Laredo Heat
 |
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| Full name | Laredo Heat Soccer Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Heat, The Red Flames |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Stadium |
Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex Laredo, Texas |
| Capacity | 4,000 |
| Owner | Shashi Vaswani |
| Head Coach | Daniel Galvan |
| League | Premier Development League |
| 2015 | 3rd, Mid South Playoffs: DNQ |
| Website | Club home page |
Laredo Heat is an American soccer team based in Laredo, Texas, United States. Founded in 2004, the team plays in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of the Southern Conference.
The team plays its home games at the Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex, where they have played since 2008. The team's colors are red, black and white. The club is on hiatus for the 2016 season.
Laredo 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. He also played in a 1-1 draw against UNAM.
Laredo's first true competitive season was 2005, and the team proved to be a formidable opponent almost immediately. They won their opening game 3-0 over Austin Lightning, and followed that with three wins in their next four games, before being brought back down to earth with a bump following a 7-0 hammering at the hands of the traditional regional powerhouses, El Paso Patriots. The Heat rallied to register three more wins in June, including two hugely impressive wins on their trip to Tennessee, with a 5-0 thumping of Nashville Metros and a 5-1 drubbing of Memphis Express. Despite losing three of their last four games down the home stretch, including back-to-back losses away at the New Orleans Shell Shockers, Laredo held off Austin Lightning to finish second in the Mid-South Division and claim a playoff spot at their first serious attempt. At the Southern Conference playoff tournament, Laredo dispatched Southeast Division champions Cocoa Expos 2-1 in the semi finals, but lost to El Paso in the final. Dionisio Infante was Laredo's top scorer for the season, with 8 goals, while both Hector Vallejo-Medina and Juan Ibarra contributed 5 assists.
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