The Cedar Rapids Rampage was an American 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 ...
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
based in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...
. Founded in June 2015, the team made its debut 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 ...
with the
2015–16 season.
The team's name and logo were revealed at a press conference on July 16, 2015.
The team shared its ownership group with the
Cedar Rapids Titans of the
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
,
and sponsored an outdoor team the
Cedar Rapids Rampage United that were a part of the
Premier League of America
The Premier League of America (PLA) was an American soccer league consisting of teams in cities in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The league was a part of the United States Adult Soccer Association. It began its first season of play ...
.
History
Former Chicago Storm assistant and
Rockford Rampage
The Rockford Rampage was an American indoor soccer team based in Rockford, Illinois, United States. Founded in 2005 as the Rockford Thunder, the team originally played in the American Indoor Soccer League until 2008 then moved to the Major Indoor ...
head coach Jeff Kraft was named the first head coach in franchise history. In the first home pre-season match in Cedar Rapids, the Rampage would lose 11-6 to the
St. Louis Ambush at the U.S. Cellular Center on October 30, 2015.
The first regular season MASL game in Rampage history was November 6, 2015 at the
Missouri Comets
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to th ...
. The game saw first goal in franchise history, scored by forward Elmo Neto. The Rampage would go on to lose 8-7 in overtime. After an 0-7 start to the season (and two overtime losses), the Rampage would get their first win in a 9-7 comeback victory over the Ambush. Cedar Rapids had at one point trailed 7-2 in the third quarter, but used the quickest hat-trick from start-to-finish in MASL history by forward Alex Megson (41 seconds from the first to the third goals) to get back in the game. Player/assistant coach Carlos “Chile” Farias would score the game-tying and game-winning goals. Midway through the season, the Rampage would acquire forward Gordy Gurson who would go on to become arguably the face of the franchise. A much improved side would win four games the second half of the year and finish 5-15.
The
2016–17 Major Arena Soccer League season
The 2016–17 Major Arena Soccer League season was the ninth season for the league and the third since six teams from the former Major Indoor Soccer League defected to what was formerly called the Professional Arena Soccer League. The regular sea ...
would be a turn-around season for the club. Kraft would be let go as head coach before the season, and
Hewerton Moreira was promoted to replace him as a player-coach. Moreira would go on to finish second in the MASL record books for assists in a season with 29, and the Rampage would have their first winning record with a 12-8 mark, highlighted by wins over the Milwaukee Rampage and defending/eventual champions,
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 t ...
. The
Chicago Mustangs would edge Cedar Rapids for the last playoff spot, and would also beat the Rampage in a match that would tie the league record for fewest goals total in a match with 4 scored (3-1).
With the Mustangs voluntarily relegating themselves to
MASL2
The Major Arena Soccer League 2 is a North American indoor soccer league that serves as the developmental league of the Major Arena Soccer League.
History
M2 launched in 2017 to "provide an outlet for teams to either reorganize for a re-emergenc ...
, the Central would be cleared of the Rampage’s biggest nemesis for the
2017-18 Major Arena Soccer League season. Hewerton would leave to become the player-coach of St. Louis, and Jonathan Greenfield would be promoted to role of player-coach. The Rampage would start out with three narrow losses before a run of five straight wins to put them in contention for the Central Division title. A tumultuous December would see drama on and off the field. Bad weather, undesirable home dates, and sponsorship problems saw attendance dip. On the field, goalkeeper Brett Petricek was released and would sign with the Comets, and Greenfield would leave to play for the Baltimore Blast. Former
Chicago Riot
The Chicago Riot was an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They were based in Villa Park, Illinois, near Chicago, and they played their home games at the Odeum Expo Center.
Namesake
The team is named after the num ...
goalkeeper and Rockford Rampage goalkeeper/assistant Ante Cop was hired as the new head coach. Cop would lose his first match as head coach on December 31, 2017, 3-2 to the Baltimore Blast and his next three games after that. However, rookie goalkeeper Rainer Hauss and the rest of the team would thrive under Cop, winning five of their last seven matches. In that stretch, they would clinch their first ever playoff berth on February 16, 2018 with a 6-5 home win over the Baltimore Blast.
With reports that the team was for sale, and an availability conflict with the U.S. Cellular Center, the Rampage played their first “home” playoff match at The
Odeum Expo Center
The Odeum Expo Center was a convention center located in Villa Park, Illinois. It featured of exhibit space at the North Hall and of exhibit space at the South Hall.
Both halls had pitched roofs as high as . The South Hall was also used as ...
in Villa Park, Illinois. The match would go on to be considered one of the greatest in Ron Newman Cup Playoffs history. The Rampage would battle the Milwaukee Wave in a seesaw affair, including a Mario Alvarez hat-trick and a late game-tying goal from Osvaldo Rojas to send the game to overtime where the Rampage would eventually lose. The second leg in Milwaukee was also back and forth, with a double-brace of four goals by Gordy Gurson. However, Game 2 would end in another one-goal Wave win for Milwaukee to take the series. Gurson would be named 3rd Team All-MASL and Hauss would be named goalkeeper on the MASL All-Rookie Team.
The team folded in 2018, and ownership reformed with many of the same players in Florida as the
Orlando SeaWolves.
Year-by-Year
Personnel
2017–18
Active Players
*As of 18 January 2018
Inactive Players
Notable former players
Sponsors
References
External links
Official website
{{Iowa Sports
Association football clubs established in 2015
Indoor soccer clubs in the United States
Defunct soccer clubs in Iowa
Major Arena Soccer League teams
Sports in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2015 establishments in Iowa
Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States
Association football clubs disestablished in 2018
2018 disestablishments in Iowa