1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season

Football league season

Major Indoor Soccer LeagueSeason| 1981–82

|

Champions| New York Arrows
(4th title)
Matches played| 286
Top goalscorer| Steve Zungul (103 goals)
Average attendance| 8,735

← 1980–81

1982–83 →

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.

## Recap

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

## Map of clubs

[edit]

Blast

Stallions

Force

Rockets

Arrows

Fever

Spirit

Avalanche

Comets

Americans

Inferno

Steamers

Wings

Eastern Division  Western Division

## Regular season schedule

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

[19]

### Scoring leaders

[edit]

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 Stallions | 44 | 46 | 25 | 71
Don Ebert  | St. Louis Steamers | 44 | 52 | 19 | 71

### Leading goalkeepers

[edit]

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

[edit]

[20]

### Scoring leaders

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

1. ^ "Jersey Team Joins M.I.S.L." The New York Times. September 15, 1981. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
2. ^ "Tilts Tonight Open MISL Season". Youngstown Vindicator. November 13, 1981. p. 14. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
3. ^ "MISL directors extend league season". St. Petersburg Times. June 9, 1981. p. 2C. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
4. ^ "Hellions move now more likely". Record-Journal. May 28, 1981. p. 14. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
5. ^ "Kansas City may soon be getting a pro soccer team". Milwaukee Sentinel. April 3, 1981. p. B2. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
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 December 6, 2011.
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 December 6, 2011.
10. ^ "Arrows Lose Opener". The New York Times. May 15, 1982. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
11. ^ "Arrows Tie Series With Steamers". The New York Times. May 17, 1982. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
12. ^ "Arrows Take 2-1 Lead". The New York Times. May 22, 1982. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
13. ^ "Arrows Still Champions". The New York Times. May 27, 1982. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
14. ^ "Arrows Cop 4th Crown". The Hour. May 27, 1982. p. 30. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
15. ^ Kaine, Mike (August 11, 1982). "FEVER HALTS OPERATION FOR 1 YEAR". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 62. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
16. ^ "MISL Team In Trouble". Observer-Reporter. April 9, 1982. p. B5. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
17. ^ "MISL season opens tonight". St. Joseph Gazette. November 5, 1982. p. 2D. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
18. ^ 1981-82 MISL Media Guide. 1981. pp. 141–142.141-142&rft.date=1981&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:1981–82+Major+Indoor+Soccer+League+season" class="Z3988">
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.

## External links

[edit]

* The Year in American Soccer – 1982
* 1981-82 summary at The MISL: A Look Back

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