1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season


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/AreaArena
Baltimore BlastBaltimoreBaltimore Arena
Buffalo StallionsBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo Memorial Auditorium
Cleveland ForceClevelandRichfield Coliseum
Denver AvalancheDenverMcNichols Sports Arena
Kansas City CometsKansas City, MissouriKemper Arena
Memphis AmericansMemphis, TennesseeMid-South Coliseum
New York ArrowsUniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
New Jersey RocketsEast Rutherford, New JerseyBrendan Byrne Arena
Philadelphia FeverPhiladelphiaThe Spectrum
Phoenix InfernoPhoenix, ArizonaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Pittsburgh SpiritPittsburghCivic Arena
St. Louis SteamersSt. LouisSt. Louis Arena
Wichita WingsWichita, KansasKansas Coliseum

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 DivisionWLPct.GBGFGAHomeRoad
New York Arrows368.818--30219918-418-4
Pittsburgh Spirit3113.705525420817-514-8
Baltimore Blast2717.525922320715-712-10
Buffalo Stallions2420.5001227624413-911-11
New Jersey Rockets1727.386191952309-138-14
Cleveland Force1529.341212052507-158-14
Philadelphia Fever1133.250251752507-154-18

Western DivisionWLPct.GBGFGAHomeRoad
St. Louis Steamers2816.636--22818215-713-9
Wichita Wings2717.614123520015-712-10
Memphis Americans2024.455825027114-86-16
Denver Avalanche1925.432918220316-63-19
Phoenix Inferno1727.3861122225411-116-16
Kansas City Comets1430.3181417422310-124-18

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Championship Series

Regular season player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPts
Steve ZungulNew York Arrows4010360163
Stan TerleckiPittsburgh Spirit437443117
Stan StamenkovicMemphis Americans36464783
Steve DavidPhoenix Inferno44582381
Paul ChildPittsburgh Spirit44522981
Omar GomezNew York Arrows40403676
Keith FurphyCleveland Force44502575
Joe FinkBaltimore Blast43512273
Germain IglesiasBuffalo Stallions44462571
Don EbertSt. Louis Steamers44521971

Leading goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes Played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses
PlayerTeamGPMinGAGAAWL
Slobo IlijevskiSt. Louis Steamers3621031353.852411
Keith Van EronBaltimore Blast3216641103.971812
Pascal AntoineDenver Avalanche18881604.0967
Krys SobieskiPittsburgh Spirit2914981054.20197
Victor PetroniKansas City Comets18898634.2178
Zoltán TóthNew York Arrows171022744.34152
Van TaylorPhoenix Inferno291217894.39108
Mike DowlerWichita Wings3721491624.522214
Shep MessingNew York Arrows2716521254.54216
Alan MayerNew Jersey Rockets2715271164.56816

Playoff player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPts
Steve ZungulNew York Arrows1024832
Omar GomezNew York Arrows10111122
Greg VillaSt. Louis Steamers107916
Tony GlavinSt. Louis Steamers89413
Carl RoseSt. Louis Steamers108412

Leading goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses
PlayerTeamGPMinGAGAAWL
Krys SobieskiPittsburgh Spirit212052.5011
Zoltán TóthNew York Arrows5306214.1241
Keith Van EronBaltimore Blast5298214.2223
Slobo IlijevskiSt. Louis Steamers10611494.8164
Cliff BrownWichita Wings6359305.0233

All-MISL teams

Honorable Mention Position
Shep Messing, New YorkGKrys Sobieski, Pittsburgh
Renato Cila, New YorkDJohn O'Hara, Pittsburgh
Dave MacKenzie, PittsburghDCarl Rose, St. Louis
Kim Roentved, Wichita
Paul Child, PittsburghFJorgen Kristensen, Wichita
Keith Furphy, ClevelandFDon Ebert, St. Louis

League Awards