American soccer writing, history & data.
The winter meetings in Dallas in November of 1994 officially split the USISL, renamed as the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues, into separate leagues. The indoor league was renamed the United States Indoor Soccer League. It continued to technically be an amateur league.
The Texas Arsenal and Texas Lightning teams did not return but the Brandon Brandon Braves, Mesquite Kickers (a mix of Texas Lightning players and a few players from the Dallas Sidekicks) and West Texas Heat expansion teams were added. The season began in early November and ended in mid-February of 1995. Six east coast clubs played a limited schedule of one or two games each against the Baltimore Bays some of which counted in the league standings for the Bays.
The West Texas Heat's first match was an exhibition against Moscow Spartak on November 6, 1994. The Heat lost 22-10. West Texas lost a league match to Mesquite on November 26 then folded soon after.
On November 19, 1994 the Baltimore Bays beat the Atlanta Magic 8-6 at Du Burns Arena before 401 fans. It was the Magic's first loss after a 39 game winning streak in USISL indoor play. The Magic would win the rest of the games of the 1994-95 season running their record to 54 wins and one loss in USISL indoor league play.
The USISL Sizzlin' Six Final were held on February 24 through 26 at the Expo Pavilion Arena in Tulsa. The playoff included the three division winners (Baltimore, Atlanta and the Oklahoma City Slickers), the two teams with the next best records (Chattanooga Express and Knoxville Impact), and the host Tulsa Roughnecks. Atlanta beat Oklahoma City 6-3 in the final to win their third straight USISL indoor title.
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