The 1978 NASL Skelly Invitational was a four-team indoor soccer tournament held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the Tulsa Assembly Center on the first weekend of March 1978.

Overview Four teams, all from the North American Soccer League, participated in the two-day event: the Houston Hurricane, the Minnesota Kicks, the Washington Diplomats, and the host Tulsa Roughnecks.

Matches were 60 minutes long and divided into three 20-minute periods, with an intermission between each period. Timed overtime periods, featuring a golden goal winner, would be used to decide any matches tied after 60 minutes. Each session consisted of two games (i.e. a doubleheader). The opening round of matches (Saturday evening's Session 1) would be semi-final games, with the Session 2 matches on Sunday afternoon serving as the third place match and Championship Final respectively. The first match of Session 1 was Minnesota's first time playing indoors. The second match of Session 1, played on Saturday, March 4, 1978, between Tulsa and Houston, marked the first time the expansion Hurricane faced NASL competition, and was only the Roughnecks third-ever game.Marcia Schallert, editor. (1979). Budweiser Indoor Soccer Invitational match program. Tampa, FL. Tampa Bay Rowdies. p 12

Approximately 3,500 people attended the two sessions. Tulsa won both of its matches and was crowned champions of the Skelly Invitational. Roughnecks forward Nino Zec edged out both teammate Milan Dovedan and Washington's Randy Garber by one assist to lead the invitational in scoring with 5 goals and 2 assists. The tournament's co-MVPs were Zec and Tibor Molnár, also of Tulsa. The Kicks were runners-up in the invitational, with the Dips defeating the Hurricane for 3rd place in the consolation match. The all-tournament squad included four Roughnecks: Zec, Molnar, Dovedan, and goalkeeper, Gary Allison.

Map of clubs

Tournament results Bracket

Sessions Session 1: Saturday, March 4, 1978 7:00 PM CSTMinnesota Kicks8–7 (OT)Washington Diplomats Attendance: 1,500 (est) 9:00 PM CSTTulsa Roughnecks12–3Houston Hurricane

Session 2: Sunday, March 5, 1978 2:30 PM CSTWashington Diplomats8–5Houston Hurricane Attendance: 2,000 (est) 4:30 PM CSTTulsa Roughnecks9–5Minnesota Kicks

Match reports Session 1

Session 2

Final standings G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential 1978 Skelly Indoor Invitational TeamGWLGFGAGDPositionTulsa Roughnecks220218+131st place (champions)Minnesota Kicks2111316–32nd place (runners-up)Washington Diplomats2111513+23rd placeHouston Hurricane202820–124th place

Statistical leaders Scoring Goals (worth 2 points), Assists (worth 1 point) Leading scorersGoalsAssistsPoints Nino Zec (Tulsa)5212 Randy Garber (Washington)5111 Milan Dovedan (Tulsa)5111 Mike Bakić (Washington)408 Ade Coker (Minnesota)408 Živorad Stamenković (Tulsa)328 Mark Moran (Minnesota)215 Gerry Morielli (Houston)215 Don O'Riordan (Tulsa)215 Matt O'Sullivan (Houston) 215 Jim Steele (Washington)215*Three players tied with 2 goals 0 assists.

Goalkeeping GA = Goals Against, GAA = Goals Against Average, SV = Saves, SF = Shots Faced Leading GoalkeepersMinutesGAGAASVSF Darryl Wallace (Tulsa)6033.002530 Gary Allison (Tulsa)6055.00 unk unk Bill Irwin (Washington)6055.001924 Kurt Kuykendall (Washington)6387.875 unk unk*Minnesota and Houston used multiple goalkeepers in each match.

Tournament awards Most Valuable Players: Nino Zec (Tulsa) and Tibor Molnár (Tulsa) All-tournament Team: Nino Zec (Tulsa), Milan Dovedan (Tulsa), Randy Garber (Washington), Tibor Molnar (Tulsa), Dale Russell (Houston), Gary Allison (Tulsa)

Non-tournament matches These were not the only indoor matches played that winter. The four Skelly Invitational participants played a combined 12 additional matches. In fact 10 days later, Houston hosted their own indoor tournament, the Schlitz Indoor Touney. Since a full season of indoor soccer was still two years away, NASL teams were free to do their own scheduling. There were reports of the league awarding an "NASL Cup" for the best team among those that participated in at least 16 indoor games. Of the 24 teams in the league, 11 had indoor matches planned. The Tampa Bay Rowdies, for example played eight games. By contrast, the Chicago Sting signed on to play only two games at Washington, both of which were ultimately canceled because of scheduling conflicts with a boat show at the D.C. Armory. In the end, no team played more than nine games in 1978, and only a handful played more than three.

See also

North American Soccer League

References