The 1991–92 Major Soccer League season was the 14th and final season in league history and would end with the San Diego Sockers winning their tenth NASL or MISL title in 11 indoor seasons, and fifth MISL title in a row.
Recap After a relatively tranquil 1990-91 season, the league's unstable finances reared their head again at season's end. Attempts to find other financiers for the Kansas City Comets failed and the club folded. Both San Diego and the Dallas Sidekicks were saved by civic outpouring and new ownership groups. A reborn version of the Pittsburgh Spirit was announced on April 29, 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.
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. Wichita had been in first place at the beginning of February, 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, and there were reports in April that the league planned on a 1992-93 season with all seven teams returning and an expanded schedule of 44 games.
However, the Tacoma Stars announced they were folding on June 5. 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. Attempts to find new owners for the St. Louis Storm failed, leaving the MSL with five teams. Commissioner Earl Foreman announced the dissolution of the league on July 10.
The remaining teams scattered; San Diego and Dallas joined the Continental Indoor Soccer League, while Cleveland and Wichita joined the NPSL. Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale decided not to join either league, folding the team instead. A new ownership group was awarded an NPSL expansion franchise for Baltimore called the Spirit and signed Blast coach Kenny Cooper to lead the team.
Teams TeamCity/AreaArenaBaltimore BlastBaltimore, Maryland Baltimore ArenaCleveland CrunchCleveland, Ohio Richfield ColiseumDallas SidekicksDallas, Texas Reunion ArenaSan Diego SockersSan Diego, California San Diego Sports ArenaSt. Louis StormSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis ArenaTacoma Stars Tacoma, Washington Tacoma DomeWichita WingsWichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum
Map of clubs
Regular-season schedule 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.
Final standings Playoff teams in bold. W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road San Diego Sockers 2614.650–24318615–511–9 Dallas Sidekicks 2218.550423122916–46–14 Cleveland Crunch 2020.500624922913–77–13 Baltimore Blast 1921.475721323011–98–12 Wichita Wings 1822.450822823612–86–14 Tacoma Stars 1822.450819824215–53–17 St. Louis Storm 1723.425924125112–85–15
Playoffs
Semifinals
San Diego vs. Baltimore Date Away Home Attendance April 8 Baltimore 4 San Diego 5 5,599 April 10 Baltimore 7 San Diego 6 5,621 April 14 San Diego 5 Baltimore 4 4,148 Kevin Crow scored at 5:34 of overtime April 16 San Diego 6 Baltimore 3 4,458 April 18 San Diego 4 Baltimore 3 4,594 San Diego wins series 4–1 Dallas vs. Cleveland Date Away Home Attendance April 14 Cleveland 3 Dallas 6 7,474 April 16 Cleveland 6 Dallas 7 6,549 Tatu scored at 3:59 of overtime April 18 Dallas 6 Cleveland 7 8,752 Chris Szanto scored at 1:39 of overtime April 21 Dallas 8 Cleveland 7 7,289 David Doyle scored at 7:59 of overtime April 24 Dallas 7 Cleveland 8 7,913 Zoran Karic scored at :47 of overtime April 26 Cleveland 4 Dallas 8 6,824 Dallas wins series 4–2
Championship Series
San Diego vs. Dallas Date Away Home Attendance April 30 Dallas 3 San Diego 7 5,269 May 2 Dallas 7 San Diego 9 7,921 May 5 San Diego 5 Dallas 4 6,703 Paul Wright scored at 1:57 of overtime May 8 San Diego 6 Dallas 10 8,655 May 9 San Diego 2 Dallas 4 8,171 May 12 Dallas 2 San Diego 8 10,117 San Diego wins series 4–2
Team Attendance Totals ClubGamesTotalAverageSt. Louis Storm20205,32310,266San Diego Sockers20186,9629,348Baltimore Blast20164,1298,206Wichita Wings20164,1278,206Cleveland Crunch20141,1207,056Dallas Sidekicks20140,0537,003Tacoma Stars2096,4264,821Overall1401,098,1407,844
Scoring leaders
GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts Zoran Karic Cleveland Crunch 37 39 63 102 Preki St Louis Storm 39 45 52 97 Hector Marinaro Cleveland Crunch 40 53 41 94 Tatu Dallas Sidekicks 39 47 41 88 Chico Borja Wichita Wings 33 32 52 84 Dale Mitchell Tacoma Stars 40 45 34 79 Paul Wright San Diego Sockers 39 50 27 77 Dale Ervine Wichita Wings 33 42 33 75 David Doyle Dallas Sidekicks 40 51 23 74 Branko Segota St Louis Storm 34 47 25 72
All-MISL Teams First Team Position Second Team Third Team Victor Nogueira, San Diego G Joe Papaleo, Dallas Cris Vaccaro, Baltimore Kevin Crow, San Diego D Ben Collins, San Diego Danny Pena, Wichita Iain Fraser, Baltimore D George Fernandez, Cleveland Wes McLeod, Dallas Zoran Karic, Cleveland M Chico Borja, Wichita Branko Segota, St Louis Tatu, Dallas F David Doyle, Dallas Hector Marinaro, Cleveland Preki, St Louis F Dale Ervine, Wichita Paul Wright, San Diego
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 Gordon Jago, Dallas
Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Thompson Usiyan, San Diego
Championship Series Unsung Hero: Kevin Crow, San Diego
References
External links The Year in American Soccer - 1992 1992 page - Dallas Sidekicks Memorial Archive 1991-92 summary at The MISL: A Look Back