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The 1996 USISL Professional League was the second highest of the three outdoor men's leagues run by the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues during the summer of 1996.
This season, the USISL introduced several changes. First, the league added a third, higher league above the professional league. Consequently, several 1995 Pro League teams moved up and did not compete in the 1996 Pro League. Second, the USISL aligned its rules with the newly created Major Soccer League. In previous seasons, the USISL had used 60 minute halves and a shootout for every foul committed after the seventh foul of each half. Both of these were gone for the 1996 season. The USISL also changed its regular season points system to match MLS. This meant each win was worth 3 points and each shootout win was worth 1 point.[1] The average pay for Pro League players was $200 per week. The regular season began in mid-April 1996.
Prime Network provided live broadcast of the USISL All Star Game and delayed broadcast of the Pro League championship game.[2]
The USISL held its All Star Game on July 17 in Blaine, Minnesota. The game pitted the USISL Select League All Stars against a team composed of USISL Professional League and USISL Premier League players. The league coaches voted to select the players.[3] Players from the USISL Professional League included Goalkeeper Randy DeDini of the Chico Rooks, Defenders Paul Edwards (North Jersey Imperials) and Guy Norcott (Charleston Battery); Midfielders Craig Beeson (Everett BigFoot) and Pat O'Kelly (Central Jersey); Forwards Victor Medina (D/FW Toros) and Jon Payne (Charlotte Eagles).
- Regulation win = 3 points
- Shootout win (SW) = 1 points
- Loss = 0 points
Northeast Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Jersey Riptide | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 35 |
| 2 | North Jersey Imperials | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 33 |
| 3 | Rhode Island Stingrays | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 26 | 20 | +6 | 30 |
| 4 | Reading Rage | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 39 | 31 | +8 | 28 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Freedom | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 26 |
| 6 | New Hampshire Phantoms | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 25 |
| 7 | Baltimore Bays | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 34 | 15 | +19 | 15 |
| 8 | Albany Alleycats | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 34 | 44 | −10 | 12 |
| 9 | Worcester Wildfire | 16 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 19 | 57 | −38 | 1 |
South Atlantic Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte Eagles | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 49 | 25 | +24 | 36 |
| 2 | Charleston Battery | 16 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 46 | 23 | +23 | 34 |
| 3 | Wilmington Hammerheads | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 19 |
| 4 | Washington Mustangs | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 25 | 37 | −12 | 18 |
| 5 | Mobile Revelers | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 33 | −18 | 11 |
| 6 | Chattanooga Express | 16 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 18 | 55 | −37 | 3 |
Central Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas/Fort Worth Toros | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 33 | 31 | +2 | 27 |
| 2 | Rockford Raptors | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 34 | 28 | +6 | 25 |
| 3 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 24 |
| 4 | San Antonio Pumas | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 25 | 37 | −12 | 18 |
| 5 | Houston Hurricanes | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 28 | 43 | −15 | 15 |
Western Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii Tsumani | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 31 | 19 | +12 | 30 |
| 2 | Chico Rooks | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 16 | +7 | 28 |
| 3 | Everett Bigfoot | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 20 | +7 | 24 |
| 4 | San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 22 | −2 | 24 |
| 5 | Yakima Reds | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 24 |
| 6 | Cascade Surge | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 33 | 23 | +10 | 21 |
| 7 | Central Valley Hydra | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 16 | 48 | −32 | 9 |
The Mobile Revelers made the playoffs despite having only eleven points. This happened because the South Atlantic Conference had four guaranteed play-off spots. The Charleston Battery received a bye into the playoffs as host of the championship final. Therefore, the league went to the Revelers as the next South Atlantic Conference team in line.
Conference semifinals
- North Jersey Imperials 3-1 Rhode Island Stingrays
- Charlotte Eagles 1-0 Mobile Revelers (forfeit)
- Wilmington Hammerheads 3-1 Washington Mustangs
- D/FW Toros 1-0 (SO) Houston Hurricanes
- Tulsa Roughnecks 3-2 (SO) Rockford Raptors
- Chico Rooks 3-0 Valley Golden Eagles
- Everete BigFoot 2-1 Hawaii Tsunami
| Reading Rage (PA) | 1-2 | Central Jersey Riptide (NJ) |
|---|---|---|
Matt Woolley  25'Eric Puls  43'  Archie Moylan |
4' Pat O'Kelly 74' Pete Schneiders Pete Schneiders |
Conference finals
Northeast Conference
| North Jersey Imperials (NJ) | 5-0 | Central Jersey Riptide (NJ) |
|---|---|---|
| Dave Fitzgerald |
Attendance: 300
| Central Jersey Riptide (NJ) | 2-2 OT | North Jersey Imperials (NJ) |
|---|---|---|
| Ozrek Crowley |
DeLuca (PK) Lucey |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 2-3 | ||
Attendance: 2,004
- North Jersey Imperials advanced to Sizzlin' Six finals.
South Atlantic Conference
| Charlotte Eagles (NC) | 0-3 | Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) |
|---|---|---|
| 31' Dewan Bader |
Attendance: 1,045
- Wilmington Hammerheads advanced to the Sizzlin' Six finals.
Central Conference
| Tulsa Roughnecks (OK) | 1-3 | DFW Toros (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Berti Generes Victor Medina |
Attendance: 704
- Originally planned for August 17, the second game was postponed until Sunday morning, August 18, because of heavy rainfall and flooding which rendered the playing field unusable on Saturday.
| DFW Toros (TX) | 1-0 | Tulsa Roughnecks (OK) |
|---|---|---|
- D/FW Toros advanced to the Sizzlin' Six finals.
Western Conference
| Chico Rooks (CA) | 0-0 | Everett BigFoot (WA) |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties | ||
Manny Ugbah  Dean Freeman |
2-1 |  |
Attendance: 1,056
- Chico Rooks advanced to Sizzlin' Six finals.
The Sizzlin’ Six Tournament was a six-team, two group, round robin tournament. Each of the four conference champions entered the tournament, along with national finals host Charleston Battery and the Charlotte Eagles who had the best regular-season record among the conference runners-up.
Each team received 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie and 1 bonus point for each game in which they scored three or more goals. The top two teams in each group with the most points advanced to the semifinals in Charleston, South Carolina.
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charleston Battery | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| 2 | Chico Rooks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | DFW Toros | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0 |
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2-1 | Dallas/Fort Worth Toros (TX) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 1,526
| Chico Rooks (CA) | 2-1 OT | DFW Toros (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Dean Freeman 27' Mauricio De Melo 120' |
8' Edgar Hernandez Baltazar Ascensio Jose Bazan |
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 320
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2-1 | Chico Rooks (CA) |
|---|---|---|
| Patrick Olalere 12' Files 82' |
45' Juan Lojas |
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 1,539
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte Eagles | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7[a] |
| 2 | Wilmington Hammerheads | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4[a] |
| 3 | North Jersey Imperials | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 0 |
Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina
| Charlotte Eagles (NC) | 6-2 | North Jersey Imperials (NJ) |
|---|---|---|
| Keith Dakin 11' 24' 46' Jeremy Sorzano 36' Philibert Jones 50' Donovan Francis 59' |
12' David Price 30' Gerry Lucey |
Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina
Attendance: 236
| Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) | 0-1 | Charlotte Eagles (NC) |
|---|---|---|
| 33' Keith Dakin |
Laney Field, Wilmington, North Carolina
Attendance: 1,250
Semifinals
| Charlotte Eagles (NC) | 1-0 | Chico Rooks (CA) |
|---|---|---|
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2-0 | Wilmington Hammerheads (NC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 2,642
| Charleston Battery (SC) | 2–2 | Charlotte Eagles (NC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 2-1 | ||
Stoney Field, Charleston, South Carolina
Attendance: 3,429
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philibert Jones | Charlotte Eagles | 18 | 20 | 45 |
| 2 | Patrick Olalere | Charleston Battery | 20 | 5 | 45 |
| 3 | Craig Beeson | Everette BigFoot | 17 | 2 | 36 |
| 4 | Jon Payne | Charlotte Eagles | 14 | 8 | 36 |
| 5 |  Carlos Rocha |
Rhode Island Stingrays | 14 | 3 | 33 |
| 6 | Robert DeLuca | North Jersey Imperials | 14 | 3 | 31 |
| 7 | Pat O'Kelly | North Jersey Imperials | 12 | 6 | 30 |
- MVP: Craig Beeson
- Points leader: Patrick Olalere
- Defender of the Year: Guy Norcott
- Goalkeeper of the Year: Chris Carmiento
- Rookie of the Year: Juan Sastoque
- Coach of the Year: Nuno Piteira
- Organization of the Year: Reading Rage
All-League:
- Goalkeeper: Randy Dedini
- Defenders: Guy Norcott, Tom Finley, Desmond Armstrong
- Midfielders: David Price, Pat O'Kelly, Carlos Rocha
- Forward: Craig Beeson, Patrick Olalere, Jimmy Wright, Philibert Jones
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