Laredo Heat Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in Laredo, Texas. The team competes in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as a member of the Lone Star Division.
 | |||
| Full name | Laredo Heat Soccer Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Heat, The Red Flames | ||
| Founded | 2004 | ||
| Stadium | PEG Energy Stadium Laredo, Texas | ||
| Capacity | 4,000 | ||
| Owners | Shashi Vaswani | ||
| General Manager | Juan Jose Vela | ||
| Head Coach | John Powell | ||
| League | USL League Two | ||
| 2023 | 5th, Lone Star | ||
| Website | http://www.laredoheatsc.com | ||
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The team plays its home games at the PEG Energy Stadium, where they have played since 2024. The team's colors are red, black and white.
Founded in 2004, the team was a member of the USL Premier Development League from 2004 to 2015. The club took a hiatus for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
History
edit2004
editLaredo Heat initially joined the USL Premier Development League in 2004 as an expansion franchise, playing a limited 'exploratory' schedule of eight exhibition games against selected opponents, but only managed two wins, both over the Lafayette Swamp Cats, 4–0 and 5–0, the latter of which featured a hat trick from striker Nelson Mata-Meza. Former Tampa Bay Mutiny, D.C. United and US national team striker Roy Lassiter played for Laredo in their 2–1 loss to DFW Tornados, but did not get on the score sheet.[1] He also played in a 1–1 draw against UNAM.
2016
editThe Heat decided to opt out of the PDL's 2016 season, citing the slow growth of the Mid-South Division as the reason.[2]
2017
editThe Heat announced they will be part of an expansion team of the National Premier Soccer League in 2018.[3][4]
2025
editThe Heat announced would return to USL League Two for the 2025 season, marking the club's return to the league after a 10-year hiatus. The Heat, who had previously competed in League Two from 2004 to 2015 and won the league title in 2007, will play their home matches at the new PEG Energy Stadium in Laredo, Texas, as part of the Lone Star Division.
Team
editTechnical staff
editUpdated June 2024[5]
| Position | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | John Powell |
| Assistant coach | Braeden Anderson |
| Assistant coach | Johnny Ibarra |
Notable former players
edit
Armando Begines, played for Chivas USA and Querétaro F.C.
Roy Lassiter, played for L.D. Alajuelense, D.C. United, Miami Fusion and Kansas City Wizards
Lexton Moy, played for the Philippines national football team
Yaikel Perez, plays for the Cuba national football team
Javier Santana, plays for FC Tuggen and Dominican Republic national football team
Year-by-year
edit| Year | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | Open Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | USL PDL | 8th, Mid South | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2005 | USL PDL | 2nd, Mid South | Conference Finals | did not qualify |
| 2006 | USL PDL | 1st, Mid South | National Final | 1st Round |
| 2007 | USL PDL | 1st, Mid South | Champions | did not qualify |
| 2008 | USL PDL | 2nd, Mid South | National Final | did not qualify |
| 2009 | USL PDL | 1st, Mid South | Conference Finals | did not qualify |
| 2010 | USL PDL | 1st, Mid South | Conference Semifinal | did not qualify |
| 2011 | USL PDL | 1st, Mid South | National Final | did not qualify |
| 2012 | USL PDL | 1st, Mid South | Conference Semifinal | 2nd Round |
| 2013 | USL PDL | 2nd, Mid South | Conference Finals | 2nd Round |
| 2014 | USL PDL | 2nd, Mid South | Conference Semifinal | 4th Round |
| 2015 | USL PDL | 3rd, Mid South | did not qualify | 2nd Round |
| 2016 | On Hiatus | |||
| 2017 | ||||
| 2018 | NPSL | 1st, Lone Star | Regional semifinals | did not qualify |
| 2019 | NPSL | 5th, Lone Star | did not qualify | 2nd Round |
| 2020 | NPSL | Cancelled due to COVID | ||
| 2021 | NPSL | 2nd, Lone Star | Conference Final | did not qualify |
| 2022 | NPSL | 1st, Lone Star | Regional semifinals | did not qualify |
| 2023 | NPSL | 5th, Lone Star | did not qualify | did not qualify |
| 2024 | NPSL | 4th, Lone Star | In Progress | did not qualify |
Events hosted by the Laredo Heat
edit
- April 20, 2006: Laredo Heat vs Tigres UANL[6]
- May 24, 2006: Laredo Heat vs Chivas de Guadalajara
- July 9, 2008: Laredo Heat vs Mexico U-20[7]
Honors
edit- NPSL Lone Star Conference Champions 2018
- USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2011
- USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2011
- USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2010
- USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2009
- USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2008
- USL PDL Champions 2007
- USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2007
- USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2007
- USL PDL Southern Conference Champions 2006
- USL PDL Mid South Division Champions 2006
Stadia
edit- Veterans Field; Laredo, Texas (2004)
- The Student Activity Center; Laredo (2005–2007)
- Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex; Laredo (2008–2023)
- PEG Energy Stadium; Laredo (2024-present)
Average attendance
editAttendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match.[8]
- 2004: 1,300
- 2005: 542
- 2006: 705 (9th in PDL)
- 2007: 737 (10th in PDL)
- 2008: 974
- 2009: 1,228 (7th in PDL)
- 2010: 989 (10th in PDL)
References
edit- ^ United Soccer Leagues (USL) Archived 2009-01-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Scavuzzo, Diane (December 1, 2015). "SABBATICAL FOR PDL'S LAREDO HEAT". goalnation.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- ^ "LAREDO HEAT SOCCER CLUB JOINS THE NPSL". npsl.com. November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
- ^ Davis, Zach (November 28, 2017). "Heat SC returning to Laredo in 2018". lmtonline.com. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
- ^ Coaching Staff
- ^ Heat to play Tigres, Chivas reserves in exhibitions Archived 2014-06-05 at archive.today
- ^ U.S. Prepares for Mexico U-20 match by studying Mexican match vs Laredo Heat
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html
External links
edit