three per game. This resulted in four other teams earning more than the 115 points the Strikers had for the season. This put the Strikers in third place of the Western Division and missing the playoffs. Prior to Soccer Bowl '84, the team announced head coach David Chadwick, who had moved with the team from Fort Lauderdale, would not return and hired Alan Merrick as his replacement. Major Indoor Soccer League 1984 - 1988 On August 28, 1984, along with three other NASL team, the Strikers joined the Major Indoor Soccer League for the 1984–85 season. Finishing the season with a record of twenty-four wins and twenty-four losses, the Strikers qualified for the playoffs as a wildcard. After defeating the Wichita Wings two games to one in the Wildcard Series, the Strikers beat the Las Vegas Americans in the Quarterfinals three games to one. The May 12, 1984, game four of the Semifinals against the San Diego Sockers ended in a tie and was won by the Sockers in a shootout, resulting in a three game to one series victory for San Diego. However, the Strikers protested that Sockers player Jacques LaDouceur who scored a goal during the shootout was ineligible. The next day, MISL Commissioner Francis Dale ruled in the Strikers favor and awarded the game to Minnesota, resulting in a two games all series tie. In the fifth game of the series, San Diego defeated the Strikers seven goals to none. The Strikers finished the 1985–86 Major Indoor Soccer League season with a record of twenty-sex wins and twenty-two losses and second place in the Eastern Division. Minnesota defeated the Dallas Sidekicks in the first round of the playoffs three games to one and the Cleveland Force in the Division Finals, also three game to one, to earn a spot in the Championship Series. After trailing the best of seven series against the Sockers three games to one, the Strikers were able to tie the series at three games a piece. However, San Diego was able to capture their fifth straight indoor title with a 5-3 victory over Minnesota on May 27, 1986. The Strikers finished the 1986–87 season with a record of twenty six wins and twenty six losses, in fourth place of the Eastern Division and qualifying for the playoffs. Meeting Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs, the Force defeated the Strikers three games