# 2022 National Independent Soccer Association season

The 2022 NISA season is the fourth season of the National Independent Soccer Association's third-division soccer competition. After three years of split seasons, NISA switched to a full season format, with a single table and a playoff competition to determine the 2022 champion.

## Teams

Six of the teams that participated in the 2021 Fall season returned, and were joined by four expansion clubs: Bay Cities FC, Flower City Union, Syracuse Pulse, and Valley United FC. From the existing 2021 teams, San Diego 1904 FC were rebranded to Albion San Diego, after merging with the youth club with the same name, while Chicago House AC, New Amsterdam FC and Stumptown AC will be on hiatus for 2022, and current title holders Detroit City FC moved to USL Championship.

### Stadiums and locations

* Participating club
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Albion San Diego | San Diego, California | Canyon Crest Academy Stadium | 5,000 |
| Bay Cities FC | Redwood City, California | Terremere Field | 3,500 |
| California United Strikers FC | Irvine, California | Championship Soccer Stadium | 5,000 |
| Chattanooga FC | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Finley Stadium | 20,668 |
| Flower City Union | Rochester, New York | Marina Auto Stadium | 13,768 |
| Los Angeles Force | Whittier, California | Various | |
| Maryland Bobcats FC | Boyds, Maryland | Maryland SoccerPlex | 4,000 |
| Michigan Stars FC | Washington, Michigan | Romeo High School | 4,000 |
| Syracuse Pulse | Syracuse, New York | Lazer Stadium | 2,000 |
| Valley United FC | Mesa, Arizona | Bell Bank Park | 5,000 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

    Note: The league has signed a deal with Hummel to be the official kit manufacturer, but it still allows clubs to find their own provider.
| Team | Head coach | Captain(s) | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Albion San Diego | Jeff Korytoski | Ozzie Ramos | Capelli | Nova Easy Kombucha |
| Bay Cities FC | Anders Perez | | Hummel | Premia |
| California United Strikers FC | Don Ebert | Xavier Fuerte | Nike | Taco Bell |
| Chattanooga FC | Rod Underwood | Juan Hernandez | Hummel | Louisiana Hot Sauce, VfL Wolfsburg |
| Flower City Union | Colton Bly (interim) | | Hummel | |
| Los Angeles Force | Thales Peterson | Joshua Culwell | Xara | — |
| Maryland Bobcats FC | Sylvain Rastello | Kay Banjo | Hummel | Jimmy's Famous Seafood |
| Michigan Stars FC | Trevor Banks | | Hummel | HTC |
| Syracuse Pulse | Peter Fuller | Shaun Russell | Givova | Montreal Construction, SOS |
| Valley United FC | | Nico Gaitan | Capelli | |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| Flower City Union | Zach Agliata | Resigned | May 3, 2022 | 4th in East | Colton Bly (interim) | May 3, 2022 |
| Valley United | Adrian Gaitan | Resigned | May 19, 2022 | 2nd in East | TBD | |

## Regular season

The season started on March 26, and will see each team play 26 games over 30 weeks: four times against each opponent in the same division and two times against each opponent in the opposite division.

### Standings (March 26–August 27)
#### East Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Chattanooga FC | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 12 | +18 | 31 | Qualification for the semi-finals |
| 2 | Michigan Stars FC | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 24 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 3 | Maryland Bobcats FC | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 21 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 4 | Syracuse Pulse | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 17 | |
| 5 | Flower City Union | 19 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 10 | 50 | −40 | 8 | |

#### West Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | California United Strikers FC | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 6 | +18 | 35 | Qualification for the semi-finals |
| 2 | Albion San Diego | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 16 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 3 | Bay Cities FC | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 15 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 4 | Los Angeles Force | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 10 | |
| 5 | Valley United FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew from the league |
* ↑ Valley United FC withdrew from the league and their playing record of P9 W1 D1 L7 GF4 GA21 was expunged.

### Standings (August 27–October 15)

Due to Bay Cities FC's withdrawal from this season, NISA has revised the 2022 schedule and table with the eight remaining clubs. As a result, this standings had been condensed into a single table format and used an average-points per game total (points earned divided by matches played).
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Qualification |
| 1 | California United Strikers FC | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 12 | +23 | 46 | 2.19 | Qualification for the semi-finals |
| 2 | Chattanooga FC | 24 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 21 | +23 | 49 | 2.04 | Qualification for the semi-finals |
| 3 | Michigan Stars FC | 23 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 15 | +12 | 38 | 1.65 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 4 | Albion San Diego | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 32 | 1.60 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 5 | Maryland Bobcats FC | 23 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 32 | 28 | +4 | 30 | 1.30 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 6 | Syracuse Pulse | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 26 | 32 | −6 | 25 | 1.14 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 7 | Los Angeles Force | 20 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 31 | −17 | 14 | 0.70 | |
| 8 | Flower City Union | 23 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 57 | −44 | 9 | 0.39 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CHA | FLO | MAR | MIC | SYR | ALB | BAY | CAL | LAF | VAL | CHA | FLO | MAR | MIC | SYR | ALB | BAY | CAL | LAF | VAL |
| Chattanooga FC | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | With. | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | | | | |
| Flower City Union | 1–5 | — | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | With. | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2-1 | 0–5 | — | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | | | | | |
| Maryland Bobcats FC | 1–2 | 6–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 3–0 | With. | 1–1 | 5–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | | | | | |
| Michigan Stars FC | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | With. | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 2–2 | | | | | |
| Syracuse Pulse | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–3 | With. | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0-2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | | | | | |
| Albion San Diego | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3-0 | | | | | | — | With. | 1–0 | 1–0 | With. |
| Bay Cities FC | 0–3 | 3–1 | With. | With. | With. | 3–1 | — | 0–1 | With. | 3-0 | | | | | | With. | — | With. | With. | With. |
| California United Strikers FC | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 5–0 | 3-0 | | | | | | 1–2 | 4–3 | — | 3–0 | With. |
| Los Angeles Force | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | With. | | | | | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | With. |
| Valley United FC | 0-3 | With. | With. | With. | With. | 0-3 | With. | With. | 0-3 | — | | | | | | 1-1 | With. | With. | With. | — |

## Playoffs

The playoffs began on October 21, and featured the top six teams from the regular season. The top two teams from the regular season table received a bye into the league semifinals. Teams finishing third through sixth played in the quarterfinals, with the winners being re-seeded before playing in the next round. The 2022 Final took place on November 6. All postseason games were broadcast online on Eleven Sports.
Originally, the East and West division winners would have been assigned the top two seeds and received byes to the semifinals. The second place teams in each division were to be seeded 3 and 4, while the third place finishers would be seeded 5 and 6. Following the restructuring of the table on August 27, the division aspect was dropped.
| Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports) | Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports) | Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports) |
| 3 | Michigan Stars FC | 2 |
| 6 | Syracuse Pulse | 0 |
| Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports) | Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports) | Quarterfinal October 21 (Eleven Sports) |
| 4 | Albion San Diego | 2 |
| 5 | Maryland Bobcats FC | 0 |
| Semifinals October 29/30 (Eleven Sports) | Semifinals October 29/30 (Eleven Sports) | Semifinals October 29/30 (Eleven Sports) | NISA Championship Final November 5 (Eleven Sports) | NISA Championship Final November 5 (Eleven Sports) | NISA Championship Final November 5 (Eleven Sports) |
| 1 | California United Strikers FC | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Albion San Diego | 4 | | | |
| 4 | Albion San Diego | 4 | 4 | Albion San Diego | 0 |
| | | | 3 | Michigan Stars FC | 1 |
| 2 | Chattanooga FC | 0 | 3 | Michigan Stars FC | 1 |
| 3 | Michigan Stars FC | 1 | | | |

### Schedule
#### NISA Championship Final
## Player statistics

    As of October 15, 2022

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Winner | Team | Reason |
| Golden Boot | Markus Naglestad | Chattanooga FC | 19 goals in 23 games |
| Golden Glove | Jean Antoine | California United Strikers FC | 12 shutouts in 16 matches; 5 goals against |
| Coach of the Year | Rod Underwood | Chattanooga FC | 14-7-3 record |
| Golden Ball (Most Valuable Player) | Markus Naglestad | Chattanooga FC | 19 goals, 5 assists |

### NISA Best XI

First team :
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Jean Antoine (CUS) | Matt Constant (MIC) Garrett Hogbin (CUS) Vasilios Zogos (MIC) | Minjae Kwak (SYR) Alex McGrath (CHA) | Alioune Diakhate (ASD) Darwin Espinal (MAR) Taylor Gray (CHA) Markus Naglestad (CHA) Omar Nuño (CUS) |
Second team :
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Tatenda Mkuruva (MIC) | Jonathan Firmino (MIC) Franky Martinez (CHA) Edwin Rivas (LAF) | Ian Cerro (CHA) Richard Dixon (CHA) Manuel Gonzalez (MAR) Steven Juncaj (MIC) Tony Lopez (CUS) Walter Varela (ASD) | Kaleb Jackson (SYR) |

## NISA Independent Cup

The NISA Independent Cup will start on June 25. It features nine of the ten NISA clubs, with California United Strikers FC opting not to participate the tournament. They will be joined by 27 invited amateur teams and divided geographically into nine regions of four clubs each. Each region will play a single round robin tournament between three amateur teams using a 10-point system. The winner of that round-robin will play against the NISA teams for the regional championship. Like last year, there will be no interregional play or national champion.

### Participating Clubs

Nine NISA teams play in nine regions respectively, as California United Strikers FC did not participate. Midwest, New England and South Central region replaced with Empire, Northeast and SoCal region due to lack of NISA teams (despite Michigan Stars based from Midwest but plays in Great Lakes as NISA's 2022 season did not have Midwest based clubs other than Michigan Stars).
Empire :
| Empire StTeamLeague Allentown United FCNISA Nation Lansdowne Yonkers FCEPSL NY Braveheart SCNISA Nation Syracuse PulseNISA | Great Lakes StTeamLeague FC Milwaukee TorrentNPSL Lansing Common FCMWPL Metro Louisville FCUPSL Michigan Stars FCNISA | Mid-Atlantic StTeamLeague Maryland Bobcats FCNISA Northern Virginia FCEPSL Rockville SCUPSL Soda City FCUPSL |
Northeast :
| Northeast StTeamLeague Flower City UnionNISA New Jersey Alliance FCNISA Nation NY Contour UnitedUPSL Steel Pulse FCMaryland Super Soccer League | Pacific StTeamLeague Battle Born FCNISA Nation Bay Cities FCNISA Modesto City FCSWPL Wenatchee All-Stars FCCasPL | SoCal StTeamLeague AFC South BayNISA Nation Albion San DiegoNISA Capo FCNISA Nation Soul 2 SoleSWPL |
Southeast :
| Southeast StTeamLeague Brevard Fire SCNSL Florida Chattanooga FCNISA Club de Lyon FCNISA Nation Miami Beach CFNPSL | Southwest StTeamLeague East Valley UnitedSWPL SC SaguarosSWPL Valley FC RaidersNISA Nation Valley United FCNISA | West Coast StTeamLeague Inland Empire Republic FCSWPL Los Angeles ForceNISA Olympiacos CASWPL Peak XI FCMPL |

### Empire Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | NY Braveheart SC (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 19 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | Lansdowne Yonkers FC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 10 | |
| 3 | Allentown United FC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 1 | |

#### Regional final
### Great Lakes Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Metro Louisville FC (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 16 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | FC Milwaukee Torrent | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 11 | |
| 3 | Lansing Common FC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | |

#### Regional final
### Mid-Atlantic Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Northern Virginia FC (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 19 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | Soda City FC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | |
| 3 | Rockville SC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 2 | |

#### Regional final
### Northeast Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New Jersey Alliance FC (Q) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 13 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | Steel Pulse FC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 10 | |
| 3 | NY Contour United | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 5 | |

#### Regional final
### Pacific Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Wenatchee All-Stars FC (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 17 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | Battleborn FC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 11 | |
| 3 | Modesto City FC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 | |

#### Regional final
### SoCal Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Capo FC (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 17 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | AFC South Bay | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 | |
| 3 | Soul 2 Sole | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 4 | |

#### Regional final
### Southeast Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Club de Lyon FC (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 18 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | Miami Beach CF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 10 | |
| 3 | Brevard Fire SC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 1 | |

#### Regional final
### Southwest Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Valley FC Raiders (Q) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 15 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | East Valley United | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 14 | |
| 3 | SC Saguaros | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 1 | |

#### Regional final
### West Coast Region
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Inland Empire Republic FC (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 17 | Qualification for the regional final |
| 2 | Peak XI FC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 10 | |
| 3 | Olympiacos CA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | |