1995 A-League
| Season | 1995 |
|---|---|
| Champions |
Seattle Sounders (1st title) |
| Premiers |
Montreal Impact (1st title) |
| Top goalscorer |
Peter Hattrup (11 goals) |
|
1996 → | |
Statistics of A-League in season 1995.
Overview
In 1995, the American Professional Soccer League, which was the de facto highest level of U.S. soccer (officially sanctioned U.S. second division) until MLS commenced, changed its name to the A-League.[1] The league had ended its 1994 season with seven teams and intended to expand to ten for the 1995 season. These plans were stymied when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Los Angeles Salsa and Toronto Rockets all folded. This left the league with only four teams. The addition of the New York Centaurs and Atlanta Ruckus gave the league six teams and allowed it to compete for another season.[2] Training camps opened in March and the season began on May 5, 1995, when the Vancouver 86ers defeated the Atlanta Ruckus. By the time the regular season ended on September 10, 1995, the Montreal Impact had topped the chart. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Ruckus. Seattle defeated Vancouver in the first round, then defeated Atlanta in the final to take their first championship. The league introduced a new scoring system for the regular season. No games ended in a tie. If the score was tied at the end of regulation, every game went to a shootout. A win gained a team three points, a shootout win two points, a shootout loss one point and a loss zero points.
Regular season
| Place | Team | GP | W | SW | SL | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal Impact | 24 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 47 | 27 | +20 | 51 |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders | 24 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 40 | 24 | +16 | 51 |
| 3 | Vancouver 86ers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 43 | 43 | +0 | 33 |
| 4 | Atlanta Ruckus | 24 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 29 | 41 | -12 | 32 |
| 5 | Colorado Foxes | 24 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 35 | 41 | -6 | 29 |
| 6 | New York Centaurs | 24 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 21 | 39 | -18 | 20 |
1995 A-League scoring System was[3]
- 3 points for win
- 2 points for shootout win
- 1 point for shootout loss
- 0 points for normal time loss
Playoffs
Semifinals 1
| Atlanta Ruckus (GA) | 1-1 | Montreal Impact (QB) |
|---|---|---|
Tom Wurdack  43'Lenin Steenkamp  71' |
70' Lloyd Barker | |
| Penalties | ||
?  Mo Suri  ? Michael Araujo ? |
2 – 1 | ? ? ? ? Tom Kouzmanis |
Adams Stadium Atlanta Attendance: 2,114 |
The Atlanta Ruckus advance to the finals.
Semifinals 2
| Vancouver 86ers (BC) | 0-1 | Seattle Sounders (WA) |
|---|---|---|
Nico Berg  62' |
(Report) | 80' Gary Heale |
Swangard Stadium Burnaby, British Columbia Attendance: 4,036 |
Memorial Stadium Seattle Attendance: 4,339 |
The Seattle Sounders advance to the final.
Final
| Atlanta Ruckus (GA) | 1-1 | Seattle Sounders (WA) |
|---|---|---|
| Greg Sheen 34' Lenin Steenkamp 58'Bruce Murray 69'Michael Araujo 73' |
(Report) | 77' Jason Dunn |
| Penalties | ||
| Staale Soebye Michael Araujo John Doyle |
3 – 1 | Neil Megson Peter Hattrup Jason Farrell |
| Seattle Sounders (WA) | 3-0 | Atlanta Ruckus (GA) |
|---|---|---|
| Chance Fry 25', 85' Jason Dunn 86' |
(Report) | 41' Michael Araujo |
Memorial Stadium Seattle Attendance: 5,115 |
Points leaders
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Hattrup | Seattle Sounders | 11 | 8 | 30 |
| 2 | Paul Dougherty | Montreal Impact | 10 | 8 | 28 |
| 3 | Lloyd Barker | Montreal Impact | 10 | 6 | 26 |
| 4 | Chance Fry | Seattle Sounders | 9 | 4 | 22 |
| 5 | Paul Dailly | Vancouver 86ers | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| 6 | Giuliano Oliviero | Vancouver 86ers | 9 | 1 | 19 |
| 7 | Geoff Aunger | Vancouver 86ers | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| 8 | Staale Soebye | Atlanta Ruckus | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| 9 | Martin Nash | Vancouver 86ers | 5 | 6 | 16 |
| Lenin Steenkamp | Atlanta Ruckus | 8 | 0 | 16 | |
| Jason Dunn | Seattle Sounders | 5 | 6 | 16 | |
| 12 | Grant Needham | Montreal Impact | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| Paulinho | Montreal Impact | 6 | 3 | 15 | |
| 14 | Jeff Hooker | Colorado Foxes | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| 15 | Shawn Medved | Seattle Sounders | 6 | 1 | 13 |
Honors
- MVP: Peter Hattrup
- Leading goal scorer: Peter Hattrup
- Leading goalkeeper: Marcus Hahnemann
- Rookie of the Year: Giuliano Oliviero
- Coach of the Year: Lothar Osiander
- Defender of the Year: John Doyle
- Official of the Year: Esfandiar Baharmast
- First Team All League
- Goalkeeper: Marcus Hahnemann
- Defenders: Robin Fraser, John Doyle, Steve Trittschuh
- Midfielders: Dan Calichman, Paul Dougherty, Geoff Aunger, Peter Hattrup, Giuliano Oliviero
- Forwards: Lloyd Barker, Staale Soebye
References
- ↑ USL restructures Pro Divisions
- ↑ "For The Record – Soccer". The Seattle Times. January 16, 1995. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ↑ Stickney, Ron. "1996 Sounders Schedule and Results". seattlepitch.tripod.com. Retrieved May 17, 2014.