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MISL league owners and the MISL Players Association reached an agreement in their labor dispute late Friday, voiding the owners' threat to fold the league.

"It's a deal,' said union spokesman Will Bray after an 11-hour negotiating session. "And we're reasonably happy with it.'

Union and owners representatives began face-to-face negotiations at noon on Friday at the MISLPA headquarters in Washington with three items still unresolved: the salary cap, right of first refusal and the termination date of the collective bargaining agreement.

The owners asked for a lower salary cap in a proposal presented to the union on Feb. 26. The owners stated if an agreement had not been reached by midnight on Friday, they would bypass the playoffs and fold the league after the regular season on Sunday.

Both sides made concessions to preserve the league.

The sides settled for a $900,000 salary cap -- $875,000 going to 18 professional and $25,000 for developmental players -- with a cap of $7,500 per month ($90,000 a year) for each player not under a guaranteed contract. Owners will have the right of refusal if they match 75 perent of the player's existing salary and the expiration date of the CBA was set for Oct. 1, 1990.

"I'm very happy,' said Stan Finney, the Sidekicks chairman of the board. "I would like to apologize for any disruptions we caused the staff, players and most importantly, the fans. We know some damage has been done, but I think we can repair it pretty quickly.'

The Sidekicks had returned to their hotel after a 6-2 loss in Baltimore on Friday and were notified by the union a deal had been completed.

"I was involved with it today,' said Eddie Radwanski, the Sidekicks player representative. "There was good communication, so I was pretty confident of a deal. Hopefully, with this behind us, we can look to the playoffs. As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy for the players and for the fans.'

Bray said specifics of the deal would be released later.