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1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season

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The 1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the fourth in league history and would end with the New York Arrows repeating once again as MISL champions.

It was a year of expansion, as the New Jersey Rockets [1] were added and the schedule was lengthened by almost two months. The 44-game regular-season schedule was an increase of four games, and the playoff schedule was expanded to two best-of-three rounds and one best-of-five championship series.[2] This was done to, as a league spokesman put it, force players to decide on either the indoor or outdoor game [3]

With the Hartford Hellions moving to Memphis[4] and the San Francisco Fog moving to Kansas City,[5] the league went back to a two-division setup. The top four finishers in each division would advance to the MISL playoffs.[6] The Pittsburgh Spirit returned,[7] and had the second-best record in the league.

While the Arrows had the best record in the league and Steve Zungul won the scoring title again,[8] New York was pushed hard in the playoffs. In their first round matchup with the Buffalo Stallions, the Stallions won the first game of the series in New York and held a 4-2 lead with 1:20 remaining in Game 2. Zungul and Omar Gomez scored 36 seconds apart to tie the match, and Dragan Simic scored in overtime to even the series.[9] New York won Game 3 to advance.

New York and St. Louis would eventually meet in a five-game championship series that would see every game decided by two goals or less, including two in overtime.[10][11][12][13][14]

After the season, the Philadelphia Fever would fold [15] and the New Jersey Rockets[16] and Denver Avalanche[17] suspended operations.

Teams

Team City/Area Arena
Baltimore Blast Baltimore Baltimore Arena
Buffalo Stallions Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Cleveland Force Cleveland Richfield Coliseum
Denver Avalanche Denver McNichols Sports Arena
Kansas City Comets Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena
Memphis Americans Memphis, Tennessee Mid-South Coliseum
New York Arrows Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
New Jersey Rockets East Rutherford, New Jersey Brendan Byrne Arena
Philadelphia Fever Philadelphia The Spectrum
Phoenix Inferno Phoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)
St. Louis Steamers St. Louis St. Louis Arena
Wichita Wings Wichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum

Regular season schedule

Main article: 1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League regular season schedule

The 1981–82 regular season schedule ran from November 13, 1981, to April 25, 1982. The 44 games per team was an increase of four over the 1980–81 schedule of 40 games.[18]

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

Eastern Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
New York Arrows 36 8 .818 -- 302 199 18-4 18-4
Pittsburgh Spirit 31 13 .705 5 254 208 17-5 14-8
Baltimore Blast 27 17 .525 9 223 207 15-7 12-10
Buffalo Stallions 24 20 .500 12 276 244 13-9 11-11
New Jersey Rockets 17 27 .386 19 195 230 9-13 8-14
Cleveland Force 15 29 .341 21 205 250 7-15 8-14
Philadelphia Fever 11 33 .250 25 175 250 7-15 4-18
Western Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
St. Louis Steamers 28 16 .636 -- 228 182 15-7 13-9
Wichita Wings 27 17 .614 1 235 200 15-7 12-10
Memphis Americans 20 24 .455 8 250 271 14-8 6-16
Denver Avalanche 19 25 .432 9 182 203 16-6 3-19
Phoenix Inferno 17 27 .386 11 222 254 11-11 6-16
Kansas City Comets 14 30 .318 14 174 223 10-12 4-18

Playoffs

Division Semifinals Division Finals Championship Series
         
E1 New York Arrows 2
E4 Buffalo Stallions 1
E1 New York Arrows 2
E3 Baltimore Blast 1
E2 Pittsburgh Spirit 1
E3 Baltimore Blast 2
E1 New York Arrows 3
W1 St. Louis Steamers 2
W1 St. Louis Steamers 2
W4 Denver Avalanche 0
W1 St. Louis Steamers 2
W3 Wichita Wings 1
W2 Wichita Wings 2
W3 Memphis Americans 1

Quarterfinals

New York vs. Buffalo
Date Away Home Attendance
April 30 Buffalo 9 New York 7 4,223
May 2 New York 5 Buffalo 4 9,640
Dragan Simic scored at 6:05 of overtime
May 5 Buffalo 6 New York 10 3,345
New York wins series 2-1
Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore
Date Away Home Attendance
April 30 Baltimore 1 Pittsburgh 3 6,594
May 1 Pittsburgh 5 Baltimore 6 8,513
Miguel Filardo scored at 5:12 of overtime
May 5 Baltimore 6 Pittsburgh 2 5,985
Baltimore wins series 2-1
St. Louis vs. Denver
Date Away Home Attendance
April 28 Denver 2 St. Louis 4 11,641
April 30 St. Louis 7 Denver 6 7,306
St. Louis wins series 2-0
Wichita vs. Memphis
Date Away Home Attendance
April 29 Memphis 5 Wichita 3 6,613
May 1 Wichita 6 Memphis 3 5,682
May 2 Memphis 3 Wichita 12 7,573
Wichita wins series 2-1

Semifinals

New York vs. Baltimore
Date Away Home Attendance
May 7 Baltimore 5 New York 6 10,244
Paul Kitson scored at 10:19 of overtime
May 8 New York 6 Baltimore 2 9,643
New York wins series 2-0
St. Louis vs. Wichita
Date Away Home Attendance
May 7 Wichita 5 St. Louis 10 12,436
May 9 St. Louis 6 Wichita 7 9,643
Andy Chapman scored at :39 of overtime
May 12 Wichita 1 St. Louis 4 11,498
St. Louis wins series 2-1

Championship Series

New York vs. St. Louis
Date Away Home Attendance
May 14 St. Louis 3 New York 2 7,921
Tony Glavin scored at 5:55 of overtime
May 16 St. Louis 3 New York 5 7,431
May 21 New York 9 St. Louis 8 18,160
Steve Zungul scored at 4:13 of overtime
May 23 New York 4 St. Louis 6 18,116
May 26 St. Louis 6 New York 8 11,023
New York wins series 3-2

Regular season player statistics

[19]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 40 103 60 163
Stan Terlecki Pittsburgh Spirit 43 74 43 117
Stan Stamenkovic Memphis Americans 36 46 47 83
Steve David Phoenix Inferno 44 58 23 81
Paul Child Pittsburgh Spirit 44 52 29 81
Omar Gomez New York Arrows 40 40 36 76
Keith Furphy Cleveland Force 44 50 25 75
Joe Fink Baltimore Blast 43 51 22 73
Germain Iglesias Buffalo Stalliona 44 46 25 71
Don Ebert St. Louis Steamers 44 52 19 71

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
Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 36 2103 135 3.85 24 11
Keith Van Eron Baltimore Blast 32 1664 110 3.97 18 12
Pascal Antoine Denver Avalanche 18 881 60 4.09 6 7
Krys Sobieski Pittsburgh Spirit 29 1498 105 4.20 19 7
Victor Petroni Kansas City Comets 18 898 63 4.21 7 8
Zoltán Tóth New York Arrows 17 1022 74 4.34 15 2
Van Taylor Phoenix Inferno 29 1217 89 4.39 10 8
Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 37 2149 162 4.52 22 14
Shep Messing New York Arrows 27 1652 125 4.54 21 6
Alan Mayer New Jersey Rockets 27 1527 116 4.56 8 16

Playoff player statistics

[20]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 10 24 8 32
Omar Gomez New York Arrows 10 11 11 22
Greg Villa St. Louis Steamers 10 7 9 16
Tony Glavin St. Louis Steamers 8 9 4 13
Carl Rose St. Louis Steamers 10 8 4 12

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
Krys Sobieski Pittsburgh Spirit 2 120 5 2.50 1 1
Zoltán Tóth New York Arrows 5 306 21 4.12 4 1
Keith Van Eron Baltimore Blast 5 298 21 4.22 2 3
Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 10 611 49 4.81 6 4
Cliff Brown Wichita Wings 6 359 30 5.02 3 3

All-MISL teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis G Mike Dowler, Wichita
Val Tuksa, New York D Ian Anderson, Cleveland
Helmut Dudek, Memphis D Kevin Kewley, Wichita
Steve Zungul, New York M Steve David, Phoenix
Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh F Joe Fink, Baltimore
Stan Stamenkovic, Memphis F Tony Glavin, St. Louis
Honorable Mention   Position  
Shep Messing, New York G Krys Sobieski, Pittsburgh
Renato Cila, New York D John O'Hara, Pittsburgh
Dave MacKenzie, Pittsburgh D Carl Rose, St. Louis
Kim Roentved, Wichita
Paul Child, Pittsburgh F Jorgen Kristensen, Wichita
Keith Furphy, Cleveland F Don Ebert, St. Louis

League Awards

  • Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York/Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh
  • Scoring Champion: Steve Zungul, New York
  • Pass Master: Steve Zungul, New York
  • Rookie of the Year: Germain Iglesias, Buffalo
  • Defender of the Year: Val Tuksa, New York
  • Goalkeeper of the Year: Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis
  • Coach of the Year: Dave Clements, Denver
  • Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York

References

  1. ^ "Jersey Team Joins M.I.S.L." New York Times. September 15, 1981. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  2. ^ "Tilts Tonight Open MISL Season". Youngstown Vindicator. November 13, 1981. p. 14. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  3. ^ "MISL directors extend league season". St. Petersburg Times. June 9, 1981. p. 2C. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  4. ^ "Hellions move now more likely". Record-Journal. May 28, 1981. p. 14. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  5. ^ "Kansas City may soon be getting a pro soccer team". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 3, 1981. p. B2. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  6. ^ 1981-82 MISL Media Guide. 1981. p. 144.
  7. ^ Tuscano, Joe (June 19, 1981). "Spirit Bounces Back To MISL". Observer-Reporter. p. C1. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  8. ^ "1981–82 MISL season Summary". Our Sports Central. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  9. ^ "Late Rally Saves Day For Arrows". Pittsburgh Press. May 3, 1982. p. C1. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  10. ^ "Arrows Lose Opener". New York Times. May 15, 1982. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  11. ^ "Arrows Tie Series With Steamers". New York Times. May 17, 1982. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  12. ^ "Arrows Take 2-1 Lead". New York Times. May 22, 1982. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  13. ^ "Arrows Still Champions". New York Times. May 27, 1982. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  14. ^ "Arrows Cop 4th Crown". The Hour. May 27, 1982. p. 30. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  15. ^ Kaine, Mike (August 11, 1982). "FEVER HALTS OPERATION FOR 1 YEAR". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 62. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  16. ^ "MISL Team In Trouble". Observer-Reporter. April 9, 1982. p. B5. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  17. ^ "MISL season opens tonight". St. Joseph Gazette. November 5, 1982. p. 2D. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  18. ^ 1981-82 MISL Media Guide. 1981. pp. 141–142.
  19. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 54.
  20. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 82.

1981-82 MISL Media Guide. Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania: Major Indoor Soccer League. 1981.

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

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

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