Round<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| Wed<\/td>\n | 8\/16\/1978<\/td>\n | Pontiac<\/td>\n | Ft. Lauderdale<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | Detroit<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Wed<\/td>\n | 8\/16\/1978<\/td>\n | Tampa<\/td>\n | Tampa Bay<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | San Diego<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Wed<\/td>\n | 8\/16\/1978<\/td>\n | E. Rutherford<\/td>\n | New York<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | Minnesota<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | (SO)<\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Wed<\/td>\n | 8\/23\/1978<\/td>\n | Tampa<\/td>\n | Tampa Bay<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | Ft.Lauderdale<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | (SO)<\/td>\n | Conference Final<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sat<\/td>\n | 8\/25\/1979<\/td>\n | Vancouver<\/td>\n | Vancouver<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | Los Angeles<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sun<\/td>\n | 8\/26\/1979<\/td>\n | E. Rutherford<\/td>\n | New York<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | Tulsa<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sat<\/td>\n | 9\/1\/1979<\/td>\n | E. Rutherford<\/td>\n | Vancouver<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | New York<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | (SO)<\/td>\n | Conference Final<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sun<\/td>\n | 9\/2\/1979<\/td>\n | Tampa<\/td>\n | Tampa Bay<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | San Diego<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Final<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sat<\/td>\n | 8\/30\/1980<\/td>\n | Chicago<\/td>\n | San Diego<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n | Chicago<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | (SO)<\/td>\n | First Round<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sat<\/td>\n | 8\/30\/1980<\/td>\n | Los Angeles<\/td>\n | Los Angeles<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n | Washington<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | First Round<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sun<\/td>\n | 8\/31\/1980<\/td>\n | Edmonton<\/td>\n | Edmonton<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | Houston<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | First Round<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sun<\/td>\n | 8\/31\/1980<\/td>\n | Ft. Lauderdale<\/td>\n | Ft. Lauderdale<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | California<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | (SO)<\/td>\n | First Round<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Fri<\/td>\n | 9\/5\/1980<\/td>\n | Seattle<\/td>\n | Los Angeles<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n | Seattle<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | (SO)<\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sat<\/td>\n | 9\/6\/1980<\/td>\n | Ft. Lauderdale<\/td>\n | Ft. Lauderdale<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | Edmonton<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sun<\/td>\n | 9\/7\/1980<\/td>\n | Tampa<\/td>\n | San Diego<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n | Tampa Bay<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | (SO)<\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sun<\/td>\n | 9\/7\/1980<\/td>\n | E. Rutherford<\/td>\n | New York<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | Dallas<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Semifinal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| Sat<\/td>\n | 9\/13\/1980<\/td>\n | Ft. Lauderdale<\/td>\n | Ft. Lauderdale<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | San Diego<\/td>\n | 0<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | Conference Final<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Here are a few notes about these tiebreakers:<\/p>\n \n- Home teams won 12 of the 17 mini-games.<\/li>\n
- Six times, a team won on the road to force the mini-game after losing the first game at home. None of them won the mini-game.<\/li>\n
- Eleven times, a team won at home to force the mini-game after losing the first game on the road. They won six of those mini-games.<\/li>\n
- Seven of the 17 were decided in Shootout. (Only three were won by the home team.)<\/li>\n
- A total of 26 goals were scored in the 17 games (1.53 per mini-game).<\/li>\n
- The Ft. Lauderdale\/Minnesota Strikers won the most mini-games (4), while the Vancouver Whitecaps were undefeated (2-0) and the Tampa Bay Rowdies and New York Cosmos were both 3-1. San Diego lost the most mini-games, but damned if they didn’t win the one I attended<\/a>, the one that probably kept the Rowdies from their third straight trip to Soccer Bowl. (Sigh.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The NASL discontinued the mini-game after the 1981 playoffs and went to a traditional best-of-three series. (Well, it was traditional for America. Obviously, soccer tradition would have had a two-legged, aggregate goal series.)<\/p>\n The mini-game lives on, though, in indoor |