# 1978 North American Soccer League playoffs

The 1978 North American Soccer League playoffs began on August 8 and ended on August 27 with Soccer Bowl '78 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 16 out of 24 teams qualified after a 30-match regular season, eight from each conference.

## Playoff format

The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were known as 'wild-cards', a nod to the NFL's playoff format. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by point total. The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if necessary.

## Playoff seeds
### American Conference

* Detroit Express – Central Division champions, 176 points
* New England Tea Men – Eastern Division champions, 165 points
* San Diego Sockers – Western Division champions, 164 points
* Tampa Bay Rowdies – 165 points
* Chicago Sting – 123 points
* California Surf – 115 points
* Fort Lauderdale Strikers – 143 points
* Philadelphia Fury – 111 points

### National Conference

* Cosmos – Eastern Division champions, 212 points
* Vancouver Whitecaps – Western Division champions, 199 points
* Minnesota Kicks – Central Division champions, 156 points
* Portland Timbers – 167 points
* Washington Diplomats – 145 points
* Tulsa Roughnecks – 132 points
* Toronto Metros-Croatia – 144 points
* Seattle Sounders – 138 points

## Bracket

| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | | | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | | Soccer Bowl '78 | Soccer Bowl '78 | Soccer Bowl '78 |
| A1 | Detroit Express | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A8 | Philadelphia Fury | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A8 | Philadelphia Fury | 0 | | | A1 | Detroit Express | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A2 | New England Tea Men | 1 | | | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | | | | | | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 1 | | | | |
| American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 1 | | | | |
| American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | |
| A3 | San Diego Sockers | 2 | | | | | | | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | |
| A6 | California Surf | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A6 | California Surf | 1 | | | A3 | San Diego Sockers | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3 | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A5 | Chicago Sting | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A5 | Chicago Sting | 1 | | | | | | | | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | N1 | Cosmos | 3 |
| N1 | Cosmos | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | N1 | Cosmos | 3 |
| N8 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N8 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | N1 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N3 | Minnesota Kicks | 1 | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Minnesota Kicks | 3 | | | N3 | Minnesota Kicks | 1 | | | | | | | |
| N6 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N6 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 1 | | | | | | N1 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | |
| National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N1 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | |
| National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N4 | Portland Timbers | 0 | | | | |
| N2 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 4 | | | | | | | | | N4 | Portland Timbers | 0 | | | | |
| N7 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N7 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0 | | | N2 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N4 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | N4 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| N5 | Washington Diplomats | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Conference semifinals
### American Conference
#### (1) Detroit Express vs. (7) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Fort Lauderdale wins series 2–1

#### (3) San Diego Sockers vs. (4) Tampa Bay Rowdies

Tampa Bay wins series 2–1

### National Conference
#### (1) Cosmos vs. (3) Minnesota Kicks

New York wins series 2–1

#### (2) Vancouver Whitecaps vs. (4) Portland Timbers

Portland wins series 2–0

## Conference finals
### American Conference
#### (4) Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. (7) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Tampa Bay wins series 2–1

### National Conference
#### (1) Cosmos vs. (4) Portland Timbers

New York wins series 2–0

### Soccer Bowl '78

1978 NASL Champions: Cosmos

## Playoff Statistics

Mini-games are not counted as games played when compiling individual statistics. They are included in the minutes played category.

### Scoring

GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Dennis Tueart | Cosmos | 6 | 6 | 5 | 17 |
| Alan Willey | Minnesota Kicks | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Giorgio Chinaglia | Cosmos | 6 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| David Irving | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Rodney Marsh | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 5 | 3 | 3 | 9 |

### Goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO |
| Phil Parkes | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 270 | 3 | 1.00 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Alan Mayer | San Diego Sockers | 3 | 225 | 3 | 1.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Steve Hardwick | Detroit Express | 3 | 306 | 4 | 1.33 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Mick Poole | Portland Timbers | 5 | 457 | 8 | 1.60 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Winston DuBose | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6 | 574 | 10 | 1.67 | 3 | 3 | 1 |