# 1996–97 National Professional Soccer League season

The 1996–97 National Professional Soccer League season was the thirteenth season for the league.

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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | Harrisburg Heat | 40 | 22 | 18 | 523 | 457 | +66 | .550 | — |
| 2 | Baltimore Spirit | 40 | 20 | 20 | 506 | 494 | +12 | .500 | 2 |
| 3 | Philadelphia KiXX | 40 | 17 | 23 | 451 | 593 | −142 | .425 | 5 |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Terror | 40 | 15 | 25 | 503 | 541 | −38 | .375 | 7 |

#### Central Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | Cleveland Crunch | 40 | 29 | 11 | 772 | 550 | +222 | .725 | — |
| 2 | Cincinnati Silverbacks | 40 | 21 | 19 | 570 | 517 | +53 | .525 | 8 |
| 3 | Columbus Invaders | 40 | 5 | 35 | 479 | 895 | −416 | .125 | 24 |

### National Conference
#### North Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | Buffalo Blizzard | 40 | 21 | 19 | 545 | 469 | +76 | .525 | — |
| 2 | Edmonton Drillers | 40 | 21 | 19 | 538 | 475 | +63 | .525 | — |
| 3 | Detroit Rockers | 40 | 20 | 20 | 563 | 532 | +31 | .500 | 1 |
| 4 | Toronto Shooting Stars | 40 | 6 | 34 | 416 | 685 | −269 | .150 | 15 |

#### Midwest Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | St. Louis Ambush | 40 | 27 | 13 | 637 | 545 | +92 | .675 | — |
| 2 | Milwaukee Wave | 40 | 26 | 14 | 525 | 472 | +53 | .650 | 1 |
| 3 | Kansas City Attack | 40 | 26 | 14 | 605 | 500 | +105 | .650 | 1 |
| 4 | Wichita Wings | 40 | 24 | 16 | 589 | 497 | +92 | .600 | 3 |

## 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 | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | | | A1 | Cleveland Crunch | 14 | 21 | 14 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Baltimore Spirit | 15 | 18 | – | A4 | Baltimore Spirit | 19 | 9 | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A5 | Philadelphia KiXX | 8 | 8 | – | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A1 | Cleveland Crunch | 11 | 13 | 17 | 14 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A2 | Harrisburg Heat | 8 | 19 | 14 | 12 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A2 | Harrisburg Heat | 11 | 13 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A3 | Cincinnati Silverbacks | 13 | 15 | 16 | A3 | Cincinnati Silverbacks | 9 | 12 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A6 | Tampa Bay Terror | 11 | 17 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | A1 | Cleveland Crunch | 14 | 19 | 8 | 12 | – | – | – |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | N4 | Kansas City Attack | 18 | 25 | 14 | 15 | – | – | – |
| | | | | | N1 | St. Louis Ambush | 19 | 9 | 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Milwaukee Wave | 6 | 9 | – | N6 | Edmonton Drillers | 18 | 19 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N6 | Edmonton Drillers | 20 | 10 | – | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N1 | St. Louis Ambush | 11 | 16 | 11 | – | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N4 | Kansas City Attack | 15 | 22 | 13 | – | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N2 | Buffalo Blizzard | 12 | 11 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Kansas City Attack | 13 | 13 | 22 | N4 | Kansas City Attack | 18 | 13 | – | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N5 | Wichita Wings | 11 | 14 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Hector Marinaro | Cleveland | 36 | 104 | 65 | 265 |
| Zoran Karic | Cleveland | 34 | 81 | 81 | 242 |
| Dennis Brose | Detroit | 39 | 102 | 51 | 236 |
| Michael King | Milwaukee | 38 | 72 | 44 | 185 |
| Joe Reiniger | St. Louis | 39 | 62 | 39 | 174 |
| Mark Moser | St. Louis | 37 | 82 | 24 | 165 |
| Franklin McIntosh | Cincinnati | 36 | 48 | 65 | 161 |
| Goran Hunjak | Kansas City | 39 | 61 | 42 | 151 |
| Bojan Vučković | Baltimore | 40 | 61 | 33 | 150 |
| Nikola Vignjević | Cleveland | 40 | 58 | 35 | 149 |

## League awards

* Most Valuable Player: Hector Marinaro, Cleveland
* Defender of the Year: Daryl Doran, St. Louis
* Rookie of the Year: Jason Dunn, Wichita
* Goalkeeper of the Year: Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee
* Coach of the Year: Ross Ongaro, Edmonton
* Finals MVP: Warren Westcoat, Kansas City

## All-NPSL Teams

| First Team | Position | Second Team | Third Team |
| Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee | G | Carlos Peña, Cincinnati | Scott Hileman, Edmonton |
| Daryl Doran, St. Louis | D | Randy Prescott, Detroit | Genoni Martinez, Wichita |
| Wes Wade, Kansas City | D | Ricky Mobley, Milwaukee | Kim Røntved, Wichita |
| Zoran Karić, Cleveland | M | Joe Reiniger, St. Louis | Franklin McIntosh, Cincinnati |
| Hector Marinaro, Cleveland | F | Michael King, Milwaukee | Bojan Vučković, Baltimore |
| Dennis Brose, Detroit | F | Mark Moser, St. Louis | Goran Hunjak, Kansas City |

## All-NPSL Rookie Teams

| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Pete Pappas, Philadelphia | G | Jim McCombs, Baltimore |
| Drew Callahan, Columbus | D | René Rivas, Buffalo |
| John Ball, Cleveland | D | Shayne Campbell, Edmonton |
| Adolfo Mella, Toronto | M | Michael Stephenson, Harrisburg |
| Jason Dunn, Wichita | F | Saša Zorić, Baltimore |
| Carmen D'Onofrio, Edmonton | F | Martin Dugas, Edmonton Emeka Moneme, Milwaukee |