The 2014–15 Rochester Lancers season was the fourth and final

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 Rochester Lancers 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 Lancers, an Eastern Division team in the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

, played their home games at

Blue Cross Arena Blue Cross Arena, also known as the War Memorial, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Rochester, New York. For hockey and lacrosse, its seating capacity is 10,662. The arena opened on October 18, 1955, as the Rochester Community War Memor ...

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. The team was led by owner Salvatore "Soccer Sam" Fantauzzo and head coach Doug Miller. The Lancers finished the regular season with a 10–10 record, making this the first season in the team's four-year history with a record at or above .500. They won the first round of the MASL playoffs but lost to the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

in the Eastern Division final. In July 2015, the team cited a sharp increase in the cost of insurance to more than double the team's payroll costs and announced the end of the franchise.

Season summary

The Lancers began on an up note by defeating 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 overtime, winning their season opener for the first time in franchise history. The team then lost an overtime decision to the

Ontario Fury The Empire Strykers are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Ontario, California. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the Professional Arena Soccer League at the start of the 2013–14 season. The team plays its home gam ...

before their first of two three-game winning streaks on the season. The Lancers lost 7 of their next 8 games, defeating only the Detroit Waza between December 27 and January 24. Of the Lancers' 10 wins in the regular season, 3 came from sweeping the season series against Detroit, another 4 from sweeping the Harrisburg Heat, and the remaining 3 from splitting their 6-game series against the

Syracuse Silver Knights Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Mis ...

. The Lancers lost all 4 of their regular season matchups against the

and all 3 of their games against non-division opponents. Their 10–10 record was good enough for third place in the Eastern Division and a spot in the playoffs. There they defeated Syracuse in a best-of-3 series before facing Baltimore on the road for a winner-take-all Eastern Division Final. The Lancers fell 6–4 to the Blast, ending their season.

History

Launched as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

in the third Major Indoor Soccer League for the 2011–12 season, Rochester went a combined 27–43 in their three seasons as members of the MISL, qualifying for the playoffs only once. After the 2013-14 season, several teams withdrew from the MISL, leading to the league's collapse. Along with five other former MISL teams, the Lancers joined the teams of 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 ...

, which was soon rebranded as the Major Arena Soccer League. The other teams in the Eastern Division are former MISL clubs

and

, plus PASL clubs

and Harrisburg Heat.

Off-field moves

Four of the five Eastern Division teams (the three former MISL clubs plus Harrisburg) keep score with multi-point scoring at their home games. Most goals are worth two points but goals scored from outside a 45-foot arc on the turf are 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 December 27, the team will induct four new members into the Rochester Lancers Wall of Fame: former players

Dave Sarachan Dave Sarachan (born June 7, 1954) is an American former soccer player and coach who is currently the head coach of the Puerto Rico national team. Sarachan spent two seasons as a player in the North American Soccer League and four in Major Ind ...

Eli Durante Eli Durante is a Brazilian retired association football, footballer who played in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League from 1967 to 1975. In 1967, Durante moved to the United States and signed with the Los A ...

, and Peter Short plus former television play-by-play announcer

Rich Funke Rich Funke (born January 30, 1949) is an American journalist and politician who represented the 55th district of the New York State Senate from 2015 until 2020. Funke is a Republican who was elected in November 2014 when he defeated Democratic ...

. All four were connected to the original Rochester Lancers of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. The team's home arena turf, purchased by the city of Rochester in 2011 for $150,000, came under public scrutiny in January after the

blamed the turf's poor condition for injuries to two of its players. Lancers owner Salvatore Fantauzzo described the turf as "the worst turf in pro indoor soccer". In March 2014, the team revealed it was in negotiations to relocate to

Dome Arena The Dome Center is a fair and convention complex located in Henrietta, New York, just outside the city of Rochester. It was originally part of a 60 acre site that hosted the annual Monroe County (NY) Fair between 1947 and 2013. Facilities Do ...

The Dome Center The Dome Center is a fair and convention complex located in Henrietta, New York, just outside the city of Rochester. It was originally part of a 60 acre site that hosted the annual Monroe County (NY) Fair between 1947 and 2013. Facilities ...

in suburban

Henrietta, New York Henrietta is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States and a suburb of Rochester. The population of Henrietta is 47,096, according to the 2020 United States Census. Henrietta is home to the Rochester Institute of Technology and to one of t ...

Schedule

Regular season

♣ Game played with traditional soccer scoring (all goals worth 1 point).

Post-season

Mini-game played as a tie-breaker.

Awards and honors

The Lancers' team awards were presented to team captain

Mauricio Salles Mauricio Salles de Alencar (born 1 March 1978) is a Brazilian professional footballer. On 20 January 2010, he was ranked 25th in the USL First Division Top 25 of the Decade, which announced a list of the best and most influential players of th ...

as Team MVP, forward Joey Tavernese as Offensive Player of the Year, defender Jake Schindler as Defensive Player of the Year, and defender Brad Vanino as Rookie of the Year. The team's Community Service Award was presented to Elliot Fauske as the player that "best exemplifies character and dedication to the community". This is Fauske's third consecutive win. Rochester forward Mauricio Salles was selected for the 2014-15 MASL All-League Second Team. Rochester's Yakiel Perez and goalkeeper Marcelo Mareira earned honorable mentions for the league's all-rookie team for 2014-15.

References

External links

Rochester Lancers official websiteRochester Lancers
at ''

Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. At 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production fa ...

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