UPDATED - February 24, 20007

A-League Archives Home

A-League

2000 Season

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlanta Silverbacks - Boston Bulldogs - Charleston Battery - Connecticut Wolves

Hampton Roads Mariners - Hershey Wildcats - Long Island Rough Riders - Montreal Impact -

Pittsburgh Riverhounds - Raleigh Capital Express - Richmond Kickers - Rochester Raging Rhinos - Toronto Lynx -

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Bay Area Seals - Cincinnati Riverhawks - El Paso Patriots - Indiana Blast

Milwaukee Rampage - Minnesota Thunder - Orange County Waves - San Diego Flash

Seattle Sounders - Tennessee Rhythm - US Pro-40 - Vancouver 86ers

 

2000 Home - 2000 Results - 2000 Stats

 

2000 FINAL STANDINGS
Before the season, Orange County became the Waves.

Montreal rejoined the League.

San Francisco became the Bay Area Seals.


EASTERN CONFERENCE
Northeast Division          GP   W  T   L   GF  GA  BP Pts
Long Island Rough Riders    28  16  4   9   54  36   9  76
Rochester Raging Rhinos     28  20  1   7   42  25   3  75
Toronto Lynx                28  13  4  11   35  30   3  59
Montreal Impact             28  12  3  13   34  41   3  54
Boston Bulldogs             28   9  3  16   32  41   3 *39
Connecticut Wolves          28   1  8  19   22  57   1  13

Atlantic Division           GP   W  T   L   GF  GA  BP Pts
Charleston Battery          28  18  2   8   59  36  13  87
Richmond Kickers            28  20  1   7   42  25   3  84
Hershey Wildcats            28  15  3  10   49  30   7  70
Hampton Roads Mariners      28  14  2  12   44  38   4  62
Raleigh Capital Express     28  12  4  12   48  52   6  58
Atlanta Silverbacks         28  11  3  14   51  42   8  55
Pittsburgh Riverhounds      28  10  4  14   41  43   5  49


WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division            GP   W  T   L   GF  GA  BP Pts

Minnesota Thunder           28  20  4   4   74  30  15  99
Milwaukee Rampage           28  18  1   9   69  47  16  89
Indiana Blast               28   9  4  15   40  57   5  45
US Project 40               28   8  1  19   35  60   3 *33
Tennessee Rhythm            28   6  0  22   36 103   1  25
Cincinnati Riverhawks       28   2  3  23   25  80   2  13
 

Pacific Division            GP   W  T   L   GF  GA  BP Pts
Seattle Sounders            28  18  3   7   56  38  10  85
San Diego Flash             28  16  3   9   54  32   8  75
Vancouver 86ers             28  14  3  11   62  41  11  70
El Paso Patriots            28  12  2  14   48  50   7  57
Bay Area Seals              28  12  3  13   42  53   5  56
Orange County Waves         28  12  1  15   44  52   6  55

Win-3pts, Draw-1pt

*-3 pt deduction for use of illegal players


After the season, US Project 40 left the league.

Boston was relegated to the D3Pro League.

Bay Area, and Orange County were relegated to the

D3Pro League but folded before the season began.
Raleigh folded. Hampton Roads went on hiatus.

2000 PLAYOFFS

*-after extra time

Conference Quarterfinals (Single Game)

Eastern

9/8/00   Long Island 1-2  Toronto

9/9/00   Richmond    2-1* Hampton Roads

9/9/00   Charleston  1-0  Raleigh

9/9/00   Rochester   4-2  Hershey

Western

9/9/00   Milwaukee   3-2* El Paso

9/9/00   Minnesota   7-0  Indiana

9/9/00   San Diego   1-1* Vancovuer

Vancouver advance on penalty kicks, 5-4

9/10/00  Seattle     2-1  Bay Area

 

Conference Semifinals (2 leg, total goals)

Eastern

9/15/00  Toronto     1-0  Richmond

9/17/00  Richmond    1-0  Toronto

Toronto advance on 2-0 aggregate

 

9/15/00  Rochester   2-0  Charleston

9/16/00  Charleston  0-1  Rochester

Rochester advance on 3-0 aggregate

 

Western

9/13/00  Vancouver   3-0  Minnesota

9/16/00  Minnesota   4-0* Vancouver

Minnesota advance on 4-3 aggregate after extra time

 

9/15/00  Milwaukee   2-1  Seattle

9/17/00  Seattle     1-2  Milwaukee

Milwaukee advance on 4-2 aggregate

 

Conference Finals (Best of Three)

9/22/00  Toronto     1-1  Rochester

9/24/00  Rochester   1-0  Toronto

Rochester advance on 2-1 aggregate

 

9/21/00  Milwaukee   3-4  Minnesota

9/23/00  Minnesota   5-0  Milwaukee

Minnesota advance on 9-3 aggregate

 

A-League Championship

9/30/00  Rochester   3-1  Minnesota

Leading Goalscorers

Paul Conway, Charleston            17

Gregory Howes, Seattle             17

Johnny Menyongar, Minnesota        17

Digital Takawira, Milwaukee        16

Darren Sawatzky, Seattle           16

Saul Martinez, Hampton Roads       16

Greg Simmonds, Hershey             16

Paul Schneider, Minnesota          15

Dwayne DeRosario, Richmond         15

Ihor Dotsenko, Raleigh             15

Patrick Beech, Atlanta             14

Iggy Moleka, Atlanta               14

Seamus Donnelly, Hampton Roads     14

 

Goalkeeping Leaders                GAA

Scott Vallow, Rochester            0.83

Michael McGinty, Richmond          0.91

Thomas Tate, San Diego             1.00

Theo Zagar, Toronto                1.06

John Swallen, Minnesota            1.07

Dusty Hudock, Charleston           1.19

PauL Grafer, Long Island           1.29

Randy Dedini, Pittsburgh           1.29

Bill May, Seattle                  1.31

Jim Larkin, Montreal               1.36


2000 A-League Award Winners

Most Valuable Player:  Digital Takawira, Milwaukee Rampage
Goalkeeper of the Year:  Scott Vallow, Rochester Ragin' Rhinos
Defender of the Year:  Scott Cannon, Richmond Kickers
Rookie of the Year:  Greg Howes, Seattle Sounders
Coach of the Year: Neil Megson, Seattle Sounders

2000 A-League First XI

G - Scott Vallow, Rochester Raging Rhinos
D - Chris Fox, Richmond Kickers
D - Craig Demmin, Rochester Raging Rhinos
D - Scott Cannon, Richmond Kickers
D - Scott Schweitzer, Rochester Raging Rhinos
M - Brian Loftin, Milwaukee Rampage
M - Yari Allnutt, Rochester Raging Rhinos
M - Stoian Mladenov, Minnesota Thunder
F - Paul Conway, Charleston Battery
F - Darren Sawatzky, Seattle Sounders
F - Digital Takawira, Milwaukee Rampage

 

Home Attendance     G    Total    Avg.

Rochester          15  174,426   11,628

Vancouver          15   59,378    3,959

Pittsburgh         14   53,308    3,808

Milwaukee          15   54,816    3,654

Minnesota          15   53,813    3,588

Charleston         14   48,795    3,485

Atlanta            12   39,925    3,327

El Paso            15   49,230    3,282

San Diego          15   41,802    2,787

Toronto            14   36,681    2,620

Hampton Roads      14   35,749    2,554

Montreal           15   35,069    2,338

Hershey            15   33,211    2,214

Richmond           15   32,874    2,192

Seattle            14   29,997    2,143

Long Island        13   25,648    1,973

Indiana            14   25,147    1,796

Connecticut        14   18,555    1,325

Orange County      13   13,777    1,060

Bay Area           15   14,687      979

Raleigh            14   11,872      848

Tennessee          14   10,896      778

Boston             14    9,269      662

Cincinnati         13    6,321      486

LEAGUE            341  915,246    2,684

 

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 2nd half was more even, and Minnesota nearly scored in the 74th 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 79th 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.

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