1988 American Soccer League

The 1988 American Soccer League was the first season of the third American Soccer League which took place during the summer of 1988.

American Soccer League
1988 season
Season1988
ChampionsWashington Diplomats
(1st title)
PremiersNew Jersey Eagles
(1st title)
Top goalscorerJorge Acosta
(14 goals)
← First season
1983 (2nd ASL)
1989 →

History

The third American Soccer League owed its creation to several events in the early 1980s. In 1983, the second American Soccer League collapsed from over-expansion, runaway spending and a restricted fan base. A year later, the North American Soccer League collapsed for essentially the same reasons. In 1985, the West-coast based Western Soccer Alliance was created as a regional, financially austere league. This new league kept expenditures low while building its fan base. In 1987, the Lone Star Soccer Alliance began its first season, mimicking the WSA model with teams in or near Texas. On May 7, 1987, several team executives led by Clive Toye announced the creation of an east coast-based league using the WSA model.[1] This new league, named the American Soccer League, planned to begin its first season in 1988. Chuck Blazer was announced as the league's commissioner and Clive Toye was named its chairman. The league planned a twenty-game schedule with at least six teams having a $75,000 salary cap.[2] The league initially concentrated on the northeast, but in August 1987, plans expanded to include teams situated in Florida.[3] This was soon followed by announcements of the entry of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Tampa Bay Rowdies. By October 1987, the list of teams was finalized with the addition of the Orlando Lions and Miami Sharks. The league now divided itself into two five-team divisions. On April 9, 1988, the American Soccer League began its first season when the New Jersey Eagles defeated the Miami Sharks, 2–1. When the regular season ended the first week of August, Eagles had topped the standings with forty-five points. Four teams made the playoffs, the top two from both the Northern and Southern Divisions. The Washington Diplomats which had the worst record of the four playoff teams, stunned the league by defeating first the New Jersey Eagles, then the Fort Lauderdale Strikers to win the first league championship.

League standings

Northern Division
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA Pts
1 New Jersey Eagles 20 15 5 39 24 45
2 Maryland Bays 20 12 8 32 31 36
3 Washington Stars 20 11 9 31 28 33
4 Boston Bolts 20 9 11 31 33 27
5 Albany Capitals 20 7 13 26 35 21
Source:

Southern Division
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA Pts
1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 20 14 6 46 25 42
2 Washington Diplomats 20 10 10 27 30 30
3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 20 10 10 23 21 30
4 Orlando Lions 20 8 12 21 31 24
5 Miami Sharks 20 4 16 24 42 12
Source:

Playoffs

Bracket
Semifinals
Best-of-3 		1988 ASL Championship
Best-of-3
          
1 New Jersey Eagles 1 1 1
4 Washington Diplomats 4 0 4
4 Washington Diplomats 4 3 -
2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3 2 -
2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 5 6 -
3 Maryland Bays 2 0 -

Semifinal 1
Maryland Bays (MD)2–5Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)
Vernon Skinner  28'
Sylvanus Oriaikhi  44'
Kurt Dasbach  80'		 Report  17' Ray Hudson
 65', 75', 85' Steve Kinsey
 85' Ricardo Alonso
Byrd Stadium, Columbia, Maryland
Attendance: 1,808


Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)6–0Maryland Bays (MD)
Steve Kinsey  5', 46', 88'
Ken Fogarty  13'
Miljce Donev  44'
Ray Hudson  64'
Marcelo Carrera  69'		 Report  90' Sylvanus Oriaikhi
Attendance: 1,406

Fort Lauderdale advances two games to none.

Semifinal 2
Washington Diplomats (DC)4–1New Jersey Eagles (NJ)
Duncan Reynard  13'
Jean Harbor  18', 65'
Leonel Suazo  84'		  78' Mario Chavez
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 2,346


New Jersey Eagles (NJ)1–0Washington Diplomats (DC)
Ken Lolla  64'
Attendance: 1,531


New Jersey Eagles (NJ)1–4Washington Diplomats (DC)
Mario Chavez  2'  11' Jean Harbor
 13', 26' Marco Casas-Cordero
 20' Fernando Iturbe
Attendance: 1,531

Washington advances two games to one.

ASL Championship Final
Higher seed Series Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 Mini-game Attendance
Fort Lauderdale Strikers2–0Washington Diplomats3–42–3xAugust 21 • RFK Stadium • 5,745
August 27 • Lockhart Stadium • 4,257

Game 1
Washington Diplomats (DC)4–3Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)
Michael Brady  17:26', 21:43'
Joaquin Canales  54:29' (Harbor, Simmons)
Ronald Simmons  89:30' (pen.)		 Report Ricardo Alonso  56:50' (Carrera, Hudson)
Mark Schwartz  57:11' (Hudson)
Thomas Rongen  86:36'
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 5,745


Game 2
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)2–3Washington Diplomats (DC)
Ricardo Alonso  27:57', 33:20' (Carrera) Report Leonel Suazo  29:40' (Canales)
Keith Trehy  30:50'
Michael Brady  35:30' (Hong)
Attendance: 4,257

Points leaders
Rank Scorer Club Goals Assists Points
1 Jorge Acosta New Jersey Eagles 14 4 32
2 Steve Kinsey Fort Lauderdale Strikers 10 3 23
3 Teófilo Cubillas Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7 5 17
4 Mark Lamb Orlando Lions 8 1 17
5 Scott Snyder Washington Stars 8 1 17
6 Maicol Antelo New Jersey Eagles 6 4 16
7 Roger Chavez New Jersey Eagles 5 6 16
8 Marcelo Carrera Fort Lauderdale Strikers 4 8 16
9 Mirko Castillo Fort Lauderdale Strikers 5 5 15
10 Guillermo Pizzaro Miami Sharks 6 2 14
11 Andy Bing Boston Bolts 5 4 14
11 Russ Downing Albany Capitals 4 6 14
11 Leonel Suazo Washington Diplomats 6 1 13
11 Mike Sweeney Boston Bolts 5 3 13
11 Kurt Manal Boston Bolts 5 3 13

1988 ASL All-Star game

The ASL All-Star game was hosted by the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Lockhart Stadium. Players that were unable to play due to injury, as well as any Strikers selected to the squad were replaced, since the All-Stars' opponent was the Strikers. George Best also suited up for the Strikers in the match.[4] The match ended in a 3–3 draw after 90 minutes, and moved directly to a penalty shootout. Both teams converted four of five attempts, and in an unusual move agreed to end it there with the consent of the referees.

All-Star selections
All-Stars  Position  Alternates
Winston DuBose, Tampa Bay G Alan Rough, Orlando
Troy Edwards, Miami D Ross Irwin, Boston
Brian Ainscough, New Jersey D -
Lou Karbiener, Orlando D -
George Lidster, Washington Stars D -
Steve Powell, Albany[5] (injured) M Dirceu Guimarães, Miami • Andy Harrison, Albany
Sonny Askew, Washington Stars M Ray Hudson, Fort Lauderdale
Rob Ryerson, Maryland M Teofilo Cubillas, Fort Lauderdale
Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay F Joaquin Canales, Washington Diplomats
Elvis Comrie, Maryland F -
Jorge Acosta, New Jersey F -
Lincoln Phillips, Maryland Coach John Kerr, Washington Stars (assistant coach)

Match summary
Fort Lauderdale Strikers3–3ASL All-Stars
Miljce Donev  14:00' (Cubillas, Carrera)
Ray Hudson  36:00' (Carrera)
Marcelo Carrera  44:28' (Hudson)		 Report 1
Report 2
Report 3		 Dirceu Guimarães  53:00' (pen.)
Dirceu Guimarães  57:10' (Alonso)
Elvis Comrie  60:00' (Acosta, Canales)
Penalties
?
?
?
?
? 		4–4 Steve Wegerle
?
Elvis Comrie
?
Dirceu Guimarães
Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Attendance: 3,179
Referee: Ed Bellion
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See also

References
  1. NEW SOCCER LEAGUE SETS NEWS CONFERENCE The Record (New Jersey) - Thursday, May 7, 1987
  2. NEW LOCAL SOCCER FRANCHISE WILL WATCH EXPENSES The Record (New Jersey) - Friday, May 8, 1987
  3. ASL TO DISCUSS EXPANSION TO FLORIDA Sun-Sentinel - Wednesday, August 19, 1987
  4. "1988 ASL All-Star Game At A Glance". Palm Beach Post. June 16, 1988. p. 7C. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  5. Lazzarino, Chris (June 16, 1988). "1988 All-Stars rally in second half to tie Strikers". Sun Sentinel. p. 7C. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
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