1996 USISL Select League

History

The league had its origins in the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL), which was the de facto second tier of American soccer during the early 1990s, and until 1995 confined itself to organising regional leagues.

The USISL Pro League, which had been at the third tier of the pyramid in 1995, split into two leagues in 1996; the best teams joined the new USISL Select League, while the remainder (plus expansion teams) remained in the USISL Pro League, which retained its Division III status. Both the A-League and the new USISL Select League had Division II status in 1996.

In an attempt to counteract the fact that a number of top A-League players had left to join MLS in 1995 and 1996 six of the seven remaining A-League teams – Montreal Impact, Colorado Foxes, Seattle Sounders, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Vancouver 86ers and Atlanta Ruckus, plus two planned A-League expansion teams (Toronto Lynx and Hershey Wildcats) merged with the USISL Select League to form a consolidated Division II league before the 1997 season. The resulting merged league retained the A-League name, and the USISL Select League name was abandoned.

USISL Select League teams

• California Jaguars
• Cape Cod Crusaders (now in PDL)
• Carolina Dynamo (joined A-League in 1997; now in PDL)
• Chicago Stingers
• Connecticut Wolves (joined A-League in 1997)
• Delaware Wizards
• El Paso Patriots (now in PDL)
• Hampton Roads Mariners
• Long Island Rough Riders (joined A-League in 1997; now in PDL)
• Milwaukee Rampage (joined A-League in 1997)
• Minnesota Thunder (joined A-League in 1997)
• New Mexico Chiles
• New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers (joined A-League in 1997)
• New York/New Jersey Stallions
• Ohio Xoggz
• Raleigh Flyers (joined A-League in 1997)
• Reno Rattlers
• Richmond Kickers (joined A-League in 1997; now in USL Pro)
• Sacramento Scorpions
• South Carolina Shamrocks
• Tampa Bay Cyclones (became Jacksonville Cyclones and joined A-League in 1997)

Champions

• Regular Season: Carolina Dynamo (43 points, 14–3–1 record)
• Playoff Winners: California Jaguars (beat Richmond Kickers 2–1)

Regular season

• Regulation win = 3 points
• Shootout win (SW) = 1 point
• Loss (regulation or shootout) = 0 points

Eastern Conference

North Atlantic Division

South Atlantic Division

Western Conference

Central Division

Pacific Division

Playoffs

First round

date = August 14, 1996 7:30 PM EST | team1 = Connecticut Wolves (CT) | goals1 = Ian Hennessy Mike Saunders | goals2 = George Petou Andy Logar | score = 2–3 | report = http://articles.courant.com/1996-08-15/sports/9608150421_1_new-england-revolution-usisl-select-league-delaware-wizards | team2 = Delaware Wizards (DE) | stadium = New Britain Stadium, New Britain, Connecticut date = August 14, 1996 | team1 = South Carolina Shamrocks (SC) | goals1 = Pearse Tormey David Minihan | goals2 = Paul Cann Dustin Swinehart | score = 2–2 | report = | team2 = Hampton Roads Mariners (VA) | stadium = Eugene E. Stone III Stadium, Greenville, South Carolina

Nate Houser

date = August 14, 1996 | team1 = Minnesota Thunder (MN) | goals1 = Todd Dusosky Don Gramenz Tim Foster Gerard Lagos Sergei Gotsmanov | goals2 = Ezra Hendrickson | score = 5–1 | report = | team2 = New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers (LA) | stadium = National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota date = August 14, 1996 7:30 PM PST | team1 = Sacramento Scorpions (CA) | goals1 = Tony Sutton John Jones | goals2 = Dave Stewart | score = 2–1 OT| report = | team2 = El Paso Patriots (TX) | stadium = Woodcreek High School, Roseville, California

Second round

Minnesota Thunder vs Milwaukee Rampage

date = August 17, 1996 | team1 = Minnesota Thunder (MN) | goals1 = Don Gramenz Todd Dusosky Gerard Lagos | goals2 = Mike Gentile | score = 3–1| report = | team2 = Milwaukee Rampage (WI) | stadium = Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota date = August 18, 1996 | team1 = Milwaukee Rampage (WI) | goals1 = Travis Roy Jason Willan | goals2 = | score = 2–0| report = | team2 = Minnesota Thunder (MN) | stadium = Uihlein Soccer Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin date = August 18, 1996 | team1 = Milwaukee Rampage (WI) | goals1 = | goals2 = Aaron Leventhal | score = 0–1| report = | team2 = Minnesota Thunder (MN) | stadium = Uihlein Soccer Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Hampton Roads Mariners vs Carolina Dynamos

date = August 17, 1996 | team1 = Carolina Dynamo (NC) | goals1 = David Moxon Yari Allnutt | goals2 = Dustin Swinehart | score = 0–1 OT| report =https://www.newspapers.com/image/944939152/?match=1&terms=Carolina%20Dynamo | team2 = Hampton Roads Mariners (VA) | stadium = Simeon Stadium, High Point, North Carolina date = August 20, 1996 | team1 = Hampton Roads Mariners (VA) | goals1 = | goals2 = Chugger Adair , Kevin Sloan Alan Prampin | score = 0–4 | report = | team2 = Carolina Dynamo (NC) | stadium = Old Dominion Soccer Complex, Norfolk, Virginia date = August 20, 1996 10:00 PM EST | team1 = Hampton Roads Mariners (VA) | goals1 = Nate Houser | goals2 = | score = 1–0 | report = | team2 = Carolina Dynamo (NC) | stadium = Old Dominion Soccer Complex, Norfolk, Virginia

California Jaguars vs Sacramento Scorpions

date = August 17, 1996 7:30 PM PST | team1 = Sacramento Scorpions (CA) | goals1 = | goals2 = Ryshiem Henderson | score = 0–2 | report = | team2 = California Jaguars (CA) | stadium = Woodcreek High School, Roseville, California date = August 18, 1996 4:00 PM PST | team1 = California Jaguars (CA) | goals1 = Luis Gomez Chris Afarian | goals2 = Brandon Cavitt Scott Hileman | score = 2–1 | report = | team2 = Sacramento Scorpions (CA) | stadium = Cabrillo College, Aptos, California

Long Island Rough Riders vs Delaware Wizards

date = August 23–24, 1996 7:30 PM EST | team1 = Long Island Rough Riders (NY) | goals1 = Jim Rooney Mike Masters | goals2 = | score = 2–0 | report = https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topicsearchin/rec.sport.soccer/after$3A1996$2F08$2F20$20before$3A1996$2F09$2F01/rec.sport.soccer/e6DyeXPKG78 | team2 = Delaware Wizards (DE) | stadium = Mitchel Athletic Complex, Uniondale, New York

• The game was suspended in the 39th minute due to lightning. Play resumed on August 24, 1996, at 2:00 PM.

Select Six Tournament

The Select Six Tournament consisted of six teams. The Richmond Kickers participated as hosts. The Charleston Battery entered as the champion of the 1996 USISL Professional League. The other four teams came from the winners of the second round playoff games.

Group A

7:30 PM EST

• Robert Ukrop
• Stuart Fitzsimmons
• Steve Kinsey
• Ward
• Patrick Olalere

7:30 PM EST

• Richie Louis
• Ralph Robertson
• Ryshiem Henderson

7:30 PM EST

• Ryshiem Henderson

Group B

7:30 PM EST

• Sterling Wescott
• Stilian Stishkov
• Don Gramenz
• Gerard Lagos

7:30 PM EST

• Travis Rinker

7:30 PM EST

• Jim Rooney
• Flávio Ferri

Semifinals

California Jaguars vs Minnesota Thunder

• Ralph Robertson
• Adrian Gonzalez
• Luis Gomez
• Amos Magee
• Mark Abboud
• Todd Dusosky
• William Alvarado

Richmond Kickers vs Long Island Rough Riders

• Ruben Espinoza
• Robert Ukrop
• Jim Rooney
• Daniel Leon
• Paul Riley
• Travis Rinker

Final

date = September 1, 1996 8:00 PM EST | team1 = Richmond Kickers (VA)| goals1 = Robert Ukrop | goals2 =

• Ryshiem Henderson
• Niels Bruckner
• Adrian Gonzalez | score = 1–1 | report =https://www.newspapers.com/image/832958258/?terms=richmond%20kickers%20crowd%20of | team2 = California Jaguars (CA) | stadium = City Stadium, Richmond, Virginia
• Ben Crawley
• Leigh Cowlishaw
• Brandon Ward
• Neil Ryan
• Robert Ukrop
• Randy Mann
• Ryan Collins
• Derick Brownell
• Richie Louis
• Nathan King

Points leaders

Honors

• MVP: Dan Stebbins (Milwaukee Rampage)
• Points leader: Dan Stebbins (Milwaukee Rampage)
• Defender of the Year: Ezra Hendrickson
• Goalkeeper of the Year: Scott Garlick (Greensboro Dynamo)
• Rookie of the Year: Luis Marillo
• Coach of the Year: Alan Dicks
• Organization of the Year: Minnesota Thunder
• All-League
  • Goalkeeper: Carmine Isacco
  • Defenders: Ezra Hendrickson, Derick Crownell, Stuart Fitzsimmons
  • Midfielders: Amos Magee, Travis Rinker, Oswaldo Ortiz, Yari Allnutt
  • Forwards: Dan Stebbins, John Jones, Paul Young

References

References

1. "The Year in American Soccer – 1995".
2. "The Year in American Soccer – 1996".