# 1997 USISL A-League

The 1997 USISL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues during the summer of 1997.

## Overview

At the end of the 1996 A-League season, the U.S. second division A-League collapsed. Six of the seven teams in the A-League then joined the USISL which had three leagues in 1996, beginning with the third division USISL Select League. With the collapse of the U.S. second division and the transfer of most of its teams to the USISL, the USISL reorganized its divisions to include the new teams. It moved most of the old second division USISL Select League, plus a few new teams, up to a second division level and merged the old A-League teams into this new U.S. second division which was renamed the USISL A-League.

## Regular season
### Northeast Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Impact | 28 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 58 | 19 | +39 | 61 |
| 2 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 28 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 56 | 47 | +9 | 42 |
| 3 | Long Island Rough Riders | 28 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 42 |
| 4 | Toronto Lynx | 28 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 44 | 43 | +1 | 38 |
| 5 | Connecticut Wolves | 28 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 28 |
| 6 | Worcester Wildfire | 28 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 26 | 61 | −35 | 19 |

### Atlantic Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Hershey Wildcats | 28 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 56 | 33 | +23 | 55 |
| 2 | Carolina Dynamo | 28 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 63 | 33 | +30 | 50 |
| 3 | Richmond Kickers | 28 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 45 |
| 4 | Charleston Battery | 28 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 39 | 50 | −11 | 32 |
| 5 | Raleigh Flyers | 28 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 28 |
| 6 | Jacksonville Cyclones | 29 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 28 | 73 | −45 | 13 |

### Central Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers | 28 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 42 |
| 2 | Nashville Metros | 28 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 37 |
| 3 | Orlando Sundogs | 28 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 36 |
| 4 | Milwaukee Rampage | 28 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 36 |
| 5 | Minnesota Thunder | 28 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 30 | −8 | 35 |
| 6 | Atlanta Ruckus | 28 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 39 | 48 | −9 | 30 |

### Pacific Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | California Jaguars | 28 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 52 |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders | 28 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 42 | 19 | +23 | 50 |
| 3 | Vancouver 86ers | 28 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 50 | 29 | +21 | 46 |
| 4 | Colorado Foxes | 28 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 46 |
| 5 | Orange County Zodiac | 28 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 35 | 62 | −27 | 31 |
| 6 | El Paso Patriots | 28 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 30 | 50 | −20 | 18 |

## Division Semi-finals
### Northeast Semifinal 1

Long Island advances to the Division final

### Northeast Semifinal 2

Montreal advances to the Division final

### Atlantic Semifinal 1

Carolina advances to the Division final

### Atlantic Semifinal 2

Hershey advances to the Division final

### Central Semifinal 1

New Orleans advances to the Division final

### Central Semifinal 2

Milwaukee advances to the Division final

### Pacific Semifinal 1

Seattle advances to the Division final

### Pacific Semifinal 2

Vancouver advances to the Division final

## Conference finals
### Eastern Conference

The Carolina Dynamo advance.

### Western Conference

The Milwaukee Rampage advance, winning two out of three games.

## Final

MVP: Carmine Isacco, Milwaukee Rampage

## Points leaders

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals | Assists | Points |
| 1 | Doug Miller | Rochester Rhinos | 23 | 5 | 51 |
| 2 | Mark Baena | California Jaguars | 20 | 4 | 44 |
| 3 | Stern John | New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers | 16 | 5 | 37 |
| 4 | Steve Patterson | Colorado Foxes | 16 | 3 | 35 |
| 5 | Jamel Mitchell | Nashville Metros | 17 | 0 | 34 |
| 5 | Jimmy Glenn | Rochester Rhinos | 13 | 8 | 34 |
| 7 | Yari Allnutt | Carolina Dynamo | 12 | 9 | 33 |
| 7 | Domenic Mobilio | Vancouver 86ers | 14 | 5 | 33 |
| 7 | Darren Tilley | Montreal Impact | 13 | 7 | 33 |
| 7 | Gustavo Leal | Orange County Zodiac | 16 | 1 | 33 |
| 11 | Sebastian Barnes | Orlando Sundogs | 14 | 3 | 31 |
| 12 | Garret Kusch | Vancouver 86ers | 10 | 10 | 30 |
| 13 | Mike Gailey | Seattle Sounders | 10 | 7 | 27 |
| 13 | Rob Ukrop | Richmond Kickers | 12 | 3 | 27 |

## Honors

* MVP: Doug Miller
* Leading goal scorer: Doug Miller
* Leading goalkeeper: Dusty Hudock
* Rookie of the Year: Stern John
* Coach of the Year: Bob Lilley
* First Team All League
** Goalkeeper: Dusty Hudock
** Defenders: John Limniatis, Scott Schweitzer, Mark Watson, Travis Rinker
** Midfielders: Yari Allnutt, Mauro Biello, Garret Kusch
** Forwards: Mark Baena, Doug Miller, Stern John
* Second Team All League
** Goalkeeper: Paolo Ceccarelli
** Defenders: Don Gramenz, Robert Rosario, Bill Sedgewick, Dian Anguelov
** Midfielders: John Smith, Nick DeSantis, Domenic Mobilio
** Forwards: Steve Patterson, Darren Tilley, Mike Gailey
* Organization of the Year: Rochester Raging Rhinos
* Executive of the Year: Todd Smith, Hershey Wildcats
* Fair Play Award: Colorado Foxes