| Schlitz Professional Indoor Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | March 14, 1978 – March 15, 1978 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Dallas Tornado (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Houston Hurricane |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 4 |
| Goals scored | 63 (15.75 per match) |
| Attendance | 8,557 (2,139 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Peter Anderson (6 goals) Kai Haaskivi |
| Best player(s) | Mark Lindsay |
1979 → | |
The 1978 NASL Schlitz Indoor Soccer Tournament was a four-team indoor soccer tournament held in Houston, Texas, at the The Summit in mid-March 1978.[1]
Overview
[edit]Four teams, all from the North American Soccer League, participated in the two-day event: the Dallas Tornado, the Los Angeles Aztecs, the San Diego Sockers, and the host Houston Hurricane, who were an expansion team.
Much like ice hockey, matches were 60 minutes long and divided into three 20-minute periods with an intermission between each period. And just as in hockey, it allowed for free substitutions, and power plays on a playing surface measuring 200 feet by 85 feet. The goal dimensions were 4 feet by 16 feet. Standings were tabulated as follows; three points for a victory, plus a bonus point for each goal scored in a victory, no points or bonus points earned in a loss.[2][3] Each session consisted of two games (i.e. a doubleheader). The opening round of matches (Tuesday evening's Session 1) would feature a pair of Texas vs California match-ups, with the Session 2 matches having the opposite Texas vs California pairings the following evening.[4] The second game of Session 1, marked Houston’s first ever appearance before their home fans, having first faced NASL competition just 10 days earlier in Tulsa at the Skelly Indoor Invitational.[5][6][4] That same match marked San Diego's first ever appearance as the Sockers, having played the 1977 season as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers and the 1976 season as the San Diego Jaws.
A total of 8,557 people attended the two sessions.[7][8] Houston was the only squad to win both of its matches, but Dallas, with 21 points, was crowned champions because of the unusual point awarding system. The Hurricane were runners-up in the invitational with 20 points. San Diego finished in third position with 13 points, while winless Los Angeles was last with zero points.[3] The tournament's MVPs was Mark Lindsay who had scored five goals in one match for Houston.[8][9][10] San Diego forward Peter Anderson and Dallas’ Kai Haaskivi led the tournament with 6 goals apiece.[10][9][11] [3][8]
Map of clubs
[edit]
Sessions
[edit]Session 1: Tuesday, March 14, 1978
| 7:00 PM CST | Dallas Tornado | 18–7 | Los Angeles Aztecs | Attendance: 3,930[7] |
| 9:00 PM CST | Houston Hurricane | 10–5 | San Diego Sockers | |
Session 2: Wednesday, March 15, 1978
| 7:00 PM CST | Houston Hurricane | 4–3 | Los Angeles Aztecs | Attendance: 4,620[8] |
| 9:00 PM CST | San Diego Sockers | 10–6 | Dallas Tornado | |
Match reports
[edit]Session 1
[edit]| March 14, 1978 Match 1 | Dallas Tornado | 18–7 | Los Angeles Aztecs | Houston, Texas |
| 7:00 PM | Haaskivi  , , , , Rote , , Garcia , Kewley ,Bourne , |
Best , ,  (o.g.) |
Stadium: The Summit Attendance: 3,930 |
| March 14, 1978 Match 2 | Houston Hurricane | 10–5 | San Diego Sockers | Houston, Texas |
| 9:00 PM | Lindsay , , , , Jump , Orhan , Russell |
Anderson , Wark Veee Lindsay (o.g.) |
Stadium: The Summit Attendance: 3,930 |
Session 2
[edit]| March 15, 1978 Match | Houston Hurricane | 4–3 | Los Angeles Aztecs | Houston, Texas |
| 7:00 PM | Anderson 4:05' O'Sullivan 7:36'Megaloudis 11:28'Megaloudis 27:29' |
Best Sühnholz 30:53'Mifflin |
Stadium: The Summit Attendance: 4,627 |
| March 15, 1978 Match 2 | San Diego Sockers | 10–6 | Dallas Tornado | Houston, Texas |
| 9:00 PM | Anderson , , , Veee , Bachner Milone Wark Harsányi |
Garcia , , Kewley Haaskivi Ryan |
Stadium: The Summit Attendance: 4,627 |
Final standings
[edit]G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential, PTS = *Point System
| 1978 Schlitz Professional Indoor Soccer Tournament | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | G | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | Position |
| Dallas Tornado | 2 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 17 | +7 | 21 | 1st place (champions) |
| Houston Hurricane | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 20 | 2nd place (runners-up) |
| San Diego Sockers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 16 | –1 | 13 | 3rd place |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 22 | –12 | 0 | 4th place |
*3 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each goal scored in a victory[3]
Statistical leaders
[edit]Scoring
[edit]| Leading Scorers | Team | Goals* |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Anderson
|
San Diego | 6 |
| Kai Haaskivi
|
Dallas | 6 |
| Mark Lindsay
|
Houston | 5 |
 Freddie Garcia
|
Dallas | 5 |
 Juli Veee
|
San Diego | 3 |
| Kyle Rote Jr.
|
Dallas | 3 |
 George Best
|
Los Angeles | 3 |
| Kevin Kewley
|
Dallas | 3 |
*Five players tied with 2 goals
Tournament awards
[edit]- Most Valuable Player:
Mark Lindsay[8] (Houston)
Non-tournament matches
[edit]There were many other NASL indoor matches played that winter, including the four-team 1978 NASL Skelly Indoor Invitational in which Houston also participated. Indeed, the Tampa Bay Rowdies scheduled nine games against various teams including Washington, Tulsa, Minnesota, and Rochester. At that time clubs were allowed to do their own scheduling because a fully sanctioned indoor season would not come to be in the NASL until November 1979.[12] Although it never materialized, there was talk of the league awarding the "NASL Cup" for the best team among those that played indoor in early 1978.[13] Ultimately only a handful of NASL squads played more than three times. Meanwhile competition arrived from another league later that same year, as on December 22, 1978 the Major Indoor Soccer League was launched.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Hand, Kenny (February 2, 1978). "Hurricane to take first kicks indoors". Houston Post. p. 3D. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ Brian Runnels, editor. (1978). Schlitz Professional Indoor Soccer Tournament match program. Houston, TX. Houston Hurricane. p 3
- ^ a b c d LeBourgeois, Joey (March 16, 1978). "Strong rally by Hurricane decisions Los Angeles 4-3". Houston Post. p. 1E. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b "Soccer tourney to start". Houston Post. March 14, 1978. p. 3D. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "Soccer…". Houston Post. March 10, 1978. p. 18E. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "Houston's soccer team opens play". Houston Chronicle. March 4, 1978. p. Sec 3, p. 2. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b "Texas teams win in Summit". Corpus Christi Times. March 15, 1978. p. 1B. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Lundgren, Hal (March 16, 1978). "Amatuer Megloudis pays big dividends for Hurricane". Houston Chronicle. p. Sec. 3 p. 1. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b "Tornado swirls past Aztecs in Summit tourney". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. March 15, 1978. p. 7e. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b Lundgren, Hal (March 15, 1978). "Hurricane, Lindsay winning combo". Houston Chronicle. p. Sec. 2 p. 1. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ LeBourgeois, Joey (March 15, 1978). "Hurricane, Dallas take soccer wins". Houston Post. p. 1D. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "Indoor Returning, Officially This Time". Evening Independent. September 28, 1979. p. 4-C. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "Soccer Diplomats Go Indoors". Los Angeles Times. January 13, 1978. p. III-10. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- ^ Jackson, Derrick (December 23, 1978). "Arrows Reach Their 1st Target". Newsday. p. 26. Retrieved August 1, 2025.