1995 USWISL season

The 1995 USWISL, also known as the 1995 Nike W League for sponsorship reasons,[1][2][3] was the inaugural season of the United States Women's Interregional Soccer League (USWISL), which later became the USL W-League. Operated by the USISL, it was the highest division of women's soccer in the United States at the time.[4] The Long Island Lady Riders were crowned champions after defeating the Southern California Nitemares in the Championship game.[4]

USL W-League
Season1995
ChampionsLong Island Lady Riders
(1st title)
Matches played157
Goals scored327 (2.08 per match)
Top goalscorerCharmaine Hooper
(31 goals)
1996 →

Background

In December 1993, it was announced that the USISL had committed to establishing the first US-wide women's soccer league, and that it would begin operations in 1995.[5] In 1994, in preparation for the following year, around eighteen teams were established with the purpose of playing a few exhibition games with each other under the USISL umbrella. Five of these teams were then invited to a final tournament in Trinity, North Carolina, which was won by the Sacramento Storm, who defeated the Greensboro Dynamo 1–0 in the Championship game.[5]

The league was originally meant to include 20 teams,[1] but only 19 entered the competition; moreover, the Wichita Lady Blues and the Tulsa Roughnecks folded early in the year, thus bringing the number of competing teams down to 17, divided into three divisions (Eastern, Central, and Western).[4][3]

Competition format

The league did not follow the standard FIFA points system; instead, points were awarded as follows:[4]

  • Regulation win (W) = 6 points
  • Shootout win (SW) = 4 points
  • Shootout loss (SL) = 2 points
  • Regulation loss (L) = 0 points
  • Bonus points (BP): An additional one point per goal, up to a maximum of three points per game.

League standings

Eastern Division
Pos[4] Team Pld W L SW SL GF GA GD Pts BP
1 Long Island Lady Riders (C) 10 9 1 1 0 30 11 +19 78 26
2 Pennsylvania Freedom 10 7 3 1 1 11 10 +1 53 11
3 Connecticut Lady Wolves 10 6 4 1 1 16 16 0 52 16
4 Mass Bay Crusaders 10 6 4 2 1 20 14 +6 49 15
5 Boston Tornado 10 4 6 0 2 16 17 −1 44 16
6 Baltimore Lady Bays 9 4 5 0 0 16 14 +2 37 13
7 Hampton Roads Piranhas 9 0 6 0 0 7 26 −19 7 7
8 Rhode Island Stingrays 9 0 9 0 0 2 22 −20 2 2

Central Division
Pos[4] Team Pld W L SW SL GF GA GD Pts BP
1 Rockford Dactyls 9 8 1 0 0 38 5 +33 72 24
2 Texas Lightning 8 6 2 0 0 31 12 +19 56 20
3 Columbus Ziggx 9 5 4 0 0 22 26 −4 49 19
4 Cincinnati Leopards 10 5 5 0 0 24 26 −2 47 17
5 Tulsa Roughnecks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Wichita Lady Blues 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Western Division
Pos[4] Team Pld W L SW SL GF GA GD Pts BP
1 Southern California Nitemares 9 7 2 0 0 31 12 +19 64 22
2 San Francisco Vikings 9 7 2 0 0 20 12 +8 62 20
3 Sacramento Storm 9 5 4 0 0 22 17 +5 49 17
4 San Diego Lady Top Guns 9 2 7 0 1 16 20 −4 24 10
5 Arizona Heatwave 8 2 6 1 0 5 25 −20 15 5

Sizzlin' Six Tournament

The Sizzlin' Six Tournament took place in Cincinnati, Ohio from August 11 to August 13, 1995. The Cincinnati Leopards qualified automatically as the hosts of the tournament. Having won their respective divisions, the Long Island Lady Riders (Eastern), the Rockford Dactyls (Central), and the Southern California Nitemares (Western) also qualified for the tournament. The Pennsylvania Freedom and the Texas Lightning, who finished second in the Eastern and Central divisions respectively, took the remaining two spots.[3]

The six qualified teams played in a modified round-robin tournament, with each team playing games on August 11 and 12 against two non-division opponents. The Championship game was played on August 13, 1995.[3]

California Southern California Nitemares3 − 0Illinois Rockford Dactyls
Report
Texas Texas Lightning1 − 0Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Freedom
Report
New York (state) Long Island Lady Riders1 − 0Ohio Cincinnati Leopards
Grossman 1' Report
New York (state) Long Island Lady Riders2 − 0Texas Texas Lightning
Sepe 47' Report
Illinois Rockford Dactyls2 − 1Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Freedom
Report
California Southern California Nitemares2 − 0Ohio Cincinnati Leopards
Report

Championship
New York (state) Long Island Lady Riders2 − 0California Southern California Nitemares
Vassallo-Tucker 40', 70' Report

Statistical leaders

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[3]
1 Charmaine Hooper Rockford Dactyls 31
2 Diane McLoughlin Long Island Lady Riders 19
3 Jennifer Evans Southern California Nitemares 18
4 Janette Javit Texas Lightning 17
5 Erica Handelman Rockford Dactyls 15
6 Jennifer Shannon Cincinnati Leopards 14
7 Paula Russo Boston Tornado 13
8 Kara Lee Texas Lightning 11
Lori Hokerson Sacramento Storm
10 Caitlin Connolly Long Island Lady Riders 9

Awards

References
  1. Deardorff, Julie (June 1, 1995). "U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM GOING FOR MORE GLORY". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  2. "NEW JORDAN NIKE AD TO PREMIER SUNDAY". Sports Business Journal. May 5, 1995. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  3. Litterer, David. "The Year in American Soccer, 1995". www.soccerhistoryusa.org. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  4. "USA - United States Women's Interregional Soccer League (W-League)". RSSSF. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  5. Litterer, David. "The Year in American Soccer, 1994". www.soccerhistoryusa.org. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  6. "2013 USL Media Guide". United Soccer League. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  7. "GETTING THE SPOILS: Lady Riders brought home a lot of hardware in '95". www.frontrowsoccer.com. September 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  8. Lewis, Michael. "Women's History 1995 – 2006". Long Island Rough Riders. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  9. Lewis, Michael (September 13, 2020). "WHEN THE LADY RIDERS RODE HIGH: How LI team captured national women's title in 1995". www.frontrowsoccer.com. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
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