The Rochester Lancers (formerly known as Rochester River Dogz FC) are an American

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 ...

team based in

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, ...

. Founded as the Rochester River Dogz in 2015, the team rebranded as the Rochester Lancers in April 2017. The team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national league at the fourth 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 ...

, in the Midwest Region. The team play its home games at the

Aquinas Institute The Aquinas Institute of Rochester is a co-educational Catholic school in Rochester, New York established in 1902. Although The Aquinas Institute was founded as an all-male high school, it opened to female students in 1982. It is located within ...

's Wegmans Stadium. Their name comes from the original

Lancers A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

who played from 1967 until 1980 as well as the indoor team that began play in 2011.

About

The Rochester River Dogz Football Club were accepted to play in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

(NPSL) in November 2015. The River Dogz won their inaugural game 1–0 against FC Buffalo. The River Dogz finished the regular season with a 3–4–3 record. The River Dogz were owned by Marc Mandell and Nick Mojsovski. In 2017 Doug Miller joined the group and convinced Salvatore "SoccerSam" Fantauzzo to be part owner and let the group use the Rochester Lancers name and logo. The Lancers celebrated their 50th year in 2017 with the return of the outdoor Lancers in the

(NPSL) and the new Lady Lancers in the United Women's Soccer League (UWS). The 2017 both Lancers outdoor teams played at the Charlie Schiano Field at The Aquinas Institute. Due to renovations at Aquinas the teams moved to the Marina Auto Stadium for the 2018 season. The team was formed in the NASL in 1967. The team played from 1967 to 1980. In 2009 SoccerSam purchased the Lancers name and logo for his soccer collection and to pay tribute to the Legends and pioneers of American soccer. In 2011, SoccerSam introduced the indoor Lancers as part of the MISL which became the MASL. Lancers indoor soccer brought back many familiar Rochester soccer favorites, including Doug Miller who was the team's leading scorer for the first three seasons and then became the head coach in the final year. After the 2015 season the team went into hiatus due to issues with the NYS insurance fund.

Stadium

The Lancers' home field is Wegmans Stadium at the

, although they played in

Marina Auto Stadium Rochester Community Sports Complex Stadium, also called the "downtown soccer stadium", is a soccer-specific stadium in Rochester, New York within the Rochester Community Sports Complex. It is home to the Flower City Union of the National Indepe ...

for the 2018 season.

Year-by-year

Players

2017 Roster

2020 Roster

Note: Roster up-to-date .

References

External links

* {{New York Sports 2015 establishments in New York (state) Association football clubs established in 2015 Men's soccer clubs in New York (state) National Premier Soccer League teams