Football league season
The 1985–86 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the eighth in league history and ended with the San Diego Sockers winning their third MISL title in four seasons over the Minnesota Strikers . It was the Sockers' fifth straight indoor title, as they had also won the North American Soccer League 's indoor league in 1982 and 1984.
For the most part, the league format remained unchanged. A 48-game season would be followed with an eight-team playoff, similar to the playoff system used from 1982 to 1984. There would be one major change in gameplay, however. The shootout, part of the MISL since its inception, was dropped in favor of multiple overtime periods to decide games, if necessary.[ 1] There was a steady national TV contract for the first time since 1983, as ESPN would televise 15 regular-season games and assorted playoff games.[ 2]
The East and West division races were a study in contrasts. San Diego ran away with the West again, despite selling reigning league MVP Steve Zungul to the Tacoma Stars for $200,000 halfway through the regular season.[ 3] Tacoma would go 11-8 with Zungul, who won the league scoring title for the sixth time in the MISL's eight years. However, the Stars lost in four games to the Sockers in the league semifinals.[ 4]
In the East, the six-team division was separated by only four games. The playoff positions were only confirmed when the Baltimore Blast defeated the Pittsburgh Spirit in the season finale.[ 5] The Dallas Sidekicks switched divisions and promptly won 13 more games than the previous year, making the playoffs for the first time and earning Gordon Jago Coach of the Year honors.
For the second straight year, the Strikers and Sockers went to a deciding game in their playoff matchup. San Diego became the first team to rally from a two-game deficit to win a MISL playoff series, as the Strikers' 3-1 lead in the championship series disappeared under three straight Socker wins. In the first seventh game in MISL history, the Sockers held off a late Minnesota charge to win 5-3. San Diego's Brian Quinn scored two goals and an assist on his way to playoff MVP honors.[ 6]
After the season, the Spirit folded,[ 7] and the league made plans to return to New York with an expansion franchise.
Team City/Area Arena Baltimore Blast Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena Chicago Sting Chicago Chicago Stadium Cleveland Force Cleveland, Ohio Richfield Coliseum Dallas Sidekicks Dallas, Texas Reunion Arena Kansas City Comets Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena Los Angeles Lazers Inglewood, California The Forum Minnesota Strikers Bloomington, Minnesota Met Center 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 Tacoma Stars Tacoma, Washington Tacoma Dome Wichita Wings Wichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum
Eastern Division
Western Division
Regular season schedule [ edit ] The 1985–86 regular season schedule ran from October 25, 1985, to April 6, 1986. Despite the loss of two teams from the 1984-85 lineup, the schedule remained at 48 games.[ 8]
Playoff teams in bold .
Cleveland vs. Baltimore Date Away Home Attendance April 8 Baltimore 2 Cleveland 7 8,666 April 13 Baltimore 8 Cleveland 3 19,468 April 15 Cleveland 6 Baltimore 8 7,631 April 18 Cleveland 4 Baltimore 3 12,232 Kai Haaskivi scored at 3:21 of overtime April 20 Baltimore 1 Cleveland 5 16,626 Cleveland wins series 3-2
Minnesota vs. Dallas Date Away Home Attendance April 12 Dallas 3 Minnesota 5 7,101 April 13 Dallas 2 Minnesota 7 5,151 April 16 Minnesota 3 Dallas 4 10,218 April 19 Minnesota 7 Dallas 4 13,908 Minnesota wins series 3-1
San Diego vs. St. Louis Date Away Home Attendance April 10 St. Louis 6 San Diego 7 7,506 Gary Collier scored at 11:31 of overtime April 12 St. Louis 3 San Diego 5 10,123 April 16 San Diego 7 St. Louis 8 7,506 April 19 San Diego 10 St. Louis 4 9,464 San Diego wins series 3-1
Wichita vs. Tacoma Date Away Home Attendance April 9 Tacoma 5 Wichita 6 7,382 April 12 Tacoma 5 Wichita 4 9,561 April 16 Wichita 4 Tacoma 5 14,162 Fran O'Brien scored at 8:02 of overtime April 18 Wichita 1 Tacoma 3 17,094 Tacoma wins series 3-1
Cleveland vs. Minnesota Date Away Home Attendance April 25 Minnesota 2 Cleveland 5 18,797 April 27 Minnesota 6 Cleveland 2 16,877 May 2 Cleveland 5 Minnesota 6 10,254 Thompson Usiyan scored at 2:08 of overtime May 4 Cleveland 3 Minnesota 7 10,351 Minnesota wins series 3-1
San Diego vs. Tacoma Date Away Home Attendance April 23 Tacoma 4 San Diego 10 8,308 April 29 Tacoma 2 San Diego 7 9,432 May 1 San Diego 3 Tacoma 4 15,290 May 7 San Diego 8 Tacoma 5 19,476 San Diego wins series 3-1
Championship Series [ edit ] San Diego vs. Minnesota Date Away Home Attendance May 9 Minnesota 2 San Diego 7 10,370 May 11 Minnesota 6 San Diego 1 9,172 May 16 San Diego 2 Minnesota 7 15,756 May 18 San Diego 3 Minnesota 4 15,849 May 21 Minnesota 4 San Diego 7 10,613 May 23 San Diego 6 Minnesota 3 15,944 May 26 Minnesota 3 San Diego 5 10,613 San Diego wins series 4-3
Regular season player statistics [ edit ] [ 9]
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists , Pts = Points
Player Team GP G A Pts Steve Zungul San Diego/Tacoma 46 55 60 115 Erik Rasmussen Wichita Wings 47 67 41 108 Branko Segota San Diego Sockers 45 60 46 106 Tatu Dallas Sidekicks 44 49 32 81 Craig Allen Cleveland Force 43 50 31 81 Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast 45 37 44 81 Karl-Heinz Granitza Chicago Sting 43 28 47 75 Chico Borja Wichita Wings 37 33 41 74 Preki Tacoma Stars 48 41 30 71 Hugo Perez San Diego Sockers 41 41 25 66
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 Keith Van Eron Baltimore Blast 27 1491 91 3.66 14 10 Jim Gorsek San Diego Sockers 24 1323 82 3.72 19 2 David Brcic Pittsburgh Spirit 43 2659 167 3.77 21 22 Mike Dowler Tacoma Stars 23 1327 92 4.16 9 12 Zoltán Tóth San Diego Sockers 28 1562 109 4.19 17 9 Cris Vaccaro Cleveland Force 36 2012 143 4.26 19 14 Victor Nogueira Chicago Sting 37 1905 137 4.31 17 14 Tino Lettieri Minnesota Strikers 41 2386 175 4.40 24 15 Krys Sobieski Dallas Sidekicks 40 2469 182 4.42 24 16 Slobo Illjevski St. Louis Steamers 39 2178 163 4.49 19 17
Playoff player statistics [ edit ] [ 10]
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists , Pts = Points
Player Team GP G A Pts Branko Segota San Diego Sockers 13 13 19 32 Brian Quinn San Diego Sockers 13 13 10 23 Jan Goossens Minnesota Strikers 15 12 9 21 Jean Willrich San Diego Sockers 15 9 10 19 Thompson Usiyan Minnesota Strikers 15 11 8 19 Juli Veee San Diego Sockers 15 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 P.J. Johns Cleveland Force 5 277 14 3.03 3 1 Tino Lettieri Minnesota Strikers 15 866 51 3.52 9 6 Zoltán Tóth San Diego Sockers 7 414 27 3.09 5 2 Scott Manning Baltimore Blast 3 175 13 4.45 3 1 Seamus McDonough Wichita Wings 2 128 10 4.65 1 1
First Team Position Second Team David Brcic, Pittsburgh G Jim Gorsek, San Diego Kim Roentved, Wichita D Bruce Savage, Baltimore Fernando Clavijo, San Diego D Bernie James, Cleveland Branko Segota, San Diego M Chico Borja, Wichita Steve Zungul, San Diego/Tacoma F Tatu, Dallas Erik Rasmussen, Wichita F Craig Allen, Cleveland
Honorable Mention Position Krys Sobieski, Dallas G Kevin Crow, San Diego D Victor Moreland, Dallas D Brian Quinn, San Diego F Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore F
Most Valuable Player : Steve Zungul, San Diego/Tacoma Scoring Champion : Steve Zungul, San Diego/Tacoma Pass Master : Steve Zungul, San Diego/Tacoma Defender of the Year : Kim Roentved, Wichita Rookie of the Year : Dave Boncek, Kansas City Comets Goalkeeper of the Year : Keith Van Eron, Baltimore Coach of the Year : Gordon Jago, Dallas Championship Series Most Valuable Player : Brian Quinn, San Diego Team attendance totals [ edit ] Club Games Total Average Cleveland Force 24 307,040 12,793 Kansas City Comets 24 298,269 12,428 Baltimore Blast 24 246,046 10,252 St. Louis Steamers 24 244,543 10,189 San Diego Sockers 24 229,935 9,581 Wichita Wings 24 202,725 8,447 Pittsburgh Spirit 24 186,597 7,775 Tacoma Stars 24 182,696 7,612 Chicago Sting 24 176,287 7,345 Dallas Sidekicks 24 165,694 6,904 Minnesota Strikers 24 156,071 6,503 Los Angeles Lazers 24 114,480 4,770 OVERALL 288 2,510,383 8,717
^ "MISL's Seven New Rules" . Los Angeles Times . October 23, 1985. Retrieved May 27, 2012 . ^ MISL Official Guide 1989-90 . 1989. p. 49. ^ Reinmuth, Gary (February 6, 1986). "Sockers` Zungul Sold To Tacoma" . Chicago Tribune . Retrieved May 27, 2012 . ^ Appleman, Marc (May 8, 1986). "Sockers Rally for 8-5 Win: San Diego Opens MISL Finals Friday Against Minnesota" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 27, 2012 . ^ Tuma, Gary (April 7, 1986). "Typical Spirit Ending: On Road Without Offense" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . p. 19. Retrieved May 27, 2012 . ^ Appleman, Marc (May 27, 1986). "Sockers Take 7 to Win 5; Strikers Bow Out, 5-3 : There Are a Few Twists to the Story This Time as San Diego Struggles to Win 5th Consecutive Indoor Title" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 27, 2012 . ^ Tuma, Gary (April 12, 1986). "DeBartolo folds losing Spirit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . pp. 9–10. ^ 1985-86 MISL Media Guide . 1985. pp. 38–39. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide . 1987. p. 50. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide . 1987. p. 79. 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.
Griffin, John, ed. (1989). MISL Official Guide 1989-90 . Overland Park, Kansas: Major Indoor Soccer League Communications Department.
Seasons Clubs Commissioners All-Star Game