2000 USL A-League

USL A-League
-2000 Season-
Season2000
ChampionsRochester Rhinos
(2nd title)
PremiersMinnesota Thunder
(1st title)
Top goalscorerPaul Conway, Greg Howes, Johnny Menyongar
(17 goals)
← 1999
2001 →

The 2000 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer League during the summer of 2000.

League standings

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Long Island Rough Riders 28 16 9 3 54 36 +18 9 76
2 Rochester Raging Rhinos 28 17 9 2 42 25 +17 5 75
3 Toronto Lynx 28 13 11 4 35 30 +5 3 59
4 Montreal Impact 28 12 13 3 34 41 −7 3 54
5 Boston Bulldogs 28 9 16 3 32 41 −9 3 42
6 Connecticut Wolves 28 1 19 8 22 57 −35 1 13
Source: [citation needed]

Atlantic Division

Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Charleston Battery 28 18 8 2 59 36 +23 13 87
2 Richmond Kickers 28 20 7 1 42 25 +17 3 84
3 Hershey Wildcats 28 15 10 3 49 30 +19 7 70
4 Hampton Roads Mariners 28 14 12 2 44 38 +6 4 62
5 Raleigh Capital Express 28 12 12 4 48 52 −4 6 58
6 Atlanta Silverbacks 28 11 14 3 51 42 +9 8 55
7 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 28 10 14 4 41 43 −2 5 49
Source: [citation needed]

Western Conference

Central Division

Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Minnesota Thunder 28 20 4 4 74 30 +44 15 99
2 Milwaukee Rampage 28 18 9 1 69 47 +22 16 89
3 Indiana Blast 28 9 15 4 40 57 −17 5 45
4 MLS Project 40 28 8 19 1 35 60 −25 3 36
5 Tennessee Rhythm 28 6 22 0 36 103 −67 1 25
6 Cincinnati Riverhawks 28 2 23 3 25 80 −55 2 13
Source: [citation needed]

Pacific Division

Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Seattle Sounders 28 18 7 3 56 38 +18 10 85
2 San Diego Flash 28 16 9 3 54 32 +22 8 75
3 Vancouver 86ers 28 14 11 3 62 41 +21 11 70
4 El Paso Patriots 28 12 14 2 48 50 −2 7 57
5 Bay Area Seals 28 12 13 3 42 53 −11 5 56
6 Orange County Waves 28 12 15 1 44 52 −8 6 55
Source: [citation needed]

Conference Quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

Long Island Rough Riders (NY)1–2Toronto Lynx (ON)
Dahir Mohammed 78' Report 5' Brian Ashton
43' Juan Pablo Arango
Attendance: 758


Charleston Battery (SC)1–0Raleigh Capital Express (NC)
Paul Conway 24'
Gilbert Jean-Baptiste Yellow card		 Report Yellow card Ihor Dotsenko
Attendance: 3,091


Rochester Rhinos (NY)4–2Hershey Wildcats (PA)
Mali Walton 47:38', Yellow card 59'
Yari Allnutt 51:28'
Dan Stebbins Yellow card 57', 85'
Martin Nash Yellow card 62'
Onandi Lowe Yellow card 71', 78'
Scott Schweitzer Red card 90'		 Report 40:52' Greg Simmonds
Yellow card 32' Mike Williams
Yellow card 36' Mike Henning
Yellow card 59' Ze Roberto
90' Timothy Leonard
Attendance: 10,456


Richmond Kickers (VA)2–1 (OT)Hampton Roads Mariners (VA)
Paul Lekics 90'
Rob Ukrop gold-colored soccer ball 113'		 41' Jakob Fenger
Attendance: 3,927

Western Conference

Milwaukee Rampage (WI)3–2El Paso Patriots (TX)
Digital Takawira 5', 94'
Igor Soso 85'		 41' Mark Rowland
63' Kirk Wilson
Attendance: 3,122


Minnesota Thunder (MN)7–0Indiana Blast (IN)
Brian Winters 2', 61'
Chugger Adair 27'
Morgan Zeba 47', 63'
Johnny Menyongar 53'
Paul Schneider 80'		 Report
Attendance: 2,957
Referee: Kelly Ross (USA)


Seattle Sounders (WA)2–1Bay Area Seals (CA)
Craig Waibel 26', Yellow card 57'
Viet Nguyen 45'
Scott Jenkins Yellow card 48'
Tim Steidten Yellow card 79'		 Report 5' Marquis White
Yellow card 44' Jeremy Sweet
Yellow card 55' Kevin Jeffrey
Attendance: 3,239
Referee: Cory Dean (USA)


San Diego Flash (CA)1–1 (a.e.t.)Vancouver 86ers (BC)
Anthony Farace Yellow card 21'
Carlos Farias 53'
Leighton O'Brien Yellow card 77'
Raul Calderon Yellow card 103'		 Report Yellow card 2' Chris Franks
Yellow card 38' Carmen D'Onofrio
43' Paul Dailly
Penalties
Carlos Farias soccer ball with check mark
Carlos Calderson soccer ball with check mark
Emmanuel Ayim soccer ball with check mark
Jerome Watson soccer ball with red X
Brian O'Connor soccer ball with check mark		 3–4 soccer ball with check mark Darren Tilley
soccer ball with check mark Domenic Mobilio
soccer ball with check mark Steve Kindel
soccer ball with check mark Chris Franks
soccer ball with check mark Rick Titus
Douglas Stadium, San Diego, California
Attendance: 3,877
Referee: Nathan Lacy (USA)

Conference semifinals

Eastern semifinal 1

Rochester Rhinos (NY)2–0Charleston Battery (SC)
Onandi Lowe 8', Yellow card 42'
Yari Allnutt 10'		 Report Yellow card 2' Darren Warham
Yellow card 56' Yellow-red card 76' Brent Sancho
Attendance: 7,531


Charleston Battery (SC)0–1Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Report 28' Dan Stebbins
Yellow card 82' Scott Vallow
Attendance: 2,806

The Rochester Rhinos advanced 3–0 on aggregate.

Eastern semifinal 2

Toronto Lynx (ON)1–0Richmond Kickers (VA)
Milan Kojić Yellow card 32'
Nikola Vignjević 36' (pen.)		 Report
Attendance: 1,989
Referee: Manuel Orellano (Canada)


Richmond Kickers (VA)0–1Toronto Lynx (ON)
Report 39' Milan Kojić
Attendance: 4,027

Toronto Lynx advanced 2–0 on aggregate.

Western semifinal 1

Vancouver 86ers (BC)3–0Minnesota Thunder (MN)
Alfredo Valente 30'
John Sulentic 69', 90'		 Report Red card 69' John Sylvester
Yellow card 72' John Coughlin
Attendance: 5,127
Referee: Rene Parra (Canada)


Minnesota Thunder (MN)4–0 (OT)Vancouver 86ers (BC)
Don Gramenz Yellow card 30'
Mike Gentile 35'
Chugger Adair 45'
Brian Winters 86'
Morgan Zeba gold-colored soccer ball 94'		 Report Yellow card 13' Darren Tilley
Yellow card 90' Joe Scigliano
Yellow card 90' Domenic Mobilio
Attendance: 3,005
Referee: Michael Kennedy (USA)

The Minnesota Thunder advanced 4–3 on aggregate.

Western semifinal 2

Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–1Seattle Sounders (WA)
Digital Takawira 1'
Jason Willan 33'
Steve Bernal Yellow card 60'		 Report Yellow card 20', 90' Andrew Gregor
Yellow card 75' Ali John Utush
Yellow card 90' Craig Tomlinson
Attendance: 2,558
Referee: Ricardo Salazar (USA)


Seattle Sounders (WA)1–2Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Greg Howes 10'
Ali John Utush Yellow card 39'
Craig Waibel Yellow card 57'		 Report 34' Yuri Lavrinenko
Yellow card 54' Todd Dusosky
Yellow card 82' Jake Provan
90' Brian Loftin
Yellow card 90' Dan Popik
Attendance: 1,952
Referee: Kari Seitz (USA)

Milwaukee Rampage advanced 4–2 on aggregate.

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

Toronto Lynx (ON)1–1Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Brian Ashton Yellow card 20'
Francisco Dos Santos 63', Yellow card 66'		 Report Yellow card 41' Onandi Lowe
75' Dan Stebbins
Attendance: 2,811
Referee: Jerry Proctor (Canada)


Rochester Rhinos (NY)1–0Toronto Lynx (ON)
Tim Hardy Yellow card 33'
Craig Demmin 80'		 Report Yellow card 11' Brian Ashton
Attendance: 8,058

Western Conference

Milwaukee Rampage (WI)3–4Minnesota Thunder (MI)
Todd Dusosky 23', Red card 90'
Yuri Lavrinenko 51'
David Marshall 90'
Jason Willan Red card 90'
Jon Cantwell Red card 90'		 9', 41' Morgan Zeba
57' Johnny Menyongar
64' John Coughlin
Attendance: 1,187


Minnesota Thunder (MI)5–0Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Johnny Menyongar 15', 89', Yellow card 67'
Chugger Adair 45', 62'
Stoian Mladenov 74'		 Report Yellow card 18' Brian Loftin
Yellow card 51' Nate Houser
Attendance: 3,414
Referee: Terry Vaughan (USA)

Final

Rochester Rhinos (NY)3–1Minnesota Thunder (MI)
Dan Stebbins 13:55'
Carlos Zavala Yellow card 15'
Yari Allnutt 38:00'
Martin Nash Yellow card 77'
Onandi Lowe 77:10'		 Report Yellow card 63' John Coughlin
Yellow card 76' Morgan Zeba
78:12' Chugger Adair
Yellow card 81' Don Gramenz
Attendance: 14,276
Referee: Ricardo Salazar (USA)

Points leaders

Rank Scorer Club GP Goals Assists Points
1 Digital Takawira Milwaukee Rampage 21 16 10 42
Paul Conway Charleston Battery 26 17 8 42
3 Greg Howes Seattle Sounders 27 17 7 41
Darren Sawatzky Seattle Sounders 28 16 9 41
5 Johnny Menyongar Minnesota Thunder 28 17 3 39
6 Saul Martínez Hampton Road Mariners 26 16 5 37
Gregory Simmonds Hershey Wildcats 25 16 5 37
8 Dwayne DeRosario Richmond Kickers 23 15 5 35
9 Paul Schneider Minnesota Thunder 23 15 4 34
10 Patrick Beech Atlanta Silverbacks 22 14 5 33
Ignace Moleka Atlanta Silverbacks 28 14 5 33
12 Ihor Dotsenko Raleigh Capital Express 28 15 2 32
Darren Tilley Vancouver 86ers 13 12 6 30
14 Seamus Donnelly Hampton Roads Mariners 28 14 1 29
Jason Boyce Orange County Zodiac 24 11 7 29
15 Jamel Mitchell Hershey Wildcats 28 13 2 28
16 Kevin Jeffrey Bay Area Seals 24 12 3 27
Mac Cozier Charleston Battery 24 11 5 27
18 Edson Buddle Long Island Rough Riders 26 11 4 26
David Flavius Pittsburgh Riverhounds 25 11 4 26

Honors