The 2013–14 Harrisburg Heat season was the second

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of the new Harrisburg Heat indoor soccer club. The Heat, an Eastern Division team in the

Professional Arena Soccer League A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

, played their home games in the 2,200 seat Equine Arena at the

Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, formerly known as State Farm Show Arena, is a large exhibition center and indoor arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is primarily used for concerts, agricultural exhibitions, the Pennsylvania Far ...

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

. After the 2012-13 season, the PASL sold the team to longtime broadcaster John Wilsbach, operating as Heat Soccer Group LLC. The head coach remained

Richard Chinapoo Richard Chinapoo (born January 18, 1957) was a Trinidad soccer defender who had an extensive career, primarily in the United States. Chinapoo spent two seasons in the North American Soccer League, eight in the National Professional Soccer League ...

, and assistant coach

Gino DiFlorio Gino DiFlorio is a Canadian former professional soccer player who had an extensive indoor career in North America during the 1990s. Since 2001, he has been the director of coaching at the youth soccer club in Eastern Pennsylvania called HMMS. Pl ...

Season summary

The Heat started the season with an overtime victory over 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 ...

then lost 7 of their next 9 matches, including all 4 of their scheduled games against the expansion

Cleveland Freeze Cleveland Freeze was a professional indoor soccer team based in the Cleveland, suburb of North Olmsted, Ohio. They began play in the Professional Arena Soccer League for the 2013-14 PASL season. The Freeze hired Hector Marinaro, the all-time lead ...

. The season wound to an end with consecutive losses as the team posted a 4–12 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs. Head coach

had previously announced his intention to retire after this season. The Heat participated in the 2013–14

United States Open Cup for Arena Soccer The United States Open for Arena Soccer is a cup-style tournament for all Major Arena Soccer League, MASL2, MASL3 and Premier Arena Soccer League teams. Established in 2008, the PASL announced they would hold the first tournament for indoor soccer ...

starting with a weather-delayed Round of 32 victory over independent team ReAL Harrisburg. Harrisburg defeated

in a Round of 16 match on December 21, 2013, then lost to the

in the Quarter-finals on December 28.

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 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.

Off-field moves

The Harrisburg Heat announced in early July 2013 that head coach

and assistant

would return to lead the team for the 2013–14 season. On July 24, Chinapoo announced that this season would be his last in Harrisburg as he plans to move to Florida in August 2014 to be with his wife and daughter. On August 18, 2013, defender Jason Hotchkin was shot during an altercation at the Spirit Kick-Off Classic XXVII youth soccer tournament in

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighb ...

. (A colleague, former

Harrisburg City Islanders Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States soccer ...

midfielder Moffat Oduor, was also injured.) Hotchkin was admitted to Paoli Memorial Hospital in critical condition while Oduor was treated and released. A suspect, Curtis Zebley, was arrested and charged with multiple offenses including attempted criminal homicide and illegal possession of a firearm. Several groups organized fundraisers to defray Hotchkin's medical expenses as he lacks medical insurance. While his condition was upgraded to "good" a few days later, he ultimately did not return during the 2013–14 season. David Schofield serves as team captain during his absence. Hotchkin appeared at the January 25 match against the Chicago Mustangs to make the ceremonial first kick. The team's chiropractor is Josee Homza. On January 24, the Heat announced that they would relocate from the 2,200-seat Equine Arena at the

to the complex's 7,300-seat Large Arena. The original Harrisburg Heat played its home matches at the Large Arena during their 12 seasons of existence.

Roster moves

The Heat scheduled two open tryouts at Sports City Harrisburg, the first on September 15 and the second on October 6. Training camp for the team opened on October 21. When the team's 20-man roster was completed, 12 of the selected players had experience with the Heat during the previous season. On November 14, the team signed 43-year-old Lester Felician, a veteran of several indoor soccer franchises including the original Harrisburg Heat. On November 20, the team announced that forward Mitch Walters was out for the remainder of the season following an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

injury. Midfielder Kenny Fultz was moved to forward in his place. In mid-December 2013, the Heat signed rookie Danny DiPrima.

Awards and honors

On December 9, 2013, the Young Alumni Club at

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

announced that Harrisburg Heat defender Brad Kerstetter (class of 2012) would be a recipient of the Young Alumni Impact Award, given for "service to Seton Hall, one's community or profession". The organization cited Kerstetter's impact in the athletic community, both as a professional and as a volunteer, for his efforts with the Heat and as a high school coach. On December 24, 2013, the

named

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Tom Mellor as the PASL Player of the Week. The league cited his team-leading scoring efforts, including five goals and one assist against

Schedule

Exhibition

Regular season

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

U.S. Open Cup for Arena Soccer

♥

Postponed Postponed (foaled 4 April 2011) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won one minor race as a two-year-old before establishing himself as a useful middle-distance performer in the following year with wins in the Glasgow S ...

from December 14 due to severe winter weather.

References

External links

Harrisburg Heat official websiteHarrisburg Heat
at ''

The Patriot-News ''The Patriot-News'' is the largest newspaper serving the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily and Sunday circulation in the United States. It has been owned by Advance Publicati ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Harrisburg Heat season Harrisburg Heat Harrisburg Heat (MASL) Harrisburg Heat 2013 Harrisburg Heat 2013 Harrisburg Heat 2013