Laredo Heat SC: 2008 League Schedule Announced

The 2007 Premier Development League (PDL) Champion Laredo Heat Soccer Club is set to start defense of its title.

The United Soccer Leagues (USL) made public the 2008 PDL schedule and the defending champions Laredo Heat will open with two out of state games and will return home to Laredo to play at its new soccer specific stadium at the TAMIU Soccer Complex on Friday, May 16th where the Heat is pleased to announce that beer and wine, along with all the regular concession stand goodies will be available to its loyal fans.

On Friday, May 9th, the Heat will head east to Jackson, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi Brilla FC and then head back west on I-10 to play their second game of the weekend on Sunday (Mother’s Day), May 11th in Baton Rouge, LA where the Heat will play the Baton Rouge Capitals. Both of these clubs were expansion teams in 2007 and with a year under their belt, this will be a quick test for the Heat that will set the tone for the entire season.

The following weekend, an old Mid-South Division foe, the DFW Tornados will be heading to the Gateway City for Laredo’s home opener on Friday, May 16th.

On Friday, May 23rd, the new Austin franchise, the Aztex, will take on the Heat in Laredo. The first four matches for the Heat will all be U.S. Open Cup Qualifiers and knowing what is at stake, the Heat promise to bring their best in order to qualify and make noise in the U.S. Open Cup.

The Heat will then travel to Dallas for a Friday night match on May 30th against the Tornados. This fifth match of the season in the North Texas Metroplex will conclude the Heat’s May schedule.

On Wednesday, June 4th, the New Orleans Shell Shockers will make their yearly trek to South Texas to play against the Heat. As always, the Shell Shockers will bring their aggressive and tenacious style of play to the TAMIU Soccer Complex in what has become a yearly “entertaining” match between the teams. Within 48 hours of their game versus the Shell Shockers, the Heat will host the Mississippi Brilla FC on Friday, June 6th. This will mark the first visit by the Brilla FC to Laredo.

The following weekend, the Baton Rouge Capitals will make their way down to Laredo for back to back matches on Friday, June 13th and Saturday, June 14th.

“By the time Baton Rouge leaves Laredo, Coach Israel Collazo and his staff will have a very clear idea of where the team is headed since we will have already concluded over fifty percent of our league season”, said Heat General Manager J.J. Vela.

Up next for the Heat after their home stand against Baton Rouge is a trip to West Texas and El Paso for another set of back to back games versus the 2007 Mid-South Runner-Up Patriots on Friday, June 20th and Saturday, June 21st.

“This border rivalry with the El Paso Patriots has become fairly intense over the past three seasons due to the Patriots playing in the PDL Championship in 2005 and us playing in the championship game the past two seasons and then winning it all last year. I am sure the Patriot organization and their fans will be looking forward to hosting the defending PDL Champions” said a smiling Vela.

The following weekend, the Heat will continue being Road Warriors by heading to East Texas to take on the expansion Houston Leones in Richmond in Fort Bend County on Saturday, June 28th. The Leones are a U.S. affiliate of Mexican super club Cruz Azul.

As if travelling to El Paso and then Houston were not enough, the Heat will be heading to Austin for a third straight out of town game. The Austin Aztex will host Laredo on Thursday, July 3rd.

“Regardless of whether it’s the former Austin Lightning or the new Aztex, playing in Austin is always a tough task”, mentioned Vela. “With new management at the helm and an affiliation with current English Championship side Stoke City FC for the Austin PDL club, we are looking forward to even a tougher challenge when we play versus this Austin club”.

On Saturday, July 12th, the Heat will play host to the Houston Leones at the TAMIU Soccer Complex and a few days later on Wednesday, July 16th, the El Paso Patriots will visit Laredo for a mid-week classic.

The Heat will conclude the regular PDL Season on Saturday, July 19th with a visit to New Orleans to play the Shell Shockers.

All Laredo Heat home games are scheduled to start at 8:15 PM at the Texas A&M International Soccer Complex.

This coming season, the Laredo Heat also promise two additional exciting Exhibition Matches here in the Gateway City that will excite not only soccer fans but sports fans in general.

For additional information on the Laredo Heat Soccer Club, please visit our website at www.laredoheatsc.com or call the Heat office at 723 – 4700.