1997–98 National Professional Soccer League season

National Professional Soccer League

Season	1997–98
Champions	Milwaukee Wave
Matches played	260
Highest attendance	18,197 Philadelphia at Milwaukee (March 13)
Average attendance	6,369
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Statistics of National Professional Soccer League in season 1997–98. Also marks the 20th season of professional Division 1 indoor soccer.

League standings

 AMERICAN CONFERENCE      GP   W   L    PCT   GB     GF    GA  Home  Road
   East Division
Philadelphia Kixx         40  26  14   .650  ----   569   484  15-5  11-9
Harrisburg Heat           40  21  19   .525   5.0   530   518  14-6  7-13
Baltimore Spirit          40  12  28   .300  14.0   487   569  10-10 2-18
    Central Division
Milwaukee Wave            40  28  12   .700  ----   593   486  19-1  9-11
Cleveland Crunch          40  21  19   .525   7.0   627   612  15-5  6-14
Cincinnati Silverbacks    40  15  25   .375  13.0   563   604  14-6  1-19

    NATIONAL CONFERENCE
    North Division
Buffalo Blizzard          40  21  19   .525  ----   495   504  15-5  6-14
Edmonton Drillers         40  18  22   .450   3.0   428   418  14-6  4-16
Montreal Impact           40  16  24   .400   5.0   455   518  10-10 6-14
Detroit Rockers           40  13  27   .325   8.0   464   571   9-11 4-16
    Midwest Division
St. Louis Ambush          40  27  13   .675  ----   625   513  17-3 10-10
Wichita Wings             40  22  18   .550   5.0   575   559  15-5  7-13
Kansas City Attack        40  20  20   .500   7.0   442   497  14-6  6-14

Conference Quarterfinals:  Kansas City defeated Edmonton 8-4, 14-8
                          Harrisburg defeated Cincinnati 14-12 (OT), 5-27, 18-13.
Conference Semifinals:     St. Louis defeated Kansas City, 17-8, 18-15
                          Wichita defeated Buffalo, 19-16,15-14
                          Milwaukee defeated Harrisburg, 19-4, 18-11
                          Philadelphia defeated Cleveland, 10-4, 29-27 (OT)
Conference Finals:         Milwaukee defeated Philadelphia, 7-9 (OT), 19-5, 12-3, 16-10
                          St. Louis defeated Wichita, 17-9, 10-8, 21-14,19-11
CHAMPIONSHIP:              Milwaukee defeated St. Louis, 16-14, 18-10, 17-14, 8-12, 21-10

Scoring leaders

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

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

League Awards

Most Valuable Player: Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee

Defender of the Year: Matt Knowles, Philadelphia

Rookie of the Year: Travis Roy, Detroit

Goalkeeper of the Year: Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee

Coach of the Year: Keith Tozer, Milwaukee

Playoffs MVP: Victor Nogueira, Milwaukee

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 Karic, Cleveland	M	Gino Diflorio, Cincinnati	Kevin Sloan, Philadelphia
Hector Marinaro, Cleveland	F	Michael King, Milwaukee	Bojan Vuckovic, 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
Garrett Kusch, Wichita	M	Kyle Bosch, Edmonton
Shawn Beyer, Kansas City	F	Matt Tirschman, Baltimore
Travis Roy, Detroit	F	Shawn Boney, Cleveland

References

• Major Indoor Soccer League II (RSSSF)