1978 North American Soccer League season

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1978. This was the 11th season of the NASL.

Overview

The league was made up of 24 teams. The Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the finals on August 27 to win the championship.

Relocated Teams

• St. Louis Stars-California Surf
• Team Hawaii-Tulsa Roughnecks
• Las Vegas Quicksilvers-San Diego Sockers
• Connecticut Bicentennials-Oakland Stompers

Expansion teams

• Colorado Caribous
• Detroit Express
• Houston Hurricane
• Memphis Rogues
• New England Tea Men
• Philadelphia Fury

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= point system

6 points for a win 1 point for a shootout win 0 points for a loss 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game

National Conference

Eastern Division

	W	L	GF	GA	PT
Cosmos	24	6	88	39	212
Washington Diplomats	16	14	55	47	145
Toronto Metros-Croatia	16	14	58	47	144
Rochester Lancers	14	16	47	52	131

Central Division

	W	L	GF	GA	PT
Minnesota Kicks	17	13	58	43	156
Tulsa Roughnecks	15	15	49	46	132
Dallas Tornado	14	16	51	53	131
Colorado Caribous	8	22	34	66	81

Western Division

	W	L	GF	GA	PT
Vancouver Whitecaps	24	6	68	29	199
Portland Timbers	20	10	50	36	167
Seattle Sounders	15	15	50	45	138
Los Angeles Aztecs	9	21	36	69	88

American Conference

Eastern Division

	W	L	GF	GA	PT
Tampa Bay Rowdies	18	12	63	48	165
New England Tea Men	19	11	62	39	165
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	16	14	50	59	143
Philadelphia Fury	12	18	40	58	111

Central Division

	W	L	GF	GA	PT
Detroit Express	20	10	68	36	176
Chicago Sting	12	18	57	64	123
Memphis Rogues	10	20	43	58	101
Houston Hurricane	10	20	37	61	96

Western Division

	W	L	GF	GA	PT
San Diego Sockers	18	12	63	56	164
California Surf	13	17	43	49	115
Oakland Stompers	12	18	34	59	103
San Jose Earthquakes	8	22	36	81	83

Playoffs

First round

August 8	Philadelphia Fury	0 – 1	Detroit Express	Pontiac (MI), Silverdome

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August 8	California Surf	1 – 2	San Diego Sockers	San Diego, San Diego Stadium

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August 8	Chicago Sting	1 – 3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Tampa, Tampa Stadium

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August 9	Ft. Lauderdale Strikers	3 – 1	New England Tea Men	Foxborough (MA), Schaefer Stadium

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August 9	Seattle Sounders	2 – 5	Cosmos	East Rutherford (NJ), Giants Stadium

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August 9	Washington Diplomats	1 – 2	Portland Timbers	Portland (OR), Civic Stadium

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August 9	Toronto Metros-Croatia	0 – 4	Vancouver Whitecaps	Burnaby (BC), Swangard Stadium

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August 10	Tulsa Roughnecks	1 – 3	Minnesota Kicks	Bloomington (MN), Metropolitan Stadium

Conference Semifinals

			Game 1	Game 2	Shootout
Portland Timbers	-	Vancouver Whitecaps	1 - 0	2 - 1		August 12 , 16
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers	-	Detroit Express	4 - 3	0 - 1	1 - 0	August 13 , 16
Minnesota Kicks	-	Cosmos	9 - 2	0 - 4	0 - 1	August 14 , 16
San Diego Sockers	-	Tampa Bay Rowdies	0 - 1	2 - 1	0 - 1	August 14 , 17

Conference Championships

			Game 1	Game 2	Shootout
Portland Timbers	-	Cosmos	0 - 1	0 - 5		August 18 , 23
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers	-	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3 - 2	1 - 3	0 - 1	August 20 , 23

Soccer Bowl '78

August 27	Cosmos	3 – 1	Tampa Bay Rowdies	East Rutherford (NJ), Giants Stadium

Post season awards

• Most Valuable Player: Mike Flanagan, New England
• Coach of the year: Tony Waiters, Vancouver
• Rookie of the year: Gary Etherington, Cosmos

References