1989-90 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
The Major Indoor Soccer League faced increasing competition with the National Professional Soccer League, formerly the AISA, which made clear its intentions to compete head to head. This soon led to an all out salary war, which had grave repercussions for both leagues. Meanwhile, the MISL implemented four rule changes: (1) permitting goalkeeping on the fly, (2) elimination of the sixth foul rule, (3) elimination of the three-line violation by field players, and (4) awarding of shootouts in place of penalty kicks.
The MISL returned to one of its most successful cities with the expansion St. Louis Storm, who lost their debut to cross-state rivals Kansas City before 14,752. The league season saw a close race in the East between the perennial favorites Baltimore Blast and Kansas City Comets, with the Comets claiming the crown with a mere 2 point lead after a 52 game season. The Dallas Sidekicks had an easier time of it with a decisive Western Division crown. Tatu continued his impressive goalscoring feats with 64 goals. League attendance held steady, at an average of 7,765 for the regular season. At the conclusion of the season, MISL reached an agreement with ESPN for a nine game TV schedule for the following season. The league remained busy during the summer, announcing a renewal with the Intercollegiate Soccer Association of America to host their annual showcase of senior collegiate stars. Later, the league changed its name to the Major Soccer League, and reached an agreement with the USSF to play two outdoor exhibitions against the Men's National team. Finally, USSF President Alan Rothenberg appointed commissioner Earl Foreman to a commission to study the feasibility of establishing a 1st division outdoor league in the United States.
1989-90 SEASON | |||||||
EASTERN DIVISION | |||||||
G | W | L
| GF | GA | Pct. | GB
| |
Baltimore Blast | 52 | 32 | 20 | 231 | 191 | .615 | -- |
Kansas City Comets | 52 | 30 | 22 | 208 | 205 | .577 | 2 |
Wichita Wings | 52 | 26 | 26 | 210 | 229 | .490 | 6.5 |
Cleveland Crunch | 52 | 20 | 32 | 201 | 237 | .392 | 11.5 |
WESTERN DIVISION | |||||||
Dallas Sidekicks | 52 | 31 | 21 | 217 | 190 | .596 | -- |
San Diego Sockers | 52 | 25 | 27 | 217 | 204 | .481 | 6 |
St. Louis Storm | 52 | 24 | 28 | 202 | 205 | .462 | 7 |
Tacoma Stars | 52 | 20 | 32 | 191 | 217 | .385 | 11 |
Divisional Semifinals
Kansas City defeated Wichita
5-4, 4-3, 3-4, 5-4
San Diego defeated St. Louis 3-2, 3-4 (OT), 4-1, 5-4
Divisional Finals
San Diego defeated Dallas 4-2,
1-6, 1-4, 4-2, 4-0, 3-1
Baltimore defeated Kansas City 6-4, 4-2, 2-1 (OT),
2-3 (OT), 2-3 (OT), 7-2
Championship
San Diego defeated Baltimore 4-7, 4-3,
5-2, 4-1, 2-3,6-4
New teams in St. Louis and Cleveland were added.
Scoring Leaders:
GP G A Pts
Tatu, Dallas 52 64 42 113
Jan Goossens, Kansas City 51 41 55 96
Preki, Tacoma 44 33 39 72
Michael King, Cleveland 52 45 26 71
Dale Mitchell, Kansas City 48 47 23 70
Dale Ervine, Wichita 47 47 20 68
Hector Marinaro, Cleveland 45 40 23 63
Zorin Karic, Cleveland 47 34 28 62
Branko Segota, San Diego 44 27 34 61
Domenic Mobilio, Baltimore 48 41 20 61
Chico Borja, Wichita 43 24 35 59
Carl Valentine, Baltimore 52 24 34 58
Leading Goalkeepers:
GP Min. SHT SV GA Avg. W L
Joe Papaleo (Dallas) 27 1633 829 342 91 3.34 16 10
Zoltan Toth (San Diego) 27 1640 682 334 95 3.48 14 13
Scott Manning (Baltimore) 34 2091 991 457 122 3.50 22 12
Slobo Illjevski (St. Louis) 32 1903 851 415 113 3.56 17 14
Victor Nogueira (San Diego) 25 1511 590 284 91 3.61 11 13
Mike Dowler (Kansas City) 28 1671 751 308 102 3.66 17 10
Krye Sobieski (Dallas) 22 1354 644 237 85 3.77 14 8
Jim Gorsek (Kansas City) 26 1485 648 275 95 3.84 13 11
Ron Fearson (Wichita) 33 1988 789 331 128 3.86 18 14
Cris Vaccaro (Tacoma) 28 1672 730 313 109 3.91 11 17
P. J. Johns (Cleveland) 38 2087 894 439 140 4.02 16 18
David Brcic (St. Louis) 21 1269 558 275 87 4.11 7 14
1st All-Star Team:
G - Victor Nogueira, San diego
F - Tatu, Dallas
F - Zoran Karic, Cleveland
M - Preki, St. Louis
D - Kevin Crow, San Diego
D - Fernando Clavijo, St. Louis
Most Valuable player: Jamie Swanner, Canton Invaders
Coach of the Year: Billy Phillips, Dallas
MISL Scoring Champion: Tatu, Dallas Sidekicks
MISL Pass Master (most Assists): Jan Goossens, Kansas City Comets
Defender of the Year: Wes McLeod, Dallas
Goalkeeper of the Year: Joe Papaleo, Dallas Sidekicks
Rookie of the Year: Terry Brown, St. Louis Storm
Newcomer of the Year: Claudio DeOliviera, St. Louis Storm
Championship Series Player of the Year: Brian Quinn, San Diego Sockers
Championship Series Unsung Hero: Paul Wright, San Diego Sockers
1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 | 1990-91 | 1991-92