1982–83 Major Indoor Soccer League season

Major Indoor Soccer League
Season 1982–83
Champions San Diego Sockers
Matches played 316
Top goalscorer Steve Zungul (75 goals)
Average attendance 7,895

The 1982–83 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the fifth in league history and would end with the San Diego Sockers winning their first MISL title. It would be the Sockers' second straight indoor championship, as the club had won the North American Soccer League's indoor league the previous spring.

Recap

The league would enter into an agreement with the NASL in the summer of 1982 to begin plans for an eventual merger.[1] Initial plans to have all 14 NASL teams play in the winter would not come to pass, as most teams preferred to concentrate on the outdoor season. However, the Chicago Sting and Golden Bay Earthquakes would join the Sockers for the MISL season.

The Earthquakes would perform worst of the three NASL teams, but picked up Steve Zungul from the New York Arrows when New York's new management decided to try to 'Americanize' the team in an attempt to boost ticket sales.[2] The Arrows, only two games out of first place when the trade was made on January 19, finished at .500 and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the Quakes' struggles, Zungul would win the MISL scoring title again.

The expansion Los Angeles Lazers, owned by the Los Angeles Lakers' Jerry Buss, set a record for the lowest winning percentage in league history. After the season, Chicago, San Diego and Golden Bay withdrew and returned to the NASL as the league made plans for an indoor return the following winter. Despite losing the NASL teams, the league continued to expand as teams were announced for Tacoma in 1983-84 and Dallas for 1984-85.

The MISL continued to make inroads on national television. While the spring would see the end of the league's two-year deal with the USA Network, CBS would broadcast a playoff game live from Cleveland on May 7 that drew an estimated four million viewers.

Teams

Team City/Area Arena
Baltimore Blast Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena
Buffalo Stallions Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Chicago Sting Chicago Chicago Stadium
Cleveland Force Cleveland, Ohio Richfield Coliseum
Golden Bay Earthquakes Oakland, California Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
Kansas City Comets Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena
Los Angeles Lazers Inglewood, California The Forum
Memphis Americans Memphis, Tennessee Mid-South Coliseum
New York Arrows Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Phoenix Inferno Phoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)
San Diego Sockers San Diego, California San Diego Sports Arena
St. Louis Steamers St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Arena
Wichita Wings Wichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum

Regular Season Schedule

The 1982–83 regular season schedule ran from November 5, 1982, to April 17, 1983. The 48 games per team was an increase of four over the 1981–82 schedule of 44 games.[3]

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

Eastern Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
Baltimore Blast3018.625--24922419-511-13
Cleveland Force2919.604128526716-813-11
Chicago Sting2820.583228523917-711-13
New York Arrows2424.500622521915-99-15
Pittsburgh Spirit2424.500625024715-99-15
Buffalo Stallions2226.458827027413-119-15
Memphis Americans1929.3961123927415-94-20
Western Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
San Diego Sockers3216.667--28923019-513-11
Wichita Wings2721.563527324917-710-14
Kansas City Comets2622.542621921017-79-15
St. Louis Steamers2622.542623423415-911-13
Phoenix Inferno2424.500824925517-77-17
Golden Bay Earthquakes1731.354152402908-169-15
Los Angeles Lazers840.167241912866-182-22

Playoffs

Division Semifinals Division Finals Championship Series
         
E1 Baltimore Blast 2
E4 New York Arrows 1
E1 Baltimore Blast 3
E2 Cleveland Force 2
E2 Cleveland Force 2
E3 Chicago Sting 1
E1 Baltimore Blast 2
W1 San Diego Sockers 3
W1 San Diego Sockers 2
W4 Kansas City Comets 0
W1 San Diego Sockers 3
W2 Wichita Wings 0
W2 Wichita Wings 2
W3 St. Louis Steamers 1

Quarterfinals

Baltimore vs. New York
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 19New York 4Baltimore 1110,511
April 22Baltimore 6New York 77,157
April 23New York 3Baltimore 811,223
Baltimore wins series 2-1
Cleveland vs. Chicago
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 19Chicago 9Cleveland 58,519
April 21Cleveland 5Chicago 49,643
April 23Chicago 5Cleveland 719,106
Cleveland wins series 2-1
San Diego vs. Kansas City
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 20Kansas City 2San Diego 69,120
April 23San Diego 9Kansas City 415,957
San Diego wins series 2-0
Wichita vs. St. Louis
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 19St. Louis 5Wichita 68,355
Andy Chapman scored at 13:01 of overtime
April 23Wichita 2St. Louis 813,881
April 25St. Louis 7Wichita 99,875
Wichita wins series 2-1

Semifinals

Baltimore vs. Cleveland
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 26Cleveland 7Baltimore 69,787
April 29Cleveland 5Baltimore 1011,223
May 5Baltimore 7Cleveland 316,136
May 7Baltimore 3Cleveland 612,178
May 10Cleveland 6Baltimore 811,311
Baltimore wins series 3-2
San Diego vs. Wichita
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 28Wichita 5San Diego 811,340
April 30Wichita 2San Diego 511,520
May 6San Diego 4Wichita 39,725
San Diego wins series 3-0

Championship Series

San Diego vs. Baltimore
DateAwayHomeAttendance
May 13Baltimore 0San Diego 612,549
May 15Baltimore 0San Diego 712,185
May 17San Diego 3Baltimore 411,223
May 19San Diego 6Baltimore 711,431
Joe Fink scored at 1:03 of overtime
May 23Baltimore 1San Diego 312,948
San Diego wins series 3-2

Regular Season Player Statistics

[4]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York/Golden Bay437547122
Stan Stamenkovic Memphis Americans415565120
Juli Veee San Diego Sockers375753110
Stan Terlecki Pittsburgh Spirit456540105
Omar Gomez Wichita Wings44374986
Craig Allen Cleveland Force45533184
Keith Furphy Cleveland Force48562884
Kai Haaskivi Cleveland Force46384684
Steve David Phoenix Inferno47612081
Ruben Astigarraga Phoenix Inferno43344680

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
Zoltán TóthNew York Arrows2715551044.011214
Slobo IlijevskiSt. Louis Steamers4425481754.122319
Keith Van EronBaltimore Blast3819691384.20239
Alan MayerSan Diego Sockers4324071724.293010
Victor PetroniKansas City Comets2614981124.491410
Victor NogueiraChicago Sting2814411104.581412
Enzo DiPedeKansas City Comets2413621094.801212
Mike DowlerWichita Wings4225022034.872517
Blagoje TamindzicPhoenix Inferno3922521834.881918
Krys SobieskiPittsburgh Spirit4122731854.881920

Playoff Player Statistics

[5]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Juli Veee San Diego Sockers10131932
Dave MacWilliams Baltimore Blast13121123
Heinz Wirtz Baltimore Blast13101121
Joe Fink Baltimore Blast1312820
Kaz Deyna San Diego Sockers914418

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
Alan MayerSan Diego Sockers10587282.8682
Keith Van EronBaltimore Blast10556495.2946
Mike DowlerWichita Wings6357335.5524
Chris VaccaroCleveland Force7321366.7323

All-MISL Teams

First Team  Position  Second Team
Alan Mayer, San Diego G Keith Van Eron, Baltimore
Val Tuksa, New York D Greg Makowski, Kansas City
Heinz Wirtz, Baltimore D Kim Roentved, Wichita
Juli Veee, San Diego M Jorgen Kristensen, Wichita
Steve Zungul, New York/Golden Bay F Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh
Stan Stamenkovic, Memphis F Kai Haaskivi, Cleveland
Honorable Mention  Position  
Slobo Illijevski, St. Louis G
Renato Cila, New York D
Helmut Dudek, Memphis D
Pato Margetic, Chicago F
Kaz Deyna, San Diego F

League Awards

Most Valuable Player: Alan Mayer, San Diego

Scoring Champion: Steve Zungul, New York/Golden Bay

Pass Master: Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore

Defender of the Year: Bernie James, Cleveland

Rookie of the Year: Kirk Shermer, Los Angeles

Goalkeeper of the Year: Zoltán Tóth, New York

Coach of the Year: Pat McBride, Kansas City

Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Juli Veee, San Diego

References

  1. ↑ "NASL, indoor league announce merger". Vancouver Sun. August 11, 1982. p. C2. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  2. ↑ "Golden Bay Gets Zungul". New York Times. January 20, 1983. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  3. ↑ 1982-83 MISL Information Guide. 1982. pp. 89–90.
  4. ↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 53.
  5. ↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 81.

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

1983-84 MISL Media Guide. Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania: Major Indoor Soccer League. 1983.

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

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