1997–98 National Professional Soccer League season

National Professional Soccer League
Season1997–98
ChampionsMilwaukee Wave
Matches played260
Top goalscorerHector Marinaro (87)
Highest attendance18,197
Philadelphia at Milwaukee
(March 13)
Average attendance6,369

The 1997–98 National Professional Soccer League season was the fourteenth season for the league. Also marks the twentieth season of professional Division 1 indoor soccer.

League standings

American Conference

East Division

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD PCT GB
1 Philadelphia KiXX 40 26 14 569 484 +85 .650
2 Harrisburg Heat 40 21 19 530 518 +12 .525 5
3 Baltimore Spirit 40 12 28 487 569 −82 .300 14
Source: RSSSF

Central Division

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD PCT GB
1 Milwaukee Wave 40 28 12 593 486 +107 .700
2 Cleveland Crunch 40 21 19 627 612 +15 .525 7
3 Cincinnati Silverbacks 40 15 25 563 604 −41 .375 13
Source: RSSSF

National Conference

North Division

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD PCT GB
1 Buffalo Blizzard 40 21 19 495 504 −9 .525
2 Edmonton Drillers 40 18 22 428 418 +10 .450 3
3 Montreal Impact 40 16 24 455 518 −63 .400 5
4 Detroit Rockers 40 13 27 464 571 −107 .325 8
Source: RSSSF

Midwest Division

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD PCT GB
1 St. Louis Ambush 40 27 13 625 513 +112 .675
2 Wichita Wings 40 22 18 575 559 +16 .550 5
3 Kansas City Attack 40 20 20 442 497 −55 .500 7
Source: RSSSF

Playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals Conference Semifinals Conference Finals Championship
A1 Milwaukee Wave 19 18
A4 Harrisburg Heat 14 5 18 A4 Harrisburg Heat 4 11
A5 Cincinnati Silverbacks 12 27 13 American ConferenceA1 Milwaukee Wave 7 19 12 16
A2 Philadelphia KiXX 9 5 3 10
A2 Philadelphia KiXX 10 29
A3 Cleveland Crunch 4 27
A1 Milwaukee Wave 16 18 17 8 21
N1 St. Louis Ambush 14 10 14 12 10
N1 St. Louis Ambush 17 18
N4 Kansas City Attack 8 14 N4 Kansas City Attack 8 15
N5 Edmonton Drillers 4 8 National ConferenceN1 St. Louis Ambush 17 10 14 19
N3 Wichita Wings 9 8 21 11
N2 Buffalo Blizzard 16 14
N3 Wichita Wings 19 15

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Hector Marinaro Cleveland 36 87 43 212
Zoran Karić Cleveland 35 62 91 206
Gino DiFlorio Cincinnati 40 67 48 177
Joe Reiniger St. Louis 39 61 39 164
Bernie Lilavois Cincinnati 40 66 24 150
Bojan Vučković Baltimore 32 60 38 148
Michael King Milwaukee 40 52 35 139
Rudy Pikuzinski Buffalo 38 53 38 139
Kevin Sloan Philadelphia 36 57 23 131
Franklin McIntosh St. Louis 34 38 55 127

League awards

All-NPSL Teams

First Team   Position   Second Team Third Team
Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee G Scott Hileman, Edmonton Pete Pappas, Philadelphia
Daryl Doran, St. Louis D Wes Wade, Kansas City Richard Chinapoo, Harrisburg
Matt Knowles, Philadelphia D Omid Namazi, Philadelphia Randy Prescott, Detroit

Todd Rattee, Edmonton

Zoran Karić, Cleveland M Gino DiFlorio, Cincinnati Kevin Sloan, Philadelphia
Hector Marinaro, Cleveland F Michael King, Milwaukee Bojan Vučković, Baltimore
Joe Reiniger, St Louis F Erik Rasmussen, Wichita Rudy Pikuzinski, Buffalo

All-NPSL Rookie Teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Kevin Zimmerman, Kansas City G Paul Shepherd, Edmonton
Kyle Swords, Harrisburg D Bo Simic, Cleveland
Chris Jahr, Milwaukee D O'Neil Brown, Edmonton
Garret Kusch, Wichita M Kyle Bosch, Edmonton
Shawn Beyer, Kansas City F Matt Tirschman, Baltimore
Travis Roy, Detroit F Shawn Boney, Cleveland

References