Las Vegas Americans and Shootouts Are Things of the Past
The Las Vegas Americans and the shootout are memories as the Major Indoor Soccer League kicks off its eighth season Friday night.
Midfielder Juli Veee, goalkeeper Alan Mayer and Coach Don Popovic are among the Americans who will be with different teams this season. Las Vegas folded and joined the once mighty Cosmos as former MISL franchises.
Veee is back with the Sockers, for whom he enjoyed his greatest seasons. He was the leading scorer for the Sockers’ first three indoor championship teams.
The Sockers won their fourth in a row without him last year, and now he will team with Steve Zungul in a potent “front court” which might soccer’s version of the Houston Rockets’ Twin Towers.
Mayer, meanwhile, has moved to the Kansas City Comets and Popovic is coach with the Pittsburgh Spirit. Other Las Vegas players have scattered throughout the MISL.
The Las Vegas franchise died a while back, but the shootout was only killed this week. Incredibly, only four days before the season was to start, the MISL enacted a number of rules changes Monday.
Games will now continue in 15-minute sudden-death overtime periods until they are decided, rather than one overtime period and then an individual one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
It all starts with four games Friday night, the main event taking place when San Diego plays at Baltimore in a rematch of last year’s championship series. Those teams also played for the 1982-83 MISL championship.
The 12-team, 48-game schedule runs through April 6.
A look at the MISL:
WESTERN DIVISION
Kansas City Comets (22-26, Fourth)--The Comets are solid in goal with Manny Schwartz and newly acquired Alan Mayer. Schwartz, the team’s most valuable player last season, was 19-15 with a 4.15 goals against average. San Diego fans will remember his acrobatic performance against the Sockers in the semifinal playoff series. Mayer signed a three-year contract with the Comets. He was 17-12 with a 4.23 goals-against average with Las Vegas. . . . Coach Rick Benben took over the team after 13 games last season and led them to a 19-16 mark. . . . The Comets acquired Johan Neeskens and John Cerin. Neeskens is the only MISL player to have played in two World Cup finals (1974 and ’78 with Holland). Cerin scored more than 300 goals in a 10-year outdoor career in Yugoslavia. It will the first year of indoor play for both. . . . Forward Charlie Fajkus had 31 goals and 24 assists last season, midfielder Tasso Koutsoukos had 25 goals and 26 assists and former Socker forward Laurie Abrahams had 23 goals and 16 assists in 24 games. . . . Defender Ty Keough was acquired from St. Louis.
Los Angeles Lazers (24-24, Third)--Coach Peter Wall was named 1984-85 MISL Coach of the Year by the coaches. . . . Goalkeeper Mike Mahoney was 20-18 with a 4.76 goals-against average. . . . Lazers sold last year’s top scorer Stuart Lee (42 goals and 15 assists) to St. Louis. Forward Willie Holano had 33 goals and 22 assists, Poli Garcia had 20 goals and 31 assists and Batata had 19 goals and 17 assists in 40 games. . . . The Lazers acquired midfielder Dave Madden from Charlton of the Second Division in England, midfielder Kai Steffen of the Hamburg Sportsclub and California Surf and Darryl Gee of the Tulsa Roughnecks. . . . Lazers signed midfielder Amr Aly of Columbia University, the Herman Trophy as the best collegiate soccer player in the country last season.
St. Louis Steamers (24-24, Fifth in Eastern Division)--The Steamers have a new coach and are in a new division. Pat McBride moved from Kansas City to St. Louis. Dallas moved to the Eastern Division and St. Louis switched to the Western. . . . McBride brought defender Greg Makowski (13 goals and 20 assists) and midfielder Mark Fredrickson (11 goals, 2 assists) from Kansas City. Steamers also acquired Stuart Lee, who scored 42 goals for the Lazers last season. . . . Returnees include midfielders Ricky Davis (27 goals and 31 assists), Don Ebert (33 goals and 20 assists) and Redmond Lane (23 goals and 15 assists). Goalkeeper Slobo Ilijevski had a 17-12 mark with a 4.00 goals-against average.
Tacoma Stars (17-31, Sixth)--The Stars acquired the winningest goalkeeper in MISL history. Mike Dowler was 20-20 with a 4.49 goals-against average at Wichita last season. He has 1,088 career victories. Dowler will be joined by John Baretta, who was 11-13 with a 4.65 goals-against average. . . . The Yugoslavian connection has brought forward Predrag Radosvljevic and defender Lou Stojanovic from the Red Star team to the Pacific Northwest. . . . Forward Dale Mitchell led the Stars with 55 goals, 32 assists and 10 game winning goals.
Wichita Wings (21-26, Fifth)--The Wings picked up three players from the defunct Las Vegas team. Midfielder Chico Borja had 24 goals and 30 assists in 28 games for Las Vegas last season. Midfielder Mike Fox had 22 goals and 9 assists and defender Jorge Espinoza blocked 108 shots. . . . Wichita acquired goalkeeper Seamus McDonagh from Sunderland of the First Division in England. McDonagh has been a member of the Irish National team since 1979. . . . Midfielder Eric Rasmussen set a Wings record with 55 goals last season. Forward Jorgen Kristensen had 36 assists in 31 games and is the team’s career leader in assists with 240 and points with 308.
EASTERN DIVISION Baltimore Blast (32-16, First)--Kenny Cooper’s club has won three straight division titles, the MISL championship in 1983-84 and was the runner-up to San Diego last season. . . . Goalkeeper Keith Van Eron returns to the Blast after compiling a 13-6 mark with a 4.69 goals-against average in Las Vegas. Van Eron had a 57-28 record from 1981-84 in Baltimore. Scott Manning was 23-11 and set a Blast record with a 3.89 goals-against average last season. . . . The top defense in the league allowed only 190 goals. Mike Stankovic was the top scoring defenseman in the league with 33 goals and 26 assists. He is joined by Max Thompson Tim Wittman and Richard Chinapoo. . . . Offensively, the Blast was led by Stan Stamenkovic (team’s leading scorer with 39 goals and 51 assists), Paul Kitson (39 goals and 27 assists) and Dave MacWilliams (26 goals and 13 assists).
Chicago Sting (28-20, Second)--The third-highest scoring team in the league is led by Karl-Heinz Granitza, who scored 64 goals and 53 assists to place second to Steve Zungul in scoring. Midfielder Gerry Gray returns after a broken leg sidelined him midway through last season. He had 18 goals and 40 assists in 24 games. Defenseman Neill Roberts had 22 goals and 12 assists in 36 games. . . . High-scoring forward Pato Margetic will not open the season after undergoing his second knee operation in a year. Margetic scored 14 goals and had 12 assists in 11 games before he was sidelined. He appeared briefly in the playoffs, but was forced to have a second operation on his right knee this summer. . . . Goalkeeper Victor Nogueira was 23-15 with a 4.34 goals-against average. Veteran goalkeeper Hubert Birkenmeier was acquired as a free agent after the Cosmos withdrew from the league. . . . Defenseman Bret Hall was reacquired from Cleveland.
Cleveland Force (27-21, Third)--Coach Timo Liekoski will be reunited with defender Pasquale DeLuca, a member of Edmonton’s 1981 indoor championship team. DeLuca also played three years with the Toronto Blizzard and is a member of the Canadian National Team. . . . Cleveland has a lot of firepower returning. Forward Keith Furphy, the team’s all-time leading scorer, enters the season with an MISL record consecutive-game streak of 188. Furphy scored 40 goals and had 22 assists last season. Forward Peter Ward scored 33 goals and had 20 assists. Forward Craig Allen had 45 goals and 30 assists and Pat Ercoli had 28 goals and 13 assists. . . . Goalkeeper Chris Vaccaro was 16-8 with a 4.46 goals-against average.
Dallas Sidekicks (12-36, Seventh in Western Division)--Moved to the Eastern Division and St. Louis switched to the Western. . . . The Sidekicks lost their first 10 games last season, went 12-15, and then finished with 11 straight losses. Dallas scored the fewest goals in the league (194) and allowed the most (286). . . . Coach Gordon Jago will once again be counting on forward Tatu, who led the team with 59 goals and 29 assists. Forward Louie Nanchoff was acquired from Cleveland, where he scored 30 goals and had 20 assists last season. Midfielder Mark Karpun had 35 goals and 20 assists and midfielder Perry Van Der Beck had 10 goals and 23 assists for Dallas. . . . Goalkeeper Jan van Beveren was 6-22 with a 6.22 goals-against average in his first MISL season last year.
Minnesota Strikers (24-24, Fourth)--Surprised Las Vegas, three games to one, in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs last season. Then, with the aid of the Dale Decision, which turned a San Diego win into a Minnesota victory without the teams taking the field, Minnesota took the Sockers to five games in the semifinal round. . . . Last season, Coach Alan Merrick had a group of players who had primarily played outdoor. Now, they have a year of indoor play under their belts. . . . The club made three key acquisitions during the off-season. Forward David Byrne was the North American Soccer League indoor scoring champion in 1979-80 with 23 goals and 11 assists in 12 games for the Atlanta Chiefs. This is his first season in the MISL. Stan Cummins, a 5-foot 3-inch, 135-pounder, comes from Sunderland of the First Division in England. Defender Kaz Beck Tambi played for the Cosmos and the U.S. National Team. . . . Forward Thompson Usiyan had 36 goals and 36 assists last season. Jan Goossens had 29 goals and 24 assists and Alan Willey scored 31 goals and had 13 assists. . . . Tino Lettieri was the winningest goalkeeper in the league with a 24-21 record and 4.44 goals-against average.
Pittsburgh Spirit (19-29, Sixth)--Coach Don Popovic brought five of his players from Las Vegas. Popovic is the winningest coach in MISL history and has won four MISL titles. He led the New York Arrows to championships from 1979-1982. . . . Forward Fred Grgurev led Las Vegas with 48 goals and 29 assists last season. Defenseman Helmut Dudek had 25 goals and 22 assists. Forward Godfrey Ingram scored 10 goals and had 14 assists in 23 games. Forward Nicky Klincarski and defender Val Tuksa also came over from Las Vegas. . . . The Spirit also acquired goalkeeper David Brcic. He played with the Cosmos for six seasons and was the starter for the U.S. Olympic and National teams. Brcic led the NASL indoor league in saves per game (17.3) and was second in winning percentage (188-88) in 1983-84. Goalkeeper Joe Papaleo was 7-15 with a 5.22 goals-against average for the Spirit last season. . . . Forward Paul Child scored 28 goals and had 9 assists and Dave Hoggan had 30 goals and 15 assists.
