1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season
Football league season
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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.
| Season | 1981–82 |
|---|---|
| Champions | New York Arrows (4th title) |
| Matches | 286 |
| Goals | 2,921 (10.21 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |  Steve Zungul (103 goals) |
| Average attendance | 8,735 |
← 1980–81 1982–83 → | |
Recap
It was a year of expansion, as the New Jersey Rockets[1] 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.[2] This was done to, as a league spokesman put it, force players to decide on either the indoor or outdoor game [3]
With the Hartford Hellions moving to Memphis[4] and the San Francisco Fog moving to Kansas City,[5] the league went back to a two-division setup. The top four finishers in each division would advance to the MISL playoffs.[6] The Pittsburgh Spirit returned,[7] 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,[8] 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.[9] 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.[10][11][12][13][14]
After the season, the Philadelphia Fever would fold [15] and the New Jersey Rockets[16] and Denver Avalanche[17] suspended operations.
Teams
Map of clubs
Eastern Division 
Western Division
Regular season schedule
Final standings
Playoff teams in bold.
| Eastern Division | W | L | Pct. | GB | GF | GA | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Arrows | 36 | 8 | .818 | -- | 302 | 199 | 18-4 | 18-4 |
| Pittsburgh Spirit | 31 | 13 | .705 | 5 | 254 | 208 | 17-5 | 14-8 |
| Baltimore Blast | 27 | 17 | .525 | 9 | 223 | 207 | 15-7 | 12-10 |
| Buffalo Stallions | 24 | 20 | .500 | 12 | 276 | 244 | 13-9 | 11-11 |
| New Jersey Rockets | 17 | 27 | .386 | 19 | 195 | 230 | 9-13 | 8-14 |
| Cleveland Force | 15 | 29 | .341 | 21 | 205 | 250 | 7-15 | 8-14 |
| Philadelphia Fever | 11 | 33 | .250 | 25 | 175 | 250 | 7-15 | 4-18 |
| Western Division | W | L | Pct. | GB | GF | GA | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Steamers | 28 | 16 | .636 | -- | 228 | 182 | 15-7 | 13-9 |
| Wichita Wings | 27 | 17 | .614 | 1 | 235 | 200 | 15-7 | 12-10 |
| Memphis Americans | 20 | 24 | .455 | 8 | 250 | 271 | 14-8 | 6-16 |
| Denver Avalanche | 19 | 25 | .432 | 9 | 182 | 203 | 16-6 | 3-19 |
| Phoenix Inferno | 17 | 27 | .386 | 11 | 222 | 254 | 11-11 | 6-16 |
| Kansas City Comets | 14 | 30 | .318 | 14 | 174 | 223 | 10-12 | 4-18 |
Playoffs
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Championship Series | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New York Arrows | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Buffalo Stallions | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New York Arrows | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Baltimore Blast | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Pittsburgh Spirit | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Baltimore Blast | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New York Arrows | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Denver Avalanche | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Wichita Wings | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Wichita Wings | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Memphis Americans | 1 | ||||||||||||
Quarterfinals
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Semifinals
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Championship Series
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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
