| Season: | 2001 |
| Num Teams: | 25 |
| Winners: | Rochester Rhinos (3rd title) |
| Shieldtitle: | Regular season |
| Shield: | Richmond Kickers (1st title) |
| League Topscorer: | Paul Conway (22 goals) |
| Nextseason: | 2002 |
The 2001 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer Leagues during the summer of 2001.
The addition of the Portland Timbers saw the renewal of a Pacific Northwest rivalry between them, the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps which dated back to the North American Soccer League. Although Vancouver was not new to the league, this was the first season they competed in under the Whitecaps name, replacing the 86ers name used since 1986.
An ownership change in August 2000 brought a revival of the old Whitecaps name for the 2001 season. At the end of the regular season, the Richmond Kickers topped the league with seventy-six points. The playoffs were scheduled to begin on September 12, but those matches were postponed by a week due to the September 11 attacks.[1] [2] Midfielder Mickey Trotman, a starter for the Rochester Rhinos, was killed in an automobile accident two days before the team's first semifinal match with the Milwaukee Rampage.[3] The Rhinos defeated the Hershey Wildcats to take its third league title in four seasons.[4]
| Rank | Scorer | Club | GP | Goals | Assists | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charleston Battery | 25 | 22 | 3 | 47 | ||
| 2 | Dustin Swinehart | Charlotte Eagles | 23 | 18 | 3 | 39 | |
| 3 | Jakob Fenger | Nashville Metros | 24 | 14 | 6 | 34 | |
| 4 | Jeff Houser | Nashville Metros | 24 | 14 | 5 | 33 | |
| 5 | Digital Takawira | Milwaukee Rampage | 20 | 13 | 4 | 30 | |
| 6 | Kevin Jeffrey | 24 | 11 | 7 | 29 | ||
| Leighton O'Brien | 24 | 11 | 7 | 29 | |||
| Mark Baena | Portland Timbers | 24 | 13 | 3 | 29 | ||
| 9 | Ignace Moleka | Atlanta Silverbacks | 19 | 12 | 1 | 25 | |
| Luis Macias | El Paso Patriots | 23 | 12 | 1 | 25 | ||
| Chugger Adair | San Diego Flash | 22 | 10 | 5 | 25 | ||
| Jason Jordan | Vancouver Whitecaps | 18 | 9 | 7 | 25 | ||
| Rodrigo Costa | Indiana Blast | 21 | 11 | 3 | 25 | ||
| 14 | Mark Rowland | El Paso Patriots | 26 | 7 | 10 | 24 | |
| 15 | Josh Henderson | Richmond Kickers | 21 | 10 | 3 | 23 |