1998 A-League Playoff Standings Race Final Regular Season Standings
Western Conference
Playoff Seed
GP
Win
Loss
SOW
Pts
GF
GA
GD
[1]d - San Diego
28
21
7
1
61
59
23
+36
[2]d - Nashville
28
20
8
2
56
70
31
+39
[3]x - Seattle
28
18
10
1
52
63
28
+35
[4]x - Minnesota
28
19
9
3
51
52
33
+19
[5]x - Milwaukee
28
17
11
1
49
61
40
+21
[6]x - Orange County
28
16
12
1
46
49
43
+6
[7]x - New Orleans
28
15
13
1
43
53
50
+3
[8]x - Vancouver
28
15
13
2
41
55
42
+13
e - Cincinnati
28
11
17
0
33
48
65
-17
e - US Pro-40
28
11
17
1
31
45
55
-10
e - El Paso
28
12
16
3
30
51
54
-3
e - San Francisco Bay
28
10
18
1
28
31
47
-16
e - California
28
6
22
0
18
32
95
-63
e - Albuquerque
28
5
22
0
15
39
100
-61
Key:
d - Division Winner; x - Clinched Playoff Berth; e - Eliminated from Playoffs
[n] - Denotes Team has locked in this seed position for Conference Playoffs
{x/x} - Denotes Tie-Breaker rule applied & number of times teams have played each other. See Tie-Breaker rules below.
Eastern Conference
Playoff Seed
GP
Win
Loss
SOW
Pts
GF
GA
GD
[1]d - Rochester
28
24
4
1
70
72
15
+57
[2]d - Richmond
28
21
7
3
57
48
22
+26
[3]x - Hershey
28
19
9
2
53
50
31
+19
[4]x - Montreal
28
21
7
8
47
47
33
+14
[5]x - Staten Island
28
16
12
1
46
46
37
+9
[6]x - Hampton Roads
28
16
12
1
46
44
39
+5
[7]x - Long Island
28
17
11
3
45
46
35
+11
[8]x - Charleston
28
12
16
1
34
37
40
-3
e - Worcester
28
12
16
2
32
37
50
-14
e - Jacksonville
28
10
18
0
30
36
53
-17
e - Toronto
28
9
19
1
25
27
42
-15
e - Atlanta
28
7
21
0
21
31
67
-36
e - Raleigh
28
5
23
0
15
31
66
-35
e - Connecticut
28
7
21
5
11
32
57
-25
Key:
d - Division Winner; x - Clinched Playoff Berth; e - Eliminated from Playoffs
[n] - Denotes Team has locked in this seed position for Conference Playoffs
{x/x} - Denotes Tie-Breaker rule applied & number of times teams have played each other. See Tie-Breaker rules below.
Tiebreakers— End-of-season standings tie-breakers will be applied in the
following order:
1. Overall points in league games.
2. Points earned from head-to-head meetings.
3. Overall points in all games.
4. Record against conference opponents (by points or by percentage if number of conference games is not equal).
5. Bonus points (during playoffs only).
6. Goals scored.
7. Goal differential.
8. Outright wins (including shootouts).
9. Record (orpercentage) against all common non-conference opponents.
10. Lottery draw.
Playoffs— A total of sixteen A-League teams, or eight from each conference, will qualify for the playoffs. The single-elimination first round will be played on September 12, with all higher-seeded teams playing at home. Seedings within
each conference are determined as follows— division winners will be seeded (1) and (2) followed by the next six teams from each conference based on regular season points. First round match-ups will be— (A)1 vs. 8, (B) 2 vs. 7, (C) 3 vs. 6, and (D) 4 vs. 5.
Round Two will consist of a home-and-away series with the winners from Round One. First-round winners will be re-seeded based on their conference seed for the second round. If the series is tied at one game apiece after the completion of two games (including overtime and shootouts, if necessary), the series will be decided on the following tiebreaker determination rules: 1) aggregate points, 2) aggregate goals, 3) most road goals in series, 4) regular-season points.
Round Three matches two finalists from each conference who are seeded based on regular season points and compete in a three-game series, with the higher-seeded team having the choice of playing the first game at home or the second and third (if necessary) games at home. The conference champions will meet in the A-League Championship Game October 16 or 17. If tied after regulation, two 15-minute sudden-death overtimes (instead of the usual one overtime) will ensue, followed by a shootout.
