# 1982–83 Major Indoor Soccer League season

The 1982–83 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the fifth in league history and would end with the San Diego Sockers winning their first MISL title. It would be the Sockers' second straight indoor championship, as the club had won the North American Soccer League's indoor league the previous spring.

## Recap

The league would enter into an agreement with the NASL in the summer of 1982 to begin plans for an eventual merger. Initial plans to have all 14 NASL teams play in the winter would not come to pass, as most teams preferred to concentrate on the outdoor season. However, the Chicago Sting and Golden Bay Earthquakes would join the Sockers for the MISL season.
The Earthquakes would perform worst of the three NASL teams, but picked up Steve Zungul from the New York Arrows when New York's new management decided to try to 'Americanize' the team in an attempt to boost ticket sales. The Arrows, only two games out of first place when the trade was made on January 19, finished at .500 and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the Quakes' struggles, Zungul would win the MISL scoring title again.
The expansion Los Angeles Lazers, owned by the Los Angeles Lakers' Jerry Buss, set a record for the lowest winning percentage in league history. After the season, Chicago, San Diego and Golden Bay withdrew and returned to the NASL as the league made plans for an indoor return the following winter. Despite losing the NASL teams, the league continued to expand as teams were announced for Tacoma in 1983-84 and Dallas for 1984-85.
The MISL continued to make inroads on national television. While the spring would see the end of the league's two-year deal with the USA Network, CBS would broadcast a playoff game live from Cleveland on May 7 that drew an estimated four million viewers.

## Teams

| Team | City/Area | Arena |
| Baltimore Blast | Baltimore, Maryland | Baltimore Arena |
| Buffalo Stallions | Buffalo, New York | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium |
| Chicago Sting | Chicago | Chicago Stadium |
| Cleveland Force | Cleveland, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum |
| Golden Bay Earthquakes | Oakland, California | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena |
| Kansas City Comets | Kansas City, Missouri | Kemper Arena |
| Los Angeles Lazers | Inglewood, California | The Forum |
| Memphis Americans | Memphis, Tennessee | Mid-South Coliseum |
| New York Arrows | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| Phoenix Inferno | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| 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 |
| Wichita Wings | Wichita, Kansas | Kansas Coliseum |

## Regular Season Schedule

The 1982–83 regular season schedule ran from November 5, 1982, to April 17, 1983. The 48 games per team was an increase of four over the 1981–82 schedule of 44 games.

## Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.
| Eastern Division | W | L | Pct. | GB | GF | GA | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Blast | 30 | 18 | .625 | -- | 249 | 224 | 19-5 | 11-13 |
| Cleveland Force | 29 | 19 | .604 | 1 | 285 | 267 | 16-8 | 13-11 |
| Chicago Sting | 28 | 20 | .583 | 2 | 285 | 239 | 17-7 | 11-13 |
| New York Arrows | 24 | 24 | .500 | 6 | 225 | 219 | 15-9 | 9-15 |
| Pittsburgh Spirit | 24 | 24 | .500 | 6 | 250 | 247 | 15-9 | 9-15 |
| Buffalo Stallions | 22 | 26 | .458 | 8 | 270 | 274 | 13-11 | 9-15 |
| Memphis Americans | 19 | 29 | .396 | 11 | 239 | 274 | 15-9 | 4-20 |
| Western Division | W | L | Pct. | GB | GF | GA | Home | Road |
| San Diego Sockers | 32 | 16 | .667 | -- | 289 | 230 | 19-5 | 13-11 |
| Wichita Wings | 27 | 21 | .563 | 5 | 273 | 249 | 17-7 | 10-14 |
| Kansas City Comets | 26 | 22 | .542 | 6 | 219 | 210 | 17-7 | 9-15 |
| St. Louis Steamers | 26 | 22 | .542 | 6 | 234 | 234 | 15-9 | 11-13 |
| Phoenix Inferno | 24 | 24 | .500 | 8 | 249 | 255 | 17-7 | 7-17 |
| Golden Bay Earthquakes | 17 | 31 | .354 | 15 | 240 | 290 | 8-16 | 9-15 |
| Los Angeles Lazers | 8 | 40 | .167 | 24 | 191 | 286 | 6-18 | 2-22 |

## Playoffs

| Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Championship Series | Championship Series | Championship Series |
| E1 | Baltimore Blast | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | New York Arrows | 1 | | | | | | |
| E4 | New York Arrows | 1 | E1 | Baltimore Blast | 3 | | | |
| | | | E2 | Cleveland Force | 2 | | | |
| E2 | Cleveland Force | 2 | E2 | Cleveland Force | 2 | | | |
| E3 | Chicago Sting | 1 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Chicago Sting | 1 | | | | E1 | Baltimore Blast | 2 |
| | | | | | | W1 | San Diego Sockers | 3 |
| W1 | San Diego Sockers | 2 | | | | | | | W1 | San Diego Sockers | 3 |
| W4 | Kansas City Comets | 0 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Kansas City Comets | 0 | W1 | San Diego Sockers | 3 | | | |
| | | | W2 | Wichita Wings | 0 | | | |
| W2 | Wichita Wings | 2 | W2 | Wichita Wings | 0 | | | |
| W3 | St. Louis Steamers | 1 | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

Baltimore vs. New York :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 19 | New York 4 | Baltimore 11 | 10,511 |
| April 22 | Baltimore 6 | New York 7 | 7,157 |
| April 23 | New York 3 | Baltimore 8 | 11,223 |
| Baltimore wins series 2-1 ||||
Cleveland vs. Chicago :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 19 | Chicago 9 | Cleveland 5 | 8,519 |
| April 21 | Cleveland 5 | Chicago 4 | 9,643 |
| April 23 | Chicago 5 | Cleveland 7 | 19,106 |
| Cleveland wins series 2-1 ||||
San Diego vs. Kansas City :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 20 | Kansas City 2 | San Diego 6 | 9,120 |
| April 23 | San Diego 9 | Kansas City 4 | 15,957 |
| San Diego wins series 2-0 ||||
Wichita vs. St. Louis :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 19 | St. Louis 5 | Wichita 6 | 8,355 |
| | Andy Chapman scored at 13:01 of overtime | Andy Chapman scored at 13:01 of overtime | Andy Chapman scored at 13:01 of overtime |
| April 23 | Wichita 2 | St. Louis 8 | 13,881 |
| April 25 | St. Louis 7 | Wichita 9 | 9,875 |
| Wichita wins series 2-1 ||||

### Semifinals

Baltimore vs. Cleveland :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 26 | Cleveland 7 | Baltimore 6 | 9,787 |
| April 29 | Cleveland 5 | Baltimore 10 | 11,223 |
| May 5 | Baltimore 7 | Cleveland 3 | 16,136 |
| May 7 | Baltimore 3 | Cleveland 6 | 12,178 |
| May 10 | Cleveland 6 | Baltimore 8 | 11,311 |
| Baltimore wins series 3-2 ||||
San Diego vs. Wichita :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| April 28 | Wichita 5 | San Diego 8 | 11,340 |
| April 30 | Wichita 2 | San Diego 5 | 11,520 |
| May 6 | San Diego 4 | Wichita 3 | 9,725 |
| San Diego wins series 3-0 ||||

### Championship Series

San Diego vs. Baltimore :
| Date | Away | Home | Attendance |
| May 13 | Baltimore 0 | San Diego 6 | 12,549 |
| May 15 | Baltimore 0 | San Diego 7 | 12,185 |
| May 17 | San Diego 3 | Baltimore 4 | 11,223 |
| May 19 | San Diego 6 | Baltimore 7 | 11,431 |
| | Joe Fink scored at 1:03 of overtime | Joe Fink scored at 1:03 of overtime | Joe Fink scored at 1:03 of overtime |
| May 23 | Baltimore 1 | San Diego 3 | 12,948 |
| San Diego 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/Golden Bay | 43 | 75 | 47 | 122 |
| Stan Stamenkovic | Memphis Americans | 41 | 55 | 65 | 120 |
| Juli Veee | San Diego Sockers | 37 | 57 | 53 | 110 |
| Stan Terlecki | Pittsburgh Spirit | 45 | 65 | 40 | 105 |
| Omar Gomez | Wichita Wings | 44 | 37 | 49 | 86 |
| Craig Allen | Cleveland Force | 45 | 53 | 31 | 84 |
| Keith Furphy | Cleveland Force | 48 | 56 | 28 | 84 |
| Kai Haaskivi | Cleveland Force | 46 | 38 | 46 | 84 |
| Steve David | Phoenix Inferno | 47 | 61 | 20 | 81 |
| Ruben Astigarraga | Phoenix Inferno | 43 | 34 | 46 | 80 |

### 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 |
| Zoltán Tóth | New York Arrows | 27 | 1555 | 104 | 4.01 | 12 | 14 |
| Slobo Ilijevski | St. Louis Steamers | 44 | 2548 | 175 | 4.12 | 23 | 19 |
| Keith Van Eron | Baltimore Blast | 38 | 1969 | 138 | 4.20 | 23 | 9 |
| Alan Mayer | San Diego Sockers | 43 | 2407 | 172 | 4.29 | 30 | 10 |
| Victor Petroni | Kansas City Comets | 26 | 1498 | 112 | 4.49 | 14 | 10 |
| Victor Nogueira | Chicago Sting | 28 | 1441 | 110 | 4.58 | 14 | 12 |
| Enzo DiPede | Kansas City Comets | 24 | 1362 | 109 | 4.80 | 12 | 12 |
| Mike Dowler | Wichita Wings | 42 | 2502 | 203 | 4.87 | 25 | 17 |
| Blagoje Tamindzic | Phoenix Inferno | 39 | 2252 | 183 | 4.88 | 19 | 18 |
| Krys Sobieski | Pittsburgh Spirit | 41 | 2273 | 185 | 4.88 | 19 | 20 |

## Playoff Player Statistics
### Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Juli Veee | San Diego Sockers | 10 | 13 | 19 | 32 |
| Dave MacWilliams | Baltimore Blast | 13 | 12 | 11 | 23 |
| Heinz Wirtz | Baltimore Blast | 13 | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| Joe Fink | Baltimore Blast | 13 | 12 | 8 | 20 |
| Kaz Deyna | San Diego Sockers | 9 | 14 | 4 | 18 |

### 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 |
| Alan Mayer | San Diego Sockers | 10 | 587 | 28 | 2.86 | 8 | 2 |
| Keith Van Eron | Baltimore Blast | 10 | 556 | 49 | 5.29 | 4 | 6 |
| Mike Dowler | Wichita Wings | 6 | 357 | 33 | 5.55 | 2 | 4 |
| Chris Vaccaro | Cleveland Force | 7 | 321 | 36 | 6.73 | 2 | 3 |

## All-MISL Teams

| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Alan Mayer, San Diego | G | Keith Van Eron, Baltimore |
| Val Tuksa, New York | D | Greg Makowski, Kansas City |
| Heinz Wirtz, Baltimore | D | Kim Roentved, Wichita |
| Juli Veee, San Diego | M | Jorgen Kristensen, Wichita |
| Steve Zungul, New York/Golden Bay | F | Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh |
| Stan Stamenkovic, Memphis | F | Kai Haaskivi, Cleveland |
| Honorable Mention | Position |
| Slobo Illijevski, St. Louis | G |
| Renato Cila, New York | D |
| Helmut Dudek, Memphis | D |
| Pato Margetic, Chicago | F |
| Kaz Deyna, San Diego | F |

## League awards

Most Valuable Player: Alan Mayer, San Diego
Scoring Champion: Steve Zungul, New York/Golden Bay
Pass Master: Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore
Defender of the Year: Bernie James, Cleveland
Rookie of the Year: Kirk Shermer, Los Angeles
Goalkeeper of the Year: Zoltán Tóth, New York
Coach of the Year: Pat McBride, Kansas City
Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Juli Veee, San Diego