WSA 1988 Seasons (original) (raw)

Playoffs

Wild Card

Seattle receives a bye

7/23/88 San Diego 1-1 San Jose

San Jose advance on penalty kicks, 6-5

WSA Championship

7/30/88 Seattle 5-0 San Jose

Overview of the 1988 WSA Season -

From the American Soccer History Archives

The WSA reached a certain level of stability in 1988, as no franchise changes occurred. The season was back to 12 games. A new scoring system was implemented. Regulation wins were worth six points, penalty kick wins were worth four, while penalty kick losses were worth two. Bonus points were awarded for each goal scored, up to three per game. The clear intent was to discourage ties and encourage goal scoring. The main effect was to inflate the number of points, but it had no appreciable effect on goal scoring, with the best teams scoring little more than 2 per game. The league did well enough to attract more talented players, especially recent college graduates.

Four teams remained in the race through much of the season, with Seattle finally pulling it out at the end of the season beating San Diego by 7 points for the regular season crown. In the playoffs, San Jose defeated San Diego on penalty kicks in the wild-card game, before falling to the Seattle Storm 3-1, as the storm took the championship.

After the season, the league changed its name to the Western Soccer League, and added four teams to replace San Jose. The Seattle Storm embarked on a postseason tour of Great Britain, taking on Middlsborough, Sunderland, Hull City, Lincoln City and Oldham. They beat Middlesborough 2-1

1988 WSA Leading Goalscorers

Scott Benedetti, Portland 8

Jerome Watson, San Diego 6

Peter Hattrup, Seattle 6

Justin Fashanu, Los Angeles 5

Eddie Henderson, Seattle 5

Billy Thompson, Los Angeles 5

Frank Van Den Brand Hornige, San Jose 5

Mario Gonzalez, San Diego 4

Grant Gibbs, Seattle 4

1988 WSA Goalkeeping Leaders GAA

Jeff Koch, Seattle 0.70

Bob Amman, Los Angeles 0.87

Brian Finnerty, San Diego 1.20

Aram Kardzair, San Jose 1.36

Anton Nistl, Cal./San Diego 1.95

1988 WSA Award Winners

Most Valuable Player: Marcelo Balboa, San Diego Nomads

1988 WSA First XI

G - Todd Strobeck, F. C. Portland
D - Marcelo Balboa, San Diego Nomads
D - Grant Gibbs, Seattle Storm
D - Arturo Velazco, San Diego Nomads
D - Jeff Stock, Seattle Storm
M - Peter Hattrup, Seattle Storm
M - Billy Thompson, Los Angeles Heat
M - Thomas Boy, San Jose Earthquakes
F - Justin Fashanu, Los Angeles Heat
F - Eddie Henderson, Seattle Storm
F - Abuelo Cruz, San Jose Earthquakes

Home Attendance G Total Avg.