2001 USL A-League

The 2001 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer Leagues during the summer of 2001.

USL A-League

Season	2001
Champions	Rochester Raging Rhinos (3rd Title)
Regular season	Richmond Kickers (1st Title)
Matches played	273
Goals scored	850 (3.11 per match)
Best Player	Paul Conway, Charleston Battery
Top goalscorer	Paul Conway, Charleston Battery (22 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Jon Busch, Hershey Wildcats
← 2000 2002 →

Summary

The addition of the Portland Timbers saw the renewal of a Pacific Northwest rivalry between them, the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps which dated back to the North American Soccer League. Although Vancouver was not new to the league, this was the first season they competed in under the Whitecaps name, replacing the 86ers name used since 1986.

An ownership change in August 2000 brought a revival of the old Whitecaps name for the 2001 season. At the end of the regular season, the Richmond Kickers topped the league with seventy-six points. The playoffs were scheduled to begin on September 12, but those matches were postponed by a week due to the September 11 attacks.^[1][2] Midfielder Mickey Trotman, a starter for the Rochester Rhinos, was killed in an automobile accident two days before the team's first semifinal match with the Milwaukee Rampage.^[3] The Rhinos defeated the Hershey Wildcats to take its third league title in four seasons.^[4]

League standings

Northern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Hershey Wildcats	26	16	3	7	45	20	+25	8	75
2	Rochester Raging Rhinos	26	16	4	6	43	27	+16	6	74
3	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	26	10	4	12	39	39	0	6	50
4	Montreal Impact	26	10	2	14	29	37	−8	3	45
5	Connecticut Wolves	26	9	6	11	30	37	−7	1	43
6	Long Island Rough Riders	26	6	4	16	31	50	−19	5	33
7	Toronto Lynx	26	7	3	16	20	41	−21	1	32

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Central Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Richmond Kickers	26	16	3	7	47	34	+13	9	76
2	Charleston Battery	26	16	1	9	51	34	+17	8	73
3	Charlotte Eagles	26	14	2	10	50	41	+9	8	66
4	Nashville Metros	26	14	2	10	47	48	−1	5	63
5	Atlanta Silverbacks	26	13	1	12	48	39	+9	6	59
6	Indiana Blast	26	8	0	18	38	55	−17	3	35
7	Cincinnati Riverhawks	26	6	0	20	39	80	−41	3	27

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Vancouver Whitecaps	26	16	2	8	44	33	+11	8	74
2	San Diego Flash	26	14	1	11	55	42	+13	11	68
3	Milwaukee Rampage	26	14	2	10	45	40	+5	5	63
4	Portland Timbers	26	13	3	10	41	38	+3	7	62
5	Seattle Sounders	26	13	1	12	40	39	+1	4	57
6	Minnesota Thunder	26	9	2	15	29	34	−5	3	41
7	El Paso Patriots	26	8	4	14	39	42	−3	4	40

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Playoffs

Bracket

	First Round							Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
								1	Hershey Wildcats	2	1	3
	8	Charlotte Eagles	0	2	2				Portland Timbers	0	0	0
	9	Portland Timbers	2	3	5										Hershey Wildcats		4	0	4
															Vancouver Whitecaps		0	1	1
								4	Vancouver Whitecaps	0	4	4
	5	San Diego F.C.	2	2	4				San Diego F.C.	2	1	3
	12	Atlanta Silverbacks	0	2	2																	Hershey Wildcats		0
																						Rochester Raging Rhinos		2
								2	Rochester Raging Rhinos	1	3	4
	7	Charleston Battery	1	1	2				Pittsburgh Riverhounds	2	0	2
	10	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	2	3	5										Rochester Raging Rhinos		3	1	4
															Milwaukee Rampage		2	0	2
								3	Richmond Kickers	2	1	3
	6	Milwaukee Rampage (p)	3	0	3 (4)				Milwaukee Rampage (a.e.t.)	2	2	4
	11	Nashville Metros	2	1	3 (2)

First round

Pittsburgh vs Charleston

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)	2–1	Charleston Battery (SC)
Gary DePalma 45' Phil Karn 76'	Report	36'  44' John Ball 38' Paul Conway

September 20, 2001
7:35 PM (EDT)

Bethel Park Stadium, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 1,152

Charleston Battery (SC)	1–3	Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Mac Cozier 22' Jukka Rantala  45' Mac Cozier  50' Dan Calichman  77'	Report	3' Gary DePalma 45' Paul Dougherty 54' John Jones  64' Henry Gutierrez

September 22, 2001
7:30 PM (EDT)

Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, South Carolina

Attendance: 2,606

San Diego vs Atlanta

San Diego Flash (CA)	2–0	Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)
Brian O'Connor  43' Thiago Martins 63', 72'	Report	5' Shaun McSkimming  36' Ian Checcio  54' Randy Merkel  74' Sean Michael Callahan

September 19, 2001
10:00 PM (EDT)

San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, California

Attendance: 370

Referee: Richard Heron (USA)

Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)	2–2	San Diego Flash (CA)
Danny Care  32' Sean Finn 45',  60' Ryan Walker 90'	Report	42' Chugger Adair 66',  73' Thiago Martins

September 23, 2001
5:30 PM (EDT)

DeKalb Memorial Stadium, Clarkston, Georgia

Attendance: 722

Portland vs Charlotte

Portland Timbers (OR)	2–0	Charlotte Eagles (NC)
Darin Lewis 10' Mark Baena 19' Neil Ryan  26' Darren Sawatzky  43' Michael O'Neill  63'	Report	32' Jose Correa  73' Nate Watkins

September 20, 2001
10:35 PM (EDT)

PGE Park, Portland, Oregon

Attendance: 4,771

Charlotte Eagles (NC)	2–3	Portland Timbers (OR)
Jacob Coggins 16' Joey Johnson 19'	Report	23' Michael O'Neill 82' Scott Benedetti 85' Greg Howes

September 22, 2001
7:30 PM (EDT)

Providence High School, Charlotte, North Carolina

Attendance: 2,141

Milwaukee vs Nashville

Nashville Metros (TN)	2–3	Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Chris Morman  20'  73' Brandon Wright  72' Jakob Fenger 82' Jaymi Bailey 90'	Report	13' Judah Cooks 30', 61' Steve Butcher  77' David Hayes  77' Jason Russell 83' Igor Soso  90' Dennis Fadeski

September 19, 2001
7:00 PM (CDT)

Ezell Park, Nashville, Tennessee

Attendance: 810

Referee: Ali Saheli (USA)

Milwaukee Rampage (WI)	0–1 (OT)	Nashville Metros (TN)
Matt Bobo  28' Philippe Godoy  72' Destin Makumbu  93' Josh Provan  98' Judah Cooks  99'	Report	27' Jeff Dominguez  84' Jakob Fenger  93' Andreas Maier 90' Jeff Houser  98' Jeff Houser
Penalties
Steve Bernal Igor Soso David Hayes Steve Butcher Mike Slivinski	4–2	Dominic Schell Jakob Fenger Andreas Maier Jeff Houser

September 22, 2001
3:00 PM (CDT)

Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Attendance: 2,152

Quarterfinals

Milwaukee vs Richmond

Milwaukee Rampage (WI)	2–2	Richmond Kickers (VA)
Alen Soso  10'  82' Philippe Godoy  18' Matt Bobo  43' Judah Cooks  45' Dennis Fadeski  66' Digital Takawira 73'	Report	17',  26' Josh Henderson  44' Mike Burke  63', 74' Kevin Knight  90' Chris Brown

September 28, 2001
7:00 PM (CDT)

Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Attendance: 1,318

Referee: Michael Kennedy (USA)

Richmond Kickers (VA)	1–2 (OT)	Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Peter Luzak  68' Rob Ukrop  88' Josh Henderson 90' (pen.)	Report	35' Jim Curtin 93' Igor Soso

September 30, 2001
5:00 PM (CDT)

Richmond City Stadium, Richmond, Virginia

Attendance: 4,107

Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Hershey vs Portland

Portland Timbers (OR)	0–2	Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Gavin Wilkinson  19' Mark Baena  43' Michael O'Neill  86'	Report	23' Nigel Henry  49' Mike Feniger  59' Chris Marinos  62' Chad Evans 71' Doug Watson 85' Fred DeGand

September 27, 2001
5:00 PM (CDT)

PGE Park, Portland, Oregon

Attendance: 4,894

Hershey Wildcats (PA)	1–0	Portland Timbers (OR)
Mike Feniger 28'

September 29, 2001

Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 1,048

Vancouver vs San Diego

San Diego Flash (CA)	2–0	Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar 67' Emmanuel Ayim 84'	Report

September 26, 2001

Douglas Stadium, San Diego, California

Attendance: 468

Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)	4–1	San Diego Flash (CA)
Darren Tilley 6' John Sulentic 17', 90' Steve Kindel 42'	Report	35' Chugger Adair

September 29, 2001
7:30 PM (PDT)

Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia

Attendance: 6,782

Rochester vs Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)	2–1	Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Welton Melo 62' John Jones 81'	Report	25' (pen.) Stoian Mladenov

September 26, 2001

Bethel Park Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 1,073

Rochester Rhinos (NY)	3–0	Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Martin Nash 30' Neathan Gibson 53' Jimmy Tanner 90'

September 29, 2001

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 8,102

Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Milwaukee Rampage (WI)	2–3	Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Philippe Godoy 24' Matt Bobo 61' Jim Curtin  78'	Report	2' Lenin Steenkamp 15' Nate Daligcon  61' Fuseini Dauda  72' Kirk Wilson 76' Neathan Gibson  78' Scott Vallow  83' Tommy Tanner

October 4, 2001

Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Franklin, Wisconsin

Attendance: 721

Rochester Rhinos (NY)	1–0	Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Scott Schweitzer  16' Neathan Gibson 41' Mike Kirmse  90'	Report	38' Igor Soso  45' Judah Cooks  45' Philippe Godoy  81' Brian Doherty

October 6, 2001
6:36 PM (CST)

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 6,817

Semifinal 2

Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)	0–4	Hershey Wildcats (PA)
	Report	21', 39' Kyle Swords 85' Zé Roberto 90' Doug Miller

October 3, 2001
7:30 PM (PDT)

Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia

Attendance: 6,685

Hershey Wildcats (PA)	0–1	Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
	Report	66' Darren Tilley

October 6, 2001

Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 786

Final

Rochester Raging Rhinos (NY)	2–0	Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Martin Nash  38' Carlos Zavala  38' Stoian Mladenov 63', 87'	Report

October 13, 2001

Frontier Field, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 13,692

Referee: Eric Simmons (USA)

Points leaders

Rank	Scorer	Club	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
1	Paul Conway	Charleston Battery	25	22	3	47
2	Dustin Swinehart	Charlotte Eagles	23	18	3	39
3	Jakob Fenger	Nashville Metros	24	14	6	34
4	Jeff Houser	Nashville Metros	24	14	5	33
5	Digital Takawira	Milwaukee Rampage	20	13	4	30
6	Kevin Jeffrey	Richmond Kickers	24	11	7	29
	Leighton O'Brien	Seattle Sounders	24	11	7	29
	Mark Baena	Portland Timbers	24	13	3	29
9	Ignace Moleka	Atlanta Silverbacks	19	12	1	25
	Luis Macias	El Paso Patriots	23	12	1	25
	Chugger Adair	San Diego Flash	22	10	5	25
	Jason Jordan	Vancouver Whitecaps	18	9	7	25
	Rodrigo Costa	Indiana Blast	21	11	3	25
14	Mark Rowland	El Paso Patriots	26	7	10	24
15	Josh Henderson	Richmond Kickers	21	10	3	23

Honors

Annual awards

• Most Valuable Player: Paul Conway
• Leading Goal Scorer: Paul Conway
• Goalkeeper of the Year: Jon Busch
• Defender of the Year: Rick Titus
• Rookie of the Year: Robbie Aristodemo
• Coach of the Year: Dale Mitchell
• First Team All A-League^[5]
  • Goalkeeper: Jon Busch
  • Defenders: Scott Schweitzer, Rick Titus, Gilbert Jean-Baptiste
  • Midfielders: Philippe Godoy, Stoian Mladenov, Leighton O'Brien, Temoc Suarez
  • Forwards: Paul Conway, Kevin Jeffrey, Dustin Swinehart
• Second Team All A-League
  • Goalkeeper: Matt Napoleon
  • Defenders: James Wall, Brent Sancho, Jason Annicchero
  • Midfielders: John Ball, Lenin Steenkamp, Kevin Knight, Steve Kindel
  • Forwards: Jakob Fenger, Digital Takawira, Rodrigo Costa

External links

• 2001 A-League
• 2001 A-League season