Seven years removed from their 1995 Pro League championship, the Long Island Rough Riders returned to the third division after five seasons in the A-League and found glory once again. The Rough Riders survived a competitive Atlantic Conference and championship foe Wilmington Hammerheads to claim their second league title at Legion Field in Wilmington.

The conference champion Rough Riders nearly saw their postseason campaign come to an end against conference foe New York Freedoms in the first round when the club was forced to go to overtime and a penalty kick shootout tiebreaker to advance. Tied 2-2, the Rough Riders escaped elimination, winning the tiebreaker 5-3 to face the Connecticut Wolves.

In the semi-finals, it was a bit easier for Long Island with a 3-0 win over the Wolves to earn a spot in the final.

In the other half of the bracket, the regular season champion Utah Blittz were looking for their second straight league title, something never accomplished at the third division level.

Utah opened the campaign with a narrow 1-0 overtime victory over the San Diego Gauchos in the conference final, but was upended by the Hammerheads in the semifinals, 3-0.

Before a standing room only crowd of 5,768 at Legion, the Rough Riders and Hammerheads duels in spectacular fashion all the way to the final whistle.

Wilmington got on the board first when Anthony Maher tallied in the 40th minute to give his club the 1-0 lead going into halftime.

Long Island defender Carlos Mendez pulled the Rough Riders level in the 58th minute and the team’s leading scorer Derrick Etienne notched what held up to be the game-winner in the 82nd minute, giving the club its second league title with a 2-1 win.