Football league season
The 1984–85 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the seventh in league history and ended with the San Diego Sockers winning their second MISL title in three seasons over the Baltimore Blast . It was the Sockers' fourth straight indoor title, as they had also won the North American Soccer League's indoor league in the spring of 1984.
With the NASL near death in the summer of 1984, a handful of teams made plans to switch from outdoor to indoor soccer once the NASL season ended in October.[1] Along with the Sockers, the Chicago Sting , Minnesota Strikers and New York Cosmos formally made the leap in late August.[2] With the addition of the Dallas Sidekicks , the league went back to a 14-team, two-division setup.
With an influx of new teams, the league expanded the playoffs even further. 10 teams would qualify, the top three in each division and the next best four wild-card teams. The wild-card teams would play a best-of-three series. The second and third round were best-of-five series, and the championship round would be a best-of-seven series. Each successive round would see the winners reseeded, similar to the NHL playoff format used for almost 20 years.[3]
While the Sting and Strikers made the playoffs, the Cosmos struggled. On February 22, with their record at 11-22, the team announced they were pulling out of the MISL effective immediately.[4] The league would scramble to fill out the schedule,[5] but only the Wichita Wings would play an uneven number of games.
The Strikers would make a run from the wildcard series to the league semifinals, only falling to San Diego in a decisive fifth game. Trailing in the series two games to one, Minnesota actually lost the fourth game in a shootout,[6] but lodged a protest with commissioner Francis Dale over San Diego's shooting order. Dale upheld the protest and declared the Strikers winners.[7] Despite the Sockers only being made aware of the fifth game once they landed at the San Diego airport, they shut out Minnesota to win the series[8]
This would be the final year the MISL would have games aired on network television, CBS broadcast Game 4 of the championship series live on May 25.[9]
Despite having the league's third-best record, the Las Vegas Americans would be terminated by the league after the season due to financial difficulties.[10]
Regular season schedule [ edit ] The 1984–85 regular season schedule ran from November 2, 1984, to April 14, 1985. Despite the Cosmos leaving the league in mid-season, each team played their scheduled 48 games with the exception of Wichita.[11]
Final standings [ edit ] Playoff teams in bold .
Playoffs [ edit ] Wildcard Series [ edit ] Minnesota vs. Wichita Date Away Home Attendance April 17 Wichita 1 Minnesota 2 4,233 April 19 Minnesota 3 Wichita 8 7,053 April 21 Wichita 2 Minnesota 3 4,032 Jan Goossens scored at 2:45 of overtime Minnesota wins series 2-1
St. Louis vs. Kansas City Date Away Home Attendance April 17 Kansas City 5 St. Louis 4 7,636 Damir Haramina scored at 8:14 of overtime April 19 St. Louis 3 Kansas City 2 10,241 Tasso Koutsoukos scored at 1:22 of overtime Kansas City wins series 2-0
Quarterfinals [ edit ] San Diego vs. Kansas City Date Away Home Attendance April 24 Kansas City 3 San Diego 4 7,552 Brian Quinn scored at 11:45 of overtime April 26 Kansas City 7 San Diego 11 9,560 April 28 San Diego 3 Kansas City 2 10,458 San Diego wins series 3-0
Chicago vs. Cleveland Date Away Home Attendance April 19 Cleveland 5 Chicago 4 6,550 Peter Ward scored at 10:31 of overtime April 21 Cleveland 4 Chicago 8 5,005 April 24 Chicago 1 Cleveland 6 8,112 April 27 Chicago 4 Cleveland 5 11,248 Keith Furphy scored at 5:01 of overtime Cleveland wins series 3-1
Baltimore vs. Los Angeles Date Away Home Attendance April 24 Los Angeles 3 Baltimore 4 7,108 April 26 Los Angeles 3 Baltimore 11 9,493 April 28 Baltimore 5 Los Angeles 4 4,746 Baltimore wins series 3-0
Las Vegas vs. Minnesota Date Away Home Attendance April 24 Minnesota 6 Las Vegas 5 5,278 April 26 Minnesota 4 Las Vegas 6 6,016 April 28 Las Vegas 2 Minnesota 3 7,134 May 1 Las Vegas 1 Minnesota 4 5,094 Minnesota wins series 3-1
Semifinals [ edit ] San Diego vs. Minnesota Date Away Home Attendance May 5 Minnesota 1 San Diego 8 8,494 May 8 Minnesota 5 San Diego 6 10,143 Jean Willrich scored at 1:15 of overtime May 10 San Diego 5 Minnesota 8 8,270 May 12 San Diego 3 Minnesota 3 7,871 Minnesota wins shootout 3-2** May 14 Minnesota 0 San Diego 7 10,059 San Diego wins series 3-2
Baltimore vs. Cleveland Date Away Home Attendance May 3 Cleveland 5 Baltimore 6 7,568 May 5 Cleveland 5 Baltimore 3 8,205 May 10 Baltimore 3 Cleveland 4 13,093 May 11 Baltimore 7 Cleveland 6 13,861 May 14 Cleveland 4 Baltimore 7 9,184 Baltimore wins series 3-2
**San Diego won the shootout 4-3, but Minnesota appealed the result, as the Sockers used an ineligible player. The Strikers were declared winners on May 13.
Championship Series [ edit ] San Diego vs. Baltimore Date Away Home Attendance May 17 Baltimore 4 San Diego 5 11,639 May 19 Baltimore 3 San Diego 7 12,185 May 23 San Diego 6 Baltimore 10 11,074 May 25 San Diego 14 Baltimore 2 9,084 May 28 Baltimore 3 San Diego 5 12,948 San Diego wins series 4-1
Regular season player statistics [ edit ] [12]
Scoring leaders [ edit ] GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists , Pts = Points
Player Team GP G A Pts Steve Zungul San Diego Sockers 48 68 68 136 Karl-Heinz Granitza Chicago Sting 47 64 53 117 Branko Segota San Diego Sockers 46 66 40 106 Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast 43 39 52 91 Tatu Dallas Sidekicks 43 59 29 88 Dale Mitchell Tacoma Stars 48 55 32 87 Jean Willrich San Diego Sockers 48 43 43 86 Fred Grgurev Las Vegas Americans 48 48 29 77 Craig Allen Cleveland Force 42 45 30 75 Jan Goossens Minnesota Strikers 48 49 24 73
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 Scott Manning Baltimore Blast 36 2080 135 3.89 23 11 Slobo Illjevski St. Louis Steamers 30 1681 112 4.00 11 12 Jim Gorsek San Diego Sockers 30 1665 112 4.04 19 8 Manny Schwartz Kansas City Comets 40 2192 152 4.16 19 15 Alan Mayer Las Vegas Americans 30 1759 124 4.23 17 12 Victor Nogueira Chicago Sting 43 2440 162 4.34 23 15 Tino Lettieri Minnesota Strikers 45 2672 198 4.45 24 21 Cris Vaccaro Cleveland Force 27 1453 108 4.46 16 8 Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 41 2394 179 4.49 20 20 John Baretta Tacoma Stars 31 1637 127 4.65 11 13
Playoff player statistics [ edit ] [13]
Scoring leaders [ edit ] GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists , Pts = Points
Player Team GP G A Pts Steve Zungul San Diego Sockers 13 13 24 37 Branko Segota San Diego Sockers 13 22 8 30 Jean Willrich San Diego Sockers 13 11 12 23 Brian Quinn San Diego Sockers 13 11 11 22 Andy Chapman Cleveland Force 9 14 5 19 Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast 11 8 11 19
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 Jim Gorsek San Diego Sockers 9 516 21 2.44 7 1 Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 3 180 8 2.67 1 2 Cris Vaccaro Cleveland Force 9 546 38 4.18 5 3 Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 2 129 9 4.19 0 2 Tino Lettieri Minnesota Strikers 11 667 51 4.59 6 5 Manny Schwartz Kansas City Comets 4 222 17 4.59 2 2
All-MISL teams [ edit ] First Team Position Second Team Scott Manning, Baltimore G Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis Mike Stankovic, Baltimore D Jorge Espinoza, Las Vegas Branko Segota, San Diego D Jean Willrich, San Diego Kevin Crow, San Diego M Kim Roentved, Wichita Steve Zungul, San Diego F Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago F Tatu, Dallas
Honorable Mention Position Jim Gorsek, San Diego G Bruce Savage, Baltimore D Gerry Gray, Chicago D Benny Dargle, Cleveland M Dale Mitchell, Tacoma F Fred Grgurev, Las Vegas F
League awards [ edit ] Most Valuable Player : Steve Zungul, San Diego Scoring Champion : Steve Zungul, San Diego Pass Master : Steve Zungul, San Diego Defender of the Year : Kevin Crow, San Diego Rookie of the Year : Ali Kazemaini , Cleveland Goalkeeper of the Year : Scott Manning, Baltimore Coach of the Year : Peter Wall, Los Angeles Championship Series Most Valuable Player : Steve Zungul, San Diego Team attendance totals [ edit ] Club Games Total Average Cleveland Force 24 310,284 12,929 Kansas City Comets 24 310,017 12,917 St. Louis Steamers 24 305,054 12,711 Baltimore Blast 24 265,224 11,051 Chicago Sting 24 255,073 10,628 San Diego Sockers 24 230,272 9,595 Wichita Wings 24 209,035 8,710 Pittsburgh Spirit 24 187,021 7,793 Tacoma Stars 24 173,317 7,222 Las Vegas Americans 24 152,083 6,337 Los Angeles Lazers 24 121,488 5,062 Dallas Sidekicks 24 119,248 4,969 Minnesota Strikers 24 115,408 4,809 New York Cosmos 16 66,900 4,181 OVERALL 328 2,820,424 8,599
References [ edit ] ^ Miranda, Randy (August 10, 1984). "Four NASL squads will play in MISL" . Lakeland Ledger . p. D1. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ "MISL takes four NASL teams" . Boca Raton News . August 31, 1984. p. 2C. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ 1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide . 1984. p. 34. ^ "Cosmos pull out of MISL, NASL" . Ellensburg Daily Record . February 23, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ "MISL revises schedule after Cosmos pullout" . Gainesville Sun . February 24, 1985. p. 10F. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ Dolan, Steve (May 13, 1985). "It Takes Sockers 14 Shooters in the Shootout to Win" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ "Sockers' Semifinal Playoff Victory Overturned by MISL Commissioner" . Los Angeles Times . May 14, 1985. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ "Sockers Win, 7-0, to Gain MISL Final" . Los Angeles Times . May 15, 1985. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ Sarni, Jim (May 25, 1985). "Blast For Soccer Fans: CBS Airs MISL Game" . South Florida Sun-Sentinel . Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ "MISL board terminates Las Vegas franchise" . Lawrence Journal-World . July 18, 1985. p. 18. Retrieved May 8, 2012 . ^ 1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide . 1984. pp. 50–54. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide . 1987. p. 51. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide . 1987. p. 80. 1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide . Dallas: Dallas Sidekicks. 1984.
1985-86 MISL Media Guide . Chicago: Major Indoor Soccer League. 1985.
Leary, Dan; Griffin, John (1987). MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide . New York: Major Indoor Soccer League Communications Department.
External links [ edit ]
Seasons Clubs Commissioners All-Star Game