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1980–81 Major Indoor Soccer League season

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The 1980-81 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the third in league history and would end with the New York Arrows repeating once again as MISL champions.

There were plenty of changes as the league began its third year. The Houston Summit would move to Baltimore and the Detroit Lightning moved to San Francisco. Three new clubs were added – the Chicago Horizons, the Denver Avalanche and the Phoenix Inferno.

With 12 teams, the league moved to three divisions. To accommodate the three-division setup, the playoff format was tweaked once again. The top two teams in each division would qualify, along with the next best two teams for eight qualifiers in total.[1] While the first round was a best of three series, Commissioner Earl Foreman announced in early November 1980 that there would be single-game semifinals and a final set to be played in St. Louis on the weekend of March 27, 1981.[2]

As it turned out, St. Louis pulled off a worst-to-first turnaround in their division with the second-best record in the MISL and made the championship game. In their semifinal against Wichita, the Steamers rallied from a 6-1 third quarter deficit to tie the game and win in a shootout. Over 33,000 fans attended both nights at the St. Louis Arena.[3][4]

New York's Steve Zungul won regular season MVP honors for the third time, and added the playoff MVP.[5] Zungul scored four goals and an assist in both the semifinal win over Baltimore and the championship game.[6][7] Zungul scored the game-winning goal with less than 30 seconds left against St. Louis,[8] the last of his combined 123 goals (108 regular season and 15 playoff goals, respectively). The 108 goals would remain an MISL record through the end of the league in 1992.

After the season, Chicago folded. The league wanted to return to the market, but Chicago Sting owner Lee Stern paid to keep the Chicago market for himself and the Sting.[9]

Teams

Team City/Area Arena
Baltimore Blast Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena
Buffalo Stallions Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Chicago Horizons Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont Horizon
Cleveland Force Cleveland, Ohio Richfield Coliseum
Denver Avalanche Denver, Colorado McNichols Sports Arena
Hartford Hellions Hartford, Connecticut New Haven Coliseum
Hartford Civic Center
New York Arrows Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Philadelphia Fever Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum
Phoenix Inferno Phoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
San Francisco Fog Daly City, California Cow Palace
St. Louis Steamers St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Arena
Wichita Wings Wichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum

Regular Season Schedule

Main article: 1980-81 Major Indoor Soccer League regular season schedule

The 1980-81 regular season schedule ran from November 7, 1980 to March 8, 1981. The 40 games per team was an increase of eight over the 1979-80 schedule of 32 games.[10]

Final Standings

Playoff teams in bold.

Atlantic Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
New York Arrows 35 5 .875 -- 285 176 17-3 18-2
Baltimore Blast 21 19 .525 14 182 190 13-7 8-12
Philadelphia Fever 18 22 .450 17 212 245 10-10 8-12
Hartford Hellions 13 27 .188 22 165 192 10-10 3-17
Central Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
St. Louis Steamers 25 15 .625 -- 222 196 15-5 10-10
Cleveland Force 21 19 .525 4 209 214 14-6 7-13
Chicago Horizons 20 20 .500 5 216 187 13-7 7-13
Buffalo Stallions 20 20 .500 5 246 210 15-5 5-15
Western Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
Wichita Wings 23 17 .575 -- 228 181 18-2 5-15
Phoenix Inferno 17 23 .425 6 210 254 12-8 5-15
Denver Avalanche 16 24 .500 7 174 217 12-8 4-16
San Francisco Fog 11 29 .275 12 175 271 7-13 4-16

Playoffs

Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game
         
1 New York Arrows 2
8 Phoenix Inferno 1
1 New York Arrows 10
4 Baltimore Blast 1
4 Baltimore Blast 2
5 Cleveland Force 1
1 New York Arrows 6
2 St. Louis Steamers 5
2 St. Louis Steamers 2
7 Buffalo Stallions 0
2 St. Louis Steamers 7 (3)
3 Wichita Wings 7 (1)
3 Wichita Wings 2
6 Chicago Horizons 1

Quarterfinals

New York vs. Phoenix
Date Away Home Attendance
March 19 New York 6 Phoenix 10 8,719
March 21 Phoenix 6 New York 10 12,488
March 24 Phoenix 5 New York 6 6,315
New York wins series 2-1
Baltimore vs. Cleveland
Date Away Home Attendance
March 12 Cleveland 5 Baltimore 6 7,461
Dan Counce scored at 14:06 of overtime
March 14 Baltimore 1 Cleveland 7 10,639
March 15 Cleveland 5 Baltimore 6 7,692
Baltimore wins series 2-1
St. Louis vs. Buffalo
Date Away Home Attendance
March 13 Buffalo 4 St. Louis 6 11,667
March 21 St. Louis 6 Buffalo 5 16,329
St. Louis wins series 2-0
Wichita vs. Chicago
Date Away Home Attendance
March 12 Wichita 3 Chicago 4 4,313
March 18 Chicago 4 Wichita 6 7,309
March 23 Chicago 6 Wichita 8 7,753
Wichita wins series 2-1

Semifinals

New York vs. Baltimore
Date Away Home Attendance
March 27 Baltimore 1 New York 10 16,236
St. Louis vs. Wichita
Date Away Home Attendance
March 27 Wichita 7 St. Louis 7 16,236
St. Louis wins shootout 3-1

Championship Game

St. Louis vs. New York
Date Away Home Attendance
March 29 New York 6 St. Louis 5 17,206

Regular Season Player Statistics

[11]

Scoring Leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 40 108 44 152
Branko Segota New York Arrows 35 38 45 83
Charlie Cordas Buffalo Stallions 36 40 41 81
Vic Davidson Phoenix Inferno 30 50 29 79
Iubo Petrovic Buffalo Stallions 39 44 33 77
Joe Fink Philadelphia Fever 39 51 18 69
Fred Grgurev Philadelphia Fever 37 44 25 69
Jorgen Kristensen Wichita Wings 38 14 52 66
Don Ebert St. Louis Steamers 40 46 19 65
Dave MacWilliams Philadelphia Fever 37 37 28 65

Leading Goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses

Player Team GP Min GA GAA W L
Enzo DiPede Chicago Horizons 16 931 63 4.06 9 6
Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 28 1616 111 4.12 16 12
Sepp Gantenhammer Baltimore Blast 33 1862 130 4.19 17 14
Zoltan Toth New York Arrows 22 1005 73 4.36 14 2
Shep Messing New York Arrows 27 1411 103 4.38 21 3
Aly Anderson Denver Avalanche 10 506 38 4.51 4 4
Richard But Hartford Hellions 39 2262 175 4.64 12 25
Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 33 1878 146 4.66 21 11
Pascal Antoine Denver Avalanche 13 698 56 4.81 7 5
Scott Manning Buffalo Stallions 29 1380 112 4.87 13 12

Playoff Player Statistics

[12]

Scoring Leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 3 15 4 19
Branko Segota New York Arrows 3 9 6 15
Andy Chapman Wichita Wings 4 11 0 11
Tony Glavin St. Louis Steamers 4 8 2 10
George Nanchoff Phoenix Inferno 3 6 4 10

Leading Goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses

Player Team GP Min GA GAA W L
Cliff Brown Cleveland Force 3 188 12 3.83 1 2
Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 4 225 19 5.07 2 1
Scott Manning Buffalo Stallions 2 94 8 5.09 0 1
Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 4 255 22 5.18 3 1
Zoltan Toth New York Arrows 2 69 6 5.22 1 0

All-MISL Teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Shep Messing, New York G Richard But, Hartford
Dave D'Errico, New York D Doc Lawson, Philadelphia
Steve Pecher, St. Louis D Jim Pollihan, Baltimore
Ian Anderson, Cleveland
Tony Glavin, St. Louis M Vic Davidson, Phoenix
Steve Zungul, New York F Paul Kitson, Chicago
Branko Segota, New York F Charlie Cordas, Buffalo
Honorable Mention   Position  
Sepp Gantenhammer, Baltimore G Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis
Ty Keough, St. Louis D Tony Bellinger, St. Louis
Adrian Brooks, Denver M Johnny Moore, San Francisco
Joe Fink, Philadelphia F Jorgen Kristensen, Wichita

League Awards

Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York

Scoring Champion: Steve Zungul, New York

Pass Master: Jorgen Kristiansen, Wichita

Rookie of the Year: Don Ebert, St. Louis

Goalkeeper of the Year: Enzo DiPede, Chicago

Coach of the Year: Don Popovic, New York

Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York

References

  1. ^ 1980-81 MISL Media Guide. 1980. p. 43.
  2. ^ "Indoor soccer won't be hurt by expansion". The Day (New London). November 7, 1980. p. 26. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  3. ^ "St. Louis Steamers face problem in big contest". Daily Union. March 29, 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  4. ^ "St. Louis Indoor Soccer History". Jim Fossell. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  5. ^ "1980-81 MISL Season Summary". Our Sports Central. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  6. ^ "Steamers, Arrows triumph". The Bulletin (Bend). March 28, 1981. p. 21. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  7. ^ "Arrows Were On Target". Evening Independent. March 29, 1981. p. 8C. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  8. ^ 1982-83 MISL Information Guide. 1982. p. 52.
  9. ^ "The Year In American Soccer - 1981". Dave Litterer. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  10. ^ 1980-81 MISL Media Guide. 1980. pp. 107–108.
  11. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 55.
  12. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 82.

1980-81 MISL Media Guide. Bala Cynwyd, PA: Major Indoor Soccer League. 1980.

Verb, Doug; Jones-Fearnley, Alaina (1982). 1982-83 MISL Information Guide. Bala Cynwyd, PA: Major Indoor Soccer League.

Leary, Dan; Griffin, John (1987). MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. New York, NY: Major Indoor Soccer League Communications Department.

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