North American Soccer League
-1978 Skelly Invitational-
Skelly Indoor Invitational
Tournament details
DatesMarch 4, 1978 –
March 5, 1978
Teams4
Final positions
ChampionsTulsa Roughnecks (1st title)
Runners-upMinnesota Kicks
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored57 (14.25 per match)
Attendance3,500 (875 per match)
Top scorer(s)Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nino Zec (5 goals)
United States Randy Garber
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milan Dovedan
Best player(s)Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nino Zec
Hungary 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]

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 severing 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]

Tournament results

Bracket

Opening round Championship 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, 1978 Game 1 Minnesota Kicks 8–7(OT) Washington Diplomats Tulsa, Oklahoma
7:00 PM CST Bailey 7:55'
Romero 12:59' (Moran)
Want 18:44' (Villa)
Willey 23:59' (Vujkovic)
Twellman 25:03'
Coker 26:23' (Want)
Moran 35:25'
Bailey gold-colored soccer ball 62:46'  (Villa)		 Bakić 34:47'
Garber 37:08' (Welch)
Garber 41:51'
Garber 50:45'
Mokgojoa 52:14' (Welch)
Steele 56:57' (O'Hara)
Garber 57:43'		 Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center
Attendance: 1,500 (est)
March 4, 1978 Game 2 Tulsa Roughnecks 12–3 Houston Hurricane Tulsa, Oklahoma
9:00 PM CST Stamenkovic 3:13' (Gazonas)
Zec 14:41' (Stamenkovic)
Zec 15:17' (O'Riordan)
Dovedon 24:26'
Zec 28:09'
Dovedon 36:36' (Stamenkovic)
Dovedon 40:31'
Dovedon 42:39' (Zec)
O'Riordan 43:26'
McKeown 47:43' (Redfern)
Dangerfield 49:05'
Molnár 54:31' (Gazonas)		 O'Sullivan 25:00'
Voccaro 33:32' (Stremlau)
Morielli 35:07' (Geerling)		 Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center
Attendance: 1,500 (est)

Session 2

March 5, 1978 3rd Place Washington Diplomats 8–5 Houston Hurricane Tulsa, Oklahoma
2:30 PM (CST) Bakić 4:05' (Steele)
Cannell 7:36' (Askew)
Bakić 11:28'
Maseko 27:29' (Mokgojoa)
Mokgojoa 28:03'
Garber 31:15'
Steele 31:35' (Garber)
Bakić 51:48'		 Morielli 3:22' (Sremlau)
Russell 6:14'
Russell 30:53' (O'Sullivan)
Voccaro 45:13' (Geerling)
O'Sullivan 55:43' (Morielli)		 Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center
Attendance: 2,000 (est)
March 5, 1978 Championship Tulsa Roughnecks 9–5 Minnesota Kicks Tulsa, Oklahoma
4:30 PM (CST) Stamenkovic 3:51' (Zec)
O'Riordan 4:23'
Collins 9:01' (Redfern)
Dovedon 27:06' (Molnár)
Gazonas 33:27' (Dovedon)
Waldron 38:33'
Zec 47:43'
Stamenkovic 58:08' (Dangerfield)
Zec 58:36'		 Coker 2:14'
Coker 12:35'
Moran 29:29'
Coker 56:52' (Bailey)
Willey 58:22'		 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
Team G W L GF GA GD Position
Tulsa Roughnecks 2 2 0 21 8 +13 1st place (champions)
Minnesota Kicks 2 1 1 13 16 –3 2nd place (runners-up)
Washington Diplomats 2 1 1 15 13 +2 3rd place
Houston Hurricane 2 0 2 8 20 –12 4th place

Statistical leaders

Scoring

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

Leading Scorers Goals Assists Points
Nino Zec (Tulsa) 5 2 12
Randy Garber (Washington) 5 1 11
Milan Dovedan (Tulsa) 5 1 11
Mike Bakić (Washington) 4 0 8
Ade Coker (Minnesota) 4 0 8
Živorad Stamenković (Tulsa) 3 2 8
Mark Moran (Minnesota) 2 1 5
Gerry Morielli (Houston) 2 1 5
Don O'Riordan (Tulsa) 2 1 5
Matt O'Sullivan (Houston) 2 1 5
Jim Steele (Washington) 2 1 5

*Three players tied with 2 goals 0 assists.

Goalkeeping

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

Leading Goalkeepers Minutes GA GAA SV SF
Darryl Wallace (Tulsa) 60 3 3.00 25 30
Gary Allison (Tulsa) 60 5 5.00 unk unk
Bill Irwin (Washington) 60 5 5.00 19 24
Kurt Kuykendall (Washington) 63 8 7.875 unk unk

*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

North American Soccer League

References

  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c 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.
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