1988-89 MISL Season
1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 | 1990-91 | 1991-92
By Dave Litterer of The US Soccer History Archives, with supplemental materials by Steve Holroyd and Paul Reeths
A greatly weakened MISL started the season with a mere seven teams, one of them a new version of the Tacoma Stars. The salary war with the AISA continued taking its toll, and finances would remain precarious for the rest of the league's existence. Nevertheless, the MISL forged ahead. Steve Zungul made his debut in a San Diego uniform. The MISL arranged a tour by Locomotiv Moscow, which was highly successful. In another positive move, Dallas's Doc Lawson, and Los Angeles's Jim Gabarra and A. J. Lachowecki were named to the US Five-a-Side Team in December. In a major rule change, the red lines were moved back 20 feet to widen the neutral zone to 100 feet.
The regular season saw continuing strong performances by some perennial contenders, and one major comeback. Baltimore proved to be the big success story of the season, winning the regular season title, with San Diego coming in a close second. Parity was the word of the day -- all seven teams finished within seven games of each other for the season. Offensive and defensive performances were even closer; close scores and tiebreakers were the order of the day. In the playoffs, there were no upsets, as San Diego and Baltimore cruised to the finals in a series that started tight, become ever more freewheeling, finally ending in a 6-5 7th game, with San Diego prevailing with another league championship under its belt.
After the season, the league awarded new franchises to St. Louis and Cleveland, bringing two indoor hotbeds back into the league. Bill Kenting stepped down as Commissioner, leading to the return of league founder Earl Foreman. Foreman immediately began making moves to position the MISL as the possible Division 1 league required as part of the World Cup 1994 agreement. The ground was set for a major struggle between rival factions to win this coveted designation. Sadly, a long-time franchise, the Los Angeles Lazers folded, no longer able to sustain its heavy losses.
1988-89 SEASON | |||||||
G | W | L
| GF | GA | Pct. | GB
| |
Baltimore Blast | 48 | 29 | 19 | 215 | 208 | .604 | -- |
San Diego Sockers | 48 | 27 | 21 | 218 | 168 | .563 | 2 |
Dallas Sidekicks | 48 | 24 | 24 | 185 | 206 | .500 | 5 |
Tacoma Stars | 48 | 23 | 25 | 208 | 207 | .479 | 6 |
Wichita Wings | 48 | 23 | 25 | 213 | 208 | .479 | 6 |
Los Angeles Lazers | 48 | 21 | 27 | 218 | 222 | .438 | 8 |
Kansas City Comets | 48 | 21 | 27 | 194 | 233 | .438 | 8 |
Wild Card Series
Wichita defeated Tacoma, 4-1, 7-4, 4-5, 6-2
Semifinals
San Diego defeated Dallas, 7-4, 4-5,
5-4 (OT), 3-7,
1-4, 7-2, 1-0
Baltimore defeated Wichita, 5-4 (OT), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6,
5-7, 11-1
Championship
San Diego defeated Baltimore, 3-
4 (OT), 5-4 (OT), 5-2,
4-3, 3-6, 0-7, 6-5
A new team was added in Tacoma.
After the end of the season, Los Angeles folded.
All-Star Game: All-Stars defeated Dallas Sidekicks 8-1.
(at Dallas. Att: 10,435. MVP: Preki)
Leading Scorers GP G A TP
Preki, Tacoma 48 51 53 104
Chico Borja, Wichita 45 34 53 87
Dale Mitchell, Kansas City 47 46 36 82
Erik Rasmussen, Wichita 48 42 36 78
Hector Marinaro, Los Angeles 44 47 28 75
Gary Heale, Los Angeles 48 37 29 66
Tatu, Dallas 43 35 29 64
Branko Segota, San Diego 31 29 34 63
Peter Ward, Tacoma 47 41 19 60
Carl Valentine, Baltimore 48 31 26 57
David Byrne, Baltimore 46 27 29 56
Jan Goossens, Kansas City 37 31 24 55
Godfrey Ingram, Tacoma 46 34 20 54
Domenic Mobilio, Baltimore 44 36 17 53
Michael Collins, Los Angeles 47 25 28 53
Zoran Karic, San Diego 38 37 16 53
Mark Karpun, Dallas 48 35 15 50
LEADING GOALKEEPERS (Min. 1056 minutes to qualify)
GP Min. Sho Svs GA W-L GAA
Victor Nogueira, San Diego 33 1996 826 400 95 19-13 2.86
P. J. Johns, Tacoma 31 1946 1035 471 114 18-13 3.51
Scott Manning, Baltimore 29 1596 712 345 102 17-9 3.83
Joe Papaleo, Dallas 24 1463 748 337 94 13-11 3.86
Cris Vaccaro, Wichita 40 2298 950 416 154 22-14 4.02
Krys Sobieski, Dallas 23 1416 575 231 98 11-12 4.16
Slobo Ilijevski, Baltimore 23 1232 565 260 89 12-9 4.34
Kris Peat, Los Angeles 24 1273 649 316 94 14-8 4.43
Mike Dowler, Tacoma 17 1068 440 158 82 5-12 4.60
Most Valuable Player: Preki, Tacoma Stars
Coach of the Year: Kenny Cooper, Baltimore Blast
MISL Scoring Champion: Preki, Tacoma Stars
MISL Pass Master (most Assists): Chico Borja, Wichita wings, Preki, Tacoma Stars
Defender of the Year: Kevin Crow, San Diego Sockers
Goalkeeper of the Year: Victor Nogueira, San Diego Sockers
Rookie of the Year: Rusty Troy, Baltimore Blast
Newcomer of the Year: Domenic Mobilio, Baltimore Blast
Championship Series Player of the Year: Victor Nogueira, San Diego Sockers
Championship Series Unsung Hero: Paul Dougherty, San Diego Sockers
All-MISL team:
G - Scott Manning, Baltimore Blast
D - Wes Mcleod, Dallas Sidekicks
D - Bruce Savage, Baltimore Blast
M - Preki, Tacoma Stars
F - Jan Goossens, Kansas City Comets
F - Tatu, Dallas Sidekicks
Tour by Locomotiv Moscow, January 30, 1989 - February 13, 1989
Results: 0 wins, 6 losses.
1/30/89 Locomotiv Moscow 4, Baltimore Blast 8
2/1/89 Locomotiv Moscow 3, Wichita Wings 4
2/2/89 Locomotiv Moscow 3, Tacoma Stars 7
2/6/89 Locomotiv Moscow 5, Kansas City Comets 10 (at Cincinnati)
2/8/89 Locomotiv Moscow 1, Kansas City Comets 7
2/13/89 Locomotiv Moscow 2, Dallas Sidekicks 6
1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 | 1990-91 | 1991-92