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Heat to open at home versus expansion Baton Rouge
The United Soccer Leagues (USL) announced the 504-game / 64-team Premier Development League (PDL) schedule on Thursday, January 25, 2007 and the Defending 2006 Southern Conference Champion and USL PDL Championship Finalist Laredo Heat will open up their 2007 PDL Mid-South Division Season versus the expansion Baton Rouge Capitals in Laredo on Saturday, May 5, 2007.
Shashi Vaswani, Heat Owner and President, said, “I know that our coaching and administration staffs are excited about kicking off the 2007 season”. Vaswani also added, “I am personally looking forward to seeing what the upcoming season will bring in terms of trying to defend the Southern Conference Title and seeing how the entire organization takes on the challenge of getting back to the PDL Final. The history in the PDL has illustrated that championship finalist do not do well the following season and that was illustrated last season when the El Paso Patriots made it the USL PDL Final in 2005 and failed to make it to the playoffs in 2006. I hope we don’t follow that trend”. Vaswani concluded by saying, “Besides the eight game PDL home games, we are planning on scheduling two additional home games like past years versus high caliber opponents from the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol, the Mexican professional league. Those games will be announced at a later date, once the details of their visit to Laredo are finalized”.
After opening up on May 5th in Laredo, the Heat welcomes the El Paso Patriots for back to back matches on Friday, May 11th and Saturday, May 12th. The game versus Baton Rouge and the first game on Friday, May 11th versus El Paso will also count as Lamar Hunt Open Cup Qualifying Matches for the Heat.
After the initial three game home stand, the Heat will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana to take on the Shell Shockers on Friday, May 18th and then again travel to Austin on Friday, May 25th to play against the Lightning. After Austin, the road trips do not end for the Heat as they travel to Dallas for a game on Sunday, May 27th versus the Tornados. Again, the games versus New Orleans and the Austin Lightning on this road trip will count Qualifying Matches for the Heat.
The following weekend, the DFW Tornados will visit Laredo for two games in the Gateway City. The Heat will host DFW on Friday, June 1st and Saturday, June 2nd. This will be the only time that the Heat will play the same opponent three consecutive times during the season.
On Saturday, June 9th, the Shell Shockers make their way to Laredo for an encounter with the Heat that is sure to be exciting and more than likely a game that will shape the Mid-South Division.
The Heat then goes out on the road again the following weekend with a short trip on I-35 to Austin to play the Lightning on Friday, June 15th. On Saturday, June 23rd, the Heat head to West Texas to take on the El Paso Patriots in the not so friendly confines of Patriot Stadium. On July 7th, the DFW Tornados will again host the Heat in Dallas in a crucial Mid-South clash.
The Heat will once again host back to back games on Friday, July 13th and Saturday, July 14th. This time, it will be the Austin Lightning coming to Laredo for a soccer slugfest. During the Annual General Meeting in Tampa, FL in November, the Capital City team owners announced an agreement with new investors and promised to field a competitive team this season that will try to create havoc in the Mid-South Division.
The Heat then concludes the PDL Campaign with not only out of town but out of state games against the Baton Rouge Capitals on Friday, July 20th and versus the Mississippi Brilla on Saturday, July 21st. The Heat’s last game versus the Mississippi Brilla will be the only encounter of the season for the Heat with the expansion club from Jackson, Mississippi.
For additional information on the Laredo Heat Soccer Club, please visit their web site at www.laredoheatsc.com .