# 1997 USISL D-3 Pro League

The 1997 USISL D-3 Pro League was the 11th season of third-division soccer in the United States, and was the first season of now-defunct USISL D-3 Pro League.

## New clubs

* Arizona Sahuaros
* Cleveland Caps
* Daytona Tigers
* Indiana Blast
* Los Angeles Fireballs
* Myrtle Beach Seadawgs
* South Jersey Barons
* Stanislaus County Cruisers
* Tallahassee Tempest
* Vermont Voltage

## League standings

Northeast Division :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | North Jersey Imperials | 18 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 31 |
| 2 | Rhode Island Stingrays | 18 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 32 | 25 | +7 | 31 |
| 3 | New Hampshire Phantoms | 18 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 29 |
| 4 | Central Jersey Riptide | 18 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 26 |
| 5 | Vermont Wanderers | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 21 | 39 | −18 | 19 |
| 6 | NYCD Alleycats | 18 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 18 |
| 7 | Cape Cod Crusaders | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 19 | 32 | −13 | 13 |
Mid-Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Reading Rage | 18 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 46 | 22 | +24 | 40 |
| 2 | Philadelphia Freedom | 18 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 29 | 32 | −3 | 31 |
| 3 | Baltimore Bays | 18 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 24 |
| 4 | New Jersey Stallions | 18 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 26 | −1 | 23 |
| 5 | Delaware Wizards | 18 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 23 | 32 | −9 | 21 |
| 6 | South Jersey Barons | 18 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 22 | 28 | −6 | 13 |
South Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Myrtle Beach Seadawgs | 18 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 19 | +21 | 43 |
| 2 | South Carolina Shamrocks | 18 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 35 |
| 3 | Charlotte Eagles | 18 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 38 | 21 | +17 | 32 |
| 4 | Florida Strikers | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 51 | 34 | +17 | 30 |
| 5 | Wilmington Hammerheads | 18 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 37 | 24 | +13 | 25 |
| 6 | Mobile Revelers | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 25 | 54 | −29 | 12 |
| 7 | Daytona Tigers | 18 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 61 | −47 | 9 |
North Central Division :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Chicago Stingers | 18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 32 | 19 | +13 | 37 |
| 2 | Indiana Blast | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 28 | 31 | −3 | 22 |
| 3 | Cleveland Caps | 18 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 28 | 32 | −4 | 21 |
| 4 | Rockford Raptors | 18 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 20 |
South Central Division :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Albuquerque Geckos | 18 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 51 | 15 | +36 | 41 |
| 2 | Austin Lone Stars | 18 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 34 |
| 3 | Houston Hurricanes | 18 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 35 | 30 | +5 | 27 |
| 4 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 27 |
| 5 | San Antonio Pumas | 18 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 23 | 45 | −22 | 15 |
| 6 | Dallas Toros | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 22 | 53 | −31 | 6 |
* Albuquerque gets a bye to the national semifinal as hosts.
West Division :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | San Francisco Bay Seals | 18 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 16 | +25 | 41 |
| 2 | Sacramento Scorpions | 18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 39 | 36 | +3 | 33 |
| 3 | Chico Rooks | 18 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 30 |
| 4 | San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles | 18 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 29 |
| 5 | Stanislaus County Cruisers | 18 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 24 |
| 6 | Arizona Sahuaros | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 19 |
| 7 | Hawaii Tsunamii | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 13 |
| 8 | Reno Rattlers | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 17 | 34 | −17 | 12 |
| 9 | Los Angeles Fireballs | 18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 22 | 40 | −18 | 9 |

## Playoffs
### Division Semi-finals

* Central Jersey defeated North Jersey 2-1 (SO)
* New Hampshire defeated Rhode Island 2-1 (OT)
* Baltimore defeated Philadelphia 2-1
* New Jersey defeated Reading, 2-1
* Myrtle Beach defeated Florida, 5-1
* Charlotte defeated South Carolina 3-2
* Indiana defeated Cleveland 3-2
* San Antonio defeated Austin, 4-2
* Houston defeated Tulsa, 4-1
* San Francisco Bay defeated San Fernando Valley, 5-0
* Chico defeated Sacramento, 6-1

### Division Finals

* New Hampshire defeated Central Jersey, 2-0
* Baltimore defeated New Jersey, 3-0
* Charlotte defeated Myrtle Beach, 3-3 (SO)
* Indiana defeated Chicago, 1-0
* Houston defeated San Antonio, 2-0
* San Francisco defeated Chico, 2-0

### Quarterfinals/Inter Region Finals

* San Francisco Bay defeated Houston, 3-0
* New Hampshire defeated Baltimore 1-0 (OT)
* Charlotte defeated Indiana, 6-0

### Semifinals

* Charlotte defeated San Francisco Bay, 4-2
* Albuquerque defeated New Hampshire 2-1 (OT)

### Championship

* Albuquerque defeated Charlotte, 4-1

## Honors

* Organization of the Year: Cleveland Caps
* Executive of the Year: Monika Suhnholz, Austin Lone Stars
* Fair Play Award: Charlotte Eagles