2014–15 Chicago Mustangs season

The 2014–15 Chicago Mustangs season was the third season of the Chicago Mustangs professional indoor soccer club. The Mustangs, a Central Division team in the Major Arena Soccer League, played their home games at the Sears Centre in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois.[2][3]

Chicago Mustangs
2014–15 MASL season
OwnerArmando Gamboa
Head CoachArmando Gamboa
ArenaSears Centre
5333 Prairie Stone Parkway
Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60192
Major Arena Soccer League3rd, Central (regular season)
Ron Newman CupLost Division Semi-Final
Top goalscorerEfrain "Wilo" Martinez (16 goals, 16 assists)
Highest home attendance2,483 (November 8 vs. Missouri Comets)
Lowest home attendance991 (January 4 vs. Rochester Lancers)
Average home league attendance1,672 (10 games)[1]

The team was led by team owner/head coach Armando Gamboa and assistant coach Freddy Ochoa. The Mustangs, PASL champions in 2013–14, struggled in the first year of the MASL but managed to amass an 11–9 record, good enough for 3rd place in the Central Division and a berth in the playoffs. Chicago was eliminated by the Milwaukee Wave in the Central Division Semi-Finals, winning the first game but losing the second and the mini-game tie-breaker.

Season summary

Coming off an undefeated season and the PASL championship, much was expected from Chicago in 2014–15 but they largely failed to deliver. They dropped the first game to the MISL champion Missouri Comets, split a home-and-home series with the St. Louis Ambush then lost 2 of their next 3 to limp into December at 24. They found their footing with 5 consecutive wins in December and early January. They struggled the rest of the way, winning only 4 games of the remaining 9. Still, the Mustangs qualified for the post-season with a 119 record and third-place in the Central Division. Playing a home-and-home series for the Division Semi-Finals, Chicago beat Milwaukee at the Sears Centre but lost the second game and the tie-breaking mini-game (in overtime) on the road.

History

The Mustangs are named for the original Chicago Mustangs that was a founding member of the United Soccer Association in 1967 and played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968 before becoming a semi-pro team in 1969.

The Mustangs were successful in their inaugural season in the Professional Arena Soccer League, finishing 11–5, but failed to qualify for the postseason in the competitive Central Division.[4] In their second season, the team Chicago was undefeated in the regular season and went on to win the Ron Newman Cup in the PASL Championship match.[5][6] Armando Gamboa was named Coach of the Year, forward Efrain "Wilo" Martinez was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the regular season, and goalkeeper Jesus Flores was awarded the Aaron Susi Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the post-season.[7][8] The Mustangs also won the 2013–14 United States Open Cup for Arena Soccer.[6]

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.[9][10] The 2014–15 MASL season will be 20 games long, 4 more than the 16 regular season games of recent PASL seasons.[11] With the league expansion and reorganization, the Mustangs move from the Eastern back to the Central division where their rivals for 2014–15 are the Milwaukee Wave, St. Louis Ambush, Tulsa Revolution, Wichita B-52s, and Kansas City-based Missouri Comets.[10]

On December 29, the team announced the hirings of Ray Kincaid to serve as General Manager and Adam Cumbee to Director of Media and Outreach. Kincaid has worked in sales and management of Chicago pro sports teams since 2006 with his most recent post as the GM of the Chicago Outlaws in the Continental Indoor Lacrosse League.[12]

Schedule

  Win   Loss   Cancelled

Regular season
Game Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location[13] Attendance
Score Record
1 Saturday November 8 7:05pm Missouri Comets L 12–6[14][15] 0–1 Sears Centre[3] 2,483[16]
2 Saturday November 15 7:35pm at St. Louis Ambush W 8–3[17] 1–1 Family Arena[18] 4,207[19]
3 Saturday November 22 7:05pm St. Louis Ambush L 7–8[20] 1–2 Sears Centre 1,253[21]
4 Saturday November 29 7:05pm Milwaukee Wave W 5–4[22][23] 2–2 Sears Centre[24] 2,443[25]
5 Friday December 5 7:05pm at Missouri Comets L 6–15[26] 2–3 Independence Events Center[27][28] 3,369[29]
6 Saturday December 6 7:05pm at Wichita B-52s L 5–8[30] 2–4 Hartman Arena 1,539[31]
7 Sunday December 14 3:05pm Detroit Waza W 15–4 3–4 Sears Centre 1,724[32]
8 Saturday December 20 7:05pm at Detroit Waza W 10–9 4–4 Melvindale Civic Center[33] 547[34]
9 Saturday December 27 7:05pm St. Louis Ambush W 5–4[35] 5–4 Sears Centre[36] 2,006[37]
10 Saturday January 3 7:05pm Tulsa Revolution W 16–2[38] 6–4 Sears Centre 1,244[39]
11 Sunday January 4 3:05pm Rochester Lancers W 5–4 (OT)[40] 7–4 Sears Centre 991[41]
12 Saturday January 10 6:05pm at Milwaukee Wave L 5–8[42] 7–5 UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena 2,960[43]
13 Sunday January 18 3:05pm Tulsa Revolution W 9–1 8–5 Sears Centre 1,007[44]
14 Saturday January 24 7:05pm at Tulsa Revolution2 W 3–0 9–5 Expo Square Pavilion[45][46] Forfeit[47]
15 Friday January 30 7:35pm at Missouri Comets L 2–7 9–6 Independence Events Center[48] 5,355[49]
16 Saturday January 31 7:05pm Wichita B-52s W 8–5[50] 10–6 Sears Centre[51][52] 1,556[53]
17 Saturday February 14 7:05pm at Detroit Waza W 11–10 (OT) 11–6 Melvindale Civic Center 678[54]
18 Sunday February 15 3:05pm Syracuse Silver Knights L 3–7[55] 11–7 Sears Centre[51][56] 2,018[57]
19 Thursday February 19 7:00pm at Syracuse Silver Knights♠ L 16–23[58][59] 11–8 Oncenter War Memorial Arena[60] 3,169[61]
20 Friday February 20 7:35pm at Baltimore Blast♠ L 0–24[62] 11–9 Royal Farms Arena[63] 6,642[64]

♠ Game played with multi-point scoring (most goals worth 2 points and select goals worth 3 points).
2 Game cancelled due to "complications moving the turf"; Tulsa forfeits.[46]

Post-season
Game Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location Attendance
Score Record
Division Playoff #1 Thursday February 26 7:35pm Milwaukee Wave W 6–3[65] 1–0 Sears Centre[66][67] 1,443[68]
Division Playoff #2 Saturday March 7 3:05pm at Milwaukee Wave L 2–9[69] 1–11 UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena[70][71] 2,888[72]
Division Playoff #3 Saturday March 7 6:05pm at Milwaukee Wave3 L 1–2 (OT)[69] 1–2 UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena[70][73] 2,888[74]

3 Mini-game played as a tie-breaker.

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References
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