2013–14 PASL season | |||
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Owner | Armando Gamboa | ||
Head Coach | Armando Gamboa | ||
Arena |
Odeum Expo Center 1033 North Villa Ave. Villa Park, Illinois 60181 Grand Sports Arena 2350 Hassell Road Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60169 |
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Professional Arena Soccer League | 1st, Eastern | ||
Ron Newman Cup | Champion | ||
US Open Cup | Champion | ||
Highest home attendance | 992 (February 16 vs. Cincinnati Saints) | ||
Lowest home attendance | 598 (December 28 vs. Illinois Piasa) | ||
Average home league attendance | 779 (8 games) | ||
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The 2013–14 Chicago Mustangs season was the second season of the Chicago Mustangs professional indoor soccer club. The Mustangs, an Eastern Division team in the Professional Arena Soccer League, split their regular season home games between the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois, and the Grand Sports Arena in Hoffman Estates.
The team was led by team president and head coach Armando Gamboa with assistant coach Freddy Ochoa. Chicago was undefeated in the regular season and went on to win the Ron Newman Cup in the PASL Championship match. Armando Gamboa was named Coach of the Year, forward Efrain "Wilo" Martinez was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the regular season, and goalkeeper Jesus Flores was awarded the Aaron Susi Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the post-season. The Mustangs also won the 2013–14 United States Open Cup for Arena Soccer.
The Mustangs are this season's only undefeated team in the PASL. Finishing with a 16–0 record and winning by an average of more than 9 goals per game at home and by 6 on the road, the only place the Mustangs have struggled is at the box office. Averaging just 779 fans per game, this ranks Chicago 9th in the 20-team league for average attendance.
On January 22, the PASL announced that Chicago would host the PASL Ron Newman Cup Final Four tournament at the Sears Centre while the amateur Premier Arena Soccer League will hold its championship at the Grand Sports Arena, the Mustangs' usual home field this season. As host, Chicago gets an automatic bye past the playoffs and directly to the Final Four tournament on March 15–16, 2014. They defeated the Cleveland Freeze 10–3 in their Semifinal match on March 15 to advance to the Championship game against Hidalgo La Fiera on March 16. Chicago won 15–4, becoming the first non-California team to win the PASL Championship.