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North American Soccer League (Div. 1)
For the first time in league history, no teams disbanded prior to the new season, although Washington did move to Miami. In order to further stabilize operations, the schedule was cut to 14 games, the shortest slate in league history.
One person who didn’t join Washington on its move to Miami was dominant Canadian international John Kerr, who joined New York Cosmos. Other additions to the Cosmos’ lineup included Josef Jelinek, who played for Czechoslovakia in the 1962 World Cup Final, and a young American citizen named Werner Roth. Atlanta entered the year with many of the same players they had carried since 1969, with the significant addition of striker Paul Child. St. Louis, on the other hand, supplemented its American roster with two seasoned British vets, defenders Wilf Tranter and John Sewell. Twenty-six Americans played that summer, 17 native-born and most coming from the St. Louis roster.
Behind holdovers Pat McBride and Willy Roy, the two Brits, and Austrian-born rookie goalkeeper Mike Winter, the Stars bolted out of the gate, going undefeated until their sixth match en route to a 7-4-3 record. New York, riding NASL leading scorer Randy Horton’s 9 goals, took the Eastern Division with a 7-3-4 mark.
In quick, one-game semifinals, New York ousted Dallas, 1-0, on a John Kerr goal, while St. Louis defeated Rochester on goals from Sewell and American Gene Geimer. The championship was played before 6,102 at the Cosmos’ new home field, twelve-thousand seat Hofstra Stadium on Long Island, New York. Goals by Horton and St. Louis player-coach Kazimierz “Casey” Frankiewicz sent the match even into its final minutes, and with four minutes to play Jelinek converted a penalty kick to give New York its first championship. All of the league’s award winners were present at the game: Horton (Most Valuable Player), Frankiewicz (Coach of the Year), and Winter (Rookie of the Year).
While Dallas missed out on repeating as champions, they did get the consolation of a 24,742 crowd at its new home, Texas Stadium, for an exhibition match against Moscow Dynamo, making its first appearance in North America. Goalkeeper Ken Cooper was outstanding against the Russians in a scoreless draw. Dynamo went to Hofstra to edge the Cosmos, 2-1, before a standing room only crowd of 13,205. League attendance made a significant rise, up 39 percent to 5,340 per game. St. Louis led the league in attendance with 7,772 fans per game, drawing 13,106 to a match with Montreal and 14,210 to a game versus Toronto. Toronto drew 7,274 per game, while New York averaged 4,282 per game.
A rather dubious milestone was erected as the league changed its offside rule midway through the schedule-on June 26-to put an offside line across the field, 35 yards from the goal line. Thereafter, no player could be offside unless he had crossed the 35-yard line; in the rest of the world, offside applied to the entire attacking half of the field. Players were slow to adjust to the new rule: on its first weekend, scores were 0-0, 1-0, and 2-0. Gradually, the 35-yard line began to open up attack possibilities. It also opened up the league to ridicule from the rest of the world; this criticism was somewhat muted at first, though, as the experiment did have the blessing of FIFA.
Nineteen exhibition games were played against isiting foreign teams this season, with Werder Bremen and Dynamo Moscow making qualifiable tours. Werder Bremen (Germany) defeated four NASL clubs in July, with victories over Miami (4-1), Toronto (6-0), Rochester (3-1) and Montreal (3-0). Dynamo Moscow came in August, holding Dallas to a scoreless tie before beating Atlanta 3-0 and the New York Cosmos 2-1. In other significant games, Arsenal (England) defeated Miami Toros 3-2, Santos of Brazil defeated Toronto Metros 4-2, Birmingham City defeated New York Cosmos 3-0 and Toronto metros 3-2, and Maccabi Tel Aviv lost to Toronto 1-0 and the Cosmos 5-2.
Prior to the season, the NASL staged its first annual college draft, hoping that collegiate players might hasten the “Americanization” of the league. Barry Barto wound up being the only significant contributor from the Class of ‘72 after being drafted by Montreal in the third round. The first ever pick was Alain Maca, drafted by Miami. The son of Joe Maca, a player on the 1950 U.S. team that upset England in the World Cup, the younger Maca would play four years in the league as a defender. Meanwhile, Dallas Tornado showed a large measure of foresight by drafting a local player who played college ball at the University of the South. The boy was such a raw talent that he was kept on the reserve team for the entire season, but Lamar Hunt and Ron Newman insisted that he hadn’t been drafted for the publicity value of his surname: his name was Kyle Rote, Jr., and his father had been a famous (American) football player.
Final NASL League Standings, 1972
G W T L GF GA PTS % Att.
Northern Division
New York Cosmos 14 7 4 3 28 16 77 .642 4,282
Rochester Lancers 14 6 3 5 20 22 64 .535 5,505
Montreal Olympique 14 4 5 5 19 20 57 .464 2,308
Toronto Metros 14 4 4 6 18 22 53 .428 7,173
Southern Division
St.Louis Stars 14 7 3 4 20 14 69 .607 7,773
Dallas Tornado 14 6 3 5 15 12 60 .535 4,093
Atlanta Chiefs 14 5 3 6 19 18 56 .464 5,034
Miami Gatos 14 3 3 8 17 32 44 .321 2,112
Semi-finals: New York defeated Dallas 1-0
St. Louis defeated Rochester 2-0
CHAMPIONHIP: New York defeated St. Louis 2-1
6 points for a win, 3 for a tie, 0 for a loss, and up to three bonus points
for the first three goals.
Leading Scorers GP G A TP
Randy Horton (New York) 13 9 4 22
Paul Child (Atlanta) 12 8 1 17
Warren Archibald (Miami) 14 6 5 17
Michael Dillon (Montreal) 10 7 2 16
Willy Roy (St. Louis) 11 7 2 16
Kazimierz Frankiewicz (St. Louis) 12 5 3 13
Everald Cummings (New York) 13 5 3 13
Mike Renshaw (Dallas) 14 5 3 13
Leroy DeLeon (Miami) 14 5 3 13
Art Welch (Atlanta) 13 4 4 12
Willie Mfum (New York) 10 5 1 11
Carlos Metidieri (Rochester) 12 5 1 11
John Sewell (St. Louis) 14 3 4 10
John Kerr (New York) 14 3 4 10
Carlo Dell’Omodarme (Rochester) 14 1 8 10
Manfred Seissler (Rochester) 11 4 1 9
Josef Jelinek (New York) 14 2 5 9
Miguel Perrichon (Toronto) 13 0 9 9
Jose Moraes (Toronto) 12 3 2 8
Roberto Aguirre (Miami) 13 3 2 8
Jorge Siega (New York) 6 2 4 8
Gene Geimer (St. Louis) 14 1 6 8
Paolo Barison (Toronto) 8 3 1 7
John Fahy (Toronto) 10 3 1 7
Luiz Juracy (Dallas) 14 3 1 7
Renzo Selmo (Montreal) 14 2 3 7
Ken Wallace (Montreal) 9 2 2 6
Brian Talbot (Toronto) 10 2 2 6
Graham Souness (Montreal) 10 2 2 6
Pat McBride (St. Louis) 14 1 4 6
Leading Goalkeepers (940 mins. needed to qualify)
Min Svs GA SO GAA
Ken Cooper (Dallas) 1260 107 12 6 0.86
Mike Winter (St. Louis) 1260 122 14 3 1.00
Richard Blackmore (NY) 1260 129 16 3 1.14
Manfred Kammerer (Atlanta) 945 76 12 4 1.14
Dick Howard (Toronto) 1170 73 17 2 1.31
Sam Nusum (Montreal) 1260 113 20 4 1.428
Claude Campos (Rochester) 1133 64 18 4 1.429
Paulo Dias (Miami) 1033 124 22 3 1.92
Most Valuable Player: Randy Horton, New York Cosmos
Coach of the Year: Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis Stars
Rookie of the Year: Al Miller, Philadelphia Atoms
NASL 1st All-Star Team:
G Ken Cooper Dallas Tornado
D John Best Dallas Tornado
D John Sewell St. Louis Stars
D Peter Short Rochester Lancers
D Willie Evans Miami Gatos
M John Kerr New York Cosmos
M Graeme Souness Montreal Olympics
M Pat McBride St. Louis Stars
F Randy Horton New York Cosmos
F Paul Child Atlanta Apollos
F Michael Dillion Montreal Olympics
American Soccer League (Div. 2)
While the league he’d kept afloat played out its 1971 schedule, ASL President Eugene Chyzowych was busy adding more franchises to his charge. By 1972, with USSFA approval, Chyzowych had formed a 12-team league, divided into three conferences. In a unique arrangement, however, the schedule presented what was essentially two separate leagues, with teams from various conferences not meeting until the playoffs.
With an eye towards having 18 teams by 1973, Chyzowych added enough new teams to make the claim that the ASL was the largest professional soccer league in the country. Still, the ASL was very much a junior circuit: with the exception of the Boston Astros and Philadelphia Spartans, all of the league’s teams were either brand new or one year old.
At the USSFA convention held in Anchorage, Alaska(!), Chyzowych announced the motto which he hoped would sustain the league throughout the remainder of the 1970s: “American League–For The American Boy.” To that end, many of the new teams featured American players. Ironically, the ASL was establishing a template that would be successfully used by an NASL expansion team a year later, essentially jump-starting the ASL’s main rival.
Among the new teams were the Schaefer Brewers of New Jersey. Schaefer Brewing Company became a major league sponsor, distributing 100,000 ASL schedules and creating a “Player of the Week” award. One notable Brewer was Len Renery, later to play many years in the NASL.
Another interesting club was Nor’East United. With an average of 20, the New York based club was made up entirely of U.S. citizens, all of whom played college. Also going a heavily Americanized route were the Delaware Wings, featuring Walter Chyzowych and future MISL coach Len Bilous.
The new Baltimore Stars club gave a good indication of how the ASL had evolved from a predominantly ethnic circuit to one that really was for “American boys.” The Stars’ fifteen man roster featured 11 players born in Baltimore, making up a percentage of Americans not seen in either pro league for many years.
The ASL’s Northern and Southern Conferences began play in June, slated to play ten games solely against teams from each conference. The Midwest Conference–initially made up of six teams–would begin play on July 2, and only face one another. Ultimately, all teams would play 10 games before the playoffs would begin.
The Midwest Conference featured many talented players. The Cincinnati Comets, in particular, led by charismatic 17-year old Costa Rican midfielder Julio “Ringo” Cantillo, the Comets injected new life into the ASL, proving that expansion outside the Northeast was workable for the league. It was not entirely smooth, however; Chicago Inter, later called Chicago Hercules and then Chicago Americans, barely managed to play a few games before dropping out of the league.
One of the new clubs-the Comets-established a trend that would continue in American professional soccer for the next three seasons by winning the league title in its first year of existence. Cantillo was the ASL MVP, while Nick Cappuro, his coach, took Coach of the Year honors.
Final ASL League Standings, 1972
Before the season, Northeast, New Jersey, Baltimore, Delaware, Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis were added. Philadephia changed their name to the
Spartans. Washington changed their name to the Cavaliers.
G W T L GF GA PTS
Northern Conference
New York Greeks 10 8 2 0 31 7 18
Boston Astros 9 4 3 3 26 19 11
Northeast United 10 5 0 5 11 15 10
New Jersey Schaefer Brewers10 4 1 5 21 19 9
Southern Conference
Philadelphia Spartans 10 6 3 1 25 12 15
Delaware Wings 10 5 1 4 15 16 11
Baltimore Stars 10 1 3 6 10 33 5
Washington Cavaliers 10 0 1 9 4 22 1
Midwestern Conference
Cincinnati Comets 8 6 1 1 19 7 13
Cleveland Stars 8 6 0 2 23 10 12
Detroit Mustangs 8 2 2 4 13 19 6
Pittsburgh Canons 8 2 1 5 10 18 5
St.Louis Frogs 8 2 0 6 4 15 4
Chicago Americans (played a few games)
(GF-GA stats not complete for Det, Pitt, StL)
Playoffs: New York defeated Delaware 1-0; Philadelphia defeated Boston 1-0
Conf. Final: New York defeated Philadelphia 2-0 (OT)
CHAMPIONSHIP Cincinnati Comets defeated New York Greeks, 2-1.
St. Louis changed their name from Mules during the season. Detroit started the season
as Detroit SC. After the season, Washington, Pittsburgh and St. Louis folded.
Northeast became Connecticut.
Leading Scorers GP G A
Charles Ducilli (Philadelphia) 5 5
Joseph Oqnajac (New York) 5 4
Nelson Brazilia Cincinnati) 4
Serge Racine (Nor'East) 4 3
Antonio Harmon (Nor'East) 4 3
George Pulita (Philadelphia) 5 3
John Kostakis (New York) 5 3
Most Valuable Player: Ringo Cantillo, Cincinnati Comets
Coach of the Year: Nick Cappuro, Cincinnati Comets
Amateur Leagues & Cups
ADASL (Georgia): Emory (6-4-0-2-20-5-10)(Summer season)
Central New York League:Amsterdam (12-1-2-26)
Detroit Soccer League: Detroit Carpathia Kickers (13-2-1-65-14-29)
Keystone Soccer League (Pittsburgg): Canonsburg (16-0-0-32)
Maryland Major Soccer League: Dnipro (14-13-1-0-90-15-26)
Minnesota Soccer Football League: Maya SC (12-11-1-0-52-20-22)
Dr. manning Cup (New York State Champion): Istria S.C.
German-American League: Inter-Giuliana S.C.
National Soccer League of New York: Palermo (14-9-1-4-26-12-22)
National Soccer League of Connecticut: Hartford Hellenic A (17-11-4-2-54-24-24) (North); New Haven City (17-13-2-2-55-17-28) (South)
Ohio-Indiana Soccer Association: Dayton Edelweiss (16-13-2-1-66-17-27)
Western Michigan Soccer League: Kalamazoo (14-1-1-29)
Illinois State Governor’s Cup: Chicago Lions
National Soccer League of Chicago Lions (Red Division), Maroons (Blue division); Indoor season: Lions
Chicago Latin American Soccer Assoctation: Ayutla
Great Lakes League (Chicago): Highland Parkers
Washington State Cup: Rainie Brewers
Olympics
The Olympic qualifications continued with the US entering the second round, grouped with Mexico, Jamaica and Guatemala. The US drew with Jamaica 1-1 in the opener on January 16, The US put up an excellent defense, constantly frustrating the Mexican attacks. Carenza scored in the 23rd minute,a nd Mexico equalized ten minutes later after Stemke appeared to stop a shot in the penalty area with his hand. The game ended 1-1, the first draw ever by the US against mexico. The US was then beaten 3-2 on April 16 at Guatemala, but they won the return match in maimi by 2-0 (both goals by Mike Seerey). Mexico, having lost 1-0 to jamaica needed a win against the US to qualify. In the rematch vs. Mexico, at San Francisco on May 10, Mexico scored first, but Seerey landed one just before halftime. In the 2nd half, Seerey quickly put the US ahead, but Mexico tied, and a stalemate ensued to the final whistle. Thus, Mexico was out, and the US, at 1 win, 3 draws and 1 loss, needed to beat jamaica in St. Louis to qualify. The US scored twice in the first half (Manny hernandez & John Carenza), and Jamaica could only manage a single goal. With a 2-1 victory, the US qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 1960. The US record of 5-5-1 was the best ever in an International series for the team.
At the Munich Olympics, Bob Guelker met Dettmar Cramer who had been giving coaching clinics in the US. He gave some advice, and made connections. At the games, the US opened with an excellent, tough game against Morocco. Goalie Mike Ivanow was the star, with the game ending sa 0-0draw. Unfortunately, they could not repeat this success against malaysia. The US team played poorly, with a shaky defense and numerous errors. They lost 3-0.
Now virtually eliminated, the US faced a hopeless match against West germany, the unbeaten hosts. In a surprising move, Guelker sent a reserve team on the field, consisting of all the players who had not started in the first two games. His take was that they would need at least 7 goals and a win to qualify, which appeared impossible. So he let the others play and get a spot in the record books. The game was played before 70,000 in Olympic stadium at Munich on August 31, 1972. The home team consisted of amateur players from Bundesliga teams, and took only 2 minutes to score the first goal. Shep Messing, acting more as a practice target than a goalkeeper, held on valiantly, but the team lost 7-0.The game was an eye-opener in a sense, showing the Americans what world class soccer truly was, and the lengths the team needed to go in order to catch up. Ultimately, Poland took the gold, Hungary took the silver and Soviet Union and East Germany shared the bronze.
The US National Team
During the excitement of the Olympic qualifications, the full US National team was reconstituted under Bob Kehoe, former coach of the St. Louis Stars. The USSF was determined not to repeat past mistakes, and promised Kehoe extensive opportunities to travel and assess talent throughout the country, and to provide sufficient time for players to train and practice. Bob was provided with an assistant coach, Walter Czychowycz, vice president of the American Soccer League, and currently with the Newark Ukrainians. With the North American Soccer League providing a substantial talent pool, things started off looking hopeful.
Unfortunately, Kehoe never did get to do much scouting outside of trips to new Jersey and San Francisco. As in the past, the players were selected by a committee rather than the coach. The training camps did not help much since the team left behind many of the trained players when embarking to Newfoundland for the first qualifier against canada. Many of the players who went were from the St. Louis stars, Kehoe’s former team: Pat McBride, Willy Roy, Steve Frank, Gary rensing among others. The only other ntable name was Rudy Getzinger. On top of that, hotel reservations were messed up, and the players’ visas mysteriously disappeared for a day.
The first game was a long slow sinking eeling. Canada scored, repeated and scored again, all in the first 18 minutes. the US finally found the net. losing 3-2. The team disbanded, despite the next game coming up a week later. They reconstitued at Baltimore, having added Peter Millar and William Maia. Despite a lack of training, they managed a 2-2 draw on August 29. A week later, they flew to Mexico, having added Werner Roth of the Cosmos and Oscar Benitez from Philadelphia. Mexico dominated from the start, scoring in the 11th minutes, twice more in the first half. Willy Roy managed a late goal to make the final 3-1. Mexico then went on to beat Canada 2-1 to qualify, thereby eliminating the US. The return match against Mexico was academic.
It was just as well, since injuries left Kehoe without 11 men to send on the field. A few hours before the game, when this was realized, a desperate recruiting drive was started and yielded two players. One player recognized a former German-American league player sitting in the stands two hours before the game, Slobodan (Barney) Djorjekic He was greeted, invited on the team, signed his papers and took to the field at left wing. The US opened the scoring, but Mexico quickly answered, and went on to a 2-1 victory. The result was not surprising, considering the US never fielded the same lineup, only a few players were there through the entire 20 days, and there was little training, and no scrimmages. Once again, it was clear that adequate training was essential, and merely promising it was not enough. Ultimately, host West Germany won the 1974 World Cup, defeating Holland 2-1.
USA National Team Results
Date Score Opponent Venue (event)
====================================================================================
1972 Totals: 2 wins, 5 draws, 6 losses
Sep 10 72 L 1-2 Mexico Los Angeles, CA, USA (WCQ'74)
Geimer
Sep 03 72 L 1-3 Mexico Mexico City, Mexico (WCQ'74)
Roy
Aug 31 72 L 0-7 West Germany Munich, West Germany (OLY'72)*
Aug 29 72 L 0-3 Malaysia Ingolstadt, W. Germany(OLY'72)*
Aug 29 72 D 2-2 Canada Baltimore, MD, USA (WCQ'74)
Roy, Geimer
Aug 27 72 D 0-0 Morocco Augsburg, West Germany(OLY'72)*
Aug 20 72 L 2-3 Canada St. John's, Canada (WCQ'74)
Roy, Getzinger
May 14 72 W 2-1 Jamaica St. Louis, MO, USA (OLQ'72)*
Carenza, Hernandez
May 10 72 D 2-2 Mexico San Francisco, CA, USA (OLQ'72)*
Seerey (2)
Apr 25 72 W 2-1 Guatemala Miami, FL, USA (OLQ'72)*
Seerey (2)
Apr 16 72 L 2-3 Guatemala Guatemala City, Guat. (OLQ'72)*
Hamm, Carenza
Jan 23 72 D 1-1 Mexico Guadalajara, Mexico (OLQ'72)*
Carenza
Jan 16 72 D 1-1 Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica (OLQ'72)*
Roboostoff
1971 CONCACAF Tournament Finals
The Rochester Lancers had a surprisingly successful performance at the 1971 CONCACAF Cup, much of which took place in eaerly 1972. Rochester had qualified by virtue of their 1970 NASL championship, and the defeat of Bermuda in the 1971 qualifying competition, followed by the forfeit of their next opponent, Guadalajara. The Lancers opened with a 2-0 victory over Trasvaal of Surinam, on goals by Carlo Dell’Omodarne, the Lancer’s newest acquisition, and veteran Eli Durante. This was followed by a draw with Cruz Azul before 40,000 fans who largely rooted for the US. The tying Lancer goal was scored by NASL All-Star Manfred Seissler. Next was a 2-0 victory over Estrella of the Netherlands Antilles, which set up the tournament’s most anticipated game – Lancers against Communicaciones of Guatamala City. This hard fought, and sometimes controversial game ended with a 3-1 Communicaciones victory. At this point, the US was in 4th place, only one game behind Communicaciones. But on the last day of the tournament, a heartbreaking 0-1 loss to Alajueta of Costa Rica closed the series for the Americans, which left Ajauela and Cruz Azul tied for the tournament championship. despite this success, the U.S. did not take part in the 1972 edition of the Cup.
The College Game
By 1972, college soccer was growing so rapidly, the NCAA split into two divisions. Many independents also joined at the Division 2 level. This season also saw the additions of the Massachusetts State Conference, Pennsylvania Conference, Tennessee Conference, West Virginia Conference, Northwest Conference, and Southern California Athletic Conference.
This year, the first annual Senior Soccer Bowl was played at Showalter Field in Winter Park, FL. The East won the contest, defeating the West 2-0. It was an auspicious debut, and a number of the participants then went on to make their mark in the North American Soccer League, including Bob Rigby, Andy Rymarczuk and Bob Smith.
In the NCAA Division 1 tournament third round, Cornell defeated Harvard 2-0, UCLA defeated San Jose State 3-1, Howard defeated Pennsylvania 2-0, and St. Louis defeated Ohio 3-1. In the semifinals, UCLA defeated Cornell 1-0, and St. Louis defeated Howard 2-1 in overtime. The championship game, played in Miami on December 29, 1971, saw St. Louis reclaim the national crown by beating UCLA 4-2.
The inaugural Division 2 tournament, like Division 1, had a field of 24 teams, with 8 teams being awarded a bye for the first round. Many teams in the field had been perennial contenders in years past, but recently had been edged out of the competition as larger universities had established and built their soccer teams into national prominence. These included such familiar names as Baltimore, Bridgeport, SIU Edwardsville, Akron, Brockport State and Philadelphia Textile. In the third round, Oneonta State defeated Springfield 2-1, Cal State Chico defeated Cal State Fullerton 1-0, SIU Edwardsville defeated Akron 3-2, and Baltimore defeated East Stroudsberg 3-0. In the semifinals, Oneonta State defeated Cal State Chico 6-0, and SIU Edwardsville defeated Baltimore 4-1. The championship was won by SIU Edwardsville 1-0 over Oneonta State, on a December 9, 1972 match at Edwardsville, IL.
NSCAA Final coaches’ Poll:
1. Howard, 2. Pennsylvania, 3. Harvard, 4. SIU/Edwardsville, 5. Penn State, 6. St. Louis, 7. LIU/Brooklyn, 8. Missouri-St. Louis, 9. Westmount, 10. Hartwick
Conference Champions: West Coast Intercollegiate Soccer League: San Jose State New England Intercollegiate Soccer League: Brown Ivy League: Penn Metropolitan Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: Adelphi Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson New York State Atletic Conference: Cortland, Oneonta, Brockort (co-champions) Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate League: Air Force Southern Conference: Appalachian State Mason-Dixon Conference: Baltimore Yankee Conference: Rhode Island Virginia Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: Madison, Randolph-Macon (co-champions) Far Western Conference: San Francisco State, Chico State (Co-champions) Massachusetts State Conference: Westfield State New Jersey State Conference: Montclair State Pennsylvania Conference: East Stroudsberg Presidents Athletic Conference: Bethany Independent College Athletic Conference: Rennsalaer Tennessee Conference: Sewanee Michigan Intercollegiate Conference: Hope Minnesota Intercollegiate Conference: Gustavus Adolphus West Virginia Conference: Davis & Elkins Northwest Conference: Washington Midwest Conference: Beliot Southern California Soccer Association: Westmount Southern California Athletic Conference: Whittier Middle Atlantic States Athletic Conference: St. Joseph's College All Americans: G - Bob Rigby, East Stroudsberg B - Alan Harte, Quincy B - Gerardo Pagnani, Eastern Illinois B - Hans Wango, Davis & Elkins B - Gordon Cholmondeley, Philadelphia Textile B - Chris Bahr, Penn State F - Ian Bain, Howard F - Andre Rymarczuk, Penn State F - Chris Papagianis, Harvard F - Eugene Durham, Philadelphia Textile F - Tom Kazembe, Wooster Hermann Trophy: Mike Seerey, St. Louis NAIA Championship:Wesmount defeated Davis & Elkins 2-1 (2 overtimes) NJCAA Championship: Meramec Community College 3, Miami-Dade South 0 Messiah Invitational Tournament (NCCAA): Messiah finished in first place.
Other Action
1972 US National Challenge Open Cup Final: S. C. Elizabeth (German-American League) defeated the San Pedro Yugoslavs (their second consecutive Cup final) 1-0 on May 21, 1972.
1972 National Amateur Cup Final: St. Louis Busch defeated New Bedford Portuguese 1-0 on June 16.
National Junior (James C. McGuire) Cup: Seco, St. Louis
CONCACAF Champions Cup, 1972: The US did not participate in 1972. In the final, Olimpia (Honduras) defeated Robin Hood (Suriname) 2-0
National Soccer Hall of Fame: In 1972, Julius Alonso and Duncan Duff were inducted into the Hall of Fame. William Rosenthal was inducted into the National Intercollegiate Officials’ Hall of Fame.