# 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.

## Summary

The addition of the Portland Timbers 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, replacing the 86ers name used since 1986.
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 playoffs were scheduled to begin on September 12, but those matches were postponed by a week due to the September 11 attacks. Midfielder 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. The Rhinos defeated 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 |

### 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 |

### 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 |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| First Round | First Round | First Round | First Round | First Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | | | 1 | Hershey Wildcats | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Charlotte Eagles | 0 | 2 | 2 | | Portland Timbers | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Portland Timbers | 2 | 3 | 5 | | | | | | Hershey Wildcats | Hershey Wildcats | 4 | 0 | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Vancouver Whitecaps | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0 | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | San Diego F.C. | 2 | 2 | 4 | | San Diego F.C. | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | Hershey Wildcats | Hershey Wildcats | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rochester Raging Rhinos | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 2 |
| | | | | | 2 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Charleston Battery | 1 | 1 | 2 | | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 2 | 3 | 5 | | | | | | Rochester Raging Rhinos | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Milwaukee Rampage | Milwaukee Rampage | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | Richmond Kickers | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Milwaukee Rampage (p) | 3 | 0 | 3 (4) | | Milwaukee Rampage (a.e.t.) | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Nashville Metros | 2 | 1 | 3 (2) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## 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 |
| 6 | Leighton O'Brien | Seattle Sounders | 24 | 11 | 7 | 29 |
| 6 | Mark Baena | Portland Timbers | 24 | 13 | 3 | 29 |
| 9 | Ignace Moleka | Atlanta Silverbacks | 19 | 12 | 1 | 25 |
| 9 | Luis Macias | El Paso Patriots | 23 | 12 | 1 | 25 |
| 9 | Chugger Adair | San Diego Flash | 22 | 10 | 5 | 25 |
| 9 | Jason Jordan | Vancouver Whitecaps | 18 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
| 9 | 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

* Most Valuable Player: Paul Conway
* Leading Goal Scorer: Paul Conway
* Goalkeeper of the Year: Jon Busch
* Defender of the Year: Rick Titus
* Rookie of the Year: Robbie Aristodemo
* Coach of the Year: Dale Mitchell
* First Team All A-League
** Goalkeeper: Jon Busch
** Defenders: Scott Schweitzer, Rick Titus, Gilbert Jean-Baptiste
** Midfielders: Philippe Godoy, Stoian Mladenov, Leighton O'Brien, Temoc Suarez
** Forwards: Paul Conway, Kevin Jeffrey, Dustin Swinehart
* Second Team All A-League
** Goalkeeper: Matt Napoleon
** Defenders: James Wall, Brent Sancho, Jason Annicchero
** Midfielders: John Ball, Lenin Steenkamp, Kevin Knight, Steve Kindel
** Forwards: Jakob Fenger, Digital Takawira, Rodrigo Costa