Zoran Karić (, ; born 1 August 1961 in

Kačarevo Kačarevo (Serbian language, Serbian and ) is a village in northern Serbia, situated in the municipality of Pančevo, South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 6,346 people ( ...

, Yugoslavia) is a retired Yugoslavian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

forward who began his career with

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

before spending seventeen seasons playing indoor soccer in the United States. He was the 1988

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

Rookie of the Year, 1992 MISL leading scorer, 1994 NPSL MVP, and a nine time, first team All Star.

Bio

Karić began his career as a child in Yugoslavia. He signed with

of the Yugoslavian First Division. In 1987, Karić moved to the United States and signed with the San Diego Sockers of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He won two championships (1988, 1989) with the Sockers. In his second year in San Diego, Karić was the team's second leading scorer behind Branko Segota. He began the 1989–90 season with the Sockers, but was traded to the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

for Paul Wright on 6 March 1990. Paired with Hector Marinaro, the Crunch now boasted one of the strongest pair of forwards in the league. Karić was named a first team All Star this year. In the 1990–91 season, he was the league's second leading scorer and was again named a first team All Star. Karić led the points chart during the 1991–92 season. In the summer of 1992, the MISL collapsed and the Crunch moved to the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). With Marinaro and Karić setting all sorts of scoring records, the Crunch reached the league finals six times in eight years, winning championships in 1994, 1996 and 1999. Karić peaked in 1994 when he finished as the NPSL points leader on the strength of his 104 assists and 85 goals. Karić was named both a first team All Star and the NPSL MVP. In 1996, he played six games with the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

. Recurring tendinitis led him to leave the team on 20 July 1996. In 2000, the Crunch decided not to resign Karić and he went to the

Kansas City Attack The Kansas City Attack, previously the Atlanta Attack and later known as the Kansas City Comets, were an indoor soccer team based for most of its existence in Kansas City, Missouri. In its various incarnations the franchise played in the National ...

. However, injury had begun to slow him and he saw time in only 12 games that season. In 2001, he went to the Harrisburg Heat. Once again, he saw time in a limited number of games. In 2002, he rejoined the Crunch, now renamed the Cleveland Force. He spent two seasons with the Force, playing only four games in 2002–2003 and 23 the next season. On 2 October 2004, the Cleveland Force signed Karić to a two-year contract, but he retired without playing a game that season. Since he left the professional game, he continues to play with Beck's Cleveland All Stars, a team in an amateur indoor soccer league in Cleveland. In 2011, The Syracuse Silver Knights ( http://www.syracusesilverknights.com/ ) signed Karić to the team in their inaugural season. In the Knights first game, Karić recorded two assists in the 16–15 win over the Rochester Lancers. However, he only played in 3 games before retirement, being a friend of the Silver Knights head coach, Tommy Tanner. Karic finished his professional career with Regular Season: 505 Games, 761 Goals, 849 Assists, 1,610 Points. Playoffs: 111 Games, 137 Goals, 189 Assists, 326 Points. He is the all-time leader in assists (1,038) and he’s 2nd all-time in points (1,936) in indoor soccer history.

Honors

* Rookie of the Year: *1988 * MVP: *1994 * First team All Star *1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 *Goals Leader: *1992 *Assists Leader: *1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999 *Points Leader: *1992, 1994 *All-Star MVP: *1993, 1995, 1999

References

External links

Cleveland Crunch profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karić, Zoran 1961 births Living people Footballers from Pančevo Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers FK Partizan players San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) indoor players Cleveland Crunch (original MISL) players Rochester New York FC players Kansas City Attack players Harrisburg Heat (MISL) players Cleveland Force (2002–2005 MISL) players Syracuse Silver Knights players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players American Professional Soccer League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in the United States