The 1996 USISL Select League season was the first season of a professional men's soccer league which featured teams from the United States. The league shared Division II status in the American soccer pyramid with the A-League, before the two leagues merged in 1997 as the USISL A-League.

USISL Select League
Season1996
ChampionsCalifornia Jaguars
PremiersCarolina Dynamo
Top goalscorerDan Stebbins
(21 goals)
← First

History

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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[1] 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,[2] and the USISL Select League name was abandoned.

USISL Select League teams

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Champions

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Regular season

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

Eastern Conference

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North Atlantic Division

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Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 Long Island Rough Riders 18 11 0 7 39 31 +8 33
2 Richmond Kickers 18 10 0 8 34 24 +10 28[a]
3 Connecticut Wolves 18 7 4 7 37 37 0 25
4 Delaware Wizards 18 5 1 12 20 29 −9 16
5 Cape Cod Crusaders 18 4 1 13 13 24 −11 9[b]
6 New York/New Jersey Stallions 18 2 0 16 19 52 −33 6
Source: [citation needed]
Notes:
  1. ^ -2?
  2. ^ -4?

South Atlantic Division

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Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 Carolina Dynamo 18 14 1 3 37 15 +22 43
2 South Carolina Shamrocks 18 11 1 6 42 31 +11 34
3 Hampton Roads Mariners 18 9 4 5 32 15 +17 31
4 Tampa Bay Cyclones 18 9 1 8 40 32 +8 28
5 Raleigh Flyers 18 7 0 11 25 26 −1 21
Source: [citation needed]

Western Conference

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Central Division

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Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 Milwaukee Rampage 18 9 6 3 36 19 +17 33
2 Minnesota Thunder 18 10 0 8 31 16 +15 30
3 New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers 18 7 2 9 31 36 −5 23
4 Ohio Xoggz 18 5 1 12 26 34 −8 16
5 Chicago Stingers 18 4 1 13 29 41 −12 13
Source: [citation needed]

Pacific Division

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Pos Team Pld W SW L GF GA GD Pts
1 California Jaguars 18 11 1 6 30 21 +9 34
2 Sacramento Scorpions 18 9 2 7 23 22 +1 29
3 El Paso Patriots 18 9 1 8 30 23 +7 28
4 New Mexico Chiles 18 9 0 9 24 24 0 27
5 Reno Rattlers 18 1 5 12 13 33 −20 8
Source: [citation needed]

Playoffs

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First round

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Connecticut Wolves (CT)2–3Delaware Wizards (DE)
Ian Hennessy   60'
Mike Saunders   69' (pen.)
Report   41' George Petou
  47' Andy Logar
  73' George Petou


South Carolina Shamrocks (SC)2–2Hampton Roads Mariners (VA)
Pearse Tormey   15' (pen.)
David Minihan   89'
  38' Paul Cann
  79' Dustin Swinehart
Penalties
 
 
 
0–1  
  Nate Houser
 



Sacramento Scorpions (CA)2–1 OTEl Paso Patriots (TX)
Tony Sutton  
John Jones   100'
  Dave Stewart

Second round

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Minnesota Thunder vs Milwaukee Rampage

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Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–0Minnesota Thunder (MN)
Travis Roy   36'
Jason Willan   86'
Attendance: 3,659


Milwaukee Rampage (WI)0–1Minnesota Thunder (MN)
  20' Aaron Leventhal
Attendance: 3,659

Hampton Roads Mariners vs Carolina Dynamos

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Carolina Dynamo (NC)0–1 OTHampton Roads Mariners (VA)
David Moxon   35'
Yari Allnutt   65'
  93' Dustin Swinehart



Hampton Roads Mariners (VA)1–0Carolina Dynamo (NC)
Nate Houser   25'
Attendance: 2,409

California Jaguars vs Sacramento Scorpions

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California Jaguars (CA)2–1Sacramento Scorpions (CA)
Luis Gomez  
Chris Afarian  
  40' Brandon Cavitt
  47' Scott Hileman

Long Island Rough Riders vs Delaware Wizards

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

Select Six Tournament

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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

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Pos Team W L GF GA GD
1 California Jaguars 2 0 4 1 +3
2 Richmond Kickers 1 1 6 2 +4
3 Charleston Battery 0 2 2 9 −7
Source: [citation needed]

Group B

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Pos Team W L GF GA GD
1 Long Island Rough Riders 2 0 4 2 +2
2 Minnesota Thunder 1 1 3 3 0
3 Hampton Roads Mariners 0 2 4 6 −2
Source: [citation needed]

Semifinals

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California Jaguars vs Minnesota Thunder

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Richmond Kickers vs Long Island Rough Riders

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Final

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Points leaders

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Rank Scorer Club Goals Assists Points
1 Dan Stebbins Milwaukee Rampage 21 8 50
2 Jamie Wellington New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers 18 6 42
3 Luis Murillo Tampa Bay Cyclones 16 5 37
4 Mike Gailey Carolina Dynamo 14 8 36
5 Ron Murphy Cape Cod Crusaders 13 6 32
6 Yari Allnut Carolina Dynamo 14 3 31
Mike Saunders Connecticut Wolves 15 1 31
8 Chugger Adair Carolina Dynamo 13 4 30
9 Chad Carrithers Sacramento Scorpions 13 3 29

Honors

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References

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  1. ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1995". Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  2. ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1996". Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2013.