# 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

| Team | City/Area | Arena |
| Baltimore Blast | Baltimore | Baltimore Arena |
| Buffalo Stallions | Buffalo, New York | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium |
| Cleveland Force | Cleveland | Richfield Coliseum |
| Denver Avalanche | Denver | McNichols Sports Arena |
| Kansas City Comets | Kansas City, Missouri | Kemper Arena |
| Memphis Americans | Memphis, Tennessee | Mid-South Coliseum |
| New York Arrows | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| New Jersey Rockets | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Brendan Byrne Arena |
| Philadelphia Fever | Philadelphia | The Spectrum |
| Phoenix Inferno | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| Pittsburgh Spirit | Pittsburgh | Civic Arena (Pittsburgh) |
| St. Louis Steamers | St. Louis | St. Louis Arena |
| Wichita Wings | Wichita, Kansas | Kansas 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 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 Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Championship Series | Championship Series | Championship Series |
| E1 | New York Arrows | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Buffalo Stallions | 1 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Buffalo Stallions | 1 | E1 | New York Arrows | 2 | | | |
| | | | E3 | Baltimore Blast | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Pittsburgh Spirit | 1 | E3 | Baltimore Blast | 1 | | | |
| E3 | Baltimore Blast | 2 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Baltimore Blast | 2 | | | | E1 | New York Arrows | 3 |
| | | | | | | W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 2 |
| W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 2 | | | | | | | W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 2 |
| W4 | Denver Avalanche | 0 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Denver Avalanche | 0 | W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 2 | | | |
| | | | W3 | Wichita Wings | 1 | | | |
| W2 | Wichita Wings | 2 | W3 | Wichita Wings | 1 | | | |
| W3 | Memphis Americans | 1 | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

New York vs. Buffalo :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 30 | Buffalo 9 | New York 7 | 4,223 |
| May 2 | New York 5 | Buffalo 4 | 9,640 |
| | Dragan Simic scored at 6:05 of overtime | Dragan Simic scored at 6:05 of overtime | Dragan Simic scored at 6:05 of overtime |
| May 5 | Buffalo 6 | New York 10 | 3,345 |
| New York wins series 2-1 ||||
Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 30 | Baltimore 1 | Pittsburgh 3 | 6,594 |
| May 1 | Pittsburgh 5 | Baltimore 6 | 8,513 |
| | Miguel Filardo scored at 5:12 of overtime | Miguel Filardo scored at 5:12 of overtime | Miguel Filardo scored at 5:12 of overtime |
| May 5 | Baltimore 6 | Pittsburgh 2 | 5,985 |
| Baltimore wins series 2-1 ||||
St. Louis vs. Denver :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 28 | Denver 2 | St. Louis 4 | 11,641 |
| April 30 | St. Louis 7 | Denver 6 | 7,306 |
| St. Louis wins series 2-0 ||||
Wichita vs. Memphis :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 29 | Memphis 5 | Wichita 3 | 6,613 |
| May 1 | Wichita 6 | Memphis 3 | 5,682 |
| May 2 | Memphis 3 | Wichita 12 | 7,573 |
| Wichita wins series 2-1 ||||

### Semifinals

New York vs. Baltimore :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| May 7 | Baltimore 5 | New York 6 | 10,244 |
| | Paul Kitson scored at 10:19 of overtime | Paul Kitson scored at 10:19 of overtime | Paul Kitson scored at 10:19 of overtime |
| May 8 | New York 6 | Baltimore 2 | 9,643 |
| New York wins series 2-0 ||||
St. Louis vs. Wichita :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| May 7 | Wichita 5 | St. Louis 10 | 12,436 |
| May 9 | St. Louis 6 | Wichita 7 | 9,643 |
| | Andy Chapman scored at :39 of overtime | Andy Chapman scored at :39 of overtime | Andy Chapman scored at :39 of overtime |
| May 12 | Wichita 1 | St. Louis 4 | 11,498 |
| | St. Louis wins series 2-1 | St. Louis wins series 2-1 | St. Louis wins series 2-1 |

### Championship Series

New York vs. St. Louis :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| May 14 | St. Louis 3 | New York 2 | 7,921 |
| | Tony Glavin scored at 5:55 of overtime | Tony Glavin scored at 5:55 of overtime | Tony Glavin scored at 5:55 of overtime |
| May 16 | St. Louis 3 | New York 5 | 7,431 |
| May 21 | New York 9 | St. Louis 8 | 18,160 |
| | Steve Zungul scored at 4:13 of overtime | Steve Zungul scored at 4:13 of overtime | Steve Zungul scored at 4:13 of overtime |
| May 23 | New York 4 | St. Louis 6 | 18,116 |
| May 26 | St. Louis 6 | New York 8 | 11,023 |
| New York wins series 3-2 ||||

## 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 |
| Joe 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 | Joe 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 MacKenzie, 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