The 1987–88 American Indoor Soccer Association season was the fourth season for the league. Only four teams (Canton, Fort Wayne, Memphis and Milwaukee) returned from the previous year, which made for a very brief, 24-game season that ended in early February. The 1988 All-Star game had been scheduled for Tampa Bay, but with the Rowdies leaving the league to play outdoors in the American Soccer League, and three other clubs (Chicago, Toledo and league-champion Louisville) folding, the game was canceled altogether.
Two expansion teams were set to join for the following season, Dayton and Jacksonville. Rather than have only a two-team battle in a championship playoff series, the league instead opted to stage a 12-match, unbalanced, round-robin tournament called the Challenge Cup Series to determine who took home the trophy for 1987–88. The two expansion teams were also invited to play in this unique season-ending event, despite never having previously faced AISA competition. This would also give league owners a chance to see if the two new teams were really ready for the AISA. The series commenced on February 14. As the six-week long tournament rolled on, the race for cup came down to the final game of the series on April 1, which happened to match league-leaders Canton and Fort Wayne. Both teams carried 8–3 records into match. Since the winner would secure the title by one game, it became a de facto championship final. Canton held on for a 5–4 victory, and their third AISA title in four seasons.
League Standings
Challenge Cup
de facto Challenge Cup final
1987–88 AISA Challenge Cup Champions: Canton Invaders (8–4 record)
League Leaders
Scoring Player Team Rudy PikuzinskiCanton 23 24 18 42Martín VásquezMemphis 23 17 19 36George PastorMilwaukee 24 18 15 33Ted HantakMemphis 22 21 10 31Neil RidgewayFort Wayne 22 19 11 30Art KramerCanton 23 16 12 28 Steve FrickCanton 19 20 5 25Chris HellenkampFort Wayne 21 18 6 24 Dan O'KeefeFort Wayne 21 18 6 24Paul DiBernardoFort Wayne 22 18 5 23Carlos SalgueroFort Wayne 21 11 12 23
Goalkeeping Player Team Manny SanchezMemphis 12 708 389 140 44 3.73 8 3Yaro DachniwskyMemphis 11 598 278 124 38 3.82 6 5Mark BerryMilwaukee 6 386 270 96 27 4.19 4 2Warren LipkaFort Wayne 14 804 418 207 58 4.33 7 6Bill NaumovskiCanton 16 882 380 152 65 4.42 8 7
League awards Most Valuable Player: Rudy Pikuzinski, Canton Coach of the Year: Terry Nicholl, Memphis Defender of the Year: Tim Tyma, Milwaukee Goalkeeper of the Year: Manny Sanchez, Memphis Rookie of the Year: Rod Castro, Memphis
All-AISA Team Player Team Manny SanchezG Memphis Tim TymaD Milwaukee Vince BeckD Memphis Chris HellenkampM Fort Wayne Ted HantakF Memphis Rudy PikuzinskiF Canton
References
External links Major Indoor Soccer League II (RSSSF) 1988 in American Soccer