| Season | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Champions |
Maryland Bays (1st title) |
| Premiers |
Fort Lauderdale Strikers* (1st title) |
| Top goalscorer |
Chance Fry (17 goals) |
1991 → | |
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.
History
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
East (American Soccer League) Conference
Points:
- Win: 3
- Shoot out win: 2
- Shoot out loss: 1
Northern Division
| 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 |
Southern Division
| 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 |
West (Western Soccer League) Conference
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
| 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 |
South Division
| 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 |
East Conference playoffs
East bracket
| 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
| Albany Capitals ( NY) | 2–3 | Fort 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) |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers ( FL) | 2–0 | Albany Capitals ( NY) |
|---|---|---|
|
Ricardo Alonso 37:41' (Magallanes, McGeough) Alvin James 85:00'Arnie Mausser  89' |
Report |
Bobby Cumming 22' Steve Stokoe 42' |
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers advance to the East Finals.
Semifinal 2
| 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) |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies ( FL) | 1–4 | Maryland 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) |
The Maryland Bays advance to the East Finals.
Conference Finals
| Maryland Bays ( MD) | 3–2 | Fort 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 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers ( FL) | 0–2 | Maryland 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' |
The Maryland Bays advance to the APSL Championship.
West Conference playoffs
West bracket
| 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
| Los Angeles Heat ( CA) | 0–1 | Real Santa Barbara ( CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Brian Wendel 71:01' |
Report 1 Report 2 |
Jim Hutchinson 68:44' |
| Real Santa Barbara ( CA) | 1–2 | Los 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) | 0–1 | Los Angeles Heat ( CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report 1 Report 2 |
Mike Getchell 19:51' |
The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Division Finals.
First Round Series 2
| Colorado Foxes ( CO) | 2–0 | Salt Lake Sting ( UT) |
|---|---|---|
|
John Klein 76' Mike Mikes 83' |
Report |
| Salt Lake Sting ( UT) | 1–4 | Colorado Foxes ( CO) |
|---|---|---|
|
Barney Boyce 55' (
pen.) |
44'
Mike Mikes 67'
Robin Fraser 72', 89'
Efren Rodarte |
The Colorado Foxes advance to the Division Finals.
Division Finals
| California Emperors ( CA) | 0–2 | Los Angeles Heat ( CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Report 1 Report 2 |
41:02'
Brad Smith 89:00'
Jim Gabarra, , , , |
The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Conference Finals.
| San Francisco Bay Blackhawks ( CA) | 2–1 | Colorado 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
| Los Angeles Heat ( CA) | 2–0 | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks ( CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Jim Gabarra 20:43' Brad Smith 55:24' (Bruch) |
Report 1 Report 2 |
| San Francisco Bay Blackhawks ( CA) | 1–1 | Los Angeles Heat ( CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Tim Martin 23' Eric Wynalda 36:53' |
Report 1 Report 2 |
Nathan Sacks 7' Joe Flanagan 28'Danny Pena 35'Waldir Guerra 71:00' (Ervine) |
| Penalties | ||
Peter Isaacs  Steve Corpening Dave Palic  Townsend Qin Steve Petuskey |
4–2 |
Waldir Guerra
Mike Gregorian
Bobby Bruch
Mike Getchell |
| San Francisco Bay Blackhawks ( CA) | 1–0 | Los Angeles Heat ( CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Dominic Kinnear 22:43' (Gallo) |
Report 1 Report 2 |
Mike Getchell 20' |
The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks advance to the APSL Championship.
APSL Final
The Maryland Bays win the APSL Championship.
Combined points leaders
| 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
East (American Soccer League) Conference
- MVP: Philip Gyau
- Leading goal scorer: Mike Masters
- Leading goalkeeper: Dale Caya
- Rookie of the Year: Steve Pittman
- Coach of the Year: Thomas Rongen
First Team All League
- Goalkeeper: Dale Caya
- Defenders: Steve Pittman, Paul Mariner, Brian Ainscough, George Gelnovatch
- Midfielders: Chico Borja, Marcelo Carrera, David Byrne
- Forwards: Philip Gyau, Dan Donigan, Jean Harbor [5]
Second Team All League
- Goalkeeper: Arnie Mausser
- Defenders: Jimmy McGeough, Jr., Chris Reif, Thomas Rongen, Dave Smyth
- Midfielders: Paul Dougherty, Eric Eichmann, Pat O'Kelly
- Forwards: Mike Masters, Bruce Murray, Paul Riley
West (Western Soccer League) Conference
- MVP: Mark Dodd
- Leading goal scorer: Chance Fry
- Leading goalkeeper: Mark Dodd
First Team All League
- Goalkeeper: Mark Dodd
- Defenders: Marcelo Balboa, John Doyle, Robin Fraser, Danny Pena
- Midfielders: Dominic Kinnear, Fran O'Brien, George Pastor
- Forwards: Chance Fry, Mark Kerlin, Townsend Qin
Second Team All League
- Goalkeeper: Anton Nistl
- Defenders: Steve Eise, Paul Krumpe, Derek Van Rheenen, Wade Webber
- Midfielders: John Bain, Mike Fox, Jeff Rogers, Dzung Tran
- Forwards: Scott Benedetti, Paul Wright
References
- ^ Fort Lauderdale Rallies to Defeat San Diego
- ^ Two outdoor leagues plan title game for fall St. Petersburg Times - Thursday, April 13, 1989
- ^ "February merger produces the American Professional Soccer League" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 7, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ Merger forms one outdoor league The Washington Times - Friday, February 23, 1990
- ^ "18 Aug 1990, Page 30 - The Star-News at". Newspapers.com. August 18, 1990. Retrieved June 5, 2022.