1996 USISL Premier League season
The 1996 USISL Premier League season was its second. The season began in April 1996 and ended in August 1996.
Central Coast Roadrunners won the championship, defeating the San Francisco Bay Seals 3–2. Spokane Shadow won the regular season title, winning 14 games to 2 losses.
Contents
Changes from 1995 season
Name changes
- Ann Arbor Elites became the Michigan Madness.
- Arizona Cotton became the Arizona Phoenix.
- Montclair Standard Falcons moved to Fontana, CA and became the Fontana Falcons.
- Oklahoma City Slickers changed their name to the Oklahoma City Heat.
- San Francisco All-Blacks United changed their name to the San Francisco Bay Seals.
- Wichita Blue Angels changed their name to the Wichita Blue.
New teams
12 teams were added for the season.
| Team | Area | Location | Previous affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bellingham Orcas |
Northwest Washington area | Bellingham, WA | expansion |
 Central Coast Roadrunners |
Central West Coast area | San Luis Obispo, CA | expansion |
 Florida Strikers |
Greater Miami area | Fort Lauderdale, FL | from USISL Pro |
 Lexington Bluegrass Bandits |
Lexington area | Lexington, KY | from USISL Pro |
| Miami Tango |
Greater Miami area | Miami, FL | expansion |
 Mid-Michigan Bucks |
Flint/Tri-Cities area | Saginaw, MI | expansion |
 Omaha Flames |
Omaha-Council Bluffs area | Omaha, NE | expansion |
| San Diego Top Guns |
San Diego area | San Diego, CA | from USISL Pro |
| Southern California Gunners |
Inland Empire area | San Bernardino, CA | expansion |
| Spokane Shadow |
Spokane area | Spokane, WA | expansion |
| West Florida Fury |
Emerald Coast area | Pensacola, FL | expansion |
 Willamette Valley Firebirds |
Corvallis area | Corvallis, OR | former Portland Firebirds of the USISL Pro League |
Teams leaving
Five teams folded after the 1995 season:
Standings
Blue denotes team has won their division.
Green denotes team has won playoff spot.
Orange denotes team gets bye into semifinals as defending champion.
Central Conference
Northern Division
| Place | Team | P | W | L | SW | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lexington Bluegrass Bandits* | 14 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 28 |
| 2 | Michigan Madness* | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 24 | 28 | -4 | 25 |
| 3 | Detroit Dynamite* | 14 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 34 | 19 | +15 | 22 |
| 4 | Mid-Michigan Bucks* | 14 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 18 | +6 | 22 |
| 5 | Kalamazoo Kingdom | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 22 | -4 | 15 |
| 6 | Grand Rapids Explosion** | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 21 | +15 | 0 |
* Detroit, Kalamazoo, Lexington, and Michigan were all penalized 3 points.
** Grand Rapids did not have a home stadium this year, and played only road games.
Southern Division
| Place | Team | P | W | L | SW | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Lone Stars | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 17 | +24 | 30 |
| 2 | Omaha Flames | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 24 |
| 3 | Sioux City Breeze* | 13 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 23 | +3 | 23 |
| 4 | Des Moines Menace | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 21 |
| 5 | Oklahoma City Heat | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 26 | -4 | 21 |
| 6 | Wichita Blue | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 33 | -15 | 15 |
* Sioux City was penalized 6 points.
The game between Sioux City and Wichita was postponed and could not be resecheduled before end of the season. The game was cancelled because it had no effect on the playoffs.
Eastern Conference
Northern Division
| Place | Team | P | W | L | SW | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roanoke River Dawgs | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 28 | +20 | 30 |
| 2 | Jackson Chargers* | 14 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 34 | 24 | +10 | 22 |
| 3 | Nashville Metros* | 14 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 17 |
| 4 | Birmingham Grasshoppers | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 33 | -13 | 12 |
* Nashville was penalized 6 points. Jackson was penalized 3 points.
Southern Division
| Place | Team | P | W | L | SW | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cocoa Expos* | 14 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 45 | 22 | +23 | 28 |
| 2 | Orlando Lions* | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 25 | 28 | -3 | 25 |
| 3 | Florida Strikers* | 14 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 31 | 33 | -2 | 19 |
| 4 | West Florida Fury | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 29 | 36 | -7 | 15 |
| 5 | Miami Breakers | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 29 | 37 | -8 | 12 |
| 6 | South Florida Future | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 63 | -46 | 0 |
* Cocoa, Florida, and Orlando were all penalized 3 points.
Western Conference
Northern Division
| Place | Team | P | W | L | SW | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spokane Shadow* | 14 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 17 | +17 | 34 |
| 2 | San Francisco Bay Seals | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 15 | +20 | 30 |
| 3 | Colorado Springs Stampede* | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 12 | +8 | 25 |
| 4 | Puget Sound Hammers | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 24 |
| 5 | Willamette Valley Firebirds | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 31 | -10 | 15 |
| 6 | Bellingham Orcas | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 50 | -33 | 9 |
* Colorado Springs and Spokane were both penalized 3 points.
Southern Division
| Place | Team | P | W | L | SW | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast Roadrunners* | 14 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 16 | +22 | 34 |
| 2 | San Diego Top Guns* | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 25 |
| 3 | Arizona Phoenix | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 32 | 31 | +1 | 21 |
| 4 | Tucson Amigos | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 29 | -5 | 21 |
| 5 | Fontana Falcons | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 15 |
| 6 | Southern California Gunners | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 9 |
* Central Coast and San Diego were both penalaized 3 points
Playoffs
Format
Central Coast received a bye to the PDL Semifinals as the defending champion.
The top four teams from every division except the Southwest earn playoff spots. With Central Coast already receiving a bye, the top two teams from the Southwest Division will play each other, however if Central Coast is in the top two, then the third place team receives a playoff spot. The Division winners would then face each other in the Conference finals.
Divisional brackets
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Central Finals | ||||||||||||
| NC1 | Mid-Michigan Bucks |
1 | ||||||||||||
| NC4 | Grand Rapids Explosion |
0 | ||||||||||||
| NC1 | Mid-Michigan Bucks (AET/PSO) |
0 (1) | ||||||||||||
| North Central Division | ||||||||||||||
| NC3 | Kalamazoo Kingdom |
0 (0) | ||||||||||||
| NC2 | Detroit Dynamite |
0 | ||||||||||||
| NC3 | Kalamazoo Kingdom (AET) |
1 | ||||||||||||
| NC1 | Mid-Michigan Bucks |
3 | ||||||||||||
| C4 |  Des Moines Menace |
0 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | Lincoln Brigade |
0 | ||||||||||||
| C4 | Des Moines Menace |
4 | ||||||||||||
| C4 | Des Moines Menace |
6 | ||||||||||||
| Central Division | ||||||||||||||
| C2 | Omaha Flames |
0 | ||||||||||||
| C2 | Omaha Flames |
5 | ||||||||||||
| C3 | Sioux City Breeze |
3 | ||||||||||||
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Eastern Finals | ||||||||||||
| SE1 | Cocoa Expos |
5 | ||||||||||||
| SE4 | Miami Breakers |
2 | ||||||||||||
| SE1 | Cocoa Expos |
3 | ||||||||||||
| Southeast Division | ||||||||||||||
| SE3 | West Florida Fury |
1 | ||||||||||||
| SE2 | South Florida Future |
0 | ||||||||||||
| SE3 | West Florida Fury |
4 | ||||||||||||
| SE1 | Cocoa Expos |
2 | ||||||||||||
| MS2 |  Jackson Chargers |
1 | ||||||||||||
| MS1 |  Cincinnati Riverhawks |
7 | ||||||||||||
| MS4 |  Alabama Saints |
4 | ||||||||||||
| MS1 | Cincinnati Riverhawks |
0 | ||||||||||||
| Mid-South Division | ||||||||||||||
| MS2 | Jackson Chargers |
3 | ||||||||||||
| MS2 | Jackson Chargers (AET) |
1 | ||||||||||||
| MS3 | Lexington Bluegrass Bandits |
0 | ||||||||||||
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Western Finals | ||||||||||||
| NW1 | Spokane Shadow (AET/PSO) |
4 (1) | ||||||||||||
| NW4 | Bellingham Orcas |
4 (0) | ||||||||||||
| NW1 | Spokane Shadow |
2 | ||||||||||||
| Northwest Division | ||||||||||||||
| NW2 | Yakima Reds |
0 | ||||||||||||
| NW2 | Yakima Reds |
1 | ||||||||||||
| NW3 | Cascade Surge |
0 | ||||||||||||
| NW1 | Spokane Shadow |
0 | ||||||||||||
| SW1 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders |
1 | ||||||||||||
| SW1 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders |
bye | ||||||||||||
| SW1 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders |
2 | ||||||||||||
| Southwest Division | ||||||||||||||
| SW2 |  Tucson Amigos |
1 | ||||||||||||
| SW2 | Tucson Amigos |
bye | ||||||||||||
PDL Finals brackets
| PDL Semifinals | |||||||||
| NC1 | Mid-Michigan Bucks |
0 | |||||||
| H | Central Coast Roadrunners |
2 | PDL Finals | ||||||
| H | Central Coast Roadrunners |
2 | |||||||
| PDL Semifinals | SE1 | Cocoa Expos |
1 | ||||||
| SW1 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders |
0 (0) | |||||||
| SE1 | Cocoa Expos (AET/PSO) |
0 (1) | PDL Third Place | ||||||
| NC1 | Mid-Michigan Bucks |
2 | |||||||
| SW1 | San Gabriel Valley Highlanders |
3 | |||||||
Premier Six Tournament
Six teams entered the Premier Six Tournament in Cocoa, Florida the weekend of August 16–18. Each of the five division playoff champions qualified for the tournament, along with the host Cocoa Expos. The teams were seeded in this order, based on their regular season points:
- 1. Central Coast Roadrunners
- 2. San Francisco Bay Seals
- 3. Cocoa Expos
- 4. Omaha Flames
- 5. Jackson Chargers
- 6. Mid-Michigan Bucks.
The Central Coast Roadrunners played the bottom two seeds (Jackson and Mid-Michigan). The San Francisco Seals played the #4 and #6 seeds (Omaha and Mid-Michigan). The Cocoa Expos played and #4 and #5 seeds (Omaha and Jackson).
Qualification to the finals
In order to determine the two teams to qualify for the finals, the league used the following point system during the Premier Six Tournament:
- Win = 3 points
- Shootout win = 2 points
- Shootout loss = 1 point
- Bonus points: Each team scoring three or more goals in regulation or overtime received one extra point.
| Place | Team | W | SW | SL | L | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast Roadrunners | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | San Francisco Bay Seals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Cocoa Expos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Omaha Flames | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Jackson Chargers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Mid-Michigan Bucks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Friday
| San Francisco Bay Seals (CA) | 2-2 OT | Omaha Flames (NE) |
|---|---|---|
Chris McDonald  64'Ken Folan 86' |
3' Paul Lekics 52' Keith DeFini |
|
| Penalties | ||
Ken Folan  Marquis White Shane Watkins  Chris McDonald Mike Black |
1-2 | Keith DeFini John Anderson Paul Lekics Judd Willmann |
| Central Coast Roadrunners (CA) | 3-0 | Mid-Michigan Bucks (MI) |
|---|---|---|
| Bryan Taylor |
 60' Alan Placek 90' Doug Consigny |
Saturday
| Central Coast Roadrunners (CA) | 2-1 OT | Jackson Chargers (MS) |
|---|---|---|
| Marc Rohrer 45' Bryan Taylor 92' |
42' Dwyane Demmin |
| San Francisco Bay Seals (CA) | 4-0 | Mid-Michigan Bucks (MI) |
|---|---|---|
| Chris McDonal 58' 72' 76' Shane Watkins 86' |
| Cocoa Expos (FL) | 4-1 | Omaha Flames (NE) |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Freeman Eddie Enders Chris Brady Steve Freeman |
Paul Lekics Paul Lekics |
Final
|
August 18, 1996
|
| Central Coast Roadrunners (CA) | 1-0 | San Francisco Bay Seals (CA) |
|---|---|---|
| Bryan Taylor 48' |
|
Cocoa Expo Sports Center, Cocoa, Florida
|
- MVP: Bryan Taylor
Honors[1]
- MVP: Pasi Kinturi
- Points leader: Pasi Kinturi
- Goals leader: Pasi Kinturi
- Assists leader: Steve Freeman
- Rookie of the Year: Bryan Taylor
- Goalkeeper of the Year: Michael LaBerge
- Defender of the Year: Dwyane Demmin
- Coach of the Year: Nuno Piteira
- Organization of the Year: Central Coast Roadrunners
- All League
- Goalkeeper: Michael LaBerge
- Defenders: Steve Freeman, Dwyane Demmin, Zane Higgins, Jeremy Oetman
- Midfielders: Jude Beller, Toni Siikala
- Forwayrds: Pasi Kinturi, Chris McDonald, Dennis Brose, Bryan Taylor
