Heat Return to Action in National Premier Soccer League

Laredo, TX (Friday, February 23, 2018) – The Laredo Heat Soccer Club return to action in the Gateway City after a two year hiatus and are looking to make a splash in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in their inaugural season in the league.

The Heat, led by Head Coach Dana Taylor will play in the nine-member Lone Star Conference of the NPSL’s South Region versus teams from Ft. Worth, Tyler, Midland-Odessa, two teams from Houston, Katy, Brownsville and Shreveport (LA).

All of the Heat’s home games will be played at Texas A&M International University on their meticulous all grass soccer game field and will kick-off at 8:15 P.M. local time.

The hometown Laredo Heat will open the regular season at home versus the Houston Regals on Friday, May 18, 2018.

In total, Laredo will play five games at home and five games away from Laredo during the regular season and will be announcing several exhibition games at a later date.

Laredo Heat Soccer Club 2018 Regular Season Schedule

(Home Games in BOLD, Away Games are in ITALICS)

Friday, May 18 (Home Game # 1): Houston Regals SCA (TAMIU / Laredo, TX)

Thursday, May 24 (Away Game # 1): at Midland / Odessa Sockers FC (Midland, TX)

Saturday, May 26 (Away Game # 2): at Houston Regals SCA (Houston, TX)

Wednesday, May 30 (Home Game # 2): FC Brownsville (TAMIU / Laredo, TX)

Wednesday, June 6 (Home Game # 3): Houston Dutch Lions (TAMIU / Laredo, TX)

Thursday, June 21 (Away Game # 3): at Shreveport Rafters FC (Shreveport, LA)

Saturday, June 23 (Away Game # 4): at Tyler FC (Tyler, TX)

Wednesday, June 27 (Away Game # 5): at FC Brownsville (Brownsville, TX)

Saturday, June 30 (Home Game # 4): Katy 1895 FC (TAMIU / Laredo, TX)

Tuesday, July 3 (Home Game # 5): Ft. Worth Vaqueros (TAMIU / Laredo, TX)

Lone Star Conference Playoff Structure: The conference will be split into three groups.  The top two in each group will advance to the postseason. The wild card round on July 7th will feature matchups between #3 and #6 and #4 and #5 with the higher seed hosting.  The semifinals will take place on July 11th with #1 hosting the winner of #4 and #5 and #2 hosting the winner of #3 and #6.  The conference final will take place on July 14th with the higher seed hosting. Regional Semi-Finals and Finals plus National Semi-Finals will be played in subsequent weekends with the NPSL National Championship scheduled to be played on Saturday, August 4th.

About the NPSL

The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is the successor to the Men's Premier Soccer League (MPSL), which was formed in 2002. The league started in the West Region with teams from the Northern California area. In 2005, the league expanded to a national format with the introduction of a Midwest region. The NPSL expanded further in 2007 by adding a Northeast region. In 2011, with the addition of a Southeast region, the National Premier Soccer League has truly become a nationwide league. In 2014, NPSL became the largest national soccer league in the US Soccer development pyramid with over 80 teams all over the country. Over 30 expansion teams joined the NPSL for the 2014 season, and the league is nearing the entrance of its 100th team.

The NPSL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the governing body of soccer in the United States. The NPSL operates and is managed as a team-run league. The structure of the league allows each team to have one vote. Each team is individually owned and operated, and is responsible for maintaining league minimum standards. New teams seeking membership into the NPSL are subject to approval by existing team owners.

NPSL Philosophy: We compete for 90 minutes on the field, we are business partners...always. We all work together to grow the game, build the NPSL, and develop our respective clubs.

NPSL Mission: To grow the sport of soccer in the United States of America -- by providing our members with a sustainable business model and professionally managed soccer platform, and by serving as an inspiration to players and soccer fans in our members' communities.

NPSL Vision: To be the foundation of the U.S. Soccer development pyramid with over 100 profitable teams in 100 communities; in turn, doing our part to help the United States become a soccer nation and win a World Cup.

For additional information on sponsorship opportunities, tickets and the Laredo Heat Soccer Club, please contact the Heat Front Office at (956) 723 – 4700 or visit our website at www.laredoheatsc.com , LIKE us on Facebook www.facebook.com/laredoheatsoccer or Follow Us on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @LaredoHeatSC.