1985–86 American Indoor Soccer Association season

American Indoor Soccer Association
Season1985–86
ChampionsCanton Invaders
2nd title
Matches played120
Goals scored1,255 (10.46 per match)
Top goalscorerKia Zolgharnain (52)

The 1985–86 American Indoor Soccer Association season was the second season for the league. The only change in teams from the inaugural season was that Chicago changed its name from the Vultures to the Shoccers. Zoran Savic of Louisville won the scoring title, but Canton’s Kia Zolgharnain netted the most goals with 52. League assists leader, Don Tobin, also of Canton was voted MVP, while his coach Trevor Dawkins took home Coach of the Year honors.

Canton and Louisville finished top of the table, well ahead the rest of the league. Both swept their semifinal opponents, to again face each other in the finals. In the championship round, the Thunder proved to be no match for the Invaders and were themselves swept in three games.[1]

League Standings

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD PCT GB
1 Canton Invaders 40 33 7 243 149 +94 .825 —
2 Louisville Thunder 40 31 9 251 185 +66 .775 2
3 Kalamazoo Kangaroos 40 17 23 176 179 −3 .425 16
4 Chicago Shoccers 40 15 25 196 225 −29 .375 18
5 Columbus Capitals 40 13 27 200 270 −70 .325 20
6 Milwaukee Wave 40 11 29 189 247 −58 .275 22
Source: RSSSF

All-Star Game

On February 5 the defending champion, Canton Invaders, hosted the first ever AISA All-Star Game at the Canton Memorial Civic Center. The Invaders faced a team of all-stars from the rest of the league’s teams. This gave the hosts a distinct advantage, because unlike their opponent, they had been playing together all season. This was never more evident than in the fact that Canton scored the final seven goals of the match to pull away, 9–4. Canton forward Ian Anderson (1 goal, 2 assists) was named the game’s MVP.[2] Additionally the league announced that Toledo would join the league next season along with three to five others teams.[3][4]

All-Star selections

  • Head Coach: Keith Tozer, Louisville[5]
  • Asst. Coach: Chris Bartels, Kalamazoo
Starters Pos Reserves
Victor Petroni, Kalamazoo G Rick Schweizer, Louisville
Hayden Knight, Chicago
Tom Alioto, Louisville 		D Keith Tozer, Louisville
Dave Huson, Chicago
Paul Kato, Kalamazoo
Rubén Astigarraga, Columbus M Peter Knezic, Milwaukee
Lesh Shkreli, Columbus
Neil Ridgeway, Kalamazoo
Zoran Savic, Louisville
Ross Ongaro, Milwaukee 		F Gary Amlong, Louisville
Gerald Celestin, Columbus
Janusz Kieca, Chicago

Canton Invaders’ All-Stars

The following Canton players were also selected by their peers as all-stars, but because of the match format, played for the host team.[6]

Pos Player
G Bill Naumovski, Canton
D Oscar Pisano, Canton
D Walt Schlothauer, Canton
M Don Tobin, Canton
F Kia Zolgharnain, Canton
F Art Kramer, Canton

Match report

Canton Invaders9–4AISA All-Stars
  • Kia 7:52, 54:00, 56:20
  • Pikuzinski 12:03
  • Anderson 31:55
  • Kramer 34:24 (PP)
  • Killingsworth 41:25
  • Frick 41:54, 59:47
  • 6th Foul Blue card Blue card Blue card
  • Naumovski Blue card
 [7]
Attendance: 2,720

Playoffs

Semifinals Finals
              
1 Canton Invaders 14 5 3 – –
4 Chicago Shoccers 7 3 2 – –
1 Canton Invaders 6 7 10 – –
2 Louisville Thunder 3 3 5 – –
2 Louisville Thunder 2 4 4 – –
3 Kalamazoo Kangaroos 1 3 3 – –

League Leaders

Scoring

Player Team GP G A Pts
Zoran Savic Canton 40 51 30 81
Ross Ongaro Milwaukee 40 40 33 73
Kia Zolgharnain Canton 37 52 15 67
Peter Knezic Milwaukee 38 31 31 62
Chris Hellenkamp Louisville 38 37 24 61
Ted Powers Kalamazoo 40 42 17 59
Lesh Shkreli Columbus 40 29 30 59
Don Tobin Canton 30 19 39 58
Art Kramer Canton 35 33 24 57
Mike Fall Louisville 38 18 38 56

Goalkeeping

Player Team GP Min SA SV GA GAA W L
Jamie Swanner Canton 25 1485 785 407 88 3.55 20 3
Bill Naumovski Canton 16 971 418 217 59 3.64 13 3
A. J. Lachowecki Louisville 16 881 462 230 57 3.88 12 3
Victor Petroni Kalamazoo 33 1979 1075 606 135 4.09 14 8
Jose Garcia Chicago 22 1085 620 345 86 4.75 8 12

League awards

All-AISA Teams

First Team Pos Second Team
Victor Petroni, Kalamazoo G Jamie Swanner, Canton
Tim Tyma, Canton D Martin Rincon, Chicago
Oscar Pisano, Canton D Saeed Bakhtiari, Louisville
Don Tobin, Canton M Peter Knezic, Milwaukee
Zoran Savic, Louisville F Chris Hellenkamp, Louisville
Kia Zolgharnain, Canton F Ross Ongaro, Milwaukee

References

  1. ^ Younkin, Lou (April 26, 1986). "Invaders' rally ends Thunder's hopes, 10-5". The Courier-Journal. p. C1. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  2. ^ Pluto, Terry (February 6, 1986). "Invaders give rest of league a hard time". Akron Beacon Journal. p. B1. Retrieved June 18, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Thunder players to lead AISA All-Stars". The Courier Journal. February 5, 1986. p. D2. Retrieved June 18, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Canton beat All-Stars; AISA expands". The Courier Journal. February 6, 1986. p. C4. Retrieved June 18, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "1985-86 AISA All-Star team". Chicago Tribune. February 5, 1986. p. D6. Retrieved June 18, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "AISA to announce expansion club". Akron Beacon Journal. February 5, 1986. p. C1. Retrieved June 18, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "CANTON 9, AISA ALL-STARS 4". Milwaukee Sentinel. February 6, 1986. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.