Indoor soccer has always been a gimmick, but there’s one gimmick many fans of the indoor game have had a hard time embracing: the mini-game1The MASL has tried to re-brand this as the “Knockout Game,” but, whatever.. This travel-reducing tiebreaker tacked onto the end of a two-game playoff series in the event of a split in results feels unsatisfying to some, but it’s not likely to go away anytime soon, economics being what they are.
Indoor soccer’s first-ever mini-game came to us from the folks who first used it in outdoor soccer: the original North American Soccer League. The Memphis Rogues beat the Minnesota Kicks 1-0 on Tuesday, February 26, 1980 when Tony Field scored nine minutes into the mini-game for what turned out to be the decider in the Cinderella Rogues’ series victory. That was the first of what – by my count – have been a total of 49 Division I 2We can argue – and we have – about what constitutes Division I in indoor soccer when there is no clear direction and not 100 percent agreement from the few historians in this space. But the AISA in 1987 was definitely not it. indoor soccer playoff mini-games in history. Home teams are now 29-20 all-time in these affairs.
In the current league, the MASL, home teams have won six of the last seven mini-games to open up an 18-13 advantage in 31 mini-games. Home teams had a record-long streak of six straight home wins (which ended when Milwaukee won at Utica on April 16, 2023) after a stretch where home teams lost seven of eight, so it runs in streaks, as you might expect from 1/4 of a game. (And, if you’re interested, teams that win the second game to force the mini-game are now 17-14 in them as well.)
(DIGRESSION: From 2006-2009, the second MISL and the NISL – which became the third MISL – used a variation of the mini-game format which was sudden death. That happened seven times in four seasons, with the home team winning four and losing three. So overall, home teams are 33-23 in 56 tiebreakers. And, if you’re curious, two of the three non-Division I mini-games took place on the same day, April 5, 1987. Home teams – the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Toledo Pride – both lost, to the Memphis Rogues and Chicago Power, respectively. The other was in the 1998 EISL playoffs, won by the home team Mississippi Beach Kings over the Huntsville Fire on Aug. 2, 1998.)
There have been 182 goals scored in 49 mini-games (3.7 per session3Some of the scores below are different because of multi-point scoring.). Eight of the games have gone to overtime, and one of those went to shootout, the only time that has happened. NOTE: Continental Indoor Soccer League mini-games were 20 minutes long, broken into two 10-minute halves.
ALSO NOTE: The Eastern Indoor Soccer League, a Division II circuit, had one mini-game in its two-year history: The Mississippi Beach Kings beat the Huntsville Fire, 12-4, on August 22, 1998, after winning the second game 15-13 in overtime to square their semifinal series at a game apiece.
Here’s the list, updated through April 13, 2026:
| # | Date | League | Winning Team | Sc | Losing Team | Sc | Note |
| 1 | 2/26/1980 | NASL | Memphis Rogues* | 1 | Minnesota Kicks | 0 | |
| 2 | 3/2/1980 | NASL | Tampa Bay Rowdies* | 1 | Memphis Rogues | 0 | Championship |
| 3 | 2/21/1981 | NASL | Vancouver Whitecaps* | 4 | California Surf | 0 | |
| 4 | 2/28/1981 | NASL | Chicago Sting* | 4 | Atlanta Chiefs | 2 | |
| 5 | 2/18/1982 | NASL | Tulsa Roughnecks | 3 | Chicago Sting* | 1 | |
| 6 | 2/21/1982 | NASL | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | Montreal Manic* | 1 | 3OT |
| 7 | 3/1/1982 | NASL | Tampa Bay Rowdies* | 1 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 0 | |
| 8 | 4/4/1992 | NPSL | Kansas City Attack* | 6 | Illinois Thunder | 2 | MPS |
| 9 | 10/4/1997 | CISL | Monterrey La Raza | 2 | Dallas Sidekicks* | 1 | Shootout |
| 10 | 10/4/1997 | CISL | Houston Hotshots* | 4 | Indiana Twisters | 1 | |
| 11 | 10/13/1997 | CISL | Houston Hotshots* | 4 | Monterrey La Raza | 3 | |
| 12 | 12/7/2001 | WISL | San Diego Sockers* | 4 | St. Louis Steamers | 0 | |
| 13 | 12/22/2001 | WISL | Dallas Sidekicks | 2 | San Diego Sockers* | 1 | OT – Championship |
| 14 | 3/20/2011 | MISLIII | Milwaukee Wave* | 5 | Missouri Comets | 2 | MPS |
| 15 | 3/10/2013 | MISLIII | Missouri Comets | 5 | Milwaukee Wave* | 4 | MPS |
| 16 | 3/10/2014 | MISLIII | Missouri Comets | 6 | Milwaukee Wave* | 2 | MPS |
| 17 | 3/11/2014 | MISLIII | Baltimore Blast* | 4 | Syracuse Silver Knights | 3 | MPS |
| 18 | 3/16/2014 | MISLIII | Missouri Comets | 6 | Baltimore Blast* | 4 | MPS |
| 19 | 3/7/2015 | MASL | Milwaukee Wave* | 2 | Chicago Mustangs | 1 | OT |
| 20 | 3/8/2015 | MASL | Rochester Lancers | 3 | Syracuse Silver Knights* | 2 | MPS |
| 21 | 3/22/2015 | MASL | Monterrey Flash* | 4 | Baltimore Blast | 3 | OT – Championship |
| 22 | 3/6/2016 | MASL | Milwaukee Wave | 3 | Chicago Mustangs* | 0 | |
| 23 | 3/12/2016 | MASL | Soles De Sonora* | 6 | San Diego Sockers | 0 | |
| 24 | 3/24/2016 | MASL | Soles de Sonora* | 1 | Las Vegas Legends | 0 | |
| 25 | 3/12/2017 | MASL | Milwaukee Wave* | 3 | Kansas City Comets | 2 | OT |
| 26 | 3/14/2017 | MASL | San Diego Sockers | 1 | Ontario Fury* | 0 | |
| 27 | 3/15/2017 | MASL | Baltimore Blast | 4 | Harrisburg Heat* | 1 | |
| 28 | 3/21/2017 | MASL | Baltimore Blast | 2 | Milwaukee Wave* | 1 | |
| 29 | 4/9/2017 | MASL | Baltimore Blast | 1 | Soles de Sonora* | 0 | Championship |
| 30 | 3/10/2018 | MASL | San Diego Sockers* | 6 | Tacoma Stars | 2 | |
| 31 | 4/22/2019 | MASL | Baltimore Blast | 2 | Utica City FC* | 1 | |
| 32 | 4/3/2021 | MASL | Ontario Fury | 2 | Kansas City Comets* | 1 | |
| 33 | 4/18/2021 | MASL | San Diego Sockers | 2 | Ontario Fury* | 1 | Championship |
| 34 | 4/11/2022 | MASL | Chihuahua Savage* | 5 | Baltimore Blast | 1 | |
| 35 | 4/12/2022 | MASL | Kansas City Comets* | 3 | Dallas Sidekicks | 1 | |
| 36 | 4/23/2022 | MASL | Florida Tropics* | 3 | Kansas City Comets | 2 | |
| 37 | 4/24/2022 | MASL | San Diego Sockers* | 4 | Chihuahua Savage | 1 | |
| 38 | 4/8/2023 | MASL | Baltimore Blast* | 3 | Florida Tropics | 2 | |
| 39 | 4/10/2023 | MASL | Chihuahua Savage* | 3 | Monterrey Flash | 2 | |
| 40 | 4/16/2023 | MASL | Milwaukee Wave | 2 | Utica City FC* | 1 | |
| 41 | 4/23/2023 | MASL | Chihuahua Savage | 1 | San Diego Sockers* | 0 | OT |
| 42 | 4/07/2024 | MASL | Milwaukee Wave | 2 | Monterrey Flash* | 1 | OT |
| 43 | 4/07/2024 | MASL | Chihuahua Savage* | 5 | Tacoma Stars | 0 | |
| 44 | 4/08/2024 | MASL | San Diego Sockers* | 4 | Texas Outlaws | 0 | |
| 45 | 4/21/2024 | MASL | Chihuahua Savage | 2 | San Diego Sockers* | 1 | |
| 46 | 4/20/2025 | MASL | Chihuahua Savage* | 6 | San Diego Sockers | 0 | Championship |
| 47 | 4/06/2026 | MASL | Milwaukee Wave* | 2 | Empire Strykers | 0 | |
| 48 | 4/08/2026 | MASL | St. Louis Ambush* | 2 | Kansas City Comets | 0 | |
| 49 | 4/13/2026 | MASL | Milwaukee Wave* | 2 | Baltimore Blast | 1 | |
Now let’s look at the even-worse-than-a-mini-game scenario, the Golden Goal. Here’s a list of the seven instances between 2006 and 2009 where teams split the two games and a 15-minute sudden death period followed:
| Date | League | Winning Team | Sc | Losing Team | Sc | Note |
| 04/23/2006 | MISLII | Baltimore Blast | 1 | Milwaukee Wave* | 0 | |
| 04/30/2006 | MISLII | Baltimore Blast | 1 | St. Louis Steamers* | 0 | Championship |
| 04/14/2007 | MISLII | Philadelphia KiXX* | 2 | Chicago Storm | 0 | MPS |
| 04/15/2007 | MISLII | Detroit Ignition* | 2 | Milwaukee Wave | 0 | MPS |
| 04/10/2008 | MISLII | Monterrey La Raza* | 3 | Chicago Storm | 0 | MPS |
| 04/20/2008 | MISLII | Monterrey La Raza | 2 | Detroit Ignition* | 0 | MPS |
| 04/05/2009 | NISL | Rockford Rampage* | 2 | Monterrey La Raza | 0 | MPS |
The mini-game is not particularly well-liked in some quarters, but the economics of the situation make it unlikely it’ll be done away with anytime soon. We have not had a best-of-three or best-of-five with full games since the 2003 MISL II Finals, and with good reason:
- The prospect of trying to schedule a third game on short notice with MASL teams not having control of their venues is problematic. We’ve already seen the Baltimore Blast have to skip home games in the last two rounds of the 2023 playoffs and the semifinals of the 2026 tournament because of arena availability, and Utica City FC’s second playoff game in 2024 delayed a week4Because of the 2024 IIHF Women’s World hockey Championship in Utica during the time of the MASL playoffs.. Event congestion would threaten to extend the playoffs even more.
- Just as important, trying to sell a short-notice third game presents a big challenge. The “but it’s an important game” idea doesn’t really work as well in this sport as in some others. It’s not likely that third game would generate enough ticket revenue to pay expenses.
- A third game would require short-notice travel, which isn’t cheap.