2022 National Independent Soccer Association season

The 2022 NISA season is the fourth season of the National Independent Soccer Association's third-division soccer competition. After three years of split seasons, NISA switched to a full season format, with a single table and a playoff competition to determine the 2022 champion.^[1]

National Independent Soccer Association

Season	2022
Dates	Mar. 26 – Oct. 15 (regular season) Oct. 21 – Nov. 6 (playoffs)
Champions	Michigan Stars FC
Regular season title	California United Strikers FC
Matches played	94
Goals scored	239 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Markus Naglestad (19)
Biggest home win	MAR 6–1 FCU (April 2) CAL 5–0 LAF (Jun 26)
Biggest away win	FCU 0–5 CHA (Jul 16)
Highest scoring	CAL 4–3 BCFC (April 23)
Longest winning run	9 games CAL
Longest unbeaten run	10 games CAL
Longest winless run	9 games FCU
Longest losing run	5 games FCU
← 2021 2023 → All statistics correct as of October 15, 2022.

Teams

Six of the teams that participated in the 2021 Fall season returned, and were joined by four expansion clubs: Bay Cities FC, Flower City Union, Syracuse Pulse, and Valley United FC. From the existing 2021 teams, San Diego 1904 FC were rebranded to Albion San Diego, after merging with the youth club with the same name,^[2] while Chicago House AC, New Amsterdam FC and Stumptown AC will be on hiatus for 2022, and current title holders Detroit City FC moved to USL Championship.^[3]

Stadiums and locations

Syracuse

San Diego

Bay Cities

Cal United

Chattanooga

Flower City

Los Angeles

Maryland

Michigan

Valley United

Locations of announced clubs

• Participating club

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Albion San Diego	San Diego, California	Canyon Crest Academy Stadium[A]	5,000
Bay Cities FC	Redwood City, California	Terremere Field[B]	3,500
California United Strikers FC	Irvine, California	Championship Soccer Stadium	5,000
Chattanooga FC	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Finley Stadium	20,668
Flower City Union	Rochester, New York	Marina Auto Stadium[C]	13,768
Los Angeles Force	Whittier, California	Various[D]
Maryland Bobcats FC	Boyds, Maryland	Maryland SoccerPlex	4,000
Michigan Stars FC	Washington, Michigan	Romeo High School	4,000
Syracuse Pulse	Syracuse, New York	Lazer Stadium	2,000
Valley United FC	Mesa, Arizona	Bell Bank Park	5,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: The league has signed a deal with Hummel to be the official kit manufacturer, but it still allows clubs to find their own provider.^[4]

Team	Head coach	Captain(s)	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Albion San Diego	Jeff Korytoski	Ozzie Ramos	Capelli	Nova Easy Kombucha
Bay Cities FC	Anders Perez		Hummel	Premia
California United Strikers FC	Don Ebert	Xavier Fuerte	Nike	Taco Bell
Chattanooga FC	Rod Underwood	Juan Hernandez	Hummel	Louisiana Hot Sauce, VfL Wolfsburg
Flower City Union	Colton Bly (interim)		Hummel
Los Angeles Force	Thales Peterson	Joshua Culwell	Xara	—
Maryland Bobcats FC	Sylvain Rastello	Kay Banjo	Hummel	Jimmy's Famous Seafood
Michigan Stars FC	Trevor Banks		Hummel	HTC
Syracuse Pulse	Peter Fuller	Shaun Russell	Givova	Montreal Construction, SOS
Valley United FC		Nico Gaitan	Capelli

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Flower City Union	Zach Agliata[5]	Resigned	May 3, 2022	4th in East	Colton Bly (interim)	May 3, 2022[5]
Valley United	Adrian Gaitan[6]	Resigned	May 19, 2022	2nd in East	TBD

Regular season

The season started on March 26, and will see each team play 26 games over 30 weeks: four times against each opponent in the same division and two times against each opponent in the opposite division.

Standings (March 26–August 27)

East Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chattanooga FC	16	9	4	3	30	12	+18	31	Qualification for the semi-finals
2	Michigan Stars FC	15	6	6	3	18	9	+9	24	Qualification for the play-offs
3	Maryland Bobcats FC	15	6	3	6	24	19	+5	21
4	Syracuse Pulse	16	5	2	9	18	23	−5	17
5	Flower City Union	19	2	2	15	10	50	−40	8

Updated to match(es) played on August 20, 2022. Source: nisasoccer.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal differential; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head

West Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	California United Strikers FC	14	11	2	1	24	6	+18	35	Qualification for the semi-finals
2	Albion San Diego	10	4	4	2	14	12	+2	16	Qualification for the play-offs
3	Bay Cities FC	12	4	3	5	18	18	0	15
4	Los Angeles Force	11	2	4	5	7	14	−7	10
5	Valley United FC[a]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew from the league

Updated to match(es) played on August 20, 2022. Source: nisasoccer.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal differential; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head
Notes:

1. Valley United FC withdrew from the league and their playing record of P9 W1 D1 L7 GF4 GA21 was expunged.^[7]

Standings (August 27–October 15)

Due to Bay Cities FC's withdrawal from this season, NISA has revised the 2022 schedule and table with the eight remaining clubs. As a result, this standings had been condensed into a single table format and used an average-points per game total (points earned divided by matches played).^[8]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
1	California United Strikers FC	21	14	4	3	35	12	+23	46	2.19	Qualification for the semi-finals
2	Chattanooga FC	24	14	7	3	44	21	+23	49	2.04
3	Michigan Stars FC	23	10	8	5	27	15	+12	38	1.65	Qualification for the play-offs
4	Albion San Diego	20	9	5	6	28	23	+5	32	1.60
5	Maryland Bobcats FC	23	8	6	9	32	28	+4	30	1.30
6	Syracuse Pulse	22	7	4	11	26	32	−6	25	1.14
7	Los Angeles Force	20	2	8	10	14	31	−17	14	0.70
8	Flower City Union	23	2	3	18	13	57	−44	9	0.39

Source: nisasoccer.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal differential; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head

Results

Home \ Away	CHA	FLO	MAR	MIC	SYR	ALB	BAY	CAL	LAF	VAL[E]	CHA	FLO	MAR	MIC	SYR	ALB	BAY	CAL	LAF	VAL[E]
Chattanooga FC	—	0–1	1–1	0–0	3–0	2–1	4–2	0–1	3–2	With.	—	1–0	3–0	0–0	2–1
Flower City Union	1–5	—	0–1	0–3	0–1	2–2	With.	1–2	0–3	2-1	0–5	—	2–1	0–2	0–2
Maryland Bobcats FC	1–2	6–1	—	1–1	3–1	1–0	1–4	1–0	3–0	With.	1–1	5–0	—	1–2	1–1
Michigan Stars FC	0–0	3–0	0–1	—	3–0[F]	2–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	With.	2–3	0–0	2–0	—	2–2
Syracuse Pulse	0–1	4–0	0–0	0–2	—	0–3	With.	0–1	1–2	0-2	3–0	3–1	2–1	0–0	—
Albion San Diego	1–2	2–1	2–1	3–0	3–1	—	1–1	0–3	3–1	3-0[G]						—	With.	1–0	1–0	With.
Bay Cities FC	0–3	3–1	With.	With.	With.	3–1	—	0–1	With.	3-0[G]						With.	—	With.	With.	With.
California United Strikers FC	2–2	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	—	5–0	3-0[G]						1–2	4–3	—	3–0	With.
Los Angeles Force	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–3	0–0	0–0	0–2	—	With.						1–1	0–1	0–0	—	With.
Valley United FC[E]	0-3[G]	With.	With.	With.	With.	0-3[G]	With.	With.	0-3[G]	—						1-1	With.	With.	With.	—

Source: nisasoccer.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

The playoffs began on October 21, and featured the top six teams from the regular season. The top two teams from the regular season table received a bye into the league semifinals. Teams finishing third through sixth played in the quarterfinals, with the winners being re-seeded before playing in the next round. The 2022 Final took place on November 6. All postseason games were broadcast online on Eleven Sports.

Originally, the East and West division winners would have been assigned the top two seeds and received byes to the semifinals. The second place teams in each division were to be seeded 3 and 4, while the third place finishers would be seeded 5 and 6. Following the restructuring of the table on August 27, the division aspect was dropped.

	Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports)
	3	Michigan Stars FC	2
	6	Syracuse Pulse	0

	Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports)
	4	Albion San Diego	2
	5	Maryland Bobcats FC	0

	Semifinals October 29/30 (Eleven Sports)					NISA Championship Final November 5 (Eleven Sports)
	1	California United Strikers FC	2
	4	Albion San Diego	4
						4	Albion San Diego	0
						3	Michigan Stars FC	1
	2	Chattanooga FC	0
	3	Michigan Stars FC	1

Schedule

Quarterfinals

Michigan Stars FC v Syracuse Pulse

October 21, 2022 (2022-10-21)	Michigan Stars FC	2–0	Syracuse Pulse	Washington, Michigan
7:00 p.m. EDT	Iakov Shmelev 44' Anthony Bowie 76'	Report Broadcast		Stadium: Romeo Stadium Referee: Kevin Fikar

Albion San Diego v Maryland Bobcats FC

October 21, 2022 (2022-10-21)	Albion San Diego	2–0	Maryland Bobcats FC	Pacific Highlands Ranch, San Diego
6:00 p.m. PDT	Daniel Vicente 47' (Pen.) Mayele Malango 67'	Report Broadcast		Stadium: Canyon Crest Stadium

Semifinals

California United Strikers FC v Albion San Diego

October 29, 2022 (2022-10-29)	California United Strikers FC	2–4	Albion San Diego	Irvine, California
7:00 p.m. PDT	Omar Nuño 39' (pen.) Shinya Kadono 51'	Report Broadcast	Lennyn Carreon 17' Mayele Malango 38' Jonathan Bazaes 74' Alioune Diakhate 83'	Stadium: Championship Soccer Stadium

Chattanooga FC v Michigan Stars FC

October 30, 2022 (2022-10-30)	Chattanooga FC	0–1	Michigan Stars FC	Chattanooga, Tennessee
5:00 p.m. EDT		Report Broadcast	Leon Maric 56'	Stadium: Finley Stadium

NISA Championship Final

Michigan Stars FC v Albion San Diego

November 6, 2022 (2022-11-06)	Michigan Stars FC	1–0	Albion San Diego	Washington, Michigan
4:00 p.m. EDT	Anthony Bowie 31'	Report Broadcast		Stadium: Romeo Stadium Attendance: 1,178 Referee: Alex Beehler

Player statistics

As of October 15, 2022

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals[9] 1 Markus Naglestad Chattanooga FC 19 2 Alioune Diakhate Albion San Diego 12 3 Darwin Espinal Maryland Bobcats 10 4 Omar Nuño California United Strikers 9 5 Kaleb Jackson Syracuse Pulse 8 6 Tony Lopez California United Strikers 7 7 Taylor Gray Chattanooga FC 6 Juan Louis Syracuse Pulse 9 Elijah Amo Maryland Bobcats 5 Alex McGrath Chattanooga FC Edwin Rivas Jr. Los Angeles Force Vasilios Zogos Michigan Stars Top assists Rank Player Club Assists[9] 1 Éder Guerrero Los Angeles Force 5 Steven Juncaj Michigan Stars David Mason Maryland Bobcats Markus Naglestad Chattanooga FC 5 Elijah Amo Maryland Bobcats 4 Alioune Diakhate Albion San Diego Darwin Espinal Maryland Bobcats Walter Varela Albion San Diego Gustavo Villalobos California United Strikers 10 7 players tied 3

Clean sheets Rank Player Club Clean sheets[9] 1 Jean Antoine California United Strikers 11 Tatenda Mkuruva Michigan Stars 3 Felix Annan Maryland Bobcats 6 Kevin Gonzalez Chattanooga FC 5 Brandon Gomez Los Angeles Force 5 6 Benjamin Roach Albion San Diego 4 7 Daniel Gagliardi Syracuse Pulse 3 Alec Redington Chattanooga FC Macklin Robinson Syracuse Pulse 10 5 players tied 2

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Winner	Team	Reason	Ref.
Golden Boot	Markus Naglestad	Chattanooga FC	19 goals in 23 games	[10]
Golden Glove	Jean Antoine	California United Strikers FC	12 shutouts in 16 matches; 5 goals against	[10]
Coach of the Year	Rod Underwood	Chattanooga FC	14-7-3 record	[10]
Golden Ball (Most Valuable Player)	Markus Naglestad	Chattanooga FC	19 goals, 5 assists	[10]

NISA Best XI

First team[11]
Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Jean Antoine (CUS)	Matt Constant (MIC) Garrett Hogbin (CUS) Vasilios Zogos (MIC)	Minjae Kwak (SYR) Alex McGrath (CHA)	Alioune Diakhate (ASD) Darwin Espinal (MAR) Taylor Gray (CHA) Markus Naglestad (CHA) Omar Nuño (CUS)

Second team[11]
Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Tatenda Mkuruva (MIC)	Jonathan Firmino (MIC) Franky Martinez (CHA) Edwin Rivas (LAF)	Ian Cerro (CHA) Richard Dixon (CHA) Manuel Gonzalez (MAR) Steven Juncaj (MIC) Tony Lopez (CUS) Walter Varela (ASD)	Kaleb Jackson (SYR)

NISA Independent Cup

The NISA Independent Cup will start on June 25. It features nine of the ten NISA clubs, with California United Strikers FC opting not to participate the tournament. They will be joined by 27 invited amateur teams and divided geographically into nine regions of four clubs each. Each region will play a single round robin tournament between three amateur teams using a 10-point system. The winner of that round-robin will play against the NISA teams for the regional championship. Like last year, there will be no interregional play or national champion.

Participating Clubs

Nine NISA teams play in nine regions respectively, as California United Strikers FC did not participate. Midwest, New England and South Central region replaced with Empire, Northeast and SoCal region due to lack of NISA teams (despite Michigan Stars based from Midwest but plays in Great Lakes as NISA's 2022 season did not have Midwest based clubs other than Michigan Stars).

Empire St Team League Allentown United FC NISA Nation Lansdowne Yonkers FC EPSL NY Braveheart SC NISA Nation Syracuse Pulse NISA

Great Lakes St Team League FC Milwaukee Torrent NPSL Lansing Common FC MWPL Metro Louisville FC UPSL Michigan Stars FC NISA

Mid-Atlantic St Team League Maryland Bobcats FC NISA Northern Virginia FC EPSL Rockville SC UPSL Soda City FC UPSL

Northeast St Team League Flower City Union NISA New Jersey Alliance FC NISA Nation NY Contour United UPSL Steel Pulse FC Maryland Super Soccer League

Pacific St Team League Battle Born FC NISA Nation Bay Cities FC NISA Modesto City FC SWPL Wenatchee All-Stars FC CasPL

SoCal St Team League AFC South Bay NISA Nation Albion San Diego NISA Capo FC NISA Nation Soul 2 Sole SWPL

Southeast St Team League Brevard Fire SC NSL Florida Chattanooga FC NISA Club de Lyon FC NISA Nation Miami Beach CF NPSL

Southwest St Team League East Valley United SWPL SC Saguaros SWPL Valley FC Raiders NISA Nation Valley United FC NISA

West Coast St Team League Inland Empire Republic FC SWPL Los Angeles Force NISA Olympiacos CA SWPL Peak XI FC MPL

Empire Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	NY Braveheart SC (Q)	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6	19	Qualification for the regional final
2	Lansdowne Yonkers FC	2	1	0	1	6	5	+1	10
3	Allentown United FC	2	0	0	2	1	8	−7	1

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Syracuse Pulse v NY Braveheart SC

July 30, 2022	Syracuse Pulse	6–2	NY Braveheart SC	Utica, New York
4:00 PM EDT	Russell 18',  66' McKinley 45+1' Jackson 55', 74' Rendon  68' Campos 80' (o.g.) MacDonald 82'	Report	Rodriguez 37',  74' Najera  61' Lenis 64'	Stadium: Charles A. Gaetano Stadium

Great Lakes Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Metro Louisville FC (Q)	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	16	Qualification for the regional final
2	FC Milwaukee Torrent	2	1	0	1	5	2	+3	11
3	Lansing Common FC	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Michigan Stars FC v Metro Louisville FC

July 29, 2022	Michigan Stars FC	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Metro Louisville FC	Washington, Michigan
6:30 PM EDT	S. Juncaj  26' Maric 70' Zhongo 97' McCloud  116'	Report	Ibrahimkadic  45+1' Harmon 46' Trejo  84'	Stadium: Michigan Stars Sports Center Referee: Nicole Green

Mid-Atlantic Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Northern Virginia FC (Q)	2	2	0	0	9	2	+7	19	Qualification for the regional final
2	Soda City FC	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	10
3	Rockville SC	2	0	0	2	2	9	−7	2

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Maryland Bobcats FC v Northern Virginia FC

July 30, 2022	Maryland Bobcats FC	5–2	Northern Virginia FC	Boyds, Maryland
7:00 PM EDT		Report		Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex

Northeast Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Jersey Alliance FC (Q)	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	13	Qualification for the regional final
2	Steel Pulse FC	2	1	0	1	10	1	+9	10
3	NY Contour United	2	0	1	1	0	10	−10	5

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Flower City Union v New Jersey Alliance FC

July 24, 2022	Flower City Union	2–0	New Jersey Alliance FC	Rochester, New York
5:00 PM EDT		Report		Stadium: Rochester Community Sports Complex Stadium

Pacific Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wenatchee All-Stars FC (Q)	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	17	Qualification for the regional final
2	Battleborn FC	2	1	0	1	7	3	+4	11
3	Modesto City FC	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	0

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Bay Cities FC v Wenatchee All-Stars FC

July 23, 2022	Bay Cities FC	0–1	Wenatchee All-Stars FC	Redwood City, California
6:00 PM PDT		Report		Stadium: Sequoia Stadium

SoCal Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Capo FC (Q)	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	17	Qualification for the regional final
2	AFC South Bay	2	1	0	1	4	4	0	9
3	Soul 2 Sole	2	0	0	2	4	9	−5	4

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Capo FC v Albion San Diego

July 24, 2022	Capo FC	1–3	Albion San Diego	San Juan Capistrano, California
7:00 PM PDT		Report		Stadium: Jserra Stadium

Southeast Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Club de Lyon FC (Q)	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	18	Qualification for the regional final
2	Miami Beach CF	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2	10
3	Brevard Fire SC	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	1

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Chattanooga FC v Club de Lyon FC

July 23, 2022	Chattanooga FC	3–2	Club de Lyon FC	Chattanooga, Tennessee
7:30 PM EDT		Report		Stadium: Finley Stadium

Southwest Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Valley FC Raiders (Q)	2	1	1	0	6	1	+5	15	Qualification for the regional final
2	East Valley United	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3	14
3	SC Saguaros	2	0	0	2	1	9	−8	1

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Valley United FC v Valley FC Raiders

August 6, 2022	Valley United FC	Cancelled	Valley FC Raiders	Mesa, Arizona
TBD MST				Stadium: Bell Bank Park
Note: Due to Valley United FC suspended all operations for the balance of the 2022 season including southwest regional final between Valley United FC and Valley FC Raiders, Valley FC Raiders was awarded the southwest regional title as a group stage winner.[7]

West Coast Region

Group stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Inland Empire Republic FC (Q)	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	17	Qualification for the regional final
2	Peak XI FC	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	10
3	Olympiacos CA	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	0

Source: nisaofficial.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Regional final

Los Angeles Force v Inland Empire Republic FC

July 24, 2022	Los Angeles Force	2–0	Inland Empire Republic FC	Covina, California
6:00 PM PDT		Report		Stadium: Covina District Field

Notes

1. Albion played its home match vs Maryland on August 17 at California State University San Marcos
2. Bay Cities played its home match vs Flower City on June 1 at Cañada College
3. Flower City Union played its home matches of May 4 vs California United Strikers and June 15 vs Los Angeles Force at Vandetta Stadium in Batavia, New York due to date conflicts.
4. LA Force played their first home matches at Garey Stadium, second home at Orange County Great Park Turf 10, third hone at Ayala Park Stadium at Chino, fourth home at Championship Soccer Stadium and now fifth, and sixth home at Covina District Field at Covina. The seventh match, also meant for Covina, was postponed and is listed as of August 22, 2022 as to be decided. The final four matches, excluding the postponed match, are to be held at Los Angeles Harbor College.
5. Valley United withdrew from 2022 season after roster controversy around a club. As a result, a team who against Valley United in previous matches will not take a result and points for standings.^[7]
6. Forfeited by Syracuse due to financial issues
7. Forfeited by Valley United due to roster violations^[6]

See also

• National Independent Soccer Association