The 2012 North American Soccer League season was the 45th season of Division II soccer in the United States and the second season of the revived North American Soccer League. It was contested by eight teams including one from Canada and one from Puerto Rico. The Montreal Impact were self-promoted to Major League Soccer as an expansion franchise and the expansion San Antonio Scorpions were added to the NASL. The NASL received full sanctioning from the United States Soccer Federation on March 3, 2012 at their annual meeting.^[2] The defending Soccer Bowl champions were the NSC Minnesota Stars, while the Carolina Railhawks were the defending North American Supporters' Trophy winners.

The six qualifying teams were seeded 1 through 6, with the top team in the standings receiving the number 1 seed.

The format of the playoffs consisted of quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The quarterfinals were single games while the semifinals and final were each a two-game series with each team playing at home once and the team with the greater number of aggregate goals in both games winning the series.

The number 1 seed and the number 2 seed received byes while the number 3 seed hosted the number 6 seed and the number 4 seed hosted the number 5 seed in the quarterfinal.

For the semifinal, the number 1 seed was paired with the lower seeded team to qualify from the quarterfinal and the number 2 seed paired with the higher seeded team to qualify from the quarterfinal.

The winners of each semifinal met in the final, known as the Soccer Bowl. In the event of a draw in either quarterfinal game, a 30-minute extra time period was to be played (with the golden goal rule not in effect). If the teams were still locked in a draw following the extra time period, the winner was to be determined by a penalty shootout.

In each semifinal and in the final, if the teams are tied on the number of aggregate goals scored in the series at the conclusion of the second game, the teams were to play a 30-minute extra time period. As in the quarterfinal, the golden goal rule was not in effect. If the teams were still locked in a draw following the extra time period, the winner of the series was to be determined by a penalty shootout.

Quarterfinals

Carolina RailHawks v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

September 29, 2012 (2012-09-29)	Carolina RailHawks	3–1	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Amir Lowery 34'  71' Ty Shipalane 52' 67' Floyd Franks  86'	Report	Conor Shanosky  58' Abe Thompson 61' Lance Laing  90+'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,534 Referee: Daniel Radford

Puerto Rico Islanders v Minnesota Stars

September 30, 2012 (2012-09-30)	Puerto Rico Islanders	1–2	Minnesota Stars	Bayamón, Puerto Rico
6:00 pm EDT	David Foley 79' Josh Hansen  81'	Report	Amani Walker 9' Miguel Ibarra 41' Justin Davis  90'	Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium Attendance: 2,002 Referee: Kevin Terry, Jr.

Semifinals

Carolina RailHawks v Tampa Bay Rowdies

October 6, 2012 (2012-10-06)	Carolina RailHawks	1–2	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Brian Shriver 78' (pen.) Amir Lowery  86' Floyd Franks  89'	Report	Mike Ambersley 64'  90+' Andres Arango  77' Jeff Attinella  83' Dan Antoniuk 85'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,183 Referee: Matthew Foerster

Tampa Bay Rowdies v Carolina RailHawks

October 13, 2012 (2012-10-13)	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–3	Carolina RailHawks	St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 pm EDT	Shane Hill 40' (pen.) Mike Ambersley 65' Luke Mulholland 84'  90+'	Report	Matt Luzunaris 14' Ty Shipalane 18' Gale Agbossoumonde  35' Nick Zimmerman 86' (pen.)	Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 4,132 Referee: Robert Sibiga

Tampa Bay Rowdies win 5–4 on aggregate.

Minnesota Stars v San Antonio Scorpions

October 6, 2012 (2012-10-06)	Minnesota Stars	0–0	San Antonio Scorpions	Blaine, Minnesota
8:30 pm EDT	Simone Bracalello  21'	Report	Kevin Harmse  86'	Stadium: National Sports Center Attendance: 2,006 Referee: Marcos Deoliveira

San Antonio Scorpions v Minnesota Stars

October 14, 2012 (2012-10-14)	San Antonio Scorpions	1–2	Minnesota Stars	San Antonio, Texas
6:15 pm CDT	Walter Ramirez  17' Pablo Campos 25'  27' Kevin Harmse  54' Josue Soto  89'	Report	Kyle Altman  28' Neil Hlavaty  67' Blake Wagner 76' (o.g.) Simone Bracalello 83'	Stadium: Heroes Stadium Attendance: 6,249 Referee: Daniel Fitzgerald

Minnesota Stars win 2–1 on aggregate.

Soccer Bowl 2012

More information Minnesota Stars, 2–0 ...

Minnesota Stars	2–0	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Amani Walker 67' Kentaro Takada  84' Martin Nunez 90+'	Report	Mike Ambersley  48'

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October 20, 2012 (2012-10-20)

8:30 pm EDT

National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota

Attendance: 4,642

Referee: Kevin Terry, Jr.

More information Tampa Bay Rowdies, 3–1 (a.e.t.) ...

Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Minnesota Stars
Carl Cort 25'  58' Mike Ambersley  26' Keith Savage 51' Luke Mulholland  82' Dan Antoniuk 86'  90+' Shane Hill  90'	Report	Justin Davis  32' Simone Bracalello  45+' Lucas Rodríguez 52'
Penalties
Luke Mulholland Raphael Cox Fafà Picault Carl Cort	3–2	Neil Hlavaty Devin Del Do Kyle Altman Simone Bracalello Lucas Rodríguez

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October 27, 2012 (2012-10-27)

7:30 pm EDT

Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Florida

Attendance: 6,208

Referee: Alejandro Mariscal

Tied 3–3 on aggregate. Tampa Bay Rowdies win Soccer Bowl 2012, 3–2 on penalties.

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