1996 USISL Premier League season

The 1996 USISL Premier League season was its second. The season began in April 1996 and ended in August 1996.

USISL Premier League
Season1996
← 1995
1997 →

Central Coast Roadrunners won the championship, defeating the San Francisco Bay Seals 3–2. Spokane Shadow won the regular season title, winning 14 games to 2 losses.

Changes from 1995 season

Name changes

New teams

12 teams were added for the season.

Team Area Location Previous affiliation
Washington (state) Bellingham Orcas Northwest Washington area Bellingham, WA expansion
California Central Coast Roadrunners Central West Coast area San Luis Obispo, CA expansion
Florida Florida Strikers Greater Miami area Fort Lauderdale, FL from USISL Pro
Kentucky Lexington Bluegrass Bandits Lexington area Lexington, KY from USISL Pro
Florida Miami Tango Greater Miami area Miami, FL expansion
Michigan Mid-Michigan Bucks Flint/Tri-Cities area Saginaw, MI expansion
Nebraska Omaha Flames Omaha-Council Bluffs area Omaha, NE expansion
California San Diego Top Guns San Diego area San Diego, CA from USISL Pro
California Southern California Gunners Inland Empire area San Bernardino, CA expansion
Washington (state) Spokane Shadow Spokane area Spokane, WA expansion
Florida West Florida Fury Emerald Coast area Pensacola, FL expansion
Oregon Willamette Valley Firebirds Corvallis area Corvallis, OR former Portland Firebirds of the USISL Pro League

Teams leaving

Five teams folded after the 1995 season:

Standings

Northern Division
Pos Team Pld W PKW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Lexington Bluegrass Bandits 14 9 1 4 32 18 +14 28[lower-alpha 1] Division champion
2 Michigan Madness 14 8 1 5 24 28 −4 25[lower-alpha 1] Team qualified for playoff berth
3 Detroit Dynamite 14 7 1 6 34 19 +15 22[lower-alpha 1]
4 Mid-Michigan Bucks 14 7 1 6 24 18 +6 22[lower-alpha 1] Team qualified for playoff berth
5 Kalamazoo Kingdom 14 5 0 9 18 22 −4 15
6 Grand Rapids Explosion[lower-alpha 2] 7 0 0 7 6 21 −15 0
Source:
Notes:
  1. Detroit, Kalamazoo, Lexington, and Michigan were all penalized 3 points.
  2. Grand Rapids did not have a home stadium this year, and played only road games.

Southern Division
Pos Team Pld W PKW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Austin Lone Stars 14 10 0 4 41 17 +24 30 Division champion
2 Omaha Flames 14 8 0 6 39 22 +17 24 Team qualified for playoff berth
3 Sioux City Breeze 13 7 2 4 26 23 +3 23[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]
4 Des Moines Menace 14 7 0 7 22 21 +1 21
5 Oklahoma City Heat 14 7 0 7 22 26 −4 21
6 Wichita Blue 13 5 0 8 18 33 −15 15[lower-alpha 1]
Source:
Notes:
  1. The game between Sioux City and Wichita was postponed and could not be rescheduled before end of the season. The game was cancelled because it had no effect on the playoffs.
  2. Sioux City was penalized 6 points.

Northern Division
Pos Team Pld W PKW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Roanoke River Dawgs 14 10 0 4 48 28 +20 30 Division champion
2 Jackson Chargers 14 7 1 6 34 24 +10 22[lower-alpha 1] Team qualified for playoff berth
3 Nashville Metros 14 5 2 7 34 26 +8 17[lower-alpha 2]
4 Birmingham Grasshoppers 14 4 0 10 20 33 −13 12
Source:
Notes:
  1. Jackson was penalized 3 points.
  2. Nashville was penalized 6 points.

Southern Division
Pos Team Pld W PKW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Cocoa Expos 14 9 1 4 45 22 +23 28[lower-alpha 1] Bye into semifinals as defending champion.
2 Orlando Lions 14 8 1 5 25 28 −3 25[lower-alpha 1]
3 Florida Strikers 14 6 1 7 31 33 −2 19[lower-alpha 1] Team qualified for playoff berth
4 West Florida Fury 14 5 0 9 29 36 −7 15
5 Miami Tango 14 4 0 10 29 37 −8 12
6 South Florida Future 14 0 0 14 17 63 −46 0
Source:
Notes:
  1. Cocoa, Florida, and Orlando were all penalized 3 points.

Northern Division
Pos Team Pld W PKW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Spokane Shadow 14 11 1 2 34 17 +17 34[lower-alpha 1] Division champion
2 San Francisco Bay Seals 14 10 0 4 35 15 +20 30 Team qualified for playoff berth
3 Colorado Springs Stampede 14 8 1 5 20 12 +8 25[lower-alpha 1]
4 Puget Sound Hammers 14 8 0 6 31 23 +8 24 Team qualified for playoff berth
5 Willamette Valley Firebirds 14 5 0 9 21 31 −10 15
6 Bellingham Orcas 14 3 0 11 17 50 −33 9
Source:
Notes:
  1. Colorado Springs and Spokane were both penalized 3 points.

Southern Division
Pos Team Pld W PKW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Central Coast Roadrunners 14 11 1 2 38 16 +22 34[lower-alpha 1] Division champion
2 San Diego Top Guns 14 8 1 5 28 22 +6 25[lower-alpha 1] Team qualified for playoff berth
3 Arizona Phoenix 14 7 0 7 32 31 +1 21
4 Tucson Amigos 14 7 0 7 24 29 −5 21
5 Fontana Falcons 14 5 0 9 31 32 −1 15
6 Southern California Gunners 14 3 0 11 19 28 −9 9
Source:
Notes:
  1. Central Coast and San Diego were both penalized 3 points

Playoffs

Format

Central Coast received a bye to the PDL Semifinals as the defending champion.
The top four teams from every division except the Southwest earn playoff spots. With Central Coast already receiving a bye, the top two teams from the Southwest Division will play each other, however if Central Coast is in the top two, then the third place team receives a playoff spot. The Division winners would then face each other in the Conference finals.

Divisional brackets
Division Semifinals Division Finals Central Finals
         
NC1 Michigan Mid-Michigan Bucks 1
NC4 Michigan Grand Rapids Explosion 0
NC1 Michigan Mid-Michigan Bucks (AET/PSO) 0 (1)
North Central Division
NC3 Michigan Kalamazoo Kingdom 0 (0)
NC2 Michigan Detroit Dynamite 0
NC3 Michigan Kalamazoo Kingdom (AET) 1
NC1 Michigan Mid-Michigan Bucks 3
C4 Iowa Des Moines Menace 0
C1 Nebraska Lincoln Brigade 0
C4 Iowa Des Moines Menace 4
C4 Iowa Des Moines Menace 6
Central Division
C2 Nebraska Omaha Flames 0
C2 Nebraska Omaha Flames 5
C3 Iowa Sioux City Breeze 3
Division Semifinals Division Finals Eastern Finals
         
SE1 Florida Cocoa Expos 5
SE4 Florida Miami Tango 2
SE1 Florida Cocoa Expos 3
Southeast Division
SE3 Florida West Florida Fury 1
SE2 Florida South Florida Future 0
SE3 Florida West Florida Fury 4
SE1 Florida Cocoa Expos 2
MS2 Mississippi Jackson Chargers 1
MS1 Ohio Cincinnati Riverhawks 7
MS4 Alabama Alabama Saints 4
MS1 Ohio Cincinnati Riverhawks 0
Mid-South Division
MS2 Mississippi Jackson Chargers 3
MS2 Mississippi Jackson Chargers (AET) 1
MS3 Kentucky Lexington Bluegrass Bandits 0
Division Semifinals Division Finals Western Finals
         
NW1 Washington (state) Spokane Shadow 2
NW4 Washington (state) Puget Sound Hammers 1
NW1 Washington (state) Spokane Shadow 2
Northwest Division
NW2 Washington (state) Yakima Reds 0
NW2 Washington (state) Yakima Reds 1
NW3 Oregon Cascade Surge 0
NW1 Washington (state) Spokane Shadow 0
SW1 California San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 1
SW1 California San Gabriel Valley Highlanders bye
 
SW1 California San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 2
Southwest Division
SW2 Arizona Tucson Amigos 1
SW2 Arizona Tucson Amigos bye
 

PDL Finals brackets
PDL Semifinals PDL Finals
      
NC1 Michigan Mid-Michigan Bucks 0
H California Central Coast Roadrunners 2
H California Central Coast Roadrunners 2
SE1 Florida Cocoa Expos 1
SW1 California San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 0 (0)
SE1 Florida Cocoa Expos (AET/PSO) 0 (1) PDL Third Place
NC1 Michigan Mid-Michigan Bucks 2
SW1 California San Gabriel Valley Highlanders 3

Premier Six Tournament

Six teams entered the Premier Six Tournament in Cocoa, Florida the weekend of August 16–18. Each of the five division playoff champions qualified for the tournament, along with the host Cocoa Expos. The teams were seeded in this order, based on their regular season points:

  • 1. Central Coast Roadrunners
  • 2. San Francisco Bay Seals
  • 3. Cocoa Expos
  • 4. Omaha Flames
  • 5. Jackson Chargers
  • 6. Mid-Michigan Bucks.

The Central Coast Roadrunners played the bottom two seeds (Jackson and Mid-Michigan). The San Francisco Seals played the #4 and #6 seeds (Omaha and Mid-Michigan). The Cocoa Expos played and #4 and #5 seeds (Omaha and Jackson).

Qualification to the finals

In order to determine the two teams to qualify for the finals, the league used the following point system during the Premier Six Tournament:

  • Win = 3 points
  • Shootout win = 2 points
  • Shootout loss = 1 point
  • Bonus points: Each team scoring three or more goals in regulation or overtime received one extra point.
Place Team W SW SL L BP PTS
1 Central Coast Roadrunners 2 0 0 0 1 7
2 San Francisco Bay Seals 1 0 1 0 1 5
3 Cocoa Expos 1 0 0 1 1 4
4 Omaha Flames 0 1 0 1 0 2
5 Jackson Chargers 1 0 0 1 0 2
6 Mid-Michigan Bucks 0 0 0 2 0 0

Friday
San Francisco Bay Seals (CA)2-2 OTOmaha Flames (NE)
  • Chris McDonald 64'
  • Ken Folan 86'
Penalties
 1-2
Central Coast Roadrunners (CA)3-0Mid-Michigan Bucks (MI)
Bryan Taylor
Cocoa Expos (FL)0-1Jackson Chargers (MS)
50' Sheldon Bennett

Saturday
Central Coast Roadrunners (CA)2-1 OTJackson Chargers (MS)
 42' Dwyane Demmin
San Francisco Bay Seals (CA)4-0Mid-Michigan Bucks (MI)
Cocoa Expos (FL)4-1Omaha Flames (NE)

Final
Central Coast Roadrunners (CA)1-0San Francisco Bay Seals (CA)
Bryan Taylor 48'
Cocoa Expo Sports Center, Cocoa, Florida

Honors

[1]

References
  1. USISL: 1996 Postseason Awards
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