1987–88 American Indoor Soccer Association season


Statistics of the American Indoor Soccer Association in season 1987–88.

Overview

Only four teams 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 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.

Regular season

G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Winning Percentage, GB = Games Behind Leader, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
TeamGWL%GBGFGAHomeRoad
Memphis Storm24168.667–104949-37-5
Canton Invaders241212.5004108977-55-7
Milwaukee Wave241113.45851031118-43-9
Fort Wayne Flames24915.3757991125-74-8

AISA League Leaders

Scoring

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPts
Rudy PikuzinskiCanton23241842
Martín VásquezMemphis23171936
George PastorMilwaukee24181533
Ted HantakMemphis22211031
Neil RidgewayFort Wayne22191130
Art KramerCanton23161228
Steve FrickCanton1920525
Chris HellenkampFort Wayne2118624
Dan O'KeefeFort Wayne2118624
Paul DiBernardoFort Wayne2218523
Carlos SalgueroFort Wayne21111223

Goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Sho = Shots faced; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses
PlayerTeamGPMin*ShoSvsGAGAAWL
Manny SanchezMemphis12708389140443.7383
Yaro DachniwskyMemphis11598278124383.8265
Mark BerryMilwaukee638627096274.1942
Warren LipkaFort Wayne14804418207584.3376
Bill NaumovskiCanton16882380152654.4287
*

Challenge Cup standings

G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Winning Percentage, GB = Games Behind Leader, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
TeamGWL%GBGFGAHomeRoad
Canton Invaders1293.750–67556-03-3
Fort Wayne Flames1284.667172525-13-3
Milwaukee Wave1266.500352534-22-4
Jacksonville Generals1266.500353584-22-4
Memphis Storm1248.333544534-20-6
Dayton Dynamo1239.250646633-30-6

''de facto'' Challenge Cup final

1987–88 AISA Challenge Cup Champions: Canton Invaders

All-AISA first team

Post season awards