Lancaster Inferno is a top level amateur women's
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...
. Founded in 2008, the club fields a first team that plays in
United Women's Soccer (UWS), a national pro-am league at the second tier of the
American Soccer Pyramid
The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...
, and a U23 team that competes in UWS League Two.
Timeline
* 2008: PA Classics starts Lancaster Inferno, a women's team playing in the WPSL (Women's Premier Soccer League), along with a men's team playing in the
National Premier Soccer League, also called the
Lancaster Inferno. The women are coached by Doug Harris.
The home field is
Hempfield High School's athletic stadium in
Landisville.
* 2009: The men's team folds, but the women continue to compete.
* 2011: Inferno is no longer under the PA Classics umbrella, and plays under the sponsorship of the Penn Legacy Soccer Club. The team's name is changed to "Penn Legacy Inferno".
* 2013: Inferno becomes independent, no longer associated with PA Classics or Penn Legacy. The team's name reverts to its former name, "Lancaster Inferno".
* 2014: Lancaster Inferno is sold to Francisco Cleaves, who also begins operations as head coach.
* 2015: Inferno changes its home field to
Millersville University's Pucillo Field in the
Lancaster suburb of
Millersville.
* 2016: Lancaster Inferno leaves WPSL and joins
United Women's Soccer (UWS).
* 2018: The team enters an agreement with Rush Soccer, to be recognized as the club's top level women's team. The team's name was changed to Inferno Rush, branding under the Rush Soccer brand, along with the
USL's
Penn FC. The Inferno became both the UWS East Conference Regular Season Champions, as well as beating the Connecticut Fusion to become the East Conference Playoff Champions. The Inferno went to the UWS National Championship held in
Grand Rapids, Michigan and defeated
Grand Rapids FC in the semi-final match.
In the final match, Inferno faced the
Houston Aces and lost 1-0 in
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
.
* 2019: The agreement with Rush Soccer was terminated and the team reverted to its former name, "Lancaster Inferno".
Players
2021 First Team
2021 U23 Team
Notable former and present players
* Kelly O'Brien: Lancaster Inferno (20172019) Diósgyőri VTK of the Hungarian Női Nemzeti Bajnokság
* Sonia Rada: Lancaster Inferno(2019), EN Thoi Lakatamia (Cyprus) 2018-2019, FF Lugano 1976 Lugano, Switzerland (2017-2018),
* Emily Armstrong:
Sundsvalls DFF
Sundsvalls DFF (Sundsvalls damfotbollsförening) is a women's association football-club from Sundsvall, Sweden. The club was established in 1984 by GIF Sundsvall. The club played in the Damallsvenskan during the 1991 season. It was relegated to th ...
(Sundsvalls damfotbollsförening), Sweden (present);
IBV, in league
Úrvalsdeild Kvenna, Iceland (2018);
Medkila IL
Medkila IL is a football team from Harstad in North Norway, most notable for its women's football team which is playing in the 1. divisjon, the second tier of Norwegian women's football.
Medkila first came to prominence after winning the 2003 N ...
, Norway (2017); Lancaster Inferno (2016)
*
Sydney Blomquist
Sydney Blomquist (born August 31, 1993) is an American professional soccer player from Bel Air, Maryland. She plays for Avaldsnes IL in the Norwegian Toppserien League.
Early life
Blomquist was born on August 31, 1993, in Baltimore, Maryland ...
: Lancaster Inferno (2014 & 2016), Västerås BK30 (2016), Åland United (2017), Sporting CP (2019-present)
* Emily Dolan:
Real Betis Balompié (
Liga Iberdrola), Spain (2018present);
KKPK Medyk Konin
KKPK Medyk Konin is a Polish women's football club from Konin.
Medyk Konin was founded in 1985. Since its promotion to the top league, the team has always finished near the top. Their best result was 2nd place in 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06 ...
(
Champions League &
Ekstraliga), Poland (20172018); USD San Zaccaria/Ravenna Woman (
Serie A), Italy (20162017); Lancaster Inferno (2016)
* Jade Flory: Lancaster Inferno (20132014), Prottur Reykjavik otherwise known as Throttur FC (Icelandic Women’s Premier Division) / Ravasens IK Karlskoga (Sweden)
* Tesa McKibben: Lancaster Inferno (20122014, 2017present); Germany's
FC Saarbrücken (20142016); Germany's ETSV Wurzburg (2014)
* Teresa Rynier: Lancaster Inferno (20072010, 2016, 2018present);
Ottawa Fury (2011 & 2014);
FH Hafnafjördur, Iceland (2013);
Kvarnsvedens IK, Sweden (2012)
* Kendra Jones: Lancaster Inferno (20102012, 2018present
); Women's
National Premier Leagues's FC Bulleen Lions & Bayside United FC in Melbourne Australia (20162017); Czech Republic's
Zeny 1 Liga team
AC Sparta Praha
) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští''
, ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena
, capacity = 19,416
, clubname = Sparta Prague
, image = Sparta Praha logo.png
, image_size = 160px
, fu ...
(2015);
Victorian Premier League of Australia: Heidelberg United (20132014)
* Carol Sánchez: Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia) & the Costa Rica women's national football team Lancaster Inferno (2016)
Team standings and statistics
Coaching staff
* Francisco Cleaves, Head Coach of First Team (2014–present)
* Rob Smith, Associate Head Coach of First Team (2020–present)
* Wendell Hannaford, Head Coach of U23 Team (2021–present)
* Chris Weibel, Strength & Conditioning Coach (2014–present)
Home stadiums
* Pucillo Field,
Millersville University (2015–present)
*
Hempfield High School (2008–2014)
References
External links
Official Website
{{Pennsylvania Sports
Sports in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Amateur soccer teams in Pennsylvania
Women's soccer clubs in the United States
Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania