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2001 USL A-League

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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
Season2001
ChampionsRochester Rhinos
(3rd title)
Regular seasonRichmond Kickers
(1st title)
Top goalscorerPaul Conway
(22 goals)
← 2000
2002 →

Summary

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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

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Northern Conference

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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

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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

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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

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Bracket

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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

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Pittsburgh vs Charleston

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Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)2–1Charleston Battery (SC)
Gary DePalma   45'
Phil Karn   76'		 Report   36'   44' John Ball
  38' Paul Conway
Bethel Park Stadium, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,152


Charleston Battery (SC)1–3Pittsburgh 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
Attendance: 2,606

San Diego vs Atlanta

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San Diego Flash (CA)2–0Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)
Brian O'Connor   43'
Thiago Martins   63', 72'		 Report   5' Shaun McSkimming
  36' Ian Checcio
  54' Randy Merkel
  74' Sean Michael Callahan
Attendance: 370
Referee: Richard Heron (USA)


Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)2–2San Diego Flash (CA)
Danny Care   32'
Sean Finn   45',   60'
Ryan Walker   90'		 Report   42' Chugger Adair
  66',   73' Thiago Martins
Attendance: 722

Portland vs Charlotte

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Portland Timbers (OR)2–0Charlotte 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
Attendance: 4,771


Charlotte Eagles (NC)2–3Portland Timbers (OR)
Jacob Coggins   16'
Joey Johnson   19'		 Report   23' Michael O'Neill
  82' Scott Benedetti
  85' Greg Howes
Attendance: 2,100

Milwaukee vs Nashville

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Nashville Metros (TN)2–3Milwaukee 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
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
Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 2,152

Quarterfinals

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Milwaukee vs Richmond

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Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–2Richmond 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
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
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Hershey vs Portland

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Portland Timbers (OR)0–2Hershey 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
Attendance: 4,894


Hershey Wildcats (PA)1–0Portland Timbers (OR)
Mike Feniger   28'
Attendance: 1,048

Vancouver vs San Diego

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San Diego Flash (CA)2–0Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar   67'
Emmanuel Ayim   84'		 Report
Douglas Stadium, San Diego, California
Attendance: 468


Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)4–1San Diego Flash (CA)
Darren Tilley   6'
John Sulentic   17', 90'
Steve Kindel   42'		 Report   35' Chugger Adair
Attendance: 6,782

Rochester vs Pittsburgh

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Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)2–1Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Welton Melo   62'
John Jones   81'		   25' (pen.) Stoian Mladenov
Attendance: 1,073


Rochester Rhinos (NY)3–0Pittsburgh Riverhounds (PA)
Martin Nash   30'
Neathan Gibson   53'
Jimmy Tanner   90'
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–3Rochester 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
Attendance: 271


Rochester Rhinos (NY)1–0Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Scott Schweitzer   16'
Neathan Gibson   41'
Mike Kirmse   90'		 Report   38' Igor Soso
  45' Judah Cooks
  45' Philippe Godoy
  81' Brian Doherty
Attendance: 6,817

Semifinal 2

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Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)0–4Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Report   21', 39' Kyle Swords
  85' Zé Roberto
  90' Doug Miller
Attendance: 6,685


Hershey Wildcats (PA)0–1Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Report   66' Darren Tilley
Attendance: 786

Final

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Rochester Raging Rhinos (NY)2–0Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Martin Nash   38'
Carlos Zavala   38'
Stoian Mladenov   63', 87'		 Report
Attendance: 13,692
Referee: Eric Simmons (USA)

Points leaders

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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

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Annual awards

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References

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  1. ^ Dvorchak, Robert (September 12, 2001). "Area sporting events step aside in wake of tragedy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B4. Retrieved August 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Huggins, Harold (September 19, 2001). "Metros to open playoffs against Rampage". The Tennessean. p. 3C. Retrieved August 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ DiVeronica, Jeff (October 4, 2001). "Rhinos' Trotman killed in auto accident". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester. p. 1D. Retrieved August 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ DiVeronica, Jeff (October 14, 2001). "A sweet repeat". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester. p. 1D. Retrieved August 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ 2001 A-League Awards Archived 2012-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
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