American soccer writing, history & data.
The 1992-93 US Interregional Soccer League indoor season launched with 16 teams. The expansion of the outdoor season did not lead to a similar expansion of the indoor season as most of the 1992 outdoor expansion franchises decided to focus solely on the outdoor game. A number of the older franchises, such as the Austin Soccadillos, also began to drop their indoor teams. The Arkansas Diamonds and Gwinnett County Steamers dropped out of the USISL following the 1992 outdoor season.
The league was set up as three divisions of four teams each. In the Southeast Division, a new franchise, the Knoxville Impact, joined the Chattanooga Railroaders, Nashville Metros and Atlanta Magic. After a few years with two Atlanta franchise, the USISL dropped to one after the loss of the Gwinnett County Steamers following the 1992 outdoor season. Known as the Datagraphic Magic during that season, that franchise changed ownership hands again and returned to the Atlanta Magic name. The new group paid dividends as the Atlanta Magic had an undefeated record for the 1992-93 regular season.
The South Central Division was made up of the Dallas Kickers (returning to that name after the 1992 outdoor season), Oklahoma City Warriors, San Antonio Generals, and the Texas Stampede (a new franchise from Duncanville. The Southwest Division teams were the Tucson Amigos, Arizona Cotton, Lubbock Lazers (returning for their final USISL season), and the Mexico Bajas.
The latter club was a team located in Ensenada, Baja California. The team was badly outmatched and lost its first two games before being replaced by the San Diego Blaze. That club took over the Bajas' schedule but also withdrew after playing one or two games.
As host, Oklahoma City automatically made it into the Sizzlin' Four final playoff group. South Central runner-up Dallas Kickers too the spot for that division. Second-place Arizona beat Tucson to take the Southwest Division slot.
Even though they went undefeated, the Atlanta Magic had to win the Southeast Division round-robin group playoff to gain a place in the Sizzlin' Four. The Magic won all three games in that playoff stage then beat Dallas and Arizona in the Sizzlin' Four to make it to the USISL final against Arizona. Atlanta completed an undefeated season beating the Cotton 11-7 to take the 1992-93 indoor season.
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