2001 USL A-League

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
-2001 Season-
Season2001
ChampionsRochester Rhinos
(3rd title)
PremiersRichmond Kickers
(1st title)
Top goalscorerPaul Conway
(22 goals)
← 2000
2002 →

History

The addition of the Portland Timbers this season 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. Beginning with their founding in 1986 through the 2000 A-League season, Vancouver had operated under the 86ers name. 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 post-season was marred by two tragedies. First, the September 11 attacks forced the league to reschedule the first-round games which had been set to begin on September 12. Then, 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. In the end, the Rhinos overcame the Hershey Wildcats to take its third league title in four seasons.

League standings

Northern Conference
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:

Central Conference
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:

Western Conference
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:

Playoffs

Bracket
  First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
                                         
Charlotte Eagles 0 2 2  
Portland Timbers 2 3 5  
  Hershey Wildcats 2 1 3  
  Portland Timbers 0 0 0  
  Hershey Wildcats 4 0 4  
  Vancouver Whitecaps 0 1 1  
San Diego F.C. 2 2 4  
Atlanta Silverbacks 0 2 2  
  Vancouver Whitecaps 0 4 4
  San Diego F.C. 2 1 3  
 
  Hershey Wildcats 0
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 2
Charleston Battery 1 1 2  
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 3 5  
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 1 3 4
  Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 0 2  
 
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 3 1 4
  Milwaukee Rampage 2 0 2  
Milwaukee Rampage (aet) (p) 3 0 3 (4)  
Nashville Metros 2 1 3 (2)  
  Richmond Kickers 2 1 3
  Milwaukee Rampage (aet) 2 2 4  
 

First round

Pittsburgh vs Charleston
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
Blackbaud Stadium Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 2,606

San Diego vs Atlanta
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
San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, California
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
DeKalb Memorial Stadium Clarkston, Georgia
Attendance: 722

Portland vs Charlotte
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
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

Milwaukee vs Richmond
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
Richmond City Stadium, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Hershey vs Portland
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
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)4–1Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Darren Tilley  6'
John Sulentic  17', 90'
Steve Kindel  42'		 Report  35' Chugger Adair
Attendance: 6,782

Rochester vs Pittsburgh
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'
Richmond City Stadium, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,107
Referee: Robert Mann (USA)

Semifinals

Semifinal 1
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
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
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
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

Annual awards
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References
  1. 2001 A-League Awards Archived 2012-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
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