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Match Preview: Heat to Host the El Paso Patriots; Weekend Doubleheader Slated in Laredo
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 (Laredo, TX):
Two things have been constant in the Premier Development League (PDL) the past two seasons. Two teams from the Mid-South Division and the Southern Conference of the PDL have played in the United Soccer Leagues PDL Championship Final. Unfortunately for the teams, both lost. One in penalty kicks in 2005 versus the Des Moines (Iowa) Menace and the other by a score of 2 – 1 in regulation in 2006 versus the Michigan (Detroit) Bucks.
This weekend, those two teams, the El Paso Patriots (1 – 1 – 0 / 3 points) and the Laredo Heat Soccer Club (1 – 0 – 0 / 3 points) will square off early in the PDL season and try to establish themselves as 2007 playoff contenders.
El Paso and Laredo will play two games in the Gateway City with the first game on Friday, May 11th being a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Match for both clubs. Both teams are currently 1 – 0 in Open Cup Qualifying. The second game will be played on Saturday, May 12th. Both games are set to begin at 8:00 PM at the Student Activity Complex located at the corner of Loop 20 and Highway 359.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, named after the late sports pioneer Lamar Hunt, dates back to 1914 and is the oldest cup competitions in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Entry into the Open Cup Tournament is open to all U.S. Soccer affiliated teams in the United States.
In a nutshell, the U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions poplar throughout Europe, South America and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrent with a country’s league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving teams like the Laredo Heat a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer. In the later rounds of the U.S. Open Cup, all 12 member teams of Major League Soccer enter the tournament to play the winners of the first and second rounds.
Just last year, the Laredo Heat qualified to enter the U.S. Open Cup and lost a heartbreaker in the first round to Roma FC from the Dallas area in penalty shots. Needless to say, Roma FC then defeated USL-1 club Miami FC that included former 1994 FIFA Player of the Year Romario of Brazil, then they defeated the MLS team Chivas USA and then finally lost in the fourth round to the MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy.
“Outside from playing El Paso for a qualifying spot in the U.S. Open Cup this season, these two teams, over the past two seasons, always provide an exciting game for the fans of their respective cities” said Heat General Manager J.J. Vela. Vela added, “Our styles of play are very similar and both teams have players that have played together or against each other in Mexico.” Vela concluded, “Coach Collazo and the team know what they need to do in order to accomplish their goals this season and as an organization, we know that in order to accomplish the goals we set, not only do we need to execute our game plans, we understand that in the Mid-South Division, we need to take care of business when we play El Paso.”
For additional information on the Laredo Heat Soccer Club, please visit our website at www.laredoheatsc.com or call the Laredo Heat Soccer Club at 723 – 4700.