The Rochester Lancers were a professional
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...
team in the
Major Arena Soccer League 2
The Major Arena Soccer League 2 (MASL 2) is a North American indoor soccer league that serves as the Minor league, developmental league of the Major Arena Soccer League.
History
MASL 2 launched in 2017 to "provide an outlet for teams to either r ...
. The team is named in honor of the
Rochester Lancers of the
North American Soccer League. The team was active from November 2011 through March 2015.
A new version of the team contested the 2018–19
Major Arena Soccer League 2
The Major Arena Soccer League 2 (MASL 2) is a North American indoor soccer league that serves as the Minor league, developmental league of the Major Arena Soccer League.
History
MASL 2 launched in 2017 to "provide an outlet for teams to either r ...
season; for 2019–20 the team moved back up to the
MASL. After another two year hiatus the Lancers are in
M2 for the 2022-23 season. The team concluded play after the 2024 season.
History
In 1995, Salvatore "Soccer Sam" Fantauzzo purchased the Rochester Lancers name and logo as part of his soccer memorabilia collection. In 2010, Fantauzzo started negotiating with commissioner Chris Economides of the USL to be part of the new indoor I-League. The USL struggled to attract teams to the newly formed I-League. At the 2010-2011 MISL Championship game in Baltimore, Fantauzzo convinced MISL commissioner David Grimaldi to meet with the USL and bring the MISL current teams into that organization. The 2011-2012 season saw the new MISL under the USL banner with the four existing MISL teams and the three new I-League teams. Fantauzzo decided to use the Rochester Lancers name and logo for this new indoor MISL team.
Following a merger of the
I-League
The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...
and the third
Major Indoor Soccer League, the Lancers played their first game in
Syracuse on November 4, 2011, against the
Syracuse Silver Knights. Led by team captain and former
Rochester Rhinos forward
Doug Miller, the first game in the team's history ended in a 16–15 loss and the top scorer was Lubo Kocic who scored 4 goals for the Lancers. The Lancers finished 2nd in the Eastern Division in 2011, qualifying for the playoffs. During the 2011–12 season they, offered a surprise contract to former
76ers player
Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson ( ; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as both a shooting guard and point guard. As an NBA rook ...
.
In 2012 assistant coach, Jim Hesch replaced Billy Andracki and became the head coach. Former Cuban International, Rochester Rhino and Rochester Lancers player, Rey 'Boom Boom' Martinez became the assistant coach. The team finished in 5th place in the MISL with a 10-16 record and did not make the playoffs.
The Lancers announced new head coach
Josh Rife on September 13, 2013. Josh Rife's assistant coach was Billy Ginther. The team finished in 5th place in the league with a 6-14 record and did not make the playoffs.
After the 2013–2014 season, the team announced that it was leaving the MISL along with five other teams and joining the Premier Arena Soccer League, later was renamed the
Major Arena Soccer League
The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...
. Fantauzzo with
Tommy Tanner negotiated hard to keep multi-point scoring in the game of indoor soccer. However, the MASL continued the single point goal system it used as the PASL without 2 & 3 point goals.
On August 2, 2014, team founder and CEO Salvatore Fantauzzo announced that the Lancers would not be playing in the 2014–15 season. Team captain (and
Rochester Rhinos legend)
Doug Miller intervened and offered to take over management of the team in order to permit the team to preserve its season. Miller later was named coach of the team, though he would continue to play. The team finished in 3rd place in the Eastern Division with a record of 10–10. The team made the playoffs but lost in the division finals to the
Baltimore Blast. After the 2014/15 season the team went on a hiatus to hopefully resolve the NYS insurance issues.
In 2017, Soccer Sam licensed his Lancers name & logo to the Rochester River Dogz of the (NPSL). The new Rochester Lancers ownership group included head coach Doug Miller, GM Marc Mandell, Asst GM Nick Mojsovski and CEO Salvatore 'Soccer Sam' Fantauzzo. Weeks later Fantauzzo joined the
United Women's Soccer
United Women's Soccer (UWS) is a national pro-am Women's association football, women's Association football, soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the Women's ...
(UWS) and the Lady Lancers were born. Sal Galvano and Loren Inglese handled the team side. Ashley Maria King from the original Lancers handled the business side year one. In 2018, Kayla Klark Kent also from the original Lancers returned to help with the business side. Sal Galvano continued with the team in 2018 as the head coach with Brooke Barbuto as his player/assistant coach.
The Lancers relaunched the indoor team for the 2018–19 season, playing in the Eastern Division of the
M2 development league with home games in
The Dome Center. The Lancers returned to Division 1 play as they re-joined the
MASL for the 2019-20 season, winning only 1 game before competition was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans to join the late-starting 2021 MASL season were cancelled in February, partly due to the Dome Center's use as a New York state COVID vaccination site. In 2022, M2 granted the Lancers a waiver of the league's 1,000-seat minimum arena capacity, allowing the team to temporarily take up residence at Total Sports Experience,
[ as the Dome Center had by then abandoned general sports and was in the process of a brief (and ultimately failed) attempt to convert the arena into permanent ]pickleball
Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played i ...
court. When the M2 waiver ended, the Dome Center refused to allow the Lancers back (it leased the arena out to a lacrosse club year-round after the failed pickleball experiment), and Blue Cross Arena, the city's major indoor sports arena, had been monopolized by Terry Pegula, who refused to allow any team not owned by him from playing there, while Ritter Arena had too many conflicts with Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...
. Main Street Armory had been closed indefinitely since 2023. With no viable arena, the Lancers were forced to fold.[
]
Year-by-year results
Head coaches
* Bill Andracki (2011–12)
* Jim Hesch (2012–13)
* Josh Rife (2013–14)
* Doug Miller (2014–15; 2018–2020)
* Jake Schindler (2022–present)
201920 roster
201112 roster
201213 roster
201314 roster
201415 roster
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester Lancers (2011-15)
Major Arena Soccer League teams
Indoor soccer clubs in the United States
Major Indoor Soccer League (2008–2014) teams
2010 establishments in New York (state)
Men's soccer clubs in New York (state)