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 It was a year of expansion, as the New Jersey Rockets 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. This was done to, as a league spokesman put it, force players to decide on either the indoor or outdoor game
With the Hartford Hellions moving to Memphis and the San Francisco Fog moving to Kansas City, the league went back to a two-division setup. The top four finishers in each division would advance to the MISL playoffs. The Pittsburgh Spirit returned, 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, 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. 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.
After the season, the Philadelphia Fever would fold and the New Jersey Rockets and Denver Avalanche suspended operations.
Teams
TeamCity/AreaArenaBaltimore BlastBaltimore Baltimore ArenaBuffalo StallionsBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo Memorial Auditorium Cleveland ForceCleveland Richfield ColiseumDenver AvalancheDenver McNichols Sports ArenaKansas City CometsKansas City, Missouri Kemper ArenaMemphis AmericansMemphis, TennesseeMid-South ColiseumNew York ArrowsUniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial ColiseumNew Jersey RocketsEast Rutherford, New Jersey Brendan Byrne ArenaPhiladelphia FeverPhiladelphia The SpectrumPhoenix InfernoPhoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial ColiseumPittsburgh SpiritPittsburgh Civic Arena (Pittsburgh) St. Louis SteamersSt. LouisSt. Louis ArenaWichita WingsWichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum
Map of clubs
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.
Final standings
Playoff teams in bold. Eastern Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road New York Arrows 368.818--30219918-418-4 Pittsburgh Spirit 3113.705525420817-514-8 Baltimore Blast 2717.525 922320715-712-10 Buffalo Stallions 2420.5001227624413-911-11 New Jersey Rockets 1727.386191952309-138-14 Cleveland Force 1529.341212052507-158-14 Philadelphia Fever 1133.250251752507-154-18
Western Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road St. Louis Steamers 2816.636--22818215-713-9 Wichita Wings 2717.614123520015-712-10 Memphis Americans 2024.455825027114-86-16 Denver Avalanche 1925.432918220316-63-19 Phoenix Inferno 1727.3861122225411-116-16 Kansas City Comets 1430.3181417422310-124-18
Playoffs
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
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 Joey 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
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
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 Joey 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 McKenzie, 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
External links The Year in American Soccer – 1982 1981-82 summary at The MISL: A Look Back