San Gabriel Valley Highlanders won the championship, defeating the Jackson Chargers 3–2. Jackson won the regular season title, winning all 16 games and posting a whopping +84 goal difference. Four teams from the Pacific Coast Soccer League joined as associate members this season, with two (Abbotsford and Seattle) going on to become full members in 1999.
Kalamazoo hosted the Finals and received a bye to the National Semi-Finals. The top four teams from the Central, Great Lakes, Southeast, and Southwest divisions, however, if Kalamazoo places in the top four in the Central Division, the fifth place team will take their spot. The top two teams in the Northwest Division will play the top two associate teams from the PCSL. The team with the most points to lose in the Divisional rounds will play in the Regional round as a wild card against the Divisional champion with the most points. The remaining four teams will play each other based on geography.
^"Blast Named Organization of the Year". Indiana Blast. November 13, 1998. Archived from the original on February 2, 1999. Retrieved May 19, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)