1991–92 Major Soccer League season
The 1991–92 Major Soccer League season was the 14th in league history and would end with the San Diego Sockers winning their tenth title in 11 indoor seasons.
The offseason was arguably one of the most unstable in league history. Attempts to save the Kansas City Comets failed and the club folded.[1] Both San Diego and the Dallas Sidekicks were saved by civic outpouring and new ownership groups.[2] A reborn version of the Pittsburgh Spirit was announced on April 29,[3] and the owners of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres expressed interest in putting a team in Buffalo. When faced with the instability of the league, however, both sets of potential owners decided to not put up the $350,000 line of credit needed to play in 1991–92.[4][5]
Despite the upheaval, the seven teams left soldiered on. The regular season was wide open as playoff positioning went right down to the final game on the schedule. The Cleveland Crunch's George Fernandez scored in overtime to put Cleveland into the playoffs and knock the Wichita Wings out.[6] Wichita had been in first place at the beginning of February,[7] but a 6–13 finish doomed their chances at the postseason. Still, the playoffs themselves went according to form as San Diego defeated Baltimore and Dallas for their fifth straight MSL/MISL title.
There were early signs that the league would survive for another year. Attendance was up over 1990–91,[8] and there was an announcement in April that the league would have a 1992-93 season with 44 games and all seven teams would return.[9] However, the Tacoma Stars announced they were folding on June 5.[10] The hoped-for expansion into Buffalo never came to pass as the Buffalo Blizzard chose to join the smaller and more financially stable National Professional Soccer League on June 18.[11]
Attempts to find a new ownership group for the St. Louis Storm failed, leaving the MSL with five teams. Commissioner Earl Foreman announced the dissolution of the league on July 10.[12]
The remaining teams scattered; San Diego and Dallas joined the Continental Indoor Soccer League,[13] while Cleveland and Wichita joined the NPSL.[14] Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale decided not to join either league, and folded the team instead.[15] However, a new ownership group was awarded an NPSL expansion franchise for Baltimore called the Spirit.
Contents
Teams
Regular Season Schedule
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
The 1991–92 regular season schedule ran from October 19, 1991 to April 4, 1992. At 40 games, it was the shortest schedule for the league since the 1980–81 season and the seven-team lineup was its smallest since the inaugural season of 1978–79.[16]
Final Standings
Playoff teams in bold.
W | L | Pct. | GB | GF | GA | Home | Road | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Diego Sockers | 26 | 14 | .650 | – | 243 | 186 | 16–4 | 10–10 |
Dallas Sidekicks | 22 | 18 | .550 | 4 | 231 | 229 | 16–4 | 6–14 |
Cleveland Crunch | 20 | 20 | .500 | 6 | 249 | 229 | 13–7 | 7–13 |
Baltimore Blast | 19 | 21 | .475 | 7 | 213 | 230 | 11–9 | 8–12 |
Wichita Wings | 18 | 22 | .450 | 8 | 198 | 236 | 12–8 | 6–14 |
Tacoma Stars | 18 | 22 | .450 | 8 | 228 | 242 | 15–5 | 3–17 |
St. Louis Storm | 17 | 23 | .425 | 9 | 241 | 251 | 12–8 | 5–15 |
Playoffs
Semifinals | Championship Series | ||||||||
1 | San Diego Sockers | 4 | |||||||
4 | Baltimore Blast | 1 | |||||||
1 | San Diego Sockers | 4 | |||||||
2 | Dallas Sidekicks | 2 | |||||||
2 | Dallas Sidekicks | 4 | |||||||
3 | Cleveland Crunch | 2 | |||||||
Semifinals
|
|
Championship Series
|
Team Attendance Totals
Club | Games | Total | Average |
---|---|---|---|
St. Louis Storm | 20 | 205,323 | 10,266 |
San Diego Sockers | 20 | 186,962 | 9,348 |
Baltimore Blast | 20 | 164,129 | 8,206 |
Wichita Wings | 20 | 164,127 | 8,206 |
Cleveland Crunch | 20 | 141,120 | 7,056 |
Dallas Sidekicks | 20 | 140,053 | 7,003 |
Tacoma Stars | 20 | 96,426 | 4,821 |
Overall | 140 | 1,098,140 | 7,844 |
League awards
Most Valuable Player: Victor Nogueira, San Diego
Scoring Champion: Zoran Karic, Cleveland
Pass Master: Zoran Karic, Cleveland
Defender of the Year: Kevin Crow, San Diego
Rookie of the Year: Tommy Tanner, Cleveland
Goalkeeper of the Year: Victor Nogueira, San Diego
Coach of the Year[17] Gordon Jago, Dallas
Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Thompson Usiyan, San Diego
Championship Series Unsung Hero: Kevin Crow, San Diego
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.