The Fall 2021 NISA season was the third season of the National Independent Soccer Association's third-division soccer competition. The season took place only during the Fall in order to realign the league's seasons with the calendar year. The league also organized the second edition of its pre-season cup competition, the NISA Independent Cup.
Teams The nine teams that participated in the 2020-21 Spring season all returned. They were joined by expansion club Chicago House AC.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity California United Strikers FC Irvine, California Championship Stadium5,000 Chattanooga FC Chattanooga, Tennessee Finley Stadium 20,668 Chicago House AC Bridgeview, Illinois SeatGeek Stadium 20,000 Detroit City FC Hamtramck, Michigan Keyworth Stadium 7,933 Los Angeles Force Whittier, California Valley High School (Santa Ana, California) Maryland Bobcats FC Boyds, Maryland Maryland SoccerPlex 4,000 Michigan Stars FC Pontiac, Michigan Romeo High School 4,000 New Amsterdam FC Hempstead, New York Hofstra Soccer Stadium1,600 San Diego 1904 FC San Diego, California Canyon Crest Stadium Stumptown AC Matthews, North Carolina Sportsplex at Matthews5,000
Personnel and sponsorship Note: The league has signed a deal with Hummel to be the official kit manufacturer, but it still allows clubs to find their own provider. Team Head coach Captain(s) Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor California United Strikers FC Nike Taco Bell Chattanooga FC Hummel Louisiana Hot Sauce, VfL Wolfsburg Chicago House AC Nike — Detroit City FC Adidas Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Los Angeles Force Xara — Maryland Bobcats FC Phil Nana Kay Banjo Hummel Dog Haus Michigan Stars FC Hummel HTC New Amsterdam FC Daniel Vicente Icarus Fruit Street San Diego 1904 FC Ozzie Ramos Nike Live Up NutritionStumptown AC Franky Martinez HummelOrthoCarolina Healthcare
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentNew Amsterdam FC Stepping downJuly 20Preseason July 20
NISA Independent Cup The NISA Independent Cup will start on July 9. It features seven of the ten NISA clubs, with Michigan Stars FC and Stumptown AC opting not to participate and San Diego 1904 FC withdrawing before the start of the tournament. They will be joined by 28 invited amateur teams and divided geographically into nine regions of four clubs each. Each region will play a single round robin tournament with the team earning the most points in each region declared regional champion. Like last year, there will be no interregional play or national champion.
Participating Clubs + Great Lakes Team League Cleveland SC NPSL Detroit City FC NISA FC Buffalo NPSL Livonia City FC MWPL+ Mid-Atlantic Team League Allentown United FC UPSL Atlantic City FC NPSL Maryland Bobcats FC NISA Steel Pulse FC EPSL+ Midwest Team League Chicago House AC NISA FC Milwaukee Torrent NPSL Med City FC NPSL Union Dubuque FC MWPL
+ New England Team League Lansdowne Yonkers FC EPSL Mass United Rush FC UPSL New Amsterdam FC NISA Newtown Pride FC Connecticut+ Pacific Team League Bay Cities FC None California Victory FC UPSL PDX FC USL2 Space United FC Starfire Sports+ South Central Team League Alexandria PBFC GCPL Lone Star Republic UPSL Louisiana Krewe FC GCPL Texas Spurs FC UPSL
+ Southeast Team League Atletico Atlanta UPSL Chattanooga FC NISA Savannah Clovers FC UPSL Soda City FC UPSL+ Southwest Team League Atletico Olympians UPSL California United Strikers FC NISA FC Arizona NPSL San Diego 1904 FC NISA+ West Coast Team League ASC San Diego NPSL Chula Vista FC SoCal Premier Los Angeles Force NISA MAGIA Futbol Academy SoCal Premier
Great Lakes Region Standings
Results
Mid-Atlantic Region Standings
Results
Midwest Region Standings
Results
New England Region The match between New Amsterdam FC and Lansdowne Yonkers FC was originally scheduled for July 17 and was to be hosted at Hudson Sports Complex in Warwick, New York. However, weather forced the match to be postponed to a later date. The game was played on July 28 but was instead hosted by Lansdowne at Flemings Field in Yonkers, New York. Standings
Results
Pacific Region On July 22, the league announced that California Victory FC had withdrawn from the tournament after playing one match, a 1-1 draw against Bay Cities FC. This result was expunged. Standings
Results
South Central Region Standings
Results
Southeast Region Standings
Results
Southwest Region The Southwest Region is the only region of the Independent Cup that does not consist of four clubs. On July 7, NISA announced on Twitter that 1904 FC had withdrawn from the tournament just 48 hours before the tournament was set to begin. Therefore, the Southwest Region would continue as a three team round-robin.
Standings
Results
West Coast Region Standings
Results
Regular season The Fall season started on August 6, and saw the ten teams play each other twice, in a single-table format. There were no playoffs; the team leading the table at the end of the season was declared champion. The season ended on November 21.
Standings
Results
Player statistics
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Omar NuñoCalifornia United Strikers122 Mayele MalangoNew Amsterdam93 Wojciech WojcikChicago House84 Maxi RodriquezDetroit City75 Olakunle BanjoMaryland Bobcats6 Christian ChaneyLos Angeles Force Molley Karpeh Jr.Maryland Bobcats8 Shavon John-BrownNew Amsterdam5 Leon MaricMichigan Stars Kyle NuelMichigan Stars Connor RutzDetroit City
Top assists Rank Player Club Assists1 Derek HuffmanChattanooga FC4 Steven JuncajMichigan Stars James KasakChattanooga FC4 Drew ConnerChicago House3 Shavon John-BrownNew Amsterdam Felipe Liborio, Jr.California United Strikers Bryan MedinaCalifornia United Strikers Pilawe Patrick PatoMaryland Bobcats Christian ThierjungCalifornia United Strikers Kevin VenegasDetroit City Rhys WilliamsStumptown AC
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Nathan SteinwascherDetroit City92 Tatenda MkuruvaMichigan Stars6 Kevin GonzalezStumptown AC4 Alec RedingtonChattanooga FC55 Brandon GomezLos Angeles Force4 Mike NovotnyChicago House7 Kevin TenjoNew Amsterdam38 Christian CaulkerMaryland Bobcats2 Joel IsyaqMaryland Bobcats10 Jean Gamain AntoineCalifornia United Strikers1 Brandon BarnesChicago House Kifikalani CabreraLos Angeles Force Alfredo Cortez1904 FC Mitch NorthCalifornia United Strikers Sheldon ParkinsonNew Amsterdam
Hat-tricks PlayerClubAgainstResultDate Omar NuñoCalifornia United Strikersat Michigan Stars3–4Aug 7 Olakunle BanjoMaryland Bobcatsat Chicago House2–5Oct 23
Attendance Games without fans reported are not counted in averages or games played.
RankTeam1Detroit City FC96,0763,6892Chattanooga FC92,9161,4203Michigan Stars FC73,7865064Chicago House AC91,4206635California United Strikers FC81,7383456New Amsterdam FC95742787Maryland Bobcats FC93722128Stumptown AC93991649San Diego 1904 FC939316810Los Angeles Force1175175 Total 79 99,374 6,076 164
League awards All-league teams First team Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards Nathan Steinwascher (DET) Stephen Carroll (DET) Nick Spielman (CHT) Devon Amoo-Mensah (MIC) Maxi Rodriguez (DET) Steven Juncaj (MIC) Diego Barrera (LAF) Connor Rutz (DET) Omar Nuño (CAL) Mayele Malango (NAM) Wojciech Wojcik (CHI)
Second team Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards Kevin Gonzalez (STU) Ian Cerro (CHI) Garrett Hogbin (CAL) Matt Lewis (DET) Jimmy Filerman (DET) Edward Benito (SDG) Mohamed Sesay (MAR) Felipe Liborio, Jr. (CAL) Shavon John-Brown (NAM) Olakunle Banjo (MAR) Christian Chaney (LAF)
See also National Independent Soccer Association
References
External links NISA official website