# 1997–98 National Professional Soccer League season

The 1997–98 National Professional Soccer League season was the fourteenth season for the league. Also marks the twentieth season of professional Division 1 indoor soccer.

## League standings
### American Conference
#### East Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | Philadelphia KiXX | 40 | 26 | 14 | 569 | 484 | +85 | .650 | — |
| 2 | Harrisburg Heat | 40 | 21 | 19 | 530 | 518 | +12 | .525 | 5 |
| 3 | Baltimore Spirit | 40 | 12 | 28 | 487 | 569 | −82 | .300 | 14 |

#### Central Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | Milwaukee Wave | 40 | 28 | 12 | 593 | 486 | +107 | .700 | — |
| 2 | Cleveland Crunch | 40 | 21 | 19 | 627 | 612 | +15 | .525 | 7 |
| 3 | Cincinnati Silverbacks | 40 | 15 | 25 | 563 | 604 | −41 | .375 | 13 |

### National Conference
#### North Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | Buffalo Blizzard | 40 | 21 | 19 | 495 | 504 | −9 | .525 | — |
| 2 | Edmonton Drillers | 40 | 18 | 22 | 428 | 418 | +10 | .450 | 3 |
| 3 | Montreal Impact | 40 | 16 | 24 | 455 | 518 | −63 | .400 | 5 |
| 4 | Detroit Rockers | 40 | 13 | 27 | 464 | 571 | −107 | .325 | 8 |

#### Midwest Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | St. Louis Ambush | 40 | 27 | 13 | 625 | 513 | +112 | .675 | — |
| 2 | Wichita Wings | 40 | 22 | 18 | 575 | 559 | +16 | .550 | 5 |
| 3 | Kansas City Attack | 40 | 20 | 20 | 442 | 497 | −55 | .500 | 7 |

## Playoffs

| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Championship | Championship | Championship | Championship | Championship | Championship | Championship | Championship | Championship |
| | | | | | A1 | Milwaukee Wave | 19 | 18 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Harrisburg Heat | 14 | 5 | 18 | A4 | Harrisburg Heat | 4 | 11 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A5 | Cincinnati Silverbacks | 12 | 27 | 13 | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A1 | Milwaukee Wave | 7 | 19 | 12 | 16 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A2 | Philadelphia KiXX | 9 | 5 | 3 | 10 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A2 | Philadelphia KiXX | 10 | 29 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A3 | Cleveland Crunch | 4 | 27 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A1 | Milwaukee Wave | 16 | 18 | 17 | 8 | 21 | – | – |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | N1 | St. Louis Ambush | 14 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 10 | – | – |
| | | | | | N1 | St. Louis Ambush | 17 | 18 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Kansas City Attack | 8 | 14 | – | N4 | Kansas City Attack | 8 | 15 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N5 | Edmonton Drillers | 4 | 8 | – | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N1 | St. Louis Ambush | 17 | 10 | 14 | 19 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N3 | Wichita Wings | 9 | 8 | 21 | 11 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N2 | Buffalo Blizzard | 16 | 14 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N3 | Wichita Wings | 19 | 15 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Hector Marinaro | Cleveland | 36 | 87 | 43 | 212 |
| Zoran Karić | Cleveland | 35 | 62 | 91 | 206 |
| Gino DiFlorio | Cincinnati | 40 | 67 | 48 | 177 |
| Joe Reiniger | St. Louis | 39 | 61 | 39 | 164 |
| Bernie Lilavois | Cincinnati | 40 | 66 | 24 | 150 |
| Bojan Vučković | Baltimore | 32 | 60 | 38 | 148 |
| Michael King | Milwaukee | 40 | 52 | 35 | 139 |
| Rudy Pikuzinski | Buffalo | 38 | 53 | 38 | 139 |
| Kevin Sloan | Philadelphia | 36 | 57 | 23 | 131 |
| Franklin McIntosh | St. Louis | 34 | 38 | 55 | 127 |

## League awards

* Most Valuable Player: Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee
* Defender of the Year: Matt Knowles, Philadelphia
* Rookie of the Year: Travis Roy, Detroit
* Goalkeeper of the Year: Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee
* Coach of the Year: Keith Tozer, Milwaukee
* Playoffs MVP: Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee

## All-NPSL Teams

| First Team | Position | Second Team | Third Team |
| Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee | G | Scott Hileman, Edmonton | Pete Pappas, Philadelphia |
| Daryl Doran, St. Louis | D | Wes Wade, Kansas City | Richard Chinapoo, Harrisburg |
| Matt Knowles, Philadelphia | D | Omid Namazi, Philadelphia | Randy Prescott, Detroit Todd Rattee, Edmonton |
| Zoran Karić, Cleveland | M | Gino DiFlorio, Cincinnati | Kevin Sloan, Philadelphia |
| Hector Marinaro, Cleveland | F | Michael King, Milwaukee | Bojan Vučković, Baltimore |
| Joe Reiniger, St Louis | F | Erik Rasmussen, Wichita | Rudy Pikuzinski, Buffalo |

## All-NPSL Rookie Teams

| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Kevin Zimmerman, Kansas City | G | Paul Shepherd, Edmonton |
| Kyle Swords, Harrisburg | D | Bo Simic, Cleveland |
| Chris Jahr, Milwaukee | D | O'Neil Brown, Edmonton |
| Garret Kusch, Wichita | M | Kyle Bosch, Edmonton |
| Shawn Beyer, Kansas City | F | Matt Tirschman, Baltimore |
| Travis Roy, Detroit | F | Shawn Boney, Cleveland |