Long Island Rough Riders
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| Full name | Long Island Rough Riders |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Rough Riders |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Stadium | Cy Donnelly Stadium |
| Capacity | 9,000 |
| Owner | Peter Zaratin |
| Head Coach | Gerry Lucey |
| League | Premier Development League |
| 2016 | 3rd, Northeast Playoffs: DNQ |
| Website | Club home page |
Long Island Rough Riders is an American soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.
The team plays its home games at Cy Donnelly Stadium, where they have played since 2009. The team's colors are white and blue.
The team has a sister organization, the Long Island Rough Riders Women, who play in the women's league United Women's Soccer.
The Rough Riders played their first season in 1994, fielding a team in the USISL that featured future US national team player Chris Armas, who would lead the team in scoring with eight goals and four assists. The team won the Northeast Division in its debut year, seven points ahead of North Jersey Dragons with a 13-5 record, and comfortably won through the first couple of rounds of the playoffs with victories over the New Jersey Imperials and the Dragons. The Rough Riders were placed in the "Raleigh Group" of the USISL 'Sizzling Nine' Championships, and qualified along with the Minnesota Thunder to face Greensboro Dynamo in the national semi final; they lost the game 2-1 in overtime, and Greensboro went on to take the title.
For their second season in 1995, the Rough Riders added several more players who would go on to excel in Major League Soccer, including national team goalkeeper Tony Meola, Jim Rooney, and Giovanni Savarese, who would be named the USISL regular season and playoff MVP, and who scored 23 goals during the campaign. The Rough Riders finished that season with a 19-1 record, top of the Coastal Conference for a second year running, and received a bye to the 'Sizzling Nine' Championship tournament. Wins over the Monterey Bay Jaguars and the New Mexico Chiles in group play took them to the national semi final for a second time. Unlike '95, the Rough Riders won their semi 5-2 over the Tampa Bay Cyclones, and then beat Minnesota Thunder 2-1 to win the USISL Championship.
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