| Season | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Champions |
Rochester Rhinos (2nd title) |
| Premiers |
Minnesota Thunder (1st title) |
| Top goalscorer |
Paul 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) | 1–2 | Toronto Lynx ( ON) |
|---|---|---|
Dahir Mohammed  78' |
Report | 5'
Brian Ashton 43' Juan Pablo Arango |
Attendance: 758
| Charleston Battery ( SC) | 1–0 | Raleigh Capital Express ( NC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Paul Conway 24' Gilbert Jean-Baptiste  |
Report |
Ihor Dotsenko |
Attendance: 3,091
| Rochester Rhinos ( NY) | 4–2 | Hershey Wildcats ( PA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Mali Walton 47:38', 59' Yari Allnutt 51:28'Dan Stebbins 57', 85'Martin Nash 62'Onandi Lowe 71', 78'Scott Schweitzer  90' |
Report | 40:52'
Greg Simmonds 32' Mike Williams 36' Mike Henning 59'
Ze Roberto 90' Timothy Leonard |
Attendance: 10,456
| Richmond Kickers ( VA) | 2–1 ( OT) | Hampton Roads Mariners ( VA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Paul Lekics 90' Rob Ukrop  113' |
41'
Jakob Fenger |
Attendance: 3,927
Western Conference
| Milwaukee Rampage ( WI) | 3–2 | El Paso Patriots ( TX) |
|---|---|---|
|
Digital Takawira 5', 94' Igor Soso 85' |
41'
Mark Rowland 63'
Kirk Wilson |
Attendance: 3,122
| Minnesota Thunder ( MI) | 7–0 | Indiana Blast ( IN) |
|---|---|---|
|
Brian Winters 2', 61' Chugger Adair 27'Morgan Zeba 47', 63'Johnny Menyongar 53'Paul Schneider 80' |
Report |
| Seattle Sounders ( WA) | 2–1 | Bay Area Seals ( CA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Craig Waibel 26', 57' Viet Nguyen 45'Scott Jenkins 48'Tim Steidten 79' |
Report | 5'
Marquis White 44' Jeremy Sweet 55'
Kevin Jeffrey |
| San Diego Flash ( CA) | 1–1 ( a.e.t.) | Vancouver 86ers ( BC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Anthony Farace 21' Carlos Farias 53'Leighton O'Brien 77'Raul Calderon 103' |
Report | 2'
Chris Franks 38'
Carmen D'Onofrio 43'
Paul Dailly |
| Penalties | ||
Carlos Farias  Carlos Calderson Emmanuel Ayim Jerome Watson  Brian O'Connor |
3–4 |
Darren Tilley
Domenic Mobilio
Steve Kindel
Chris Franks
Rick Titus |
Conference semifinals
Eastern semifinal 1
| Rochester Rhinos ( NY) | 2–0 | Charleston Battery ( SC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Onandi Lowe 8', 42' Yari Allnutt 10' |
Report | 2'
Darren Warham 56'  76'
Brent Sancho |
Attendance: 7,531
| Charleston Battery ( SC) | 0–1 | Rochester Rhinos ( NY) |
|---|---|---|
| Report | 28'
Dan Stebbins 82'
Scott Vallow |
Attendance: 2,806
The Rochester Rhinos advanced 3–0 on aggregate.
Eastern semifinal 2
| Toronto Lynx ( ON) | 1–0 | Richmond Kickers ( VA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Milan Kojić 32' Nikola Vignjević 36' (
pen.) |
Report |
| Richmond Kickers ( VA) | 0–1 | Toronto Lynx ( ON) |
|---|---|---|
| Report | 39'
Milan Kojić |
Attendance: 4,027
Toronto Lynx advanced 2–0 on aggregate.
Western semifinal 1
| Vancouver 86ers ( BC) | 3–0 | Minnesota Thunder ( MN) |
|---|---|---|
|
Alfredo Valente 30' John Sulentic 69', 90' |
Report | 69'
John Sylvester 72'
John Coughlin |
| Minnesota Thunder ( MN) | 4–0 ( OT) | Vancouver 86ers ( BC) |
|---|---|---|
|
Don Gramenz 30' Mike Gentile 35'Chugger Adair 45'Brian Winters 86'Morgan Zeba 94' |
Report | 13'
Darren Tilley 90'
Joe Scigliano 90'
Domenic Mobilio |
The Minnesota Thunder advanced 4–3 on aggregate.
Western semifinal 2
| Milwaukee Rampage ( WI) | 2–1 | Seattle Sounders ( WA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Digital Takawira 1' Jason Willan 33'Steve Bernal 60' |
Report | 20', 90'
Andrew Gregor 75'
Ali John Utush 90'
Craig Tomlinson |
| Seattle Sounders ( WA) | 1–2 | Milwaukee Rampage ( WI) |
|---|---|---|
|
Greg Howes 10' Ali John Utush 39'Craig Waibel 57' |
Report | 34'
Yuri Lavrinenko 54'
Todd Dusosky 82' Jake Provan 90'
Brian Loftin 90'
Dan Popik |
Milwaukee Rampage advanced 4–2 on aggregate.
Conference finals
Eastern Conference
| Toronto Lynx ( ON) | 1–1 | Rochester Rhinos ( NY) |
|---|---|---|
|
Brian Ashton 20' Francisco Dos Santos 63', 66' |
Report | 41'
Onandi Lowe 75'
Dan Stebbins |
| Rochester Rhinos ( NY) | 1–0 | Toronto Lynx ( ON) |
|---|---|---|
|
Tim Hardy 33' Craig Demmin 80' |
Report | 11'
Brian Ashton |
Attendance: 8,058
Western Conference
| Milwaukee Rampage ( WI) | 3–4 | Minnesota Thunder ( MI) |
|---|---|---|
|
Todd Dusosky 23', 90' Yuri Lavrinenko 51'David Marshall 90'Jason Willan 90'Jon Cantwell 90' |
9', 41'
Morgan Zeba 57'
Johnny Menyongar 64'
John Coughlin |
Attendance: 1,187
| Minnesota Thunder ( MI) | 5–0 | Milwaukee Rampage ( WI) |
|---|---|---|
|
Johnny Menyongar 15', 89', 67' Chugger Adair 45', 62'Stoian Mladenov 74' |
Report | 18'
Brian Loftin 51'
Nate Houser |
Final
| Rochester Rhinos ( NY) | 3–1 | Minnesota Thunder ( MI) |
|---|---|---|
|
Dan Stebbins 13:55' Carlos Zavala 15' Yari Allnutt 38:00'Martin Nash 77'Onandi Lowe 77:10' |
Report | 63'
John Coughlin 76'
Morgan Zeba 78:12'
Chugger Adair 81'
Don Gramenz |
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
- MVP: Digital Takawira
- Goals Leaders (tied): Paul Conway, Greg Howes, Johnny Menyongar
- Goalkeeper of the Year: Scott Vallow
- Defender of the Year: Scott Cannon
- Rookie of the Year: Greg Howes
- Coach of the Year: Neil Megson
- First Team All A-League
- Goalkeeper: Scott Vallow
- Defenders: Chris Fox, Craig Demmin, Scott Cannon, Scott Schweitzer
- Midfielders: Brian Loftin, Yari Allnutt, Stoian Mladenov
- Forwards: Paul Conway, Darren Sawatzky, Digital Takawira
- Second Team All A-League
- Goalkeeper: Theo Zagar
- Defenders: Gilbert Jean-Baptiste, Adrian Serioux, David Banks, Rick Titus
- Midfielders: Lenin Steenkamp, Gerry Lucey, Martin Nash
- Forwards: Dwayne DeRosario, Johnny Menyongar, Greg Howes