1998 USISL D-3 Pro League

USISL D-3 Pro League

Season	1998
Champions	Chicago Stingers (1st Title)
Regular Season title	Miami Breakers (1st Title)
Relegated	Central Jersey Riptide Miami Breakers NYCD Alleycats Orlando Nighthawks Vermont Voltage
Best Player	Luis Orellana Chico Rooks
Top goalscorer	Michael Butler Western Mass Pioneers Luis Orellana Chico Rooks (15 Goals Each)
Best goalkeeper	Daniel Britton Roanoke Wrath
← 1997 1999 →

The 1998 USISL D-3 Pro League was the 12th season of third-division soccer in the United States, and was the second season of now-defunct USISL D-3 Pro League. The champions were the Chicago Stingers who beat the New Hampshire Phantoms in the final.

Changes from 1996

Before the season, Western Massachusetts, Northern Virginia, and Pensacola were added. Baltimore became Eastern Shore. Dallas became Texas. Vermont became the Voltage. Miami was promoted from PDSL.

Name Changes

• Vermont Wanderers rebranded as Vermont Voltage
• Baltimore Bays rebranded as Eastern Shore Sharks
• Dallas Toros rebranded as Texas Toros

New Clubs

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
Miami Breakers	South Florida	Miami, FL	promoted from PDSL
Northern Virginia Royals	Northern Virginia	Manassas, VA	expansion
Pensacola Barracudas	Pensacola area	Pensacola, FL	expansion
Western Mass Pioneers	Springfield area	Ludlow, MA	expansion

Folding or Moving

No teams left the league nor folded.

Standings

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rhode Island Stingrays	18	11	0	0	7	39	33	+6	33	USISL Divisional Semifinals
2	New Hampshire Phantoms	18	10	2	0	6	36	24	+12	32
3	Western Mass Pioneers	18	10	0	1	7	45	34	+11	30
4	Cape Cod Crusaders	18	7	0	0	11	23	28	−5	21
5	Vermont Voltage	18	2	1	1	14	15	43	−28	6 [a]	Relegation to the 1999 PDSL

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. 1 point deduction

Mid-Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	South Jersey Barons	18	12	0	2	4	40	20	+20	36	USISL Divisional Semifinals
2	Reading Rage	18	10	0	0	8	41	29	+12	30
3	New Jersey Stallions	18	10	0	1	7	37	24	+13	30
4	Central Jersey Riptide	18	8	3	1	6	33	19	+14	27	USISL Divisional Semifinals and relegation to the 1999 PDSL
5	NYCD Alleycats	18	5	0	0	13	19	36	−17	15	Relegation to the 1999 PDSL

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Delaware Wizards	18	13	1	2	2	43	16	+27	40	USISL Divisional Finals
2	Myrtle Beach Seadawgs	18	12	1	0	5	42	26	+16	37
3	Charlotte Eagles	18	10	1	1	6	47	31	+16	31	USISL Divisional Semifinals
4	Roanoke Wrath	18	10	0	2	6	36	19	+17	30
5	South Carolina Shamrocks	18	8	1	1	8	34	32	+2	25
6	Wilmington Hammerheads	18	8	0	0	10	33	34	−1	24
7	Northern Virginia Royals	18	5	1	0	12	28	46	−18	16
8	Eastern Shore Sharks	18	0	0	0	18	16	90	−74	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Southeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Miami Breakers	18	17	0	0	1	67	21	+46	51
2	Orlando Nighthawks	18	12	0	0	6	62	33	+29	36
3	Southwest Florida Manatees	18	8	0	1	9	34	57	−23	24
4	Pensacola Barracudas	18	4	1	1	12	21	57	−36	13
5	Tallahassee Tempest	18	2	0	0	16	12	41	−29	6

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

North Central Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Indiana Blast	18	15	0	0	3	57	24	+33	45
2	Chicago Stingers	18	13	0	1	4	37	16	+21	39
3	Rockford Raptors	28	9	1	2	16	31	25	+6	28
4	Cleveland Caps	18	9	1	0	8	33	41	−8	28

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

South Central Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Austin Lone Stars	18	13	0	1	4	46	20	+26	39
2	Texas Toros	18	12	1	0	5	44	24	+20	37
3	San Antonio Pumas	17	7	0	0	10	26	44	−18	21
4	Tulsa Roughnecks	18	6	1	0	11	33	44	−11	16 [a]
5	Houston Hurricanes	17	4	2	2	9	25	36	−11	14
6	Shreveport/Bossier Lions	18	4	0	0	14	24	50	−26	6 [b]

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Notes:

1. 3 point deduction
2. 6 point deduction

West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	SW	SL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Arizona Sahuaros	18	14	0	0	4	67	28	+39	42
2	Chico Rooks	18	10	1	2	5	39	28	+11	31
3	Stanislaus County Cruisers	18	12	1	0	5	51	25	+26	37
4	Los Angeles Fireballs	18	5	1	1	11	21	37	−16	16
5	San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles	18	5	0	1	12	29	51	−22	15
6	Reno Rattlers	18	3	1	0	14	23	52	−29	10

Source: ^[1]

Playoffs

Divisional Semifinals

Higher seed/home team on the left.

August 1, 1998

Texas Toros	3–4 (OT)	San Antonio Pumas
		Martin Evans

Old Panther Field , Duncanville, Texas

August 1, 1998

Austin Lone Stars	4–2	Houston Hurricanes
Bryan Pearce 38' Kerwin Johnson 26:45', 62:34' Judd Willmann 77:20'		52:05', 62:34' Gustavo Gongora

House Park , Austin, Texas

August 14, 1998

7:30 PM

Roanoke Wrath	5–2	South Carolina Shamrocks
Ian Spooner 45' Patrick McSorley 45' Joseph McGowan		28' Jerome Lee-Yaw Adel LePal

Victory Stadium , Roanoke, Virginia

August 14, 1998

Chicago Stingers	3–0	Rockford Raptors
Mike Dunne 37' Matt Hamnett 84', 90'	Report

Forest View Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois

August 15, 1998

7:00 PM

Rhode Island Stingrays	5–2	Cape Cod Crusaders
Jose DaSilva  8' Paulo Dos Santos 14' 54' Emanuel Brito  29' Mark Manganelo 55', 87' Bjorn Hansen 63' Paul deCastro  83' Centeno 89'	Report	Jeff Doyle 6', 72' Enzo Silva  25' Kenneth Risley  73'

Pierce Memorial Field , East Providence, Rhode Island

Attendance: 600

August 15, 1998

New Hampshire Phantoms	2–1 (OT) (a.e.t.)	Western Mass Pioneers
Ron Murphy 29' Marcelo Tapia 92'	Report 1 Report 2	7' Chris Legowski

Singer Family Park, Manchester, New Hampshire

Attendance: 2000+ or 1,002

Referee: Chip Reid

August 15, 1998

5:00 PM

South Jersey Barons	2–3 (OT) (a.e.t.)	Central Jersey Riptide
Michael Payne 2', 50' Matt Miles	Report	55', 90' (pen.) Gerson Echeverry 92:20' Nansha Kalonji

Carey Stadium , Ocean City, New Jersey

Attendance: 1,168

Referee: Matt Lawlor

August 15, 1998

Charlotte Eagles	4–0	Wilmington Hammerheads
Ryan Leib 9' Jon Payne 42' Jamie Wellington 49' Jason Webb	Report

Richardson Stadium , Davidson, North Carolina

August 15, 1998

Orlando Nighthawks	6–2	Southwest Florida Manatees
Jody DeBruin 68:47', 70:08' Steve Freeman 84:38' (pen.), 86:42' (pen.) David Mackey 87:40' Matthew Froehle 89:48'	Report	26:40' Neal Wolfrath 89:23' (pen.) Mendez

Edgewater H.S. Stadium , Orlando, Florida

August 15, 1998

Arizona Sahuaros	3–0	Los Angeles Fireballs
Aaron Muth 47' Harold Calvo 75' Kenny Wright 79'	Report

Scottsdale Stadium , Scottsdale, Arizona

Attendance: 1,723

August 15, 1998

Stanislaus County Cruisers	3–2	Chico Rooks
Curt Cox 49' Joe Owen 66' Marek Nowacki 79' Mike Pepe		22'  Jojo Stuart 59' Felipe Ternero 76' Joel Hurd

Central Catholic High School , Modesto, California

Attendance: 2,140

August 16, 1998

Reading Rage	5–2	New Jersey Stallions
Steve Thomas 45', 89:50' Brent Fenstermacher 51' George Crampton 80' Drew Kauffmann 86'		18' Peter Villegas 78' Carlos Vasco

Fleetwood H.S. Stadium , Fleetwood, Pennsylvania

Division Finals

• Austin defeated Texas 1-0
• Charlotte defeated Myrtle Beach, 8-3
• Delaware defeated Roanoke, 2-1
• New Hampshire defeated Rhode Island, 3-2
• Chicago defeated Indiana, 3-0
• Central Jersey defeated Reading, 3-0
• Arizona defeated Stanislaus County 2-1

South Central Division Final

August 8, 1998

7:30 PM

Austin Lone Stars	1–0	Texas Toros
Gabe Jones 79'	Report

House Park , Austin, Texas

---

Atlantic Division Final 1

August 20, 1998

7:30 PM

Myrtle Beach Seadawgs	3–8	Charlotte Eagles
Ryan Walker 45' Jeremy Eason 60:50', 63'	Report	35', 53', 53', 75' Jamie Wellington 39', 60' Jon Payne 39' Dustin Swincharr 79:30' Jeremy Sorzano

Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium , Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

---

North Central Division Final

August 21, 1998

7:30 PM CDT

Indiana Blast	0–3	Chicago Stingers
	Report	43:35' Joe Carver 68:50' Michael Richardson 83:50' Jason Acres

Kuntz Stadium , Indianapolis, Indiana

Attendance: 3,218

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Southeast Division Final

August 22, 1998

7:30 PM

Miami Breakers	0–1	Orlando Nighthawks
Ted Storm  1'  33'	Report	82' Matthew Froehle  89' Elsherbini

Flamingo Park Memorial Stadium , Miami Beach, Florida

---

Mid-Atlantic Division Final

August 22, 1998

7:30 PM

Reading Rage	0–3	Central Jersey Riptide
	Report 1 Report 2	0:45', 71' Gerson Echeverry 68' Nansha Kalonji

Central Catholic High School Stadium , Reading, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 2,016

---

Atlantic Division Final 2

August 22, 1998

7:30 PM

Delaware Wizards	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Roanoke Wrath
Josh Quinter 86'	Report	74' Grayson Prillaman
Penalties
Tarik Walker Todd Hicks Raul Ovalle	3–2	Patrick McSorley

Randy White Alumni Field , New Castle, Delaware

Attendance: 1,000+

Referee: Craig Lowery

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Northeast Division Final

August 22, 1998

7:30 PM

Rhode Island Stingrays	2–3	New Hampshire Phantoms
Javier Centeno  22' Mark Manganello  38' David Demello  48' Jose DaSilva  52' Bjørn Hansen 74' Cecilio Rodrigues 78'	Report	19' Keiran O'Brien  38' James DeDeus 41' 46' Ron Murphy 58' Richard Fleming 72' Marcelo Tapia

Pierce Memorial Field , East Providence, Rhode Island

Attendance: 2,135

Referee: Ed Resendes

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West Division Final

August 22, 1998

7:30 PM

Arizona Sahuaros	2–1	Stanislaus County Cruisers
Alex Pogman 59' Harold Calvo 85'	Report	79' Kurt Cox

Scottsdale Stadium , Scottsdale, Arizona

Attendance: 1,000

Quarterfinals/Regional Finals

• New Hampshire defeated Central Jersey, 3-0
• Chicago defeated Delaware 1-0
• Orlando defeated Charlotte, 3-2
• Austin defeated Arizona 1-0

August 28, 1998

Arizona Sahuaros	0–1	Austin Lone Stars
		65' Gabe Jones

Scottsdale Stadium , Scottsdale, Arizona

---

August 29, 1998

4:30 PM

Chicago Stingers	1–0	Delaware Wizards
Joe Carver 59'	Report

Forest View Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois

Attendance: 2,029

---

August 29, 1998

5:30 PM

Charlotte Eagles	2–3 (OT)	Orlando Nighthawks
Jamie Wellington 13', 62'	Report	19' Rod Levy 92' Matthew Froehle

Richardson Stadium , Davidson, North Carolina

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East Regional Final

August 29, 1998

7:30 PM

New Hampshire Phantoms	3–0	Central Jersey Riptide
Willy Schweitzer  4' Marcelo Tapia 20' Joe Ogbunamiri 42' (pen.) 68' Thomas Dempsey  78' Rich Fleming  86' Jamie Williams 87'	Report

Owl Stadium, Keene, New Hampshire

Attendance: 3,185 ^[2]

Referee: Richard Eddy

Semifinals

• Chicago defeated Orlando, 2-0
• New Hampshire defeated Austin, 3-2 (OT)

September 12, 1998

5:30 PM CDT

Chicago Stingers	2–0	Orlando Nighthawks
Mike Richardson 70' Max Stoka 89'	Report	9' Frank Bresk

Del Valle Stadium, Del Valle, Texas

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September 12, 1998

8:00 PM CDT

Austin Lone Stars	2–3 (OT)	New Hampshire Phantoms
Bryan Pearce  21' Gabe Jones  31' Judd Willmann 36' David Gilliam  44'  77' Michael 'Scott' Champ  61' Dennis Bryan  65' Kerwin Johnson 79'	Report 1 Report 2	2:34' Rich Fleming  6' Liam Lochhead  31'  83' Thomas Dempsey  34' Willy Schweitzer  36' Suleyman Doenmez 63' (pen.) Joel Ogbunamiri 99:49' Jamie Williams

Del Valle Stadium, Del Valle, Texas

Attendance: 1,763 ^[3]

Referee: Shane Moody

Championship

Chicago defeated New Hampshire, 3-2 (OT)

Third Place Match

September 13, 1998

4:30 PM CDT

Austin Lone Stars	2–3	Orlando Nighthawks
Kerwin Johnson 19' Judd Willman 70'	Report	25' Robin Chan 53', 75' Jose DeOlivera

Del Valle Stadium, Del Valle, Texas

Attendance: 863

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USISL D-3 Pro League Championship Game

September 13, 1998

7:00 PM CDT

Chicago Stingers	3–2 (OT)	New Hampshire Phantoms
Matt Hamnett 49'94' Chuck Codd 71' Iain Williams  91'	Report 1 Report 2	2' Marcelo Tavilo Tapia 10' 49' Ron Murphy  48' Joel Ogbunamiri  82' Thomas Dempsey

Del Valle Stadium, Del Valle, Texas

Attendance: 897 ^[4]

Referee: Misail Tsapos

Honors

• Organization of the Year: ^[5] Indiana Blast
• Executive of the Year: Gary Mack, Stanislaus County Cruisers
• Fair Play Award: Charlotte Eagles

References

Footnotes

A ^ : Deducted one point due to fielding ineligible players. ^[6]

General References

1. United Soccer Leagues (RSSSF)
2. "1998 New Hampshire Phantoms Schedule". New Hampshire Soccer. Archived from the original on February 10, 1999. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
3. "1998 New Hampshire Phantoms Schedule". New Hampshire Soccer. Archived from the original on February 10, 1999. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
4. "1998 New Hampshire Phantoms Schedule". New Hampshire Soccer. Archived from the original on February 10, 1999. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
5. "Blast Named Organization of the Year". Indiana Blast. November 13, 1998. Archived from the original on February 2, 1999. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
6. "The Year in American Soccer, 1998: USISL D3-Pro League (Division 3)". The American Soccer History Archives. April 11, 2010. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2011.