The 2014–15 Harrisburg Heat season was the third season of the Harrisburg Heat professional indoor soccer club. The Heat, an Eastern Division team in the Major Arena Soccer League, played their home games at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center's Large Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The team was led by owner John Wilsbach, head coach Tarik Walker, and assistant coach Gino DiFlorio. The Heat struggled this season, earning a 2–18 record and last place in the five-team Eastern Division. All of the Heat's home games aired live on WMSS (91.1 FM). Most MASL games were streamed by Go Live Sports with select games streamed live by ESPN3.
Season summary The Heat celebrated last season's relative success at the box office by moving to the Farm Show's Large Arena and there they performed well this season, drawing an average of 2,989 fans to each home game, nearly double last season's average. However, on the field the team found little to celebrate. The Heat lost their first 12 games in a row before defeating the St. Louis Ambush 25–16 in front of a home crowd on January 30. The Heat then lost their next 6 games before a season-finale win over the Detroit Waza on February 28. This gave Harrisburg a 2–18 record and fifth-place in the five-team Eastern Division.
History The new Heat claim the heritage of the original Harrisburg Heat professional indoor soccer team which played 12 seasons in the National Professional Soccer League, which later became the second Major Indoor Soccer League, from 1991 through 2003.
The Heat completed their inaugural 2012-13 season with a 6–10 record, finishing 3rd in the PASL's Eastern Division. In the 2013–14 season, they slipped to 4–12 and did not qualify for the playoffs. After playing at the 2,200-seat Equine Arena for their first two seasons, the Heat moved to the Farm Show Complex's 7,300-seat Large Arena for 2014–15.
Off-field moves In May 2014, the Professional Arena Soccer League added six teams from the failed third incarnation of the Major Indoor Soccer League and reorganized as the Major Arena Soccer League. The 2014–15 MASL season will be 20 games long, 4 more than the 16 regular season games of recent PASL seasons. With the league expansion and reorganization, the Heat's Eastern division rivals for 2014–15 are the Baltimore Blast, Detroit Waza, Rochester Lancers, and Syracuse Silver Knights.
Four of the five Eastern Division teams (the three former MISL clubs plus Harrisburg) will keep score with multi-point scoring at their home games. Most goals will be worth two points but goals scored from outside a 45-foot arc on the turf will be worth three points. Games played at Detroit or in the Central, Southern, and Pacific Divisions will be scored with traditional soccer scoring where each goal is worth one point.
On June 18, the team introduced original Harrisburg Heat star Tarik Walker as the head coach for the 2014–15 season. Walker replaces Richard Chinapoo who led the team for its first two seasons.
Roster moves In August 2014, the team re-signed forward Chris Hall and midfielder Tyler Witmer. The Heat held an open tryout camp on September 6–7 to find new players and evaluate returning veterans. After the tryout camp, the team signed forwards Dean Miller and Tom Mellor plus midfielder Kenny Fultz. On September 20, the Heat held an invitation-only tryout camp to further evaluate veterans hoping to return and select new players.
The team opened training camp on October 7. On October 20, the team announced the signings of veteran goalkeepers Justin Johnson and Tim Mehl plus defenders Brad Kerstetter and Zach Sell. On October 21, the Heat re-signed midfielder Kevin Wolfe plus defenders Val Teixeira, Connor Malone, and Craig Tyrrell. On October 22, defender Chris Bock, forward Georges NouBossie and Patrick Crawford, plus midfielders David Cash and Patrick Thompson were added to the roster.
Schedule
Pre-season Game Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location Attendance Score Record 1 Thursday October 23 7:00pm Baltimore Blast L 11–31 0–1 Sports City Harrisburg
Regular season Game Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location Attendance Score Record 1 Saturday November 1 7:05pm at Detroit Waza♣ L 4–8 0–1 Melvindale Civic Center 756 2 Saturday November 15 7:05pm Detroit Waza L 6–14 0–2 Farm Show Large Arena 4,126 3 Friday November 21 7:35pm at Baltimore Blast L 0–27 0–3 Royal Farms Arena 4,911 4 Saturday November 29 7:05pm Missouri Comets L 10–24 0–4 Farm Show Large Arena 2,518 5 Saturday December 6 7:05pm Rochester Lancers L 4–11 0–5 Farm Show Large Arena 1,973 6 Saturday December 13 7:00pm at Syracuse Silver Knights L 8–26 0–6 Oncenter War Memorial Arena 2,516 7 Saturday December 27 7:05pm Syracuse Silver Knights L 18–24 0–7 Farm Show Large Arena 1,339 8 Saturday January 3 7:05pm Baltimore Blast L 8–29 0–8 Farm Show Large Arena 1,487 9 Friday January 9 7:05pm at Ontario Fury♣ L 9–10 0–9 Citizens Business Bank Arena 2,654 10 Saturday January 10 7:05pm at San Diego Sockers♣ L 4–11 0–10 Valley View Casino Center 4,177 11 Sunday January 18 1:00pm at Syracuse Silver Knights L 9–24 0–11 Oncenter War Memorial Arena 3,814 12 Saturday January 24 7:05pm Syracuse Silver Knights L 14–26 0–12 Farm Show Large Arena 2,279 13 Friday January 30 7:35pm St. Louis Ambush W 25–16 1–12 Farm Show Large Arena 2,316 14 Saturday January 31 7:05pm Rochester Lancers L 12–21 1–13 Farm Show Large Arena 4,455 15 Saturday February 7 7:05pm at Detroit Waza♣ L 8–13 1–14 Melvindale Civic Center 521 16 Saturday February 14 1:00pm at Rochester Lancers L 10–28 1–15 Blue Cross Arena 5,150 17 Thursday February 19 7:00pm at Rochester Lancers L 5–33 1–16 Blue Cross Arena 5,117 18 Saturday February 21 6:05pm at Baltimore Blast L 5–25 1–17 Royal Farms Arena 5,270 19 Friday February 27 7:35pm Baltimore Blast L 13–24 1–18 Farm Show Large Arena 4,989 20 Saturday February 28 7:05pm Detroit Waza W 20–14 2–18 Farm Show Large Arena 4,408 ♣ Game played with traditional soccer scoring (all goals worth 1 point).
Personnel
Player roster As of November 18, 2014
Staff The team is owned and operated by broadcaster John Wilsbach. Patty Butala is the ticket manager. Seth Stover is in charge of group ticket sales. Toan Ngo is the team's web designer. The coaching staff includes head coach Tarik Walker, assistant coach Gino DiFlorio, trainer Amanda Kuchinski, and equipment manager Mike Butala.
References
External links Harrisburg Heat official website Harrisburg Heat at The Patriot-News