1990 American Professional Soccer League

Overview of the 1990 American Professional Soccer League season. Although the Western Soccer League and the American Soccer League merged to form the American Professional Soccer League in 1990, the two leagues remained essentially independent leagues, linked by name alone. During this season, they ran separate regular season schedules with two different points systems. They each had their own playoff formats, had separate league MVPs and had their own All-League teams. The first game between the two leagues came in September when the Maryland Bays of the American Soccer League defeated the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the Western Soccer League for the American Professional Soccer League championship.

American Professional Soccer League -1990 Season-
Season1990
ChampionsMaryland Bays
(1st title)
PremiersFort Lauderdale Strikers*
(1st title)
Top goalscorerChance Fry
(17 goals)
1991

History edit

On September 9, 1989, the champions of the west coast-based Western Soccer Alliance and the east coast-based American Soccer League played each other for the national championship.[1] This was the first meeting between teams from the two leagues but was part of a larger effort to merge the two leagues.[2] This effort resulted in the creation of the American Professional Soccer League on February 22, 1990.[3] The merger remained one of name only as the two leagues played separate schedules and named separate MVPs and All-League teams. However, it allowed the teams to market themselves as members of a national league.[4] During the playoffs, except for the West semifinals and the APSL finals, teams played a home and away series. However, they needed to win two games, so in the case of a tie after two games, the teams played a thirty-minute mini-game. If the game remained tied, the two teams would enter a shoot out. A shoot out pitted a field player against the opposing team's goalkeeper. The field player had five seconds to take a shot on goal beginning 35 yards from the goal.

League standings edit

East (American Soccer League) Conference edit

Points:

  • Win: 3
  • Shoot out win: 2
  • Shoot out loss: 1

Northern Division edit

Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD Pts
1 Maryland Bays 20 14 1 0 5 42 29 +13 44
2 Albany Capitals 20 13 1 1 5 35 22 +13 42
3 Penn-Jersey Spirit 20 12 1 1 6 34 23 +11 39
4 Boston Bolts 20 8 1 2 9 27 27 0 28
5 Washington Stars 20 7 0 0 13 24 28 −4 21
6 New Jersey Eagles 20 5 1 0 14 21 38 −17 17
Source: [citation needed]

Southern Division edit

Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD Pts
1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 20 14 1 1 4 38 22 +16 45
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 20 9 1 0 10 32 39 −7 29
3 Orlando Lions 20 8 0 0 12 25 30 −5 24
4 Miami Freedom 20 7 1 1 11 27 29 −2 24
5 Washington Diplomats 20 4 1 2 13 22 40 −18 16
Source: [citation needed]

West (Western Soccer League) Conference edit

Points:

  • Win: 6
  • Shoot out win: 4
  • Shoot out loss: 2
  • 1 bonus point per goal scored in regulation, maximum of 3 per game

North Division edit

Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD BP Pts
1 San Francisco Bay Blackhawks 20 9 4 1 6 39 30 +9 32 104
2 Salt Lake Sting 20 11 1 1 7 39 34 +5 32 104
3 Colorado Foxes 20 10 4 3 3 22 12 +10 18 100
4 Portland Timbers 20 8 2 3 7 42 36 +6 37 99
5 Seattle Storm 20 9 1 3 7 42 35 +7 29 93
Source: [citation needed]

South Division edit

Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD BP Pts
1 California Emperors 20 8 2 3 7 35 32 +3 27 89
2 Real Santa Barbara 20 9 1 3 7 33 35 −2 23 87
3 Los Angeles Heat 20 8 3 1 8 39 39 0 23 85
4 San Diego Nomads 20 5 3 3 9 22 28 −6 19 67
5 New Mexico Chilies 20 5 2 1 12 25 45 −20 21 61
6 Arizona Condors 20 5 0 1 14 29 51 −22 27 59
Source: [citation needed]

East Conference playoffs edit

East bracket edit

Semifinals
Best-of-3
1990 East Finals
Best-of-3
          
S1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3 2 -
N2 Albany Capitals 2 0 -
S1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 2 0 -
N1 Maryland Bays 3 2 -
N1 Maryland Bays 2 4 -
S2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 1 -

Semifinal 1 edit

Albany Capitals (NY)2–3Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)
Chris Szanto   6:10' (Chinapoo, Masters)
Paul Mariner   45:00' (Masters, Smyth)
Report Ricardo Alonso   117:15' (Carrera, Donev)
Jimmy McGeough, Jr.   73:05' (James, Carrera)
Pedro Magallanes   77:45' (James, Alonso)
Attendance: 750
Referee: (USA)
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)2–0Albany Capitals (NY)
Ricardo Alonso   37:41' (Magallanes, McGeough)
Alvin James   85:00'
Arnie Mausser   89'
Report Bobby Cumming   22'
Steve Stokoe   42'
Royal Palm Polo Club, Boca Raton, Florida
Attendance: 2,483
Referee: (USA)

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers advance to the East Finals.

Semifinal 2 edit

Tampa Bay Rowdies (FL)1–2 (a.e.t.)Maryland Bays (MD)
Perry Van der Beck   21:21'
Mark Wright   80:54' (Hooper, Byrne)
Report Kurt Dasbach   34:01' (Ryerson, Nattans)
Jean Harbor   96:27'  (Abe)
Attendance: 2,411
Referee: (USA)
Tampa Bay Rowdies (FL)1–4Maryland Bays (MD)
Jeff Jones   7:35' (Hill) Report Jean Harbor   4:30' (Abe)
Philip Gyau   18:45' (Harbor, Sloan)
Jean Harbor   45:38' (Abe, Barger)
John Abe   72:36' (Nattans)
Cedar Lane Park, Maryland
Attendance: 2,953
Referee: (USA)

The Maryland Bays advance to the East Finals.


Conference Finals edit

Maryland Bays (MD)3–2Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)
John Abe   13:57' (Barger, Namazi)
Jean Harbor   71:29' (Gee)
Joe Barger   87:28' (Ryerson)
Darryl Gee  
Report 1
Report 2
Pedro Magallanes   49:57' (Donev)
Marcelo Carrera   52:00'
Troy Edwards  
Cedar Lane Park
Attendance: 3,116
Referee: (USA)
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)0–2Maryland Bays (MD)
Victor Moreland   49:14'
Ricardo Alonso   65:50'
Report Philip Gyau   1:32' (Ryerson)
Rob Ryerson   13:38'
Scott Cook   16:08',   30:10'
Omid Namazi   22:45'
Jean Harbor   43:15'
Royal Palm Polo Club, Boca Raton, Florida
Attendance: 2,527
Referee: (USA)

The Maryland Bays advance to the APSL Championship.

West Conference playoffs edit

West bracket edit

First Round
Best-of-3
Division Finals
Single Match
1990 West Finals
Best-of-3
S1 California Emperors 0 - -
S2 Real Santa Barbara 1 1 0 S3 Los Angeles Heat 2 - -
S3 Los Angeles Heat 0 2 1 S3 Los Angeles Heat 2 1(2) 0
N1 San Francisco Bay Blackhawks 0 1(4) 1
N1 San Francisco Bay Blackhawks 2 - -
N2 Salt Lake Sting 0 1 - N3 Colorado Foxes 1 - -
N3 Colorado Foxes 2 4 -

First Round Series 1 edit

Los Angeles Heat (CA)0–1Real Santa Barbara (CA)
Brian Wendel   71:01'
 
 
 
Report 1
Report 2
Jim Hutchinson   68:44'
 
 
 
 
Attendance: 1,910
Referee: Thomas Bobapilla, (USA)


Real Santa Barbara (CA)1–2Los Angeles Heat (CA)
Femi Olukanni   29:39'
 
 
 
Report 1
Report 2
Danny Pena   63:03' (Ervine),  
Mike Getchell   64:23' (Sacks),  
 
 


Real Santa Barbara (CA)0–1Los Angeles Heat (CA)
Report 1
Report 2
Mike Getchell   19:51'
 
 

The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Division Finals.

First Round Series 2 edit

Colorado Foxes (CO)2–0Salt Lake Sting (UT)
John Klein   76'
Mike Mikes   83'
Report
Jefferson County Stadium, Colorado
Attendance: 4,019
Referee: (USA)


Salt Lake Sting (UT)1–4Colorado Foxes (CO)
Barney Boyce   55' (pen.)   44' Mike Mikes
  67' Robin Fraser
  72', 89' Efren Rodarte
Derks Field, Salt Lake City, Utah
Attendance: 3,210
Referee: (USA)

The Colorado Foxes advance to the Division Finals.


Division Finals edit

California Emperors (CA)0–2Los Angeles Heat (CA)
 
 
Report 1
Report 2
  41:02' Brad Smith
  89:00' Jim Gabarra
 ,  ,  
 ,  ,  
Attendance: 3,823
Referee: (USA)

The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Conference Finals.

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks (CA)2–1Colorado Foxes (CO)
Troy Dayak   13:02' (Kinnear),
  39:38' (Wynalda)
Report 1
Report 2
Larry McPhail   7:56' (Ashton)

The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks advance to the Conference Finals.


Conference Finals edit

Los Angeles Heat (CA)2–0San Francisco Bay Blackhawks (CA)
Jim Gabarra   20:43'
Brad Smith   55:24' (Bruch)
Report 1
Report 2
Veterans Stadium, Long Beach, California
Attendance: 3,500
Referee: (USA)
San Francisco Bay Blackhawks (CA)1–0Los Angeles Heat (CA)
Dominic Kinnear   22:43' (Gallo) Report 1
Report 2
Mike Getchell   20'
Attendance: 3,800
Referee: Kun Ho Yoo (USA)

The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks advance to the APSL Championship.

APSL Final edit

The Maryland Bays win the APSL Championship.

Combined points leaders edit

Rank Scorer Club Goals Assists Points
1 Chance Fry Seattle Storm 17 5 39
2 George Pastor Salt Lake Sting 14 9 37
3 Mike Masters Albany Capitals 14 4 32
4 Philip Gyau Maryland Bays 12 6 30
5 Derek Sanderson Salt Lake Sting 11 6 28
6 Jerry O'Hara California Emperors 10 3 23
7 Shawn Medved Portland Timbers 10 2 22
8 Jean Harbor Maryland Bays 8 6 22
9 Jim Hutchinson Real Santa Barbara 9 4 22
10 Scott Benedetti Seattle Storm 9 3 21
11 Cesar Plasencia Real Santa Barbara 9 3 21
11 Steve Pittman Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7 7 21
11 David Byrne Tampa Bay Rowdies 5 10 20
11 Steve Corpening San Francisco Bay Blackhawks 8 4 20
11 Rob Paterson Portland Timbers 8 4 20
11 Mike Sweeney Boston Bolts 8 3 19
11 Elvis Comrie Albany Capitals 8 2 18
11 Lazlo Barna Miami Freedom 7 4 18
11 Duanne Robinson Penn-Jersey Spirit 5 8 18

Honors edit

East (American Soccer League) Conference edit

First Team All League

Second Team All League


West (Western Soccer League) Conference edit

First Team All League

Second Team All League

References edit

  1. ^ Fort Lauderdale Rallies to Defeat San Diego
  2. ^ Two outdoor leagues plan title game for fall St. Petersburg Times - Thursday, April 13, 1989
  3. ^ "February merger produces the American Professional Soccer League" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 7, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  4. ^ Merger forms one outdoor league The Washington Times - Friday, February 23, 1990
  5. ^ "18 Aug 1990, Page 30 - The Star-News at". Newspapers.com. August 18, 1990. Retrieved June 5, 2022.

External links edit