	7	47
2	Mark Baena	Seattle Sounders	20	6	46
	Eduardo Sebrango	Vancouver 86ers	18	10	46
4	Darko Kolic	Long Island Rough Riders	17	9	43
5	Steve Patterson	Orange County Zodiac	19	4	42
6	Jamel Mitchell	Hershey Wildcats	15	9	39
	Ernest Inneh	Staten Island Vipers	18	3	39
8	Greg Simmonds	Hershey Wildcats	16	6	38
9	Onandi Lowe	Richmond Kickers	15	7	37
	John Wolyniec	Long Island Rough Riders	15	7	37
	John Sulentic	Vancouver 86ers	9	19	37
12	Carlos Farias	San Diego Flash	15	6	36
	Ian Russell	Seattle Sounders	14	8	36
14	Gary Glasgow	Richmond Kickers	14	7	35
15	Patrick Beech	New Orleans Storm	16	2	34
16	Paul Conway	Charleston Battery	14	5	33
17	Dan Stebbins	Milwaukee Rampage	10	12	32
18	Mac Cozier	Jacksonville Cyclones	13	4	30
	Gustavo Leal	Orange County Zodiac	13	4	30
	Mugurel Dumitru	San Diego Flash	9	12	30

Honors

• MVP: John Swallen
• Leading goal scorer: Niall Thompson
• Leading goalkeeper: John Swallen
• Defender of the Year: Scott Schweitzer
• Rookie of the Year: Greg Simmonds
• Coach of the Year: Paul Riley
• Referee of the Year: Glenn Prechac
• First Team All League
  • Goalkeeper: John Swallen
  • Defenders: Craig Demmin, Scott Schweitzer, Tenywa Bonseu, Kalin Bankov
  • Midfielders: Carlos Farias, Mauro Biello, Mac Cozier
  • Forwards: Mark Baena, Ernest Inneh, Niall Thompson
• Second Team All League^[1]
  • Goalkeeper: Pat Onstad
  • Defenders: Jose Vasquez, John Coughlin, Gilbert Jean-Baptiste
  • Midfielders: Ian Russell, John Sulentic, Marvin Oliver
  • Forwards: Jamel Mitchell, Paul Conway, Darko Kolic, Onandi Lowe