# 1990 American Professional Soccer League

Overview of the 1990 American Professional Soccer League season. Although the Western Soccer League and the American Soccer League merged to form the American Professional Soccer League in 1990, the two leagues remained essentially independent leagues, linked by name alone. During this season, they ran separate regular season schedules with two different points systems. They each had their own playoff formats, had separate league MVPs and had their own All-League teams. The first game between the two leagues came in September when the Maryland Bays of the American Soccer League defeated the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the Western Soccer League for the American Professional Soccer League championship.

## History

On September 9, 1989, the champions of the west coast-based Western Soccer Alliance and the east coast-based American Soccer League played each other for the national championship. This was the first meeting between teams from the two leagues but was part of a larger effort to merge the two leagues. This effort resulted in the creation of the American Professional Soccer League on February 22, 1990. The merger remained one of name only as the two leagues played separate schedules and named separate MVPs and All-League teams. However, it allowed the teams to market themselves as members of a national league. During the playoffs, except for the West semifinals and the APSL finals, teams played a home and away series. However, they needed to win two games, so in the case of a tie after two games, the teams played a thirty-minute mini-game. If the game remained tied, the two teams would enter a shoot out. A shoot out pitted a field player against the opposing team's goalkeeper. The field player had five seconds to take a shot on goal beginning 35 yards from the goal.

## League standings
### East (American Soccer League) Conference

Points:
* Win: 3
* Shoot out win: 2
* Shoot out loss: 1

#### Northern Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Maryland Bays | 20 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 44 |
| 2 | Albany Capitals | 20 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 35 | 22 | +13 | 42 |
| 3 | Penn-Jersey Spirit | 20 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 39 |
| 4 | Boston Bolts | 20 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 28 |
| 5 | Washington Stars | 20 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 24 | 28 | −4 | 21 |
| 6 | New Jersey Eagles | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 21 | 38 | −17 | 17 |

#### Southern Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 20 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 45 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 20 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 32 | 39 | −7 | 29 |
| 3 | Orlando Lions | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 25 | 30 | −5 | 24 |
| 4 | Miami Freedom | 20 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 24 |
| 5 | Washington Diplomats | 20 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 22 | 40 | −18 | 16 |

### West (Western Soccer League) Conference

Points:
* Win: 6
* Shoot out win: 4
* Shoot out loss: 2
* 1 bonus point per goal scored in regulation, maximum of 3 per game

#### North Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts |
| 1 | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | 20 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 39 | 30 | +9 | 32 | 104 |
| 2 | Salt Lake Sting | 20 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 32 | 104 |
| 3 | Colorado Foxes | 20 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 18 | 100 |
| 4 | Portland Timbers | 20 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 37 | 99 |
| 5 | Seattle Storm | 20 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 29 | 93 |

#### South Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PKW | PKL | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts |
| 1 | California Emperors | 20 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 35 | 32 | +3 | 27 | 89 |
| 2 | Real Santa Barbara | 20 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 33 | 35 | −2 | 23 | 87 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Heat | 20 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 23 | 85 |
| 4 | San Diego Nomads | 20 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 22 | 28 | −6 | 19 | 67 |
| 5 | New Mexico Chilies | 20 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 25 | 45 | −20 | 21 | 61 |
| 6 | Arizona Condors | 20 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 29 | 51 | −22 | 27 | 59 |

## East Conference playoffs
### East bracket

| Semifinals Best-of-3 | Semifinals Best-of-3 | Semifinals Best-of-3 | Semifinals Best-of-3 | Semifinals Best-of-3 | 1990 East Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 East Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 East Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 East Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 East Finals Best-of-3 |
| S1 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | 2 | - | | | | | |
| N2 | Albany Capitals | 2 | 0 | - | | | | | |
| N2 | Albany Capitals | 2 | 0 | - | S1 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2 | 0 | - |
| | | | | | N1 | Maryland Bays | 3 | 2 | - |
| N1 | Maryland Bays | 2 | 4 | - | N1 | Maryland Bays | 3 | 2 | - |
| S2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | 1 | - | | | | | |

### Semifinal 1

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers advance to the East Finals.

### Semifinal 2

The Maryland Bays advance to the East Finals.

### Conference Finals

The Maryland Bays advance to the APSL Championship.

## West Conference playoffs
### West bracket

| First Round Best-of-3 | First Round Best-of-3 | First Round Best-of-3 | First Round Best-of-3 | First Round Best-of-3 | Division Finals Single Match | Division Finals Single Match | Division Finals Single Match | Division Finals Single Match | Division Finals Single Match | 1990 West Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 West Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 West Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 West Finals Best-of-3 | 1990 West Finals Best-of-3 |
| | | | | | S1 | California Emperors | 0 | - | - | | | | | |
| S2 | Real Santa Barbara | 1 | 1 | 0 | S3 | Los Angeles Heat | 2 | - | - | | | | | |
| S3 | Los Angeles Heat | 0 | 2 | 1 | | | | | | S3 | Los Angeles Heat | 2 | 1(2) | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | N1 | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | 0 | 1(4) | 1 |
| | | | | | N1 | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | 2 | - | - | | | | | |
| N2 | Salt Lake Sting | 0 | 1 | - | N3 | Colorado Foxes | 1 | - | - | | | | | |
| N3 | Colorado Foxes | 2 | 4 | - | | | | | | | | | | |

### First Round Series 1

The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Division Finals.

### First Round Series 2

The Colorado Foxes advance to the Division Finals.

### Division Finals

The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Conference Finals.
The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks advance to the Conference Finals.

### Conference Finals

The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks advance to the APSL Championship.

## APSL Final

The Maryland Bays win the APSL Championship.

## Combined points leaders

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals | Assists | Points |
| 1 | Chance Fry | Seattle Storm | 17 | 5 | 39 |
| 2 | George Pastor | Salt Lake Sting | 14 | 9 | 37 |
| 3 | Mike Masters | Albany Capitals | 14 | 4 | 32 |
| 4 | Philip Gyau | Maryland Bays | 12 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 | Derek Sanderson | Salt Lake Sting | 11 | 6 | 28 |
| 6 | Jerry O'Hara | California Emperors | 10 | 3 | 23 |
| 7 | Shawn Medved | Portland Timbers | 10 | 2 | 22 |
| 8 | Jean Harbor | Maryland Bays | 8 | 6 | 22 |
| 9 | Jim Hutchinson | Real Santa Barbara | 9 | 4 | 22 |
| 10 | Scott Benedetti | Seattle Storm | 9 | 3 | 21 |
| 11 | Cesar Plasencia | Real Santa Barbara | 9 | 3 | 21 |
| 11 | Steve Pittman | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| 11 | David Byrne | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| 11 | Steve Corpening | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | 8 | 4 | 20 |
| 11 | Rob Paterson | Portland Timbers | 8 | 4 | 20 |
| 11 | Mike Sweeney | Boston Bolts | 8 | 3 | 19 |
| 11 | Elvis Comrie | Albany Capitals | 8 | 2 | 18 |
| 11 | Lazlo Barna | Miami Freedom | 7 | 4 | 18 |
| 11 | Duanne Robinson | Penn-Jersey Spirit | 5 | 8 | 18 |

## Honors
### East (American Soccer League) Conference

* MVP: Philip Gyau
* Leading goal scorer: Mike Masters
* Leading goalkeeper: Dale Caya
* Rookie of the Year: Steve Pittman
* Coach of the Year: Thomas Rongen
First Team All League
* Goalkeeper: Dale Caya
* Defenders: Steve Pittman, Paul Mariner, Brian Ainscough, George Gelnovatch
* Midfielders: Chico Borja, Marcelo Carrera, David Byrne
* Forwards: Philip Gyau, Dan Donigan, Jean Harbor
Second Team All League
* Goalkeeper: Arnie Mausser
* Defenders: Jimmy McGeough, Jr., Chris Reif, Thomas Rongen, Dave Smyth
* Midfielders: Paul Dougherty, Eric Eichmann, Pat O'Kelly
* Forwards: Mike Masters, Bruce Murray, Paul Riley

### West (Western Soccer League) Conference

* MVP: Mark Dodd
* Leading goal scorer: Chance Fry
* Leading goalkeeper: Mark Dodd
First Team All League
* Goalkeeper: Mark Dodd
* Defenders: Marcelo Balboa, John Doyle, Robin Fraser, Danny Pena
* Midfielders: Dominic Kinnear, Fran O'Brien, George Pastor
* Forwards: Chance Fry, Mark Kerlin, Townsend Qin
Second Team All League
* Goalkeeper: Anton Nistl
* Defenders: Steve Eise, Paul Krumpe, Derek Van Rheenen, Wade Webber
* Midfielders: John Bain, Mike Fox, Jeff Rogers, Dzung Tran
* Forwards: Scott Benedetti, Paul Wright