1978 NASL Skelly Indoor Invitational

Last updated

North American Soccer League
-1978 Skelly Invitational-
Skelly Indoor Invitational
Tournament details
DatesMarch 4, 1978 –
March 5, 1978
Teams4
Final positions
Champions Tulsa Roughnecks (1st title)
Runners-up Minnesota Kicks
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored57 (14.25 per match)
Attendance3,500 (875 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Nino Zec (5 goals)
Flag of the United States.svg Randy Garber
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Milan Dovedan
Best player(s) Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Nino Zec
Flag of Hungary.svg Tibor Molnár
← 1976
1979 →

The 1978 NASL Skelly Invitational was a four-team indoor soccer tournament held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the Tulsa Assembly Center on the first weekend of March 1979. [1]

Contents

Overview

Four teams, all from the North American Soccer League, participated in the two-day event: the Houston Hurricane, the Minnesota Kicks, the Washington Diplomats, and the host Tulsa Roughnecks.

Matches were 60 minutes long and divided into three 20-minute periods, with an intermission between each period. Timed overtime periods, featuring a golden goal winner, would be used to decide any matches tied after 60 minutes. Each session consisted of two games (i.e. a doubleheader). The opening round of matches (Saturday evening's Session 1) would be semi-final games, with the Session 2 matches on Sunday afternoon serving as the third place match and Championship Final respectively. The first match of Session 1 was Minnesota's first time playing indoors. [2] The second match of Session 1, played on Saturday, March 4, 1978, between Tulsa and Houston, marked the first time the expansion Hurricane faced NASL competition, [1] and was only the Roughnecks third-ever game. [3] [4] [5]

Approximately 3,500 people attended the two sessions. Tulsa won both of its matches and was crowned champions of the Skelly Invitational. Roughnecks forward Nino Zec edged out both teammate Milan Dovedan and Washington's Randy Garber by one assist to lead the invitational in scoring with 5 goals and 2 assists. The tournament's co-MVPs were Zec and Tibor Molnár, [6] also of Tulsa. [7] The Kicks were runners-up in the invitational, [8] with the Dips defeating the Hurricane for 3rd place in the consolation match. The all-tournament squad included four Roughnecks: Zec, Molnar, Dovedan, and goalkeeper, Gary Allison. [7]

Map of clubs

Black pog.svg NASL Skelly Indoor Invitational Clubs

Tournament results

Bracket

Opening roundChampionship Final
      
Tulsa Roughnecks 12
Houston Hurricane 3
Tulsa Roughnecks 9
Minnesota Kicks 5
Minnesota Kicks 8(OT)
Washington Diplomats 7 Third place
Washington Diplomats 8
Houston Hurricane 5

Sessions

Session 1: Saturday, March 4, 1978

7:00 PM CST Minnesota Kicks 8–7(OT) Washington Diplomats Attendance: 1,500 (est)
9:00 PM CST Tulsa Roughnecks 12–3 Houston Hurricane

Session 2: Sunday, March 5, 1978

2:30 PM CST Washington Diplomats 8–5 Houston Hurricane Attendance: 2,000 (est)
4:30 PM CST Tulsa Roughnecks 9–5 Minnesota Kicks

Match reports

Session 1

March 4, 1978Game 1 Minnesota Kicks 8–7(OT) Washington Diplomats Tulsa, Oklahoma
7:00 PM CST Bailey Soccerball shade.svg7:55'
Romero Soccerball shade.svg12:59' (Moran)
Want Soccerball shade.svg18:44' (Villa)
Willey Soccerball shade.svg23:59' (Vujkovic)
Twellman Soccerball shade.svg25:03'
Coker Soccerball shade.svg26:23' (Want)
Moran Soccerball shade.svg35:25'
Bailey Soccerball shade gold.svg 62:46' (Villa)		 Bakić Soccerball shade.svg34:47'
Garber Soccerball shade.svg37:08' (Welch)
Garber Soccerball shade.svg41:51'
Garber Soccerball shade.svg50:45'
Mokgojoa Soccerball shade.svg52:14' (Welch)
Steele Soccerball shade.svg56:57' (O'Hara)
Garber Soccerball shade.svg57:43'		Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center
Attendance: 1,500 (est)
March 4, 1978Game 2 Tulsa Roughnecks 12–3 Houston Hurricane Tulsa, Oklahoma
9:00 PM CST Stamenkovic Soccerball shade.svg3:13' (Gazonas)
Zec Soccerball shade.svg14:41' (Stamenkovic)
Zec Soccerball shade.svg15:17' (O'Riordan)
Dovedon Soccerball shade.svg24:26'
Zec Soccerball shade.svg28:09'
Dovedon Soccerball shade.svg36:36' (Stamenkovic)
Dovedon Soccerball shade.svg40:31'
Dovedon Soccerball shade.svg42:39' (Zec)
O'Riordan Soccerball shade.svg43:26'
McKeown Soccerball shade.svg47:43' (Redfern)
Dangerfield Soccerball shade.svg49:05'
Molnár Soccerball shade.svg54:31' (Gazonas)		 O'Sullivan Soccerball shade.svg25:00'
Voccaro Soccerball shade.svg33:32' (Stremlau)
Morielli Soccerball shade.svg35:07' (Geerling)		Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center
Attendance: 1,500 (est)

Session 2

March 5, 19783rd Place Washington Diplomats 8–5 Houston Hurricane Tulsa, Oklahoma
2:30 PM (CST) Bakić Soccerball shade.svg4:05' (Steele)
Cannell Soccerball shade.svg7:36' (Askew)
Bakić Soccerball shade.svg11:28'
Maseko Soccerball shade.svg27:29' (Mokgojoa)
Mokgojoa Soccerball shade.svg28:03'
Garber Soccerball shade.svg31:15'
Steele Soccerball shade.svg31:35' (Garber)
Bakić Soccerball shade.svg51:48'		 Morielli Soccerball shade.svg3:22' (Sremlau)
Russell Soccerball shade.svg6:14'
Russell Soccerball shade.svg30:53' (O'Sullivan)
Voccaro Soccerball shade.svg45:13' (Geerling)
O'Sullivan Soccerball shade.svg55:43' (Morielli)		Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center
Attendance: 2,000 (est)
March 5, 1978Championship Tulsa Roughnecks 9–5 Minnesota Kicks Tulsa, Oklahoma
4:30 PM (CST) Stamenkovic Soccerball shade.svg3:51' (Zec)
O'Riordan Soccerball shade.svg4:23'
Collins Soccerball shade.svg9:01' (Redfern)
Dovedon Soccerball shade.svg27:06' (Molnár)
Gazonas Soccerball shade.svg33:27' (Dovedon)
Waldron Soccerball shade.svg38:33'
Zec Soccerball shade.svg47:43'
Stamenkovic Soccerball shade.svg58:08' (Dangerfield)
Zec Soccerball shade.svg58:36'		 Coker Soccerball shade.svg2:14'
Coker Soccerball shade.svg12:35'
Moran Soccerball shade.svg29:29'
Coker Soccerball shade.svg56:52' (Bailey)
Willey Soccerball shade.svg58:22'		Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center
Attendance: 2,000 (est)

Final standings

G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential

1978 Skelly Indoor Invitational
TeamGWLGFGAGDPosition
Tulsa Roughnecks 220218+131st place (champions)
Minnesota Kicks 2111316–32nd place (runners-up)
Washington Diplomats 2111513+23rd place
Houston Hurricane 202820–124th place

Statistical leaders

Scoring

Goals (worth 2 points), Assists (worth 1 point) [1] [7]

Leading ScorersGoalsAssistsPoints
Nino Zec (Tulsa)5212
Randy Garber (Washington)5111
Milan Dovedan (Tulsa)5111
Mike Bakić (Washington)408
Ade Coker (Minnesota)408
Živorad Stamenković (Tulsa)328
Mark Moran (Minnesota)215
Gerry Morielli (Houston)215
Don O'Riordan (Tulsa)215
Matt O'Sullivan (Houston)215
Jim Steele (Washington)215

*Three players tied with 2 goals 0 assists.

Goalkeeping

GA = Goals Against, GAA = Goals Against Average, SV = Saves, SF = Shots Faced

Leading GoalkeepersMinutesGAGAASVSF
Darryl Wallace (Tulsa)6033.002530
Gary Allison (Tulsa)6055.00unkunk
Bill Irwin (Washington)6055.001924
Kurt Kuykendall (Washington)6387.875unkunk

*Minnesota and Houston used multiple goalkeepers in each match.

Tournament awards

Non-tournament matches

These were not the only indoor matches played that winter. The four Skelly Invitational participants played a combined 12 additional matches. Since a full season of indoor soccer was still two years away, [9] NASL teams were free to do their own scheduling. There were reports of the league awarding an "NASL Cup" for the best team among those that participated in at least 16 indoor games. [10] Of the 24 teams in the league, 11 had indoor matches planned. The Tampa Bay Rowdies, for example played eight games. By contrast, the Chicago Sting signed on to play only two games at Washington, both of which were ultimately canceled because of scheduling conflicts with a boat show at the D.C. Armory. [11] In the end, no team played more than nine games in 1978, and only a handful played more than three.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Lobaugh, Tom (March 5, 1978). "Roughnecks Ramble Into Tourney Finals". Tulsa World . Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Kicks blow 6-0 lead, but tip Diplomats 8-7". Minneapolis Star Tribune. March 5, 1978. p. 10C. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ Tierney, Mike (February 11, 1978). "Rowdies expected to rough up Roughnecks". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Rowdies trounce Tulsa". St. Petersburg Times. February 15, 1978. p. 4C. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  5. ↑ Marcia Schallert, editor. (1979). Budweiser Indoor Soccer Invitational match program. Tampa, FL. Tampa Bay Rowdies. p 12
  6. ↑ "Hellions Player Profile". Hartford Courant. November 17, 1980. p. D8. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Lobaugh, Tom (March 6, 1978). "Tulsa Kicks Up A Victory". Tulsa World . Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Roughnecks top Kicks 9-4 in tournament". Minneapolis Star Tribune. March 6, 1978. p. 3C. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Indoor Returning, Officially This Time". Evening Independent. September 28, 1979. p. 4-C. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Soccer Diplomats Go Indoors". Los Angeles Times. January 13, 1978. p. III-10. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Dips Cancel Indoor Games". The Washington Post . February 9, 1978. Retrieved January 21, 2018.