A-League 1998 Season

Atlanta Ruckus - Charleston Battery - Connecticut Wolves - Hampton Roads Mariners

Hershey Wildcats - Jacksonville Cyclones - Long Island Rough Riders - Montreal Impact

Raleigh Flyers - Richmond Kickers - Rochester Ragin' Rhinos - Staten Island Vipers

California Jaguars - Cincinnati Riverhawks - El Paso Patriots - Milwaukee Rampage

Minnesota Thunder - Nashville Metros - New Orleans Storm - Orange County Zodiac

Sacramento Geckos - San Diego Flash - San Francisco Bay Seals - Seattle Sounders

1998 FINAL STANDINGS
Before the season, Staten Island and US Project 40 Select were added.
New Orleans became the Storm. Hampton Roads rejoined the league.
San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Albuquerque were promoted.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Northeast Division         GP   W   L   SO   GF GA Pts
Rochester Rhinos           28 23   3 1-1   72 15   70
Impact de Montreal         28 13   5 8-2   47 33   47
Staten Island Vipers       28 15 11 1-1   46 37   46
Long Island Rough Riders   28 14 10 3-1   46 35   45
Worcester Wildfire         28 10 14 2-2   37 50   32
Toronto Lynx               28   8 17 1-2   27 42   25
Connecticut Wolves         28   2 18 5-3   32 57   11

Atlantic Division          GP   W   L   SO   GF GA Pts
Richmond Kickers           28 18   5 3-2   48 22   57
Hershey Wildcats           28 17   8 2-1   51 31   53
Hampton Roads Mariners     28 15   9 1-3   44 39   46

Charleston Battery         28 11 15 1-1   37 40   34
Jacksonville Cyclones      28 10 16 0-2   36 53   30
Atlanta Ruckus/A.L.L.      28   7 20 0-1   31 67   21
Raleigh Flyers             28   5 21 0-2   31 66   15

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division           GP   W   L   SO   GF GA Pts
Nashville Metros           28 18   7 2-1   70 31   56
Minnesota Thunder          28 16   8 3-1   52 33   51
Milwaukee Rampage          28 16   8 1-3   61 39   49
New Orleans Storm          28 14 12 1-1   53 50   43
Cincinnati Riverhawks      28 11 17 0-0   48 65   33
El Paso Patriots           28   9 15 3-1   51 54   30
Albuquerque Geckos         28   5 22 0-1   39 100   15

Pacific Division           GP   W   L   SO   GF GA Pts
San Diego Flash            28 20   6 1-1   58 23   61
Seattle Sounders           28 17 10 1-0   63 28   52
Orange County Zodiac       28 15   9 1-3   49 43   46
Vancouver 86ers            28 13 12 2-1   55 42   41
US Project 40              28 10 15 1-2   45 55   31
SF Bay Seals               28   9 13 1-5   31 47   28

indoors in the NPSL, and Nashville folded.
California was relegated to the D-3 Pro League.

Overview of the 1998 A-League Season - From the American Soccer History Archives

The A-League added several new teams, including Staten island and the new Project 40 team. San Francisco, Cincinnati and D3Pro champion Albuquerque were promoted. Project 40 was a major new initiative which would help to strengthen the ties between the USISL and MLS, while providing more opportunities for the development of new talent for MLS and the National Team (See details above). The team had a respectable showing in its first season, finishing 5th in the Pacific Division. Another major success story was the San Diego Flash, who had moved from Colorado. The new team was an immediate hit, averaging over 3,000 fans per game, and winning the Pacific division. On the downside, the Atlanta Ruckus failed partway through the season following several weeks of missed paychecks. The league took over the franchise for the duration of the season, and then awarding it to new investors. Another disappointment was the first team to be promoted after winning the D3Pro championship. The Albuquerque Geckos collapsed, finishing 5-22, and folded after the season. Total league attendance was 992,245 (2,531 per game), a slight decline from the previous year. After the season, management problems with the Montreal Impact resulted in the team leaving the A-League to concentrate full-time on indoor soccer in the NPSL.

The season was lengthened to accommodate the larger field of teams, starting in early April and extending through September. The major success story was the continuing domination of the Rochester Rhinos who led the league in goals scored (72), and strongest defense (15 goals allowed) while setting a new attendance record (11,498 per game). This was definitely the year of the roo9kie, with four players among the leading scorers: Kirk Wilson of El Paso, Cincinnati's Jason Kairns, Project 40's Josh Wolff, and Mike Burke of Charleston. One of the most productive teams was the San Francisco Bay Seals, who sent three players up to MLS, C. J. Brown, Marquis White and Tim Weaver. Cincinnati made a respectable performance despite having been promoted from the Premier League over the winter. Otherwise, there were few surprises this season, outside of the rapid decline of the California Jaguars and the ruse of the Nashville Metros who won their first divisional title.

Sixteen teams entered the playoffs with no byes and single elimination for the first round. These playoffs were distinguished by the large number of shootouts (6 of 22 games). The first round only saw one upset as Nashville was ousted by New Orleans. The conference semifinals were won by Hershey, Rochester, Minnesota and San Diego. In the conference finals, Rochester defeated upstart Hershey 3-1 and 1-0, while Minnesota ended San Diego's amazing debut run 2-1 and 2-1. Rochester completed its banner year with a decisive 3-0 shutout over Minnesota to take the A-League title. A novel twist for the season was the annual all-star game. This time it pitted an established team, the Hershey Wildcats against an A-League select squad at Hershey's home stadium. In a major surprise, the Wildcats not only defeated the best of the rest, but shut them out 3-0.

This website and it's content is unofficial, and is not endorsed by, or affiliated with United Soccer Leagues or the clubs associated with them. The content within this website is intended for informational purposes only.