The 1995 A-League season was the sixth A-League season and first after being renamed from the American Professional Soccer League. The A-League was the de facto highest level of U.S. soccer (officially sanctioned U.S. second division) until Major League Soccer commenced the following year.
Overview The league had ended its 1994 season with seven teams and intended to expand to ten for the 1995 season with new franchises in Detroit and Atlanta. These plans were stymied when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Los Angeles Salsa and Toronto Rockets all folded. This left the league with only four teams. The addition of the New York Centaurs and Atlanta Ruckus gave the league six teams and allowed it to compete for another season.
Training camps opened in March and the season began on May 5, 1995, when the Vancouver 86ers defeated the Atlanta Ruckus. By the time the regular season ended on September 10, 1995, the Montreal Impact had topped the chart. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Ruckus. Seattle defeated Vancouver in the first round, then defeated Atlanta in the final to take their first championship.
The league introduced a new scoring system for the regular season. As with previous years, no games ended in a tie. If the score was tied at the end of regulation, a penalty shootout would determine a winner. A win was worth three points, a shootout win two points, a shootout loss one point and a loss zero points.
Regular season
Playoffs
Bracket
Semifinals 1
The Atlanta Ruckus advance to the finals.
Semifinals 2
The Seattle Sounders advance to the finals.
Final
The Seattle Sounders win the A-League title.
Points leaders RankScorerClubGoalsAssistsPoints1 Peter Hattrup Seattle Sounders118302 Paul Dougherty Montreal Impact108283 Lloyd Barker Montreal Impact106264 Chance Fry Seattle Sounders94225 Paul Dailly Vancouver 86ers77216 Giuliano Oliviero Vancouver 86ers 91197 Geoff Aunger Vancouver 86ers 66188 Staale Soebye Atlanta Ruckus73179 Martin NashVancouver 86ers5616 Lenin SteenkampAtlanta Ruckus8016 Jason DunnSeattle Sounders561612 Grant NeedhamMontreal Impact5515 PaulinhoMontreal Impact631514 Jeff HookerColorado Foxes701415 Shawn MedvedSeattle Sounders6113
Honors MVP: Peter Hattrup Leading goal scorer: Peter Hattrup Leading goalkeeper: Marcus Hahnemann Rookie of the Year: Giuliano Oliviero Coach of the Year: Lothar Osiander Defender of the Year: John Doyle Official of the Year: Esfandiar Baharmast First Team All League Goalkeeper: Marcus Hahnemann Defenders: Robin Fraser, John Doyle, Steve Trittschuh Midfielders: Dan Calichman, Paul Dougherty, Geoff Aunger, Peter Hattrup, Giuliano Oliviero Forwards: Lloyd Barker, Staale Soebye
References
External links The Year in American Soccer – 1995 USA – A-League (American Professional Soccer League) (RSSSF)