The 2012–13 Chicago Mustangs season was the first season of the new Chicago Mustangs professional

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

club. The Mustangs, a Central Division team in the Professional Arena Soccer League, played their home games in the

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in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Nasser Rafidia was the team's general manager. Narciso "Chicho" Cuevas served as head coach until late January 2013 when owner Armando Gamboa assumed the role with Thomas Cahue as his assistant coach.

Season summary

The Mustangs were successful in the regular season, finishing 11–5, but failed to qualify for the postseason in the tough Central Division. The team fared better at home than on the road, winning 7 of 8 home games but splitting the road games with 4 wins and 4 losses. A coaching change late in the season was followed by the team dropping 2 of its 3 final matches. The Mustangs participated in the

2012–13 United States Open Cup for Arena Soccer The 2012–13 US Open Arena Soccer Championship is the fifth edition of an open knockout style tournament for arena/indoor soccer. In this edition, teams from the Professional Arena Soccer League, Premier Arena Soccer League, and other independen ...

. They defeated the Rockford Rampage in the wild-card round, the

Illinois Piasa FC Adrenaline is an American professional indoor soccer team, founded in 2007. The team played in the Premier Arena Soccer League from 2007–2010 as "Piasa FC". The club moved to the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL) in 2010 as "Illinois ...

in the Round of 16, and the

Cincinnati Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern O ...

of the

Premier Arena Soccer League The Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) is an indoor soccer league with mostly semi-professional teams; along with a number of amateur teams across North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entire ...

in the Quarter-Finals before falling to the

Detroit Waza The Waza FC (also known as Detroit Waza) is an American professional arena soccer team based in Metro Detroit competing as a charter member of the Major League Indoor Soccer (MLIS). The team's nickname, "Waza", is both a Japanese word that mean ...

in the Semi-Finals.

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.

Off-field moves

Chicago Mustangs at Dallas Sidekicks - 12 January 2013 A

8-year old Melissa Mendoza and her mother, the Mustangs' Director of Marketing, organized a canned food and clothing collection drive dubbed "Mission Melissa". Kicked off with a halftime presentation during the December 15th game against the

, the drive collects for families in need at the holiday season. The team offered free tickets to any person that donated to the drive. The team's first two home games had a reported attendance of 459 while the remaining home games each reported an attendance of 299. These numbers were reported by the team for technical reasons and may not represent an accurate count of home attendees.

Roster moves

On November 2, 2012, the Mustangs announced the signing of Jose Omar Santillan, Ruben Omar Tapia, and Miguel Angel Vaca from the Guerreros de Guadalajara of the Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Rapido. On February 6, 2013, the team submitted its 20-man roster in preparation for the postseason. Included on it were three newly signed midfielders: local Angel Escobedo plus

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified consec ...

veterans Eduardo Rodrigo Flores and Edgar Quintin Vazquez. Both Vazquez and Flores join four other Mustangs players who spend their summer with Guerreros De Guadalajara in the Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Rapido. Flores is also the brother of Mustangs goalkeeper Jesus Flores.

Awards and honors

On January 1, 2013, the Professional Arena Soccer League named Nestor Hernandez as its Player of the Week. The league cited the rookie midfielder's team-leading scoring efforts, including six goals plus three assists in the previous weekend's two games, in making their decision. In postseason honors, forward Nestor Hernandez was named to the 2012-13 PASL All-League First Team.

Schedule

Regular season

† Game also counts for US Open Cup, as listed in chart below.

2012–13 US Open Cup for Arena Soccer

Team roster

''As of February 6, 2013'' These are the 20 players submitted by the team to the league on February 6, 2013, as its final roster for possible postseason play. Other players who spent time on the Mustangs roster during the 2012–13 season include goalkeeper Victor Ayala; forwards Victor Blanco, Edwin Ferrera, Qudus Lawal, David Martinez, and Mario Pinon; midfielders Mario Calleros, Ivan Chino, Rafael Hernandez, Luis Mojica, and Manuel Salcedo; plus defenders Amaury Gasca and Narciso Cuevas Jr.

References

External links

Chicago Mustangs official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 Chicago Mustangs season Chicago Mustangs (2012–present) Chicago Mustangs Chicago Mustangs season Chicago Mustangs season