2016 North American Soccer League season

The 2016 North American Soccer League season is the 49th season of Division II soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 6th season of the modern North American Soccer League.

North American Soccer League

Season	2016
Champions	New York Cosmos
Spring Champions	Indy Eleven
Fall Champions	New York Cosmos
Matches played	187
Goals scored	441 (2.36 per match)
Top goalscorer	Christian Ramirez (18)
Biggest home win	5 goals: NYC 6–1 CAR (August 27)
Biggest away win	4 goals: MNU 0–4 MIA (Aug 6)
Highest scoring	7 goals: IND 5–2 JAX (August 3) NYC 6–1 CAR (August 27)
Longest winning run	5 games: FC Edmonton (Jul 27 – Aug 20)
Longest unbeaten run	13 games: Indy Eleven (Apr 2 – Jul 11)
Longest winless run	10 games: Puerto Rico (Jul 30 – Sep 17)
Longest losing run	5 games: Jacksonville (Jul 13 – Aug 3)
Highest attendance	10,156 MIA 1–1 TBR (April 9)
Lowest attendance	418 FTL 1–0 FCE (October 12)
Total attendance	885,337
Average attendance	4,734
← 2015 2017 →

Three expansion clubs joined the league, with Miami FC and Rayo OKC joining in the Spring season and Puerto Rico FC beginning competition in the Fall season. In December, 2015, the San Antonio Scorpions' home stadium, Toyota Field, was bought by the city of San Antonio for use by Spurs Sports & Entertainment to host a club in the USL, forcing the Scorpions to cease operations.^[1] In January, 2016, the NASL suspended its operation of the Atlanta Silverbacks for the 2016 season and possibly beyond.^[2] As a result, the Spring season was contested by 11 clubs and the Fall season by 12. The New York Cosmos are defending Soccer Bowl champions. A split season format was used for the 2016 season.

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of NASL stadiums

RailHawks

Edmonton

Strikers

Eleven

Armada

Miami

Minnesota

Cosmos

Fury

Puerto Rico

Rayo

Rowdies

Locations of NASL clubs

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit producer	Shirt sponsor
Carolina RailHawks	Colin Clarke	Nazmi Albadawi	Adidas	Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
FC Edmonton	Colin Miller	Albert Watson	Adidas	The Fath Group
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Caio Zanardi	Jean Alexandre	Inaria	Guaraviton
Indy Eleven	Tim Hankinson	Colin Falvey	Diadora	Honda
Jacksonville Armada FC	Mark Lowry	Matt Bahner	Nike	Winn-Dixie
Miami FC	Alessandro Nesta	Jonathan Borrajo	Macron
Minnesota United FC	Carl Craig	Aaron Pitchkolan	Inaria	Atomic Data / Mall of America
New York Cosmos	Giovanni Savarese	Carlos Mendes	Under Armour	Emirates
Ottawa Fury FC	Paul Dalglish	Julian de Guzman	Adidas	Chartwells
Puerto Rico FC	Adrian Whitbread	Cristiano	Nike	Claro
Rayo OKC	Gerard Nus	Michel	Kelme
Tampa Bay Rowdies	Stuart Campbell	Tamika Mkandawire	Nike	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Player transfers

Main article: List of North American Soccer League transfers 2016

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Puerto Rico	Expansion team				Adrian Whitbread	August 24, 2015[3]
Miami					Alessandro Nesta	August 31, 2015[4]
Ottawa Fury	Marc Dos Santos	End of contract	November 20, 2015	Pre-season	Paul Dalglish	November 20, 2015[5]
Jacksonville Armada	Eric Dade (int.)	End of interim period	November 24, 2015		Tony Meola	November 24, 2015[6]
Indy Eleven	Tim Regan (int.)	End of interim period	December 2, 2015		Tim Hankinson	December 2, 2015[7]
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Günter Kronsteiner	End of contract	November 16, 2015		Caio Zanardi	December 2, 2015[8]
Minnesota United	Manny Lagos	Promotion to general manager	December 3, 2015		Carl Craig	December 3, 2015[9]
San Antonio Scorpions	Alen Marcina	Fired	November 1, 2015[10]		Club defunct[11]
Rayo OKC	Expansion team				Alen Marcina	January 7, 2016[12]
Atlanta Silverbacks	Gary Smith	Released	January 11, 2016	Pre-season	Club on hiatus[13]
Rayo OKC	Alen Marcina	Mutual termination	August 1, 2016	5th	Gerard Nus	August 1, 2016[14]
Jacksonville Armada	Tony Meola	Fired	August 7, 2016	11th	Mark Lowry (int.)	August 7, 2016[15]

Spring season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Indy Eleven (S)	10	4	6	0	15	8	+7	18	Playoffs
2	New York Cosmos	10	6	0	4	15	8	+7	18
3	FC Edmonton	10	5	2	3	9	7	+2	17
4	Minnesota United	10	5	1	4	16	12	+4	16
5	Tampa Bay Rowdies	10	4	4	2	11	9	+2	16
6	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	10	4	3	3	12	12	0	15
7	Carolina RailHawks	10	4	2	4	11	13	−2	14
8	Rayo OKC	10	3	3	4	11	12	−1	12
9	Ottawa Fury	10	2	3	5	9	14	−5	9
10	Jacksonville Armada	10	1	4	5	5	11	−6	7
11	Miami FC	10	1	4	5	7	15	−8	7

Source: NASL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) head-to-head record; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals scored
(S) Spring season champion

Results

Home \ Away	CAR	FCE	FTL	IND	JAX	MIA	MNU	NYC	OTT	OKC	TBR
Carolina RailHawks	—		1–3		0–0	0–0	2–1		1–0
Edmonton	1–0	—	2–1				0–2	2–1	2–0
Fort Lauderdale Strikers			—	0–0	1–1	1–1		2–1			0–1
Indy Eleven	4–1	1–1		—			4–2	2–1	1–1
Jacksonville Armada		0–1		1–1	—	2–1				0–1	1–1
Miami		1–0		0–0		—		0–3		2–3	1–1
Minnesota United			3–0		2–0	3–1	—	1–0			0–2
New York Cosmos	1–0				2–0			—	3–0	1–0	2–1
Ottawa Fury			1–2		1–0	2–0	2–2		—	1–1
Rayo	2–3	0–0	1–2	1–2			1–0			—
Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–3	1–0		0–0					2–1	1–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on May 21, 2016. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fall season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New York Cosmos (F)	22	14	5	3	44	21	+23	47	Playoffs
2	Indy Eleven	22	11	4	7	36	25	+11	37
3	FC Edmonton	22	10	6	6	16	14	+2	36
4	Rayo OKC	22	9	8	5	28	21	+7	35
5	Miami FC	22	9	6	7	31	27	+4	33
6	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	22	7	5	10	19	28	−9	26
7	Carolina RailHawks	22	7	5	10	25	35	−10	26
8	Minnesota United	22	6	7	9	25	25	0	25
9	Puerto Rico	22	5	9	8	19	31	−12	24
10	Tampa Bay Rowdies	22	5	8	9	29	32	−3	23
11	Jacksonville Armada	22	5	8	9	25	35	−10	23
12	Ottawa Fury	22	5	7	10	23	26	−3	22

Source: NASL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) head-to-head record; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals scored
(F) Fall season champion

Results

Home \ Away	CAR	FCE	FTL	IND	JAX	MIA	MNU	NYC	OTT	PRF	OKC	TBR
Carolina RailHawks	—	1–0	3–0	3–2	1–0	3–3	1–0	0–2	0–0	2–2	0–1	4–1
Edmonton	1–0	—	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	0–1	1–0	—	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–4
Indy Eleven	3–0	1–0	3–0	—	5–2	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	1–1
Jacksonville Armada	2–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	—	3–2	0–0	2–4	0–2	2–1	1–1	3–2
Miami	1–0	1–0	0–2	2–1	1–0	—	1–1	2–3	2–1	0–1	0–1	2–2
Minnesota United	5–1	3–1	3–1	2–0	0–1	0–4	—	0–1	2–3	1–1	1–0	2–0
New York Cosmos	6–1	0–0	2–0	3–0	3–0	4–0	1–0	—	2–1	3–0	1–1	3–2
Ottawa Fury	2–0	2–2	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	3–1	1–1	—	1–2	0–1	2–0
Puerto Rico	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	3–3	0–3	0–0	1–2	0–0	—	1–0	0–0
Rayo	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–2	1–2	2–2	3–0	3–1	2–2	—	1–0
Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–0	0–1	2–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	3–0	2–0	—

Updated to match(es) played on January 2016. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Combined standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New York Cosmos (C, X)	32	20	5	7	59	29	+30	65	Championship qualifiers
2	Indy Eleven	32	15	10	7	51	33	+18	55
3	FC Edmonton	32	15	8	9	25	21	+4	53
4	Rayo OKC	32	12	11	9	39	33	+6	47
5	Minnesota United	32	11	8	13	41	37	+4	41
6	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	32	11	8	13	31	40	−9	41
7	Miami FC	32	10	10	12	38	42	−4	40
8	Carolina RailHawks	32	11	7	14	36	48	−12	40
9	Tampa Bay Rowdies	32	9	12	11	40	41	−1	39
10	Ottawa Fury	32	7	10	15	32	40	−8	31
11	Jacksonville Armada	32	6	12	14	30	46	−16	30
12	Puerto Rico FC	22	5	9	8	19	31	−12	24

Source: NASL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) head-to-head record; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals scored
(C) Champions; (X) Regular season champion

The Championship

Participants

• (1) New York Cosmos (Fall season champion)
• (2) Indy Eleven (Spring season champion)
• (3) FC Edmonton
• (4) Rayo OKC

Semifinals

November 5, 2016 (2016-11-05)^[16]

3:00 pm EDT

Indy Eleven	1–0	FC Edmonton
Ubiparipović 63'	Report Report	Diakité  83' Eckersley  90+2'

Carroll Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

Attendance: 9,702

Referee: Sorin Stoica

---

November 5, 2016 (2016-11-05)

7:00 pm EDT

New York Cosmos	2–1	Rayo OKC
Arango 73'  77' Orozco 90' Duk  90+2'	Report Report	Danso 37' Velásquez  42' Kimura  64'

Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, New York

Attendance: 5,023

Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero

Soccer Bowl 2016

Main article: Soccer Bowl 2016

November 13, 2016 (2016-11-13)

7:00 pm EST

New York Cosmos	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Indy Eleven
Arrieta  116'	Report Report	Ring  72' Falvey  83'
Penalties
Arrieta Moffat Ayoze Richter	4–2	Paterson Zayed Busch Vuković

Belson Stadium, Queens, New York

Attendance: 2,150

Referee: Allen Chapman

Attendance

Club	GP	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
Minnesota United	16	137,161	9,460	6,101	8,573	-2.2%
Indy Eleven	16	134,339	9,356	6,132	8,396	-14.4%
Tampa Bay Rowdies	16	94,048	7,690	4,429	5,878	4.1%
Ottawa Fury	16	87,717	7,847	4,317	5,482	6.2%
Miami	16	86,833	10,156	1,229	5,427	N/A
Carolina RailHawks	16	80,923	8,086	3,093	5,058	11.4%
Puerto Rico	11	41,811	6,474	1,233	3,801	N/A
New York Cosmos	16	60,403	6,243	2,419	3,775	-25.4%
Jacksonville Armada	16	55,988	5,313	1,254	3,499	-55.9%
Rayo OKC	16	51,865	6,416	924	3,242	N/A
FC Edmonton	16	32,959	3,130	1,243	2,060	-28.7%
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	16	21,290	2,376	418	1,331	-70.2%
Total	187	885,337	10,156	418	4,734	-19.9%

Source: NASL

Highest attendances

Regular season

Rank	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Week	Venue
1	Miami	1 – 1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	10,156	April 9, 2016 (2016-04-09)	2	FIU Stadium
2	Miami	1 – 1	Minnesota United	10,012	September 24, 2016 (2016-09-24)	24	FIU Stadium
3	Miami	1 – 1	Minnesota United	9,739	August 27, 2016 (2016-08-27)	20	FIU Stadium
4	Minnesota United	2 – 0	Indy Eleven	9,460	July 16, 2016 (2016-07-16)	14	National Sports Center
5	Minnesota United	0 – 1	Jacksonville Armada	9,402	October 1, 2016 (2016-10-01)	25	National Sports Center

Statistical leaders

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Christian Ramirez Minnesota United 18 2 Juan Arango New York Cosmos 15 Éamon Zayed Indy Eleven 4 Michel Rayo OKC 14 5 Georgi Hristov Tampa Bay Rowdies 11 6 Joe Cole Tampa Bay Rowdies 9 Darío Cvitanich Miami 8 Justin Braun Indy Eleven 8 Adam Moffat New York Cosmos Héctor Ramos Puerto Rico Source:[17]

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Nazmi Albadawi Carolina RailHawks 10 2 Juan Arango New York Cosmos 7 Joe Cole Tampa Bay Rowdies 4 Jonathan Borrajo Miami 6 Andrés Flores New York Cosmos Dylan Mares Indy Eleven Kevin Venegas Minnesota United Éamon Zayed Indy Eleven 9 Justin Braun Indy Eleven 5 Ramón Núñez Fort Lauderdale Strikers Blake Smith Miami Source:[17]

Clean sheets Rank Player Club Clean Sheets 1 Matt Van Oekel FC Edmonton 16 2 Jimmy Maurer New York Cosmos 14 3 Jon Busch Indy Eleven 11 4 Sammy Ndjock Minnesota United 10 Mario Daniel Vega Miami 6 Daniel Fernandes Rayo OKC 9 7 Matt Pickens Tampa Bay Rowdies 8 8 Bruno Cardoso Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7 Romuald Peiser Ottawa Fury 10 Miguel Gallardo Jacksonville Armada 5 Trevor Spangenberg Puerto Rico Source: NASL

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Éamon Zayed Indy Eleven Carolina RailHawks 4–1 June 11 Christian Ramirez Minnesota United Carolina RailHawks 5–1 July 2 Éamon Zayed Indy Eleven Jacksonville Armada 5–2 August 3 Georgi Hristov Tampa Bay Fort Lauderdale 4–1 September 24

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	NASL Player of the Month
	Player	Club	Stats	Ref
April	Austin da Luz	Carolina RailHawks	3G	[18]
May	Papé Diakité	FC Edmonton	2G	[19]
June	Éamon Zayed	Indy Eleven	3G	[20]
July	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United	7G, 1A	[21]
August	Matt Van Oekel	FC Edmonton	22SV, 0GA	[22]
September	Darío Cvitanich	Miami	3G	[23]

Weekly awards

Week	NASL Player of the Week		NASL Play of the Week
	Player	Club	Player	Club
Week 1	Juan Arango	New York Cosmos	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United
Week 2	Austin da Luz	Carolina RailHawks	Ben Speas	Minnesota United
Week 3	Éamon Zayed	Indy Eleven	Éamon Zayed	Indy Eleven
Week 4	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United
Week 5	Yohandry Orozco	New York Cosmos	Jair Reinoso	Indy Eleven
Week 6	Nana Attakora	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Jake Keegan	FC Edmonton
Week 7	Papé Diakité	FC Edmonton	Kevin Venegas	Minnesota United
Week 8	Ramón Núñez	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Ruben Bover	New York Cosmos
Week 9	Joe Cole	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Matt Bahner	Jacksonville Armada
Week 10	Georgi Hristov	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Tyler Gibson	Rayo OKC
Week 11	Éamon Zayed	Indy Eleven	Éamon Zayed	Indy Eleven
Week 12	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United	Héctor Ramos	Puerto Rico
Week 13	Nazmi Albadawi	Carolina RailHawks	Dylan Mares	Indy Eleven
Week 14	Michel	Rayo OKC	Joe Cole	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Week 15	Jaime Chavez	Miami	J. C. Banks	Minnesota United
Week 16	Lucky Mkosana	New York Cosmos	Ariel Martínez	Miami
Week 17	Éamon Zayed	Indy Eleven	Keith Savage	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Week 18	Alhassane Keita	Jacksonville Armada	Héctor Ramos	Puerto Rico
Week 19	Matt Van Oekel	FC Edmonton	Amauri	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Week 20	Andrés Flores	New York Cosmos	Brad Ring	Indy Eleven
Week 21	Daryl Fordyce	FC Edmonton	Bruno Cardoso	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Week 22	Darío Cvitanich	Miami	Romuald Peiser	Ottawa Fury
Week 23	Matt Van Oekel	FC Edmonton	Joseph Marrero	Puerto Rico
Week 24	Georgi Hristov	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Trevor Spangenberg	Puerto Rico
Week 25	Ruben Bover	New York Cosmos	Sidney Rivera	Puerto Rico
Week 26	Ben Fisk	FC Edmonton	J. C. Banks	Minnesota United
Week 27	Michel	Rayo OKC	Jaime Chavez	Miami
Week 28	Juan Arango	New York Cosmos	Duke Lacroix	Indy Eleven

League awards

• Golden Ball (MVP): Juan Arango (New York Cosmos) ^[24]
• Golden Boot: Christian Ramirez (Minnesota United) ^[25]
• Golden Glove: Matt Van Oekel (FC Edmonton) ^[26]
• Coach of the Year: Tim Hankinson (Indy Eleven) ^[27]
• Goal of the Year: Duke Lacroix (Indy Eleven) ^[28]
• Young (U24) Player of the Year: Papé Diakité (FC Edmonton) ^[29]
• Humanitarian of the Year: Michael Lahoud (Miami FC) ^[30]
• Fair Play Award: Carolina RailHawks^[31]

NASL Best XI[32]
Position	Player	Team
Goalkeeper	Matt Van Oekel	FC Edmonton
Defense	Ayoze	New York Cosmos
Defense	Justin Davis	Minnesota United
Defense	Albert Watson	FC Edmonton
Defense	Carlos Mendes	New York Cosmos
Midfield	Nazmi Albadawi	Carolina RailHawks
Midfield	Juan Arango	New York Cosmos
Midfield	Joe Cole	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Midfield	Michel	Rayo OKC
Forward	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United
Forward	Éamon Zayed	Indy Eleven