The American Soccer League
The American Soccer League continued to struggle on, without the services of dozens of players serving in the Armed Forces. Brookhattan, led by MVP Steve Rozbora was greatly improved this season, winning the league title in a close race with the defending champion Philadelphia Americans. Philly, which boasted the league’s leading scorer, (Jukey Nanoski, 22 goals) was in the race until the end, falling short by 2 points. Brooklyn Hispano took a big dive this year, falling to eighth place; they were a pale copy of the team which had won the league title a mere two years earlier. In an unusual occurrence, six teams finished within a point of each other in the lower ranks of the standings. By modern standards, Baltimore and Kearny, with their 17 points, should have finished below the four teams who had earned 18 points. The ASL during some years in the 1940s determined standings through won-loss percentage rather than points earned, explaining the discrepancy. The hapless New York Americans and Baltimore S.C. again brought up the rear. Brookhattan then went on to win the Lewis Cup and the National Challenge Cup.
Final League Standings, 1944-45
G W T L PCT GF GA PTS
Brookhattan 20 11 6 3 .700 54 46 28
Philadelphia Americans 19 11 4 4 .685 64 27 26
Brooklyn Wanderers 18 10 3 5 .638 39 33 23
Baltimore Americans 17 6 5 6 .500 35 39 17
Philadelphia Nationals 19 6 6 7 .474 40 40 18
Kearny Scots 19 5 8 6 .474 33 45 18
Kearny Celtic 18 6 5 7 .472 41 38 17
Brooklyn Hispano 20 9 0 11 .450 49 46 18
New York Americans 18 6 4 8 .445 37 45 18
Baltimore S.C. 18 1 3 14 .139 23 56 5
LEAGUE CHAMPION: Brookhattan
LEWIS CUP WINNER: Brookhattan
LEADING SCORERS:
GP G A
Jukey Nanoski, Philly Americans 19 22 16
Nemchik, Brookhattan 18 18 7
Kelly, Philly Americans 18 16 9
Altemose, Philly Nationals 19 15 7
Fabri Salcedo, Brooklyn Hispano 14 15 10
Al Sasso, Kearny Celtic 18 15 1
Most Valuable Player: Steve Rozbora, Brookhattan
Amateur League and Cup Champions
New York Senior State Challenge Cup: S. C. Eintracht
Dr. Manning Challenge Cup (NY): New York Reserves
Eastern District League (NYC): Hakoah (Premier Division); Swiss (A Division)
German-American League (NYC): (S. C. Eintracht
Metropolitan League (NYC): Cork Celtic (Premier Division); Metropolitan Cup: Segura
National League of New York: (No competition)
New Jersey State Challenge Cup: (No competition)
Keystone League (Pittsburgh): (No competition)
West Penn Challenge Cup: Morgan Strasser
Rowland Cup (Maryland State): Combined British Services
Stewart Amateur Cup (Maryland): (No competition)
St. Louis Municipal League: Raftery
Peter J. Peel Cup (Illinois State): Swedish-Americans
California Association Senior Challenge Cup: B&F; Scots of Los Angeles
John O. Belis Perpetual Trophy: American A. C. Teutonia
The US National Team
The National Team was inactive this year. The USA’s national soccer organization formally changed its name from the United States Football Association to the United States Soccer Football Association.
International Tours
There were no international tours this year.
The College Game
Intercollegiate soccer activity was severely curtailed due to the war.
1945 College Conference Champions: Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association (ISFA): No Award California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: No Champion Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Soccer League: Haverford Middle Atlantic States Athletic Conference: Haverford New England Intercollegiate Soccer League: Yale
College All-American Squad, 1945:
Goal Tyree, Army Right Fullback Crowley, Army Left Fullback Barlow, Temple Right Halfback Clayton, Haverford Center Halfback Benedict, Army Left Halfback Hamilton, Penn State Outside Right Matlack, Penn State Inside Right Ketchum, Pennsylvania Center Forward A. Callisto, Navy Inside Left Brice, Yale Outside Left Ruggieri, Navy
Other Results
1945 National Challenge Cup Final: In a two-leg series, New York Brookhattan defeated Cleveland Americans 4-1 on June 10 and 2-1 on June 16 to take the Cup.
1945 National Amateur Cup Final: On July 8, S. C. Eintracht of New York defeated St. Louis Rafterys 1-0.
National Junior Cup: Pompei S.C., Baltimore and Hornets S.C., Chicago (co-champions)