2015 North American Soccer League season

North American Soccer League
Season	2015
Champions	New York Cosmos
Spring Champions	New York Cosmos
Fall Champions	Ottawa Fury
Matches played	165
Goals scored	453 (2.75 per match)
Top goalscorer	Stefano Pinho (16)
Biggest home win	6 goals:; FTL 7–1 IND; (Aug 29)
Biggest away win	4 goals:; JAX 0–4 CAR; (May 30)
Highest scoring	8 goals:; FTL 7–1 IND; (Aug 29)
Longest winning run	5 games:; Ottawa Fury; (Jul 19 – Aug 8)
Longest unbeaten run	12 games:; Ottawa Fury; (May 9 – Aug 8); Ottawa Fury; (Aug 26 – Oct 31)
Longest winless run	8 games:; Atlanta Silverbacks; (Apr 25 – Jul 4); Jacksonville Armada; (May 16 – Jul 15)
Longest losing run	4 games:; Atlanta Silverbacks; (May 24 – Jul 4); Carolina RailHawks; (Aug 12 – 30); FC Edmonton; (Oct 4 – 17)
Highest attendance	16,167; JAX 3–1 FCE; (Apr 4)
Lowest attendance	1,112; FCE 4–0 SAS; (Jul 5)
Total attendance	975,558
Average attendance	5,912
	← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 North American Soccer League season was the 48th season of Division II soccer in the United States and the fifth season of the North American Soccer League. It was contested by eleven teams including two from Canada. Jacksonville Armada FC made their NASL debut this season. The defending Soccer Bowl champions were the San Antonio Scorpions, while Minnesota United FC were the defending North American Supporters' Trophy winners. A split season format was used for the 2015 season.

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

Locations of NASL clubs

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit producer	Shirt sponsor
Atlanta Silverbacks	Gary Smith	Simon Mensing	Reto Sports
Carolina RailHawks	Colin Clarke	Connor Tobin	Adidas	Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
FC Edmonton	Colin Miller	Albert Watson	Adidas	The Fath Group
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Günter Kronsteiner	Iván Guerrero	Nike	Azul Airlines
Indy Eleven	Tim Regan (interim)	Kristian Nicht	Diadora	Honda
Jacksonville Armada FC	Eric Dade (interim)	Marcos Flores	Nike	Winn-Dixie
Minnesota United FC	Manny Lagos	Aaron Pitchkolan	Inaria	Atomic Data / Mall of America
New York Cosmos	Giovanni Savarese	Carlos Mendes	Nike	Emirates
Ottawa Fury FC	Marc Dos Santos	Richie Ryan	Admiral	The Heart and Crown
San Antonio Scorpions	Alen Marcina	Adrian Cann	Nike	Toyota
Tampa Bay Rowdies	Stuart Campbell	Marcelo Saragosa	Nike	Hard Rock

Player transfers

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Atlanta Silverbacks	Alejandro Pombo	End of interim period	November 2, 2014	Pre-Season	Gary Smith	December 23, 2014
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Günter Kronsteiner	Not Returning	December 5, 2014	Pre-Season	Marcelo Neveleff	January 19, 2015
Jacksonville Armada	Expansion team				José Luis Villarreal	June 14, 2014^[1]
Tampa Bay Rowdies	Ricky Hill	Fired	November 18, 2014	Pre-Season	Thomas Rongen	December 3, 2014^[2]
Jacksonville Armada	José Luis Villarreal	Resigned	May 22, 2015	6th	Guillermo Ángel Hoyos	June 14, 2015^[3]
Indy Eleven	Juergen Sommer	Fired	June 2, 2015	11th	Tim Regan (interim)	June 2, 2015^[4]
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Marcelo Neveleff	Resigned	June 7, 2015	10th	Iván Guerrero (interim)	June 7, 2015^[5]
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Iván Guerrero (interim)	End of interim period	June 30, 2015	8th	Günter Kronsteiner	June 30, 2015^[6]
Tampa Bay Rowdies	Thomas Rongen	Fired	August 21, 2015	10th	Stuart Campbell	August 26, 2015^[7]
Jacksonville Armada	Guillermo Ángel Hoyos	Fired	September 21, 2015	11th	Eric Dade (interim)	September 21, 2015^[8]

Spring season

The Spring season began on April 4 and ended on June 13. The schedule featured a single round robin format with each team playing every other team in the league a single time. Each team hosted 5 home games and played 5 road games. The winner of the Spring season earned one of four berths in the playoffs, known as The Championship.^[9]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New York Cosmos (S)	10	5	5	0	18	9	+9	20	Playoffs
2	Tampa Bay Rowdies	10	5	4	1	15	9	+6	19
3	Carolina RailHawks	10	3	5	2	15	10	+5	14
4	Minnesota United	10	3	5	2	15	13	+2	14
5	Indy Eleven	10	3	4	3	13	12	+1	13
6	Jacksonville Armada	10	3	3	4	15	18	−3	12
7	San Antonio Scorpions	10	3	3	4	11	15	−4	12
8	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	10	3	2	5	12	13	−1	11
9	Ottawa Fury	10	2	5	3	5	8	−3	11
10	FC Edmonton	10	2	3	5	16	22	−6	9
11	Atlanta Silverbacks	10	1	5	4	7	13	−6	8

Source: NASL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) head-to-head record; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals scored
(S) Spring season champion

Results

Home \ Away	ATL	CAR	FCE	FTL	IND	JAX	MNU	NYC	OTT	SAS	TBR
Atlanta Silverbacks					1–1	1–1		0–0	1–1	0–1
Carolina RailHawks	1–2						1–1	2–2	3–1		1–1
Edmonton	4–2	1–1		3–2			2–2			2–3
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	0–0	0–1			1–2	2–1		0–1
Indy Eleven		1–1	3–0				1–3	1–1			2–2
Jacksonville Armada		0–4	3–1		1–0				0–0	2–1
Minnesota United	1–0			2–3		3–2		1–1		2–2
New York Cosmos			4–2			3–3			1–0	3–0	2–0
Ottawa Fury			0–0	1–3	1–0		1–0				0–0
San Antonio Scorpions		1–0		1–1	1–2				0–0		1–3
Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–0		2–1	1–0		3–2	0–0

Source: [1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fall season

The Fall season began on July 4 and ended on November 1. The schedule featured each team playing every other team in the league once at home and once away. The winner of the Fall season earned one of four berths in The Championship.^[10]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ottawa Fury (F)	20	13	6	1	37	15	+22	45	Playoffs
2	Minnesota United	20	11	6	3	39	26	+13	39
3	New York Cosmos	20	10	6	4	31	21	+10	36
4	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	20	8	6	6	37	27	+10	30
5	FC Edmonton	20	7	5	8	25	24	+1	26
6	Atlanta Silverbacks	20	6	7	7	24	27	−3	25
7	Carolina RailHawks	20	6	3	11	29	39	−10	21
8	Tampa Bay Rowdies	20	5	5	10	18	28	−10	20
9	Indy Eleven	20	5	5	10	23	36	−13	20
10	San Antonio Scorpions	20	4	7	9	30	37	−7	19
11	Jacksonville Armada	20	5	4	11	18	31	−13	19

Source: NASL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) head-to-head record; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals scored
(F) Fall season champion

Results

Home \ Away	ATL	CAR	FCE	FTL	IND	JAX	MNU	NYC	OTT	SAS	TBR
Atlanta Silverbacks		2–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–3	1–1	3–3	0–0
Carolina RailHawks	2–0		2–1	1–1	3–1	3–0	3–1	1–3	1–3	3–2	1–1
Edmonton	1–3	3–0		0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	4–0	1–0
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	2–2	4–0	1–1		7–1	2–0	2–5	3–3	0–2	0–0	2–1
Indy Eleven	0–1	2–1	0–2	2–1		3–0	3–1	1–1	1–4	1–2	2–0
Jacksonville Armada	1–0	3–0	3–2	0–1	1–1		3–3	1–0	1–3	0–0	2–0
Minnesota United	1–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	4–0		0–0	1–1	2–2	1–0
New York Cosmos	1–1	3–2	3–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–1		1–4	2–1	2–0
Ottawa Fury	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	4–2	2–0	1–2	0–0		1–0	2–2
San Antonio Scorpions	3–3	3–3	2–2	2–4	2–0	1–0	3–4	1–2	0–1		3–0
Tampa Bay Rowdies	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–3	1–1	3–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	2–0

Source: [2]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

The Championship, culminating with Soccer Bowl 2015, was 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 No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with the higher seed going to the team with the better full-season record. The two next-best teams earned the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. The semi-finals had the No. 1 seed hosting the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed hosting the No. 3 seed. The winners met in the Soccer Bowl 2015 hosted by the team with the higher seed.^[11]

Combined standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New York Cosmos (C, X)	30	15	11	4	49	30	+19	56	Championship qualifiers^[a]
2	Ottawa Fury	30	15	11	4	42	23	+19	56	Championship qualifiers^[b]
3	Minnesota United	30	14	11	5	54	39	+15	53	Championship qualifiers^[c]
4	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	30	11	8	11	49	40	+9	41	Championship qualifiers^[c]
5	Tampa Bay Rowdies	30	10	9	11	33	37	−4	39
6	Carolina RailHawks	30	9	8	13	44	49	−5	35
7	FC Edmonton	30	9	8	13	41	46	−5	35
8	Atlanta Silverbacks	30	7	12	11	31	40	−9	33
9	Indy Eleven	30	8	9	13	36	48	−12	33
10	San Antonio Scorpions	30	7	10	13	41	52	−11	31
11	Jacksonville Armada	30	8	7	15	33	49	−16	31

Source: NASL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) head-to-head record; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals scored
(C) Champions; (X) Regular season champion
Notes:

^ As spring season champions
^ As fall season champions
^ As next best teams in overall standings

The Championship

Participants

New York Cosmos (Spring season champion)
Ottawa Fury (Fall season champion)
Minnesota United
Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Bracket

Semifinals			Soccer Bowl

1	New York Cosmos	2

4	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	1
			1	New York Cosmos	3

			2	Ottawa Fury	2
2	Ottawa Fury (a.e.t.)	2

3	Minnesota United	1

Semifinals

November 7, 2015

2:00 pm EST

New York Cosmos	2–1	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Cellerino 37' 74' Senna 58' Raúl 61' Szetela 71'	Report Report	PC 16' Thomas 33'

MCU Park, Brooklyn, New York

Attendance: 5,061

Referee: Sorin Stoica

November 8, 2015

3:00 pm EST

Ottawa Fury	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Minnesota United
Heinemann 9' 47', 108' Trafford 104'	Report Report	Calvano 2' Ramirez 7' (pen.) Ibson 45' Mendes 45+' Vicentini 100' Jordan 120+'

TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, Ontario

Attendance: 9,346

Referee: Mathieu Bourdeau (CAN)

Soccer Bowl 2015

November 15, 2015

5:00 pm EST

New York Cosmos	3–2	Ottawa Fury
Cellerino 7' 8', 72', 85' Maurer 41' Guenzatti 60'	Report Report Report	Trafford 68' Heinemann 70', 90+2' Falvey 76' Ryan 76'

Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, New York

Attendance: 10,166

Referee: Alan Kelly

Attendance

Club	GP	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
Indy Eleven	15	147,139	10,524	8,500	9,809	-6.3%
Minnesota United	15	131,499	9,418	5,890	8,767	9.9%
Jacksonville Armada	15	118,905	16,164	5,652	7,927	N/A
San Antonio Scorpions	15	101,043	8,053	4,105	6,736	-0.3%
Tampa Bay Rowdies	15	84,739	7,010	4,219	5,649	24.2%
Ottawa Fury	15	77,464	6,899	3,023	5,164	24.5%
New York Cosmos	15	75,927	12,550	3,326	5,062	7.6%
Carolina RailHawks	15	68,080	7,217	3,055	4,539	-0.1%
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	15	67,067	11,691	1,278	4,471	9.9%
Atlanta Silverbacks	15	60,366	5,511	2,302	4,024	-0.7%
FC Edmonton	15	43,329	4,240	1,112	2,889	-14.6%
Total	165	975,558	16,164	1,112	5,912	7.5%

Source: NASL

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	16
2	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United	12
3	Nacho Novo	Carolina RailHawks	11
4	Omar Cummings	San Antonio Scorpions	10
5	Rafael Castillo	San Antonio Scorpions	8
	Leo Fernandes	New York Cosmos
	Daryl Fordyce	Edmonton
	Marlon Freitas	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
	Tom Heinemann	Ottawa Fury
	Lance Laing	Edmonton
	Raúl	New York Cosmos

Source:^[12]

Top assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Georgi Hristov	Tampa Bay Rowdies	9
1	Tiyi Shipalane	Carolina RailHawks	9
3	Billy Forbes	San Antonio Scorpions	8
4	Jaime Chavez	Atlanta Silverbacks	7
	Lance Laing	Edmonton
	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
	Siniša Ubiparipović	Ottawa Fury
8	Khalif Alhassan	Minnesota United	6
	Junior Burgos	Atlanta Silverbacks
	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United
	Kevin Venegas	Minnesota United

Source:^[12]

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean Sheets
1	Romuald Peiser	Ottawa Fury	14
2	Jimmy Maurer	New York Cosmos	12
3	Sammy Ndjock	Minnesota United	7
3	Matt Pickens	Tampa Bay Rowdies	7
5	Matt Van Oekel	Edmonton	6
6	Steward Ceus	Atlanta Silverbacks	5
7	Daniel Fernandes	San Antonio Scorpions	4
	Akira Fitzgerald	Carolina RailHawks
	Miguel Gallardo	Jacksonville Armada
	David Meves	Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Source: NASL

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Indy Eleven	7–1	August 29, 2015
Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	San Antonio Scorpions	4–2	October 3, 2015

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	NASL Player of the Month
Month	Player	Club	Stats	Ref
April	Jimmy Maurer	New York Cosmos	12SV, 1GA	^[13]
May	Raúl	New York Cosmos	3G	^[14]
June	Romuald Peiser	Ottawa Fury	9SV, 0GA	^[15]
July	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United	4G, 2A	^[16]
August	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	6G, 1A	^[17]
September	Romuald Peiser	Ottawa Fury	11SV, 2GA	^[18]
October	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	4G, 3A	^[19]

Weekly awards

Week	NASL Player of the Week		NASL Play of the Week
Week	Player	Club	Player	Club
Week 1	Stefan Antonijevic	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Jemal Johnson	Jacksonville Armada
Week 2	PC	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	PC	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Week 3	Sainey Nyassi	FC Edmonton	Sergio Peña	Indy Eleven
Week 4	Maicon Santos	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Zourab Tsiskaridze	San Antonio Scorpions
Week 5	Alhassane Keita	Jacksonville Armada	Omar Cummings	San Antonio Scorpions
Week 6	Carlos Mendes	New York Cosmos	Bochy Hoyos	Jacksonville Armada
Week 7	Billy Forbes	San Antonio Scorpions	Andrés Flores	New York Cosmos
Week 8	Raúl	New York Cosmos	Nicki Paterson	Ottawa Fury
Week 9	Kyle Hyland	Indy Eleven	Lionel Brown	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Week 10	Victor Pineda	Indy Eleven	Brian Shriver	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Week 11	Pascal Millien	Jacksonville Armada	Hagop Chirishian	New York Cosmos
Week 12	Lance Laing	FC Edmonton	Wojciech Wojcik	Indy Eleven
Week 13	Omar Cummings	San Antonio Scorpions	Wojciech Wojcik	Indy Eleven
Week 14	Nacho Novo	Carolina RailHawks	Jaime Chavez	Atlanta Silverbacks
Week 15	Carl Haworth	Ottawa Fury	Dylan Mares	Indy Eleven
Week 16	Rafael Alves	Ottawa Fury	Pedro Mendes	Atlanta Silverbacks
Week 17	Pedro Mendes	Atlanta Silverbacks	Junior Burgos	Atlanta Silverbacks
Week 18	Jaime Castrillón	Jacksonville Armada	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Week 19	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Justin Davis	Minnesota United
Week 20	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Week 21	Zach Steinberger	Indy Eleven	Marvin Ceballos	Indy Eleven
Week 22	Rafael Castillo	San Antonio Scorpions	Pablo Campos	Minnesota United
Week 23	Siniša Ubiparipović	Ottawa Fury	Pedro Mendes	Atlanta Silverbacks
Week 24	Tom Heinemann	Ottawa Fury	Kalif Alhassan	Minnesota United
Week 25	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Kris Tyrpak	San Antonio Scorpions
Week 26	Pablo Campos	Minnesota United	Giuseppe Gentile	San Antonio Scorpions
Week 27	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Brad Ring	Indy Eleven
Week 28	Richard Menjivar	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Mechack Jérôme	Jacksonville Armada
Week 29	Raúl	New York Cosmos	Junior Burgos	Atlanta Silverbacks

League awards

Golden Ball (MVP): Stefano Pinho (Fort Lauderdale Strikers) ^[20]
Golden Boot: Stefano Pinho (Fort Lauderdale Strikers) ^[21]
Golden Glove: Romuald Peiser (Ottawa Fury) ^[22]
Coach of the Year: Marc Dos Santos (Ottawa Fury) ^[23]
Goal of the Year: Junior Burgos (Atlanta Silverbacks) ^[24]
Young (U24) Player of the Year: Leo Fernandes (New York Cosmos) ^[25]
Humanitarian of the Year: Drew Beckie (Ottawa Fury) ^[26]
Fair Play Award: Ottawa Fury^[27]

NASL Best XI^[28]
Position	Player	Team
Goalkeeper	Romuald Peiser	Ottawa Fury
Defense	Rafael Alves	Ottawa Fury
Defense	Justin Davis	Minnesota United
Defense	Carlos Mendes	New York Cosmos
Defense	Kevin Venegas	Minnesota United
Midfield	Richie Ryan	Ottawa Fury
Midfield	Lance Laing	FC Edmonton
Midfield	Ibson	Minnesota United
Midfield	James Marcelin	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Forward	Stefano Pinho	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Forward	Christian Ramirez	Minnesota United

References

External links

Official website

[table_note_res_PS0.71244642171657-12] As spring season champions

[table_note_res_PF0.71244642171657-13] As fall season champions

[table_note_res_P20.71244642171657-14] As next best teams in overall standings

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

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[b]

[c]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

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[18]

[19]

[20]

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