1980–81 Major Indoor Soccer League season


The 1980–81 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the third in league history and would end with the New York Arrows repeating once again as MISL champions.

Recap

There were plenty of changes as the league began its third year. The Houston Summit would move to Baltimore and the Detroit Lightning moved to San Francisco. Three new clubs were added – the Chicago Horizons, the Denver Avalanche and the Phoenix Inferno.
With 12 teams, the league moved to three divisions. To accommodate the three-division setup, the playoff format was tweaked once again. The top two teams in each division would qualify, along with the next best two teams for eight qualifiers in total. While the first round was a best of three series, Commissioner Earl Foreman announced in early November 1980 that there would be single-game semifinals and a final set to be played in St. Louis on the weekend of March 27, 1981.
As it turned out, St. Louis pulled off a worst-to-first turnaround in their division with the second-best record in the MISL and made the championship game. In their semifinal against Wichita, the Steamers rallied from a 6-1 third quarter deficit to tie the game and win in a shootout. Over 33,000 fans attended both nights at the St. Louis Arena.
New York's Steve Zungul won regular season MVP honors for the third time, and added the playoff MVP. Zungul scored four goals and an assist in both the semifinal win over Baltimore and the championship game. Zungul scored the game-winning goal with less than 30 seconds left against St. Louis, the last of his combined 123 goals. The 108 goals would remain an MISL record through the end of the league in 1992.
After the season, Chicago folded. The league wanted to return to the market, but Chicago Sting owner Lee Stern paid to keep the Chicago market for himself and the Sting.

Teams

TeamCity/AreaArena
Baltimore BlastBaltimore, MarylandBaltimore Arena
Buffalo StallionsBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo Memorial Auditorium
Chicago HorizonsRosemont, IllinoisRosemont Horizon
Cleveland ForceCleveland, OhioRichfield Coliseum
Denver AvalancheDenver, ColoradoMcNichols Sports Arena
Hartford HellionsHartford, ConnecticutNew Haven Coliseum
Hartford Civic Center
New York ArrowsUniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Philadelphia FeverPhiladelphiaThe Spectrum
Phoenix InfernoPhoenix, ArizonaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
San Francisco FogDaly City, CaliforniaCow Palace
St. Louis SteamersSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis Arena
Wichita WingsWichita, KansasKansas Coliseum

Regular Season Schedule

The 1980–81 regular season schedule ran from November 7, 1980, to March 8, 1981. The 40 games per team was an increase of eight over the 1979–80 schedule of 32 games.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.
Atlantic DivisionWLPct.GBGFGAHomeRoad
New York Arrows355.875--28517617-318-2
Baltimore Blast2119.5251418219013-78-12
Philadelphia Fever1822.4501721224510-108-12
Hartford Hellions1327.1882216519210-103-17

Central DivisionWLPct.GBGFGAHomeRoad
St. Louis Steamers2515.625--22219615-510-10
Cleveland Force2119.525420921414-67-13
Chicago Horizons2020.500521618713-77-13
Buffalo Stallions2020.500524621015-55-15

Western DivisionWLPct.GBGFGAHomeRoad
Wichita Wings2317.575--22818118-25-15
Phoenix Inferno1723.425621025412-85-15
Denver Avalanche1624.500717421712-84-16
San Francisco Fog1129.275121752717-134-16

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Championship Game

Regular Season Player Statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPts
Steve ZungulNew York Arrows4010844152
Branko SegotaNew York Arrows35384583
Charlie CordasBuffalo Stallions36404181
Vic DavidsonPhoenix Inferno30502979
Iubo PetrovicBuffalo Stallions39443377
Joe FinkPhiladelphia Fever39511869
Fred GrgurevPhiladelphia Fever37442569
Jorgen KristensenWichita Wings38145266
Don EbertSt. Louis Steamers40461965
Dave MacWilliamsPhiladelphia Fever37372865

Leading Goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses
PlayerTeamGPMinGAGAAWL
Enzo DiPedeChicago Horizons16931634.0696
Mike DowlerWichita Wings2816161114.121612
Sepp GantenhammerBaltimore Blast3318621304.191714
Zoltán TóthNew York Arrows221005734.36142
Shep MessingNew York Arrows2714111034.38213
Aly AndersonDenver Avalanche10506384.5144
Richard ButHartford Hellions3922621754.641225
Slobo IlijevskiSt. Louis Steamers3318781464.662111
Pascal AntoineDenver Avalanche13698564.8175
Scott ManningBuffalo Stallions2913801124.871312

Playoff Player Statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPts
Steve ZungulNew York Arrows315419
Branko SegotaNew York Arrows39615
Andy ChapmanWichita Wings411011
Tony GlavinSt. Louis Steamers48210
George NanchoffPhoenix Inferno36410

Leading Goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses
PlayerTeamGPMinGAGAAWL
Cliff BrownCleveland Force3188123.8312
Mike DowlerWichita Wings4225195.0721
Scott ManningBuffalo Stallions29485.0901
Slobo IlijevskiSt. Louis Steamers4255225.1831
Zoltán TóthNew York Arrows26965.2210

All-MISL Teams

Honorable Mention Position
Sepp Gantenhammer, BaltimoreGSlobo Ilijevski, St. Louis
Ty Keough, St. LouisDTony Bellinger, St. Louis
Adrian Brooks, DenverMJohnny Moore, San Francisco
Joe Fink, PhiladelphiaFJorgen Kristensen, Wichita

League awards