2002 USL A-League

The 2002 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer League during the summer of 2002.

USL A-League
-2002 Season-
Season2002
ChampionsMilwaukee Rampage
(2nd title)
PremiersSeattle Sounders
(2nd title)
Matches played504
Goals scored751 (1.49 per match)
Top goalscorerMcKinley Tennyson, Fadi Afash
(18 goals)
← 2001
2003 →

League standings

Northeast Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Rochester Raging Rhinos 28 17 8 3 38 25 +13 1 72
2 Montreal Impact 28 16 9 3 39 29 +10 5 72
3 Toronto Lynx 28 10 13 5 37 35 +2 3 48
4 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 28 8 15 5 39 44 −5 4 41
Source: kenn.com

Southeast Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Charleston Battery 28 19 3 6 46 16 +30 7 89
2 Richmond Kickers 28 13 9 6 44 37 +7 7 65
3 Atlanta Silverbacks 28 13 13 2 47 44 +3 8 62
4 Charlotte Eagles 28 10 14 4 46 46 0 6 50
5 Hampton Roads Mariners 28 6 19 3 25 57 −32 2 29
Source: kenn.com

Central Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Milwaukee Rampage 28 16 7 5 48 29 +19 6 75
2 Minnesota Thunder 28 14 9 5 55 35 +20 9 70
3 Cincinnati Riverhawks 28 8 20 0 35 68 −33 3 35[lower-alpha 1]
4 Indiana Blast 28 6 18 4 29 67 −38 1 29
Source: kenn.com
Notes:
  1. Cincinnati lost three point for using an ineligible player (bonus points entry total reflects this deduction)

Pacific Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Seattle Sounders 28 23 4 1 71 27 +44 14 107
2 Portland Timbers 28 13 12 3 47 39 +8 8 63
3 Vancouver Whitecaps 28 11 12 5 41 39 +2 5 54
4 El Paso Patriots 28 10 11 7 38 48 −10 7 54
5 Calgary Storm 28 4 21 3 26 66 −40 3 22
Source: kenn.com

The 2002 USL A-League points system was 4 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss + 1 bonus point when scoring three or more goals in a game.[1]

Playoff bracket
  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals Final
                                         
Portland Timbers 0 0 0  
Vancouver Whitecaps 1 1 2  
  Seattle Sounders 0 2 2  
  Vancouver Whitecaps 2 6 8  
  Milwaukee Rampage (aet) 0 2 2  
Western Conference
  Vancouver Whitecaps 0 1 1  
Minnesota Thunder 2 1 3  
El Paso Patriots 1 1 2  
  Milwaukee Rampage 0 2 2
  Minnesota Thunder 0 1 1  
 
  Milwaukee Rampage (aet) 2
  Richmond Kickers 1
Richmond Kickers 1 2 3  
Atlanta Silverbacks 1 1 2  
  Charleston Battery 2 1 3
  Richmond Kickers 1 3 4  
 
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 1 0 1 (8)
Eastern Conference
  Richmond Kickers (aet) (p) 1 0 1 (9)  
Montreal Impact (aet) (p) 0 1 1 (6)  
Charlotte Eagles 1 0 1 (5)  
  Rochester Raging Rhinos 0 1 1
  Montreal Impact 0 0 0  
 

Playoff first round

Charlotte vs Montreal
Charlotte Eagles (NC)1–0Montreal Impact (QC)
Dwyane Demmin 17' Report  30' Adam Braz
 67' Nevio Pizzolitto
Attendance: 546


Montreal Impact (QC)1–0 (a.e.t.)Charlotte Eagles (NC)
Eduardo Sebrango 36'
Penalties
Patrick Leduc
Giuliano Oliviero
Darko Kolic
Eduardo Sebrango
Gabriel Gervais
Mark Rowland 		6–5 Andy McDermott
Leo Gajardo
Dustin Swinehart
Jamie Wellington
Carlos Calderson
Nathan Watkins
Attendance: 6,883

Montreal advances on penalties after series tied 1–1 on aggregate.

Richmond vs Atlanta
Richmond Kickers (VA)1–1Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)
Peter Luzak  23'
Josh Henderson  86'
Peter Luzak 90'		 Report 36',  88' James Wall
 42' Alan Woods
 56' Jason Annicchero
 86' Jeff Cassar
Attendance: 1,258
Referee: Todd Perry


Atlanta Silverbacks (GA)1–2Richmond Kickers (VA)
Philippe Godoy  10'
Ryan Leib  20'
Jason Annicchero  39'
John Barry Nusum  55', 88'
Gilbert Jean-Baptiste  66'
Byron Mitchell  78'  84'		 Report 8' Josh Henderson
 13' Bryan Namoff
 39' Kevin Knight
45' Kevin Jeffrey
 80' Khary Stockton
Attendance: 351
Referee: Kermit Quisenberry

Richmond advances 3–2 on aggregate.

Minnesota vs El Paso
El Paso Patriots (TX)1–2Minnesota Thunder (MN)
Johnny Frias 7' 25' Johnny Torres
29' Johnny Menyongar
Attendance: 1,270


Minnesota Thunder (MN)1–1El Paso Patriots (TX)
Zafer Kılıçkan 70' 32' (pen.) Jose Abarca
Attendance: 1,567

Minnesota advances 3–2 on aggregate.

Vancouver vs Portland
Portland Timbers (OR)0–1Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Keith Costigan  10'
Fadi Afash  68'
Brent Sancho  69'		 Report 32' Paul Dailly
 43' Chris Franks
 45' Ollie Heald
 68' Nick Dasovic
Attendance: 4,071


Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)1–0Portland Timbers (OR)
Steve Kindel 52' Report
Attendance: 4,060

Vancouver Whitecaps advance 2–0 on aggregate.

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference Semifinal 1
Montreal Impact (QC)0–0Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Eduardo Sebrango  53'
Gabriel Gervais  81'		 Report  22' Kalin Bankov
 30' Bill Sedgwick
Attendance: 6,354


Rochester Rhinos (NY)1–0Montreal Impact (QC)
Yuri Lavrinenko  26'
Bill Sedgwick 62'		 Report  43' Patrice Bernier
Attendance: 10,367

The Rochester Rhinos advanced 1–0 on aggregate.

Eastern Conference Semifinal 2
Charleston Battery (SC)2–1Richmond Kickers (VA)
Justin Evans 63'
Paul Conway 87' (pen.)		 Report 75' Mike Burke
 86' Marco Ferruzzi
Attendance: 2,379
Referee: Daniel Baruk (USA)


Richmond Kickers (VA)3–1Charleston Battery (SC)
Josh Henderson 8'
Kevin Jeffrey 22'
Chris Fox  24'
David Hayes 36'		 Report 4',  45' Mac Cozier
 15' Mark Watson
Attendance: 2,043
Referee: Mike Stutt (USA)

The Richmond Kickers advanced 4–3 on aggregate.

Western Conference Semifinal 1
Minnesota Thunder (MN)0–0Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Mike Gores  42'
Don Gramenz  64'
Steve Shak  82'
Mike Gentile  87'		 Report
Attendance: 1,321


Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–1Minnesota Thunder (MN)
Miguel Saavedra 20'
John Wolyniec 77'		 65' Steve Shak
Milwaukee Rampage Sports Complex, Franklin, Wisconsin
Attendance: 3,579

The Milwaukee Rampage advanced 2–1 on aggregate.

Western Conference Semifinal 2
Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)2–0Seattle Sounders (WA)
Chris Franks  3'
Jason Jordan 44', 90'
Jeff Clarke  47'		 Report  14' Dick McCormick
 78' Viet Nguyen
 79' Leighton O'Brien
Attendance: 5,686
Referee: Steve DePiero (USA)


Seattle Sounders (WA)2–6Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Andrew Gregor  38'
Leighton O'Brien  43'
Kyle Smith 52'
Jason Farrell 60'
Scott Jenkins  61'		 Report  19', 26', 70' (pen.) Ollie Heald
22' Jeff Clarke
39' Steve Kindel
67' Dave Morris
 75' Kevan Cameron
90' Niall Thompson
Attendance: 3,917
Referee: Sandra Hunt (USA)

The Vancouver Whitecaps advanced 8–2 on aggregate.

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference
Richmond Kickers (VA)1–1Rochester Rhinos (NY)
Josh Henderson 49' 28' Lenin Steenkamp
Sports Backers Stadium (Richmond), Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 3,387


Rochester Rhinos (NY)0–0 (a.e.t.)Richmond Kickers (VA)
Penalties
Stoian Mladenov
Carlos Zavala
Yuri Lavrinenko
Temoc Suarez
Tommy Tanner
Bill Sedgewick
Craig Demmin
Lenin Steenkamp
Greg Simmonds 		8–9 Rob Ukrop
Paul Lekics
Ihor Dotsenko
Ray Goodlett
David Hayes
Mike Burke
Tony Williams
Kevin Knight
Ronnie Pascale
Attendance: 10,148

The Richmond Kickers advanced.

Western Conference
Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)0–0Milwaukee Rampage (WI)
Ollie Heald  45' Report
Attendance: 6,056


Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–1 (a.e.t.)Vancouver Whitecaps (BC)
Destin Makumbu  43'
Matt Bobo 56',  101'
Matt Behncke  60'
Bobby Brennan  90'		 Report 59' Niall Thompson
Milwaukee Rampage Sports Complex, Franklin, Wisconsin
Attendance: 3,223

The Milwaukee Rampage advanced.

Final
Milwaukee Rampage (WI)2–1 (a.e.t.)Richmond Kickers (VA)
John Wolyniec 45',  62'
Steve Bernal  58'
David Lara  68'
Siniša Angelovski  106' 		Report  22' Tony Williams
 56'  93' Khary Stockton
59' (pen.) Marco Ferruzzi
 62' Kevin Knight
 96' Josh Henderson
Milwaukee Rampage Sports Complex, Franklin, Wisconsin
Attendance: 6,189

MPV: John Wolyniec

Points leaders
Rank Scorer Club GP Goals Assists Points
1 McKinley Tennyson Portland Timbers 24 18 6 42
Brian Ching Seattle Sounders 25 16 8 42
3 Leighton O'Brien Seattle Sounders 27 13 11 37
4 Fadi Afash Portland Timbers 22 18 0 36
Eduardo Sebrango Montreal Impact 28 18 0 36
6 Paul Conway Charleston Battery 25 13 6 32
7 Johnny Menyongar Minnesota Thunder 25 10 11 31
8 Johnny Torres Minnesota Thunder 23 12 5 29
9 Darren Sawatzky Seattle Sounders 28 9 10 28
10 Dustin Swinehart Charlotte Eagles 27 10 6 26
Digital Takawira Milwaukee Rampage 22 9 8 26
12 Niki Budalic Toronto Lynx 28 12 1 25
John Wolyniec Milwaukee Rampage 26 10 5 25
14 Josh Henderson Richmond Kickers 23 11 2 24
Brian Piesner Atlanta Silverbacks 25 7 10 24

Awards and All A-League Teams

All A-League First Team
F: Brian Ching Seattle Sounders); McKinley Tennyson (Portland Timbers) (Co-Leading Goalscorer); Eduardo Sebrango (Montreal Impact) (Co-Leading Goalscorer)
M: Andrew Gregor (Seattle Sounders); Leighton O'Brien (Seattle Sounders); Brian Piesner (Atlanta Silverbacks); Lenin Steenkamp (Rochester Raging Rhinos)
D: Gabriel Gervais (Montreal Impact); Destin Makumbu (Milwaukee Rampage); Mark Watson (Defender of the Year)
G: Dusty Hudock (Charleston Battery) (Goalkeeper of the Year)
Coach: Brian Schmetzer Seattle Sounders) (Coach of the Year)

All A-League Second Team[2]
F: Fadi Afash (Portland Timbers) (Co-Leading Goalscorer); Josh Henderson (Richmond Kickers); Johnny Menyongar (Minnesota Thunder)
M: Mauro Biello (Montreal Impact); Luis da Gama (El Paso Patriots); Jose Gomez (Charlotte Eagles); Steve Kindel (Vancouver Whitecaps)
D: Craig Demmin (Rochester Raging Rhinos); Linval Dixon (Charleston Battery); Mark Schulte (Minnesota Thunder)
G: Preston Burpo (Seattle Sounders)

References
  1. Litterer, David (February 14, 2010). "United Soccer Leagues Statistical History, Part 4 (2000-2003)". American Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  2. A-League Awards: 2002 Archived 2012-02-12 at the Wayback Machine
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