Fayetteville and Memphis win NISL titles

The first-year National Indoor Soccer League (NISL) wrapped up its season earlier this month as they crowned their men's and women's champions in Fayetteville, North Carolina at the Crown Coliseum.  

The Memphis Americans claimed the women's title with a 5-3 win over the Rome Gladiators FC.  The Fayetteville Fury defeated the Memphis Americans 5-3 for the men's title.

In the men's title game, Fayetteville trailed 1-0 at halftime but put up four unanswered goals in the second half for the 5-3 victory.

Eli Garner scored off an assist from Fury goalie Kenneth Perkinson to even the score at 1. Then, Memphis went on a two-goal run in a two-minute span of the third quarter to go up 3-1. The second of those goals came on an empty-netter from midfield.  Sam Lister headed in a shot off the boards with a little more than a minute left in the period to get the Fury within one and then, 40 seconds later, Dominic Jensen drove in a goal for the equalizer at 3-all.  Jensen scored again seven minutes into the fourth off an assist from Nate Brady to give the Fury its first lead. The UNC alum side-footed a backward pass into the net to put Fayetteville up 4-3. Brady capped the scoring with a right boot of a rebound to the far post to give the Fury a 5-3 lead with 3:24 remaining for the final score.

Fayetteville defeated Rome 13-3 in the semifinals.

In the women's championship game, the only game information which could be found is that the game was tied 3-3 at halftime.  Memphis scored two in the second half to win the title. 

Memphis defeated Fayetteville 4-1 in the semifinals.

Final Standings for the Men's Division:

1. Fayetteville Fury (14-3)
2. Memphis Americans (12-6-1)
3. Columbus Rapids (5-12-1)
4. Rome Gladiators (1-11)

The top players in the Men's Division were Djordje Djordjevic (Memphis) with 27 goals.  Corey Adamson (Memphis) also led the league with 19 assists.  

Final Standings for the Women's Division:

1. Memphis Americans (15-4)
2. Rome Gladiators (6-6)
3. Columbus Rapids (7-11)
4. Fayetteville Fury (5-12)

The top women players were Carlie Banks (Rome) with 16 goals.  Brianna Conley (Columbus) lead the women's division in assists with 9.

It appears that the NISL will return for another season as Memphis and other teams are pushing for season ticket sales for the 2022-2023 season.  No word if any additional franchises will be added or if any existing ones will be relocated.