Overview of the 2000 A-League Season - From the American Soccer History Archives

The A-League retrenched slightly this year, although in retrospective this actually brought the circuit down to a more manageable size, while shaking off some of its weakest franchises. Staten Island and Maryland folded after disastrous seasons, as did Lehigh Valley and Sacramento. The loss of Lehigh Valley was disappointing; although they drew well, and were based in the Bethlehem, PA area, a region rich in soccer history, they never were able to play in a permanent stadium; unpaid bills, and delinquency fines led to the franchise's revocation. Sacramento, Jacksonville and New Orleans went on hiatus this season, to give them time to reorganize and obtain financing. Sadly, none of these teams would return for 2001.

On a positive note, the Montreal Impact, one of the league's most successful teams, returned to the league. The Bay Area Seals survived a scare when it appeared they might fold, but new financing saved the team. The Seals troubles were worrisome, as the local youth leagues were strong; why the support didn't extend to the Seals was a true mystery. Concerned about these changes, Commissioner Francisco Marcos raised the annual letter of credit required of teams to $100,000. This would allow the league to take over a team and run it for the rest of the season.

Hershey Wildcats revamped their lineup in their quest to finally pull past Rochester, to whom they lost in the semifinals the past two seasons. Gone was long time scoring maven Gino DeFlorio, but much of the core remained, including six NPSL players (after their indoor seasons end). In a major shift, Project 40 withdrew from the A-League after the conclusion of the season. The developmental team had struggled the past two seasons with a depleted lineup due to players being frequently called up to MLS. With the constantly changing lineup, it was impossible for the team to gel and provide suitable playing experience. In a sense this was a reflection of Project 40's success, as it was sending up increasing numbers of successful players. Project 40 would continue as a developmental team, playing exhibitions against domestic and foreign teams.

The A-League saw a major infusion of talent from MLS, led by players such as Digital Takawira (Milwaukee), Kris Kelderman (Milwaukee), Matt Kmosko (Charleston), Marquis White and Tim Weaver (Bay Area), and Paulos dos Santos and Jair. Some of these clearly hoped to eventually return to MLS, others were satisfied to finish out their careers at this level.

Long Island Rough Riders returned to the top of the Northeast Division, edging out 1999 finalist Rochester, despite only having 16 wins. Their title came thanks to 9 bonus points earned for scoring 3 or more goals in a game. Rochester, who had four more wins, would undoubtedly look to boost scoring for next season. The same story in the Atlantic Division, where the Charleston Battery edged out the Richmond Kickers who out-won them 20 victories to 18. Charleston had racked up 13 bonus points for their scoring prowess. The Midwest division saw defending champion Minnesota Thunder and Milwaukee Rampage finish well ahead of the back, with Minnesota winning a close title run. Us Project 40 fell to a disappointing 8-19, struck by frequent player losses. The Seattle Sounders took top spot in the West, beating out San Diego and Vancouver in a close race.

In the playoffs, the conference quarterfinals generally went to the favored teams, the major exception being Vancouver 86ers's penalty-kick victory over the San Diego Flash. The Semifinals and finals were now two game series with based on aggregate goals. Rochester cruised easily, defeating Charleston, but Minnesota needed a comeback squeaker to beat Vancouver, losing the first game 3-0, while needing overtime to beat the 86ers 4-3 in the 2nd leg. Milwaukee ousted Seattle by identical 2-1 scores in a battle of divisional champs. Toronto had a major upset by knocking out Richmond, who led the league in wins. The goals aggregate figured in the first conference final, as Rochester tied Toronto 1-1, and then beat them 1-0 to advance on goals. Minnesota was a little more decisive, beating Milwaukee in their famed rivalry, 4-3 and 5-0. Rochester Raging Rhinos had revenge on the Thunder, paying them back for last year's championship result, by defeating the Thunder 3-1. The Rhinos dominated throughout, delighting the crowd of 14,276 at Frontier Field. They jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals by Yari Alnutt and Dan Stebbins. The 2^nd half was more even, and Minnesota nearly scored in the 74^th minute when Chugger Adair's 10 yard shot with the goalkeeper out of position hit the post. Adding insult to injury, Onandi Lowe scored four minutes later for Rochester, giving them a 3-0 lead. Adair scored in the 79^th minute, but it was too late to mount a comeback, and Rochester finally had their championship after three tries.

The Seattle Sounders furthered a plan to become a European style club, with developmental and youth teams. They established the Sounders Select in the PDL and U-14, U-16, and U-18 teams for the USL's Super Y-League and a new team for the W-League. This put the sounders at the top f a pyramid and gave them their own developmental base. In the other direction, the Sounders affiliated themselves with Werder Bremen to establish a player training exchange program. On a positive note, attendance was up this season, to 2,684 fans per game (up from 2,374 in 1999). Total attendance declined slightly due to the decrease in number of teams. It felt to 915,246 (from 999,563 in 1999). As a sign if increasing memory of the NASL, Vancouver announced that they would change their name to the Whitecaps for the 2001 season.