1996 New York/New Jersey MetroStars season

New York/New Jersey MetroStars
1996 season
Chairman	John Kluge ; Stuart Subotnick
Manager	Eddie Firmani (until May 24); Carlos Queiroz (after May 28)
MLS	Conference: 3rd; Overall: 7th
MLS Cup Playoffs	Conference Semifinals
Top goalscorer	League: Giovanni Savarese (14); All: Giovanni Savarese (14)
Home colors	Away colors
	1997 →

Last updated August 04, 2025

The 1996 season was the first season in New York/New Jersey MetroStars's existence, in the first season of American Major League Soccer. They played their home games at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The team played 38 matches in the season including 35 Major League Soccer games and 3 friendlies. Eddie Firmani coached the team for their first eight games before being replaced by Carlos Queiroz.^[1]

Players

These totals come from 32 league matches and 3 playoff played in 1996. Only displaying players who capped 5 games or more.

Player	Position	GP (GS)	Minutes	Goals	Assists
Rhett Harty	Defender	34 (34)	2845	1	1
Peter Vermes	Midfielder	33 (33)	2970	1	1
Tony Meola	Goalkeeper	32 (32)	2880	0	0
Giovanni Savarese	Striker	29 (16)	1702	14	1
Tab Ramos	Midfielder	28 (28)	2428	3	10
Nicola Caricola	Defender	28 (28)	2357	2	0
Miles Joseph	Midfielder	27 (26)	2197	4	5
Jeff Zaun	Defender	24 (22)	1795	0	0
Matt Knowles	Midfielder	24 (17)	1767	0	0
A.J. Wood	Striker	23 (15)	1232	5	2
Cristian da Silva	Midfielder	22 (13)	1268	0	0
Rob Johnson	Striker	21 (12)	1236	4	3
Roberto Donadoni	Midfielder	20 (20)	1800	3	10
Damian Silvera	Midfielder	17 (9)	953	0	1
Chris Unger	Midfielder	16 (12)	1029	1	1
Ted Gillen	Defender	16 (10)	852	0	0
Antony de Ávila	Striker	11 (10)	920	8	3
Mickey Kydes	Midfielder	11 (7)	556	0	0
Edmundo Rodriguez	Striker	11 (5)	473	0	1
Rubén Darío Hernández	Striker	10 (9)	836	0	3
Kieron O'Brien	Midfielder	8 (4)	311	1	1
Manny Lagos	Midfielder	6 (6)	483	0	2
Andrew Restrepo	Defender	5 (4)	343	0	0
Chris Brauchle	Midfielder	5 (3)	323	0	0

Source:^[2]

Results

Regular season

April 13, 1996 (1996-04-13)1	Los Angeles Galaxy	2–1	MetroStars	Pasadena, California
	Jones 37' Armas 38' Noamouz 56'	Report	Kydes 14' Silvera 75' Savarese 77'	Stadium: Rose Bowl Attendance: 69,255 Referee: Brian Hall

April 20, 1996 (1996-04-20)2	MetroStars	0–1	New England Revolution	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Harty 48' Vermes 58'	Report	Burns 79' Caricola 87' (o.g.)	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 46,826 Referee: Raul Dominguez

April 27, 1996 (1996-04-27)3	MetroStars	0–2	Columbus Crew	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Knowles 33' Zaun 44' Vermes 58'	Report	Bliss 13', 15' Thompson 87'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 26,416 Referee: Zimmerman Boulos

May 4, 1996 (1996-05-04)4	MetroStars	3–3 (2–1 SO)	Tampa Bay Mutiny	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Kydes 46' Kooiman 72' (o.g.) Savarese 73', 75'	Report	Viera 51', 58' Valderrama 53' (pen.) Lassiter 83'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 38,621 Referee: Esse Baharmast
	Shootout
	Vermes Hernández Savarese Ramos		Vásquez Pittman Valderrama Lassiter McKinley

May 12, 1996 (1996-05-12)5	D.C. United	1–1 (1–2 SO)	MetroStars	Washington, D.C.
	Harkes 11' Huwiler 24' Peay 36'	Report	Restrepo 21' Ramos 36' 77' Knowles 52' Savarese 64'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 14,722 Referee: Kevin Stott
	Shootout
	Agoos Medved Crawley Díaz Arce Harkes		Savarese Vermes Caricola Hernandez Donadoni

May 16, 1996 (1996-05-16)6	MetroStars	3–0	Colorado Rapids	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Savarese 11', 30', 75' Joseph 41' Harty 62'	Report	Butterworth 16' Harbor 17'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 14,121 Referee: Raul Dominguez

May 19, 1996 (1996-05-19)7	New England Revolution	2–0	MetroStars	Foxborough, Massachusetts
	Ukrop 4' Naveda 9' Paul Keegan 18', 86' Wélton 26' Aunger 36'	Report	Caricola 46' Harty 88'	Stadium: Foxboro Stadium Attendance: 20,131 Referee: Arturo Angeles

May 22, 1996 (1996-05-22)8	Kansas City Wiz	2–1	MetroStars	Kansas City, Missouri
	Prampin 82' Preki 87'	Report	Caricola 21' Savarese 26' da Silva 43' Ramos 56' Vermes 70'	Stadium: Arrowhead Stadium Attendance: 8,916 Referee: Ali Saheli

May 30, 1996 (1996-05-30)9	MetroStars	1–2	D.C. United	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Kydes 26' Wood 27' Knowles 45'	Report	Rammel 19' Gori 23' Sanneh 32' Williams 38'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 25,322 Referee: Zimmerman Boulos

June 2, 1996 (1996-06-02)10	Dallas Burn	0–1	MetroStars	Dallas, Texas
	Rodriguez 66' 67'	Report	Vermes 60' Wood 62'	Stadium: Cotton Bowl Attendance: 10,610 Referee: Kevin Terry

June 9, 1996 (1996-06-09)11	MetroStars	0–4	Los Angeles Galaxy	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Caricola 65' Knowles 80'	Report	Hurtado 14', 26', 81' (pen.) Razov 86'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 53,250 Referee: Kevin Terry

June 16, 1996 (1996-06-16)12	MetroStars	0–1	San Jose Clash	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Baba 4' Vermes 26'	Report	Baicher 14' Iroha 58'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 18,404 Referee: Kevin Stott

June 19, 1996 (1996-06-19)13	MetroStars	0–0 (2–0 SO)	Dallas Burn	East Rutherford, New Jersey
		Report	Álvarez 33' Lozzano 50'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 14,322 Referee: Esse Baharmast
	Shootout
	Knowles Lagos Joseph		Haynes Lozzano Santel Soñora

June 26, 1996 (1996-06-26)14	MetroStars	2–0	Kansas City Wiz	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Savarese 50' Ramos 52'	Report	Gutiérrez 30'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 16,103 Referee: Ruben Rodhas

June 30, 1996 (1996-06-30)15	Columbus Crew	0–4	MetroStars	Columbus, Ohio
	Cozier 70'	Report	Caricola 23' Ramos 27', 79' Vermes 29' Harty 41' Savarese 76' Unger 90'	Stadium: Ohio Stadium Attendance: 17,261 Referee: Rich Grady

July 4, 1996 (1996-07-04)16	Colorado Rapids	2–1	MetroStars	Denver, Colorado
	Kinnear 61' Caricola 68' (o.g.) Trittschuh 83'	Report	Ramos 58'	Stadium: Mile High Stadium Attendance: 20,117 Referee: Esse Baharmast

July 10, 1996 (1996-07-10)17	MetroStars	3–2	Dallas Burn	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Harty 32' Caricola 35' Savarese 48', 77' Johnson 49' Ramos 53' Meola 63'	Report	Álvarez 32', 63' (pen.) Kreis 65' Sánchez 66', 90'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 17,416 Referee: Ruben Rodhas

July 21, 1996 (1996-07-21)18	Los Angeles Galaxy	3–0	MetroStars	Pasadena, California
	Vanney 22' Motajo 24' Hurtado 33' Cienfuegos 58', 71' Karapetyan 65'	Report	Ramos 7' Caricola 51'	Stadium: Rose Bowl Attendance: 17,137 Referee: Tim Weyland

July 24, 1996 (1996-07-24)19	San Jose Clash	0–1	MetroStars	San Jose, California
	Rodas 29'	Report	Zaun 12' Johnson 29'	Stadium: Spartan Stadium Attendance: 15,096 Referee: Kevin Stott

July 28, 1996 (1996-07-28)20	MetroStars	4–1	San Jose Clash	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Savarese 31' Johnson 36' Caricola 38' Vermes 51' Wood 80' Harty 88'	Report	Emenalo 9' Wynalda 39' (pen.) Doyle 42' Lewis 81'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 21,212 Referee: Rich Grady

August 3, 1996 (1996-08-03)21	New England Revolution	1–1 (3–2 SO)	MetroStars	Foxborough, Massachusetts
	Moore 42' Naveda 64' Wylie 79'	Report	Ramos 38' Zaun 39' Donadoni 52', 54' Johnson 60' Joseph 72'	Stadium: Foxboro Stadium Attendance: 20,162 Referee: Arturo Angeles
	Shootout
	Moore Aunger Naveda Sawatzky		Joseph Knowles Donadoni Wood Vermes

August 11, 1996 (1996-08-11)22	Colorado Rapids	0–2	MetroStars	Denver, Colorado
	Bartlett 88'	Report	Donadoni 14' Zaun 15' Joseph 34'	Stadium: Mile High Stadium Attendance: 8,880 Referee: Esse Baharmast

August 14, 1996 (1996-08-14)23	MetroStars	4–0	New England Revolution	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Wood 12' Johnson 17', 73' Ramos 55' de Ávila 81'	Report	Lips 38' Naveda 55'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 20,711 Referee: Joshua Patlak

August 17, 1996 (1996-08-17)24	Tampa Bay Mutiny	3–1	MetroStars	Tampa, Florida
	Lassiter 13', 36' Kooiman 24'	Report	Knowles 23' Joseph 64' Donadoni 67' (pen.)	Stadium: Houlihan's Stadium Referee: Frank Gorog

August 21, 1996 (1996-08-21)25	MetroStars	2–3	D.C. United	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	de Avila 26', 65' Ramos 36' Harty 48' Zaun 56'	Report	Agoos 27' Williams 34' Etcheverry 45', 79' Díaz Arce 56', 77' Pope 59'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 20,416 Referee: Arturo Angeles

September 1, 1996 (1996-09-01)26	Kansas City Wiz	2–2 (3–1 SO)	MetroStars	Kansas City, Missouri
	Silvera 70' (o.g.) Takawira 76'	Report	Hennessy 15' Wood 45' Ramos 83'	Stadium: Arrowhead Stadium Attendance: 11,139 Referee: Steve Olson
	Shootout
	Chung Johnston Preki Sorber		Ramos Harty Donadoni Wood

September 4, 1996 (1996-09-04)27	MetroStars	0–2	Tampa Bay Mutiny	East Rutherford, New Jersey
		Report	Hejduk 6' Dougherty 76' Lassiter 80'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 16,102 Referee: Tim Weyland

September 6, 1996 (1996-09-06)28	D.C. United	1–2	Metrostars	Washington, D.C.
	Sanneh 17', 50' Agoos 31' Rammel 88'	Report	Vermes 13' de Ávila 18', 76' Joseph 30' Caricola 37' da Silva 45'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 8,053 Referee: Zimmerman Boulos

September 10, 1996 (1996-09-10)29	MetroStars	3–1	Los Angeles Galaxy	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Ramos 9' Joseph 23', 35' Harty 33' de Ávila 56'	Report	Onalfo 15' Moyajo 38' Vanney 60'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 19,111 Referee: Esse Baharmast

September 15, 1996 (1996-09-15)30	Columbus Crew	2–0	MetroStars	Columbus, Ohio
	McBride 3' Carrera 14' Yeagley 34'	Report	Caricola 6' Vermes 21'	Stadium: Ohio Stadium Attendance: 31,550 Referee: Robert Sheker

September 18, 1996 (1996-09-18)31	MetroStars	1–0	Columbus Crew	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	de Ávila 9' Ramos 82' Silvera 84'	Report	Iribarren 44' Warzycha 63'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 14,007 Referee: Kevin Terry

September 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)32	Tampa Bay Mutiny	4–1	MetroStars	Tampa, Florida
	Lassiter 11', 30' Diffley 56' Viera 57' Galderisi 75'	Report	da Silva 49' 68'	Stadium: Houlihan's Stadium Attendance: 11,145 Referee: Frank Gorog

Playoffs

Conference semifinals

September 24, 1996 (1996-09-24)Game 1	MetroStars	2–2 (6–5 SO)	D.C. United	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	de Ávila 38' Savarese 75'	Report	Díaz Arce 24' Williams 44' Moreno 56'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Attendance: 14,416 Referee: Esse Baharmast
	Shootout
	de Ávila Donadoni Ramos Joseph Knowles Silvera Savarese Zaun Meola Johnson Vermes		Agoos Etcheverry Moreno Díaz Arce Sanneh Harkes Gori Williams Peay Pope Causey

September 27, 1996 (1996-09-27)Game 2	D.C. United	1–0	MetroStars	Washington, D.C.
	Etcheverry 5', 72' Moreno 89'	Report	Zaun 47' Caricola 62'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 21,442 Referee: Paul Tamberino

October 2, 1996 (1996-10-02)Game 3	D.C. United	2–1	MetroStars	Washington, D.C.
	Peay 61' Rammel 67' Díaz Arce 89' (pen.)	Report	Caricola 38' Joseph 57' de Ávila 86' Meola 89'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 20,423 Referee: Brian Hall

Friendlies

Win Draw Loss

Date	Home	Away	Score	Metro Goal(s)
May 24	MetroStars	Fiorentina	0–4
June 5	MetroStars	Sporting CP	1–1	Wood
November 15	Pennsylvania Natives	MetroStars	1–2	Savarese 2

Source:^[3]

Final standings

Place	Eastern Conference	P	W	(so)	L	(so)	F	A	GD	Points
1	Tampa Bay Mutiny	32	20	(1)	12	(3)	66	51	+15	58
2	D.C. United	32	16	(1)	16	(3)	62	56	+6	46
3	NY/NJ MetroStars	32	15	(3)	17	(2)	45	47	-2	39
4	Columbus Crew	32	15	(4)	17	(5)	59	60	-1	37
5	New England Revolution	32	15	(6)	17	(2)	43	56	-13	33
Place	Western Conference	P	W	(so)	L	(so)	F	A	GD	Points
1	Los Angeles Galaxy	32	19	(4)	13	(4)	59	49	+10	49
2	Dallas Burn	32	17	(5)	15	(3)	50	48	+2	41
3	Kansas City Wiz	32	17	(5)	15	(2)	61	63	-2	41
4	San Jose Clash	32	15	(3)	17	(6)	50	50	0	39
5	Colorado Rapids	32	11	(2)	21	(4)	44	59	-15	29