North American Soccer League
Season2014
ChampionsSan Antonio Scorpions
North American Supporters' TrophyMinnesota United FC
Matches played135
Goals scored374 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorerChristian Ramirez (20)
Biggest home winSAN 7 vs TB 0
(10/11)
Biggest away winNYC 3 @ TB 0
(5/17)
NYC 3 @ FTL 0
(5/31)
Highest scoringCAR 5 vs NYC 4
(9/20)
Longest winning runMIN (4 games)
(4/12 – 5/3)
(9/13-10/4)
Longest unbeaten runSAN (9 games)
(5/10 – 7/26)
Longest winless runIND (9 games)
(4/12 – 6/7)
Longest losing runATL (6 games)
(9/6 – 10/4)
Highest attendance34,047
OTT @ MIN
(8/2)
Lowest attendance2,158
CAR @ OTT
(4/26)
Total attendance742,695
(Spring & Fall)
Average attendance5,501
← 2013
2015 →

The 2014 North American Soccer League season was the 47th season of Division II soccer in the United States and the fourth season of the revived North American Soccer League. It was contested by ten teams including two from Canada. Joining the NASL in the Spring of 2014 were two new franchises, Indy Eleven and Ottawa Fury FC; originally Virginia Cavalry FC were to begin play this season but now plan to join in the 2016 season.[1] The defending Soccer Bowl champions are the New York Cosmos, while the Carolina Railhawks are the defending North American Supporters' Trophy winners. A split season format was used again for the 2014 season.[2]

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of NASL stadiums
2014 North American Soccer League season is located in the United States
Silverbacks
RailHawks
Edmonton
Strikers
United
Scorpions
Rowdies
Cosmos
Fury
Eleven
Locations of NASL clubs

Personnel and sponsorship

Team Head coach Captain Kit producer Shirt sponsor
Atlanta Silverbacks United States Jason Smith United States Mike Randolph Nike People HRO
Carolina RailHawks Northern Ireland Colin Clarke Puerto Rico Kupono Low Adidas Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
FC Edmonton Canada Colin Miller Northern Ireland Albert Watson Adidas The Fath Group
Fort Lauderdale Strikers Austria Günter Kronsteiner Honduras Iván Guerrero Acerbis
Indy Eleven United States Juergen Sommer Germany Kristian Nicht Diadora Honda
Minnesota United FC United States Manny Lagos United States Aaron Pitchkolan Admiral Atomic Data / Mall of America
New York Cosmos Venezuela Giovanni Savarese United States Carlos Mendes Nike Emirates
Ottawa Fury FC Canada Marc Dos Santos Republic of Ireland Richie Ryan Admiral Heart and Crown[3]
San Antonio Scorpions Canada Alen Marcina Canada Adrian Cann Nike Toyota
Tampa Bay Rowdies England Ricky Hill United States Frankie Sanfilippo Admiral Hard Rock

Player transfers

Main article: List of North American Soccer League transfers 2014

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Atlanta Silverbacks Trinidad and Tobago Brian Haynes Contract not renewed 9 December 2013[4] Pre-Season United States Eric Wynalda 7 January 2014[5]
Atlanta Silverbacks United States Eric Wynalda Voluntary move to team technical director 17 July 2014[6] 8th United States Jason Smith 18 July 2014[7]
Atlanta Silverbacks United States Jason Smith Fired 5 October 2014[8] 10th Uruguay Alejandro Pombo – Interim Head Coach 5 October 2014[8]
San Antonio Scorpions Canada Alen Marcina End of interim period 22 November 2013 Pre-Season Canada Alen Marcina 22 November 2013[9]
Indy Eleven Expansion team United States Juergen Sommer 11 June 2013[10]
Ottawa Fury FC Expansion team Canada Marc Dos Santos 23 May 2013[11]

Spring season

The Spring season lasted for 9 games beginning on April 12 and ending on June 8. The schedule featured a single round robin format with each team playing every other team in the league a single time.[12] Half the teams will host 5 home games and play 4 road games whereas the other half of the teams will play 4 home games and 5 road games. The winner of the Spring season earns one of four berths in the playoffs, now known as The Championship.[13]

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Minnesota United (S) 9 6 2 1 16 9 +7 20 Playoffs
2 New York Cosmos 9 6 1 2 14 3 +11 19
3 San Antonio Scorpions 9 5 2 2 13 9 +4 17
4 Carolina RailHawks 9 4 2 3 11 15 −4 14
5 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 9 4 1 4 18 18 0 13
6 Ottawa Fury 9 3 1 5 14 13 +1 10
7 Tampa Bay Rowdies 9 2 4 3 11 16 −5 10
8 Atlanta Silverbacks 9 3 1 5 12 20 −8 10
9 FC Edmonton 9 2 2 5 11 11 0 8
10 Indy Eleven 9 0 4 5 14 20 −6 4
Source: NASL Standings
(S) Spring season champion

Results

Home \ Away ATL CAR FCE FTL IND MNU NYC OTT SAS TBR
Atlanta Silverbacks 3–3 1–2 2–1 1–2
Carolina RailHawks 2–0 4–1 1–0 2–0
Edmonton 1–2 6–1 1–3 0–1
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 4–0 3–2 0–3 2–0
Indy Eleven 1–1 1–2 2–4 1–2 1–1
Minnesota United 0–0 1–0 3–1 3–2
New York Cosmos 4–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1
Ottawa Fury 4–0 1–0 1–2 2–3 1–1
San Antonio Scorpions 3–0 0–0 2–2 0–2 0–1
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1–3 1–1 3–2 3–3 0–3
Updated to match(es) played on June 8, 2014. Source: [14]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fall season

The Fall season will begin following a break for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on July 19 and ending on November 2, with each team playing the others twice, once home and once away. The winner of the Fall season will earn automatic berth in The Championship.[13]

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 San Antonio Scorpions (F) 18 11 2 5 30 15 +15 35 Playoffs
2 Minnesota United 18 10 5 3 31 19 +12 35
3 FC Edmonton 18 8 5 5 23 18 +5 29
4 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 18 7 6 5 20 21 −1 27
5 Carolina RailHawks 18 7 3 8 27 28 −1 24
6 New York Cosmos 18 5 8 5 23 24 −1 23
7 Indy Eleven 18 6 5 7 21 26 −5 23
8 Tampa Bay Rowdies 18 5 5 8 25 34 −9 20
9 Ottawa Fury 18 4 5 9 20 25 −5 17
10 Atlanta Silverbacks 18 3 4 11 20 30 −10 13
Source: NASL Standings
(F) Fall season champion

Results

Home \ Away ATL CAR FCE FTL IND MNU NYC OTT SAS TBR
Atlanta Silverbacks 0–2 1–0 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–3 0–1 1–1
Carolina RailHawks 0–2 2–3 1–1 1–2 2–2 5–4 3–0 3–1 3–4
Edmonton 2–1 3–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 3–1 1–0
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–3 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0
Indy Eleven 2–4 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 2–2 1–2 1–0 1–2
Minnesota United 1–0 1–0 3–2 2–1 5–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 1–1
New York Cosmos 3–2 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–3 2–2
Ottawa Fury 2–0 2–2 0–2 1–2 1–2 2–3 0–1 1–1 0–2
San Antonio Scorpions 2–1 2–0 3–0 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 7–0
Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–2 0–1 1–1 2–3 2–2 2–3 3–1 0–2 0–2
Updated to match(es) played on November 2, 2014. Source: [1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

The playoffs were contested by the winners of the spring and fall seasons hosting the next best two teams in the full year regular season table. The half-season champions earned the top two seeds, with the higher seed going to the team with the better full-season record. The two next-best teams earned the third and fourth seeds. The semifinals took place on November 8 and 9, with the #1 seed hosting the #4 seed and #2 hosting #3. The winners met in Soccer Bowl 2014 on November 15, hosted by the team with the higher seed.[15]

Combined standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Minnesota United (X) 27 16 7 4 47 28 +19 55 Championship qualifiers
2 San Antonio Scorpions (C) 27 16 4 7 43 24 +19 52
3 New York Cosmos 27 11 9 7 37 27 +10 42
4 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 27 11 7 9 38 39 −1 40
5 Carolina RailHawks 27 11 5 11 38 43 −5 38
6 FC Edmonton 27 10 7 10 34 29 +5 37
7 Tampa Bay Rowdies 27 7 9 11 36 50 −14 30
8 Ottawa Fury 27 7 6 14 34 38 −4 27
9 Indy Eleven 27 6 9 12 35 46 −11 27
10 Atlanta Silverbacks 27 6 5 16 32 50 −18 23
Source: [16]
(C) Champions; (X) North American Supporters' Trophy winner

The Championship

Participants

Semifinals

Minnesota United1–1 (a.e.t.)Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Ibarra 34'
Mendes Yellow card 50'		 Report
Report		 Kronsteiner Red card 71'
Anderson Yellow card 83'
Nuñez Yellow card 87' 90+1'
Marcelin Yellow card 105'
Brito Yellow card 118'
Penalties
Venegas soccer ball with red X
Calvano soccer ball with check mark
Ibarra soccer ball with check mark
Vicentini soccer ball with check mark
Campos soccer ball with check mark
Pitchkolan soccer ball with red X		 4 – 5 soccer ball with check mark Hassan
soccer ball with check mark Anderson
soccer ball with check mark Picault
soccer ball with check mark Núñez
soccer ball with red X Brito
soccer ball with check mark Pecka
National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota
Attendance: 6,113
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
San Antonio Scorpions2–1 (a.e.t.)New York Cosmos
Castillo 19' Yellow card 55'
DeRoux Yellow card 83'
Restrepo 110'		 Report
Report		 Stokkelien 17'
Toyota Field, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 6,548
Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Soccer Bowl 2014

San Antonio Scorpions2–1Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Castillo 70'
Forbes 74'
Gentile Yellow card 84'
Hassli Yellow card 88'		 Report
Report		 Nuñez soccer ball with red X 62' (pen.)[17]
Ramírez 79'
Toyota Field, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 7,847
Referee: Ted Unkel

Attendance

Season Spring Season Weekly Averages
ATL CAR EDM FTL IND MN NY OTT SA TB League avg.
Week 1 - - - 3,105 11,048 - 7,906 - 7,381 7,003 7,289
Week 2 5,000 4,007 4,399 - 10,421 - - 3,457 - - 5,457
Week 3 - - - 3,515 - 5,287 4,130 2,158 - 4,670 3,952
Week 4 3,922 4,066 3,276 - - 4,913 - - 5,595 - 4,354
Week 5 - - - 3,109 10,285 - 3,091 2,164 5,834 - 4,897
Week 6 - 5,527 - - 10,285 5,325 - - 7,087 4,855 6,616
Week 7 - - 2,961 - - 6,784 3581 2,432 - 4,331 4,018
Week 8 5,000 7,856 - 5,572 10,285 - - 3,207 - - 6,384
Week 9 5,000 - 3,641 - - - 6,495 - 6,484 4,132 5,150
Spring Total 18,922 21,456 14,277 15,310 52,324 22,309 21,622 13,418 32,381 24,991 237,010
Spring Avg 4,730 5,364 3,569 3,825 10,465 5,157 4,323 2,684 6,476 4,998 5,267
Bold denotes league's highest attendance for the week[18]
Season Fall Season Weekly Averages
ATL CAR EDM FTL IND MN NY OTT SA TB League avg.
Week 1 - 3,080 3,609 3,092 - - 3,806 - - 3,896 3,497
Week 2 3,011 - - - 10,555 7,287 - 14,593 6,958 - 8,481
Week 3 4,810 - 3,152 3,257 - - - - 7,884 4,868 4,711
Week 4 - 4,294 2,849 2,648 10,285 34,047 4,649 - - - 10,896
Week 5 3,842 - - - 10,285 5,112 4,524 4,814 - - 5,652
Week 6 - 3,140 - - - 5,420 - 4,277 7,847 4,273 4,209
Week 7 - 4,666 - 2,409 - - - - - 4,212 5,454
Week 8 - - 3,111 - 10,285 - 3,928 4,206 5,734 - 4,755
Week 9 5,000 3,106 2,796 3,006 10,659 7,024 - 5,269 - - 5,303
Week 10 - - - - - 6,202 3,626 - 5,594 4,340 5,761
Week 11 3,071 3,193 - - - - 4,502 - - - 4,896
Week 12 3,062 5,593 4,392 3,112 - - - 5,094 8,313 4,313 5,568
Week 13 - - 3,830 3,052 10,285 5,744 - 3,105 - 3,865 4,734
Week 14 - - - - - - 6,225 - 5,963 - 5,009
Week 15 2,905 - 2,903 - 10,285 - 4,411 - 5,683 2,565 5,090
Week 16 3,061 4,179 - 5,756 10,982 5,817 - 3,935 - - 5,989
Week 17 5,000 - - 5,756 - 6,454 8,565 4,172 - - 5,989
Week 18 - 6,460 3,035 5,505 - - - - 8,205 6,377 5,914
Fall Total 33,762 37,621 29,677 37,593 94,188 83,107 44,236 44,651 62,181 38,669 505,685
Fall Avg 3,751 4,180 3,297 4,177 10,465 9,234 4,915 4,961 6,909 4,300 5,619
Bold denotes league's highest attendance for the week[18]

Statistical leaders

Individual awards

Monthly awards

Month NASL Player of the Month
Player Nation Club Link
April Zack Schilawski  USA Carolina RailHawks 3G
May/June Christian Ramirez  USA Minnesota United FC 3G 3A
July Rafael Castillo  COL San Antonio Scorpions 3G
August Christian Ramirez  USA Minnesota United FC 6G 1A
September Miguel Ibarra  USA Minnesota United FC 4G 1A
October/November Christian Ramirez  USA Minnesota United FC 4G

League awards

NASL Best XI[28]
Position Players Team
Goalkeeper United States Jimmy Maurer New York Cosmos
Defense Brazil Tiago Calvano Minnesota United FC
Defense United States Justin Davis Minnesota United FC
Defense United States Darnell King Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Defense United States Carlos Mendes New York Cosmos
Midfield United States Miguel Ibarra Minnesota United FC
Midfield Colombia Rafael Castillo San Antonio Scorpions
Midfield Jamaica Lance Laing FC Edmonton
Midfield United States Walter Restrepo San Antonio Scorpions
Forward Haiti Fafà Picault Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Forward United States Christian Ramirez Minnesota United FC

References

  1. ^ "Virginia Cavalry FC To Begin Play In 2015". Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  2. ^ "NASL 2014 Season Format Announced". Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  3. ^ OSEG Communications Heart and Crown Partners with OSEG and Fury FC" Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine, Ottawa Fury FC, Ottawa, 11 April 2014. Retrieved on 11 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Club Declines Contract Extension on Haynes". Archived from the original on January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  5. ^ "Club Eliminates Coaching Position, Wynalda To Manage From Technical Director Role". Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  6. ^ Wynalda calls Silverbacks decision very difficult ajc.com Archived 21 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Smith named head coach". Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Jason Smith relieved of head coaching duties". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  9. ^ "Alen Marcina Named Scorpions Head Coach". North American Soccer League. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  10. ^ "Juergen Sommer to Lead Indy Eleven as Head Coach". indyeleven.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  11. ^ "Ottawa Fury to name Canadian Marc Dos Santos as head coach – reports". Canadian Soccer News. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  12. ^ Soccer Bowl Rematch Highlights 2014 NASL Season Openers Archived 20 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ a b "Oops! Sorry, Something Went Wrong | Nasl".
  14. ^ "Schedule". NASL. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  15. ^ "NASL Clubs To Compete For 'The Championship'". February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  16. ^ "| NASL".
  17. ^ Wagner, Joe (November 16, 2014). "Scorpions Raise Soccer Bowl Trophy With 2-1 Win Over Strikers". nasl.com/.
  18. ^ a b "Schedule | NASL".
  19. ^ a b "NASL Individual Leaders". Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  20. ^ "Minnesota United's Migual Ibarra Honored With The 2014 Golden Ball Award". North American Soccer League. November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  21. ^ "Minnesota Uniteds Christian Ramirez Wins 2014 Golden Boot Award". North American Soccer League. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  22. ^ "FC Edmonton Goalkeeper John Smits Claims 2014 Golden Glove Award". North American Soccer League. November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  23. ^ "Minnesota United's Manny Lagos Named 2014 Coach of the Year". North American Soccer League. November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  24. ^ "Fans vote Christian Ramirez's Bicycle Kick as NASL Goal of the Year". North American Soccer League. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  25. ^ "Forward Christian Ramirez Named Young Player of the Year". North American Soccer League. November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  26. ^ "Striker's Chris Nurse Named 2014 Humanitarian of the Year". North American Soccer League. November 12, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  27. ^ "Rowdies Win Fair Play Award". North American Soccer League. November 11, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  28. ^ "NASL Names 2014 Best XI". North American Soccer League. November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.

External links

North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
2014 NASL season by team
United States Soccer – Division 2 seasons
Canadian Soccer – Division 2 seasons (CSA & USSF)
2014 in American soccer
2014 in Canadian soccer
Categories