Closer look

THE OPENING TWENTY MINUTES
The Heat opened the game strong, as the Chill needed 20 minutes to settle into its game plan. In that span, the Heat pressed offensively, but all of its shots were blocked by the well-placed Chill defense.
The Heat’s Raul Quinones figured big in the opening minutes of the contest. The Chill’s ScottMilroth saved his first shot on goal before it crossed the goal line in the seventh minute. In the twelfth Quinones was a couple of inches short from redirecting a Cruz centering pass into the back of the net. His final attempt came in the closing minute of the first half, after Ibarra air mailed a pass as he ran into the area. This time the Chill’s Stephen Patterson saved his shot with his stomach, as he dove in the middle of the box. The Chill's only threat on goal came on a counter attack around the 16th minute when Brandon Swartzendruber broke free and found a streaking Jeremy Gold down the right side, the Heat’s Ryan Cooper saved Gold’s shot.

MINUTES 20 to 30
The Heat and Chill traded shots on goal with the Heat sending a free kick to the keepers hands in the 20th and the Chill creating a shot in the 23rd. The game began leveling out as the Chill became more aggressive. The team's traded some shots on goal, but the game itself took on a more physical tone which was the overriding theme along with good defensive play.

MINUTES 30-45
The first yellow card of the night was given to the Heat's Leone Cruz. The second came a minute later, given to the Chill's Anthony Putrus. (In all, there were ten yellows, one player earned two to get ejected). The stout defensive play by both teams continued.


SECOND HALF
Things started great for the Heat, as they scored the opening goal in the first minute of the second half, but things couldn't of ended worse.
The scoring play began innocently enough, until Leone Cruz spotted Felix Garcia moving down the left area and sent a well placed pass that was chested down perfectly by Garcia. Who unleashed a blast that ricocheted off the cross bar and landed in front of him again. This time the shot was misplayed by the goalie and Juan Dios Ibarra capitalized. For the next series of plays the Heat looked to ride the momentum swing and were hoping to take control of the contest, but the momentum came to a halt in the 51st minute when the Chill's Robert Swann nearly knocked in the equalizer, his shot sailed just wide of the left post. At the 60^th minute Heat goalie Ryan Cooper made a good save off a Scott Milroth header, three minutes later though his luck would change. As sub and 2008 Championship MVP Gustavo Oliveira scored the equalizer with a lob over Cooper.The Heat’s Silas Blackwell had a solo effort in the 67^th minute, but his shot sailed safely into Patterson’s hands.

MAN ADVANTAGE

The Chill did a great job of minimizing the effect of being a man down, they stayed with eight men in their side of the field at all times. The Heat was able to create scoring chances, but the shots were either blocked or off target. Isaac Morales came close in the closing seconds where Paterson saved his mid range shot.

EXTRA TIME

The Chill’s game plan was simple, withstand the barrage until its time for penalty kicks. Laredo did not make it easy. Morales froze the crowd for a second time when his shot landed atop of the net, tricking some of the fans into thinking it was a goal. It was the second time that a Morales shot landed atop the net. Dionisio Infante came close to heading a pass in the 111^th minute when Silas found him in the far post. Felix closed the game with a shot that sailed over the cross bar.

PENALTY KICKS

The Chill's Stephen Paterson was the mind reader on Saturday. He missed Daniel Galvan's low liner to the left post. He made up for it by not biting on the double move that Carlos Ordaz tried and dove correctly to the left to block the shot.
Against Steve Su he managed to get a foot on Su's Roller as it rolled down the center.

The Heat's Ryan Cooper one year removed from his MVP performance in last year's championship game, had another outstanding year, but wasn't as fortunate this time. The penalties were knocked in by Gustavo Oliveira with a mid-line shot to the left. Brandon Swartzendruber followed with a liner to the right post. Casey Gold went back to the left and the cup clincher was knocked in by Nolan Intermoia who sent the ball down the left center.

If the Heat return most of their core group of players, they have an excellent shot at returning to the championship game. It'll be interesting where Cooper lands. He has the tools to be moving up the soccer ranks. Garcia is sure to be joining his Under-20 U.S. teamamtes in Florida some time soon. Most of the Heat players can be playing in higher level leagues this time next year.

HARD KNOCKS

The Chill's plan was simple, knock Felix Garcia off the ball at every turn. Garcia who was nursing a tender ankle was fouled at a minimum eight times. In fact the Chill weren't shy in creating contact as they racked up 26 fouls to Laredo's 12.
Considering Felix had a tough week with the birth of his daughter on Friday, playing 120 minutes was quite a feat for the 18 year-old phenom.

Heart breaking

There really is no other way to put it. The Laredo heat fought hard to get to this point and left their mark in the PDL history book by reaching the championship game three times, but defending the title would've been the perfect capper to a otherwise great season.
It wasn't for lack of trying, but they ran into a Thunder Bay team that had a remarkable run to the Championship, twice overcoming obstacles. The first came in their opening round versus Cleveland where they not only survived being two men down for the second half but scored the two winning goals and shut out the Internationals.
On Saturday the team was down a man for 14 regular time minutes, four compensation minutes and two 15 minute halves. While they didn't score and certainly didn't dominate, they did hold off a potent Heat offense and won Canada's first soccer championship.

The atmosphere was great as TAMIU was filled with about 3,430 Heat fans and 21 Chill fans.

Chill defeats Heat on penalty kicks in PDL Championship game

Thunder Bay coach Tony Colistro said on Thursday that he believes a team can, at times, play better being a man down.

On Saturday, his team set out to prove his point, withstanding a Heat offensive barrage for 48 minutes and winning the Premier Development League Championship 5-2 on penalty kicks at Dustdevil Field before a crowd of 3,451.

The Thunder Bay clamped down defensively in the final 18 minutes of the second half once Scott Milroth was ejected after his second yellow card for a foul on Daniel Galvan.

In the two 15-minute overtimes, the Chill just flooded the backfield and were able to hold the stalemate.

On the penalty kicks, Gustavo Oliveira, Brandon Swartzendruber, Casey Gold and Nolan Intermoia scored.

On the other side, Galvan knocked in the only penalty kick, as Carlos Ordaz and Steve Su were blocked by keeper Stephen Paterson.

Oliveira donned the hero’s cape for his club as it was his 63rd minute equalizer, after coming in as a sub in the 53rd, that helped bring Canada its first PDL championship.

Oliveira was questionalble coming into the game and was pressed into action after the Heat took a 1-0 advantage in the opening minute of the second half.

Juan De Dios Ibarra knocked in a blocked shot and lifted his team to the early lead.

The socre was made possible by heady play by defender Leone Cruz, who sent a long pass across the field to Felix Garcia, who controlled the ball beautifully with his chest.

He then let loose a blast that bounced of Patterson’s cross bar and landed again in Garcia’s path as his second shot wasn’t corraled by Patterson, and Ibarra was there for the score.

The momentum shifted in the Heat’s favor for the next six minutes before the game again settled into the defensive struggle that was the tone of the night.

The equalizer came off a break down the Heat’s right side in which Milroth, from the top of the key, found Oliveira on the corner of the goal area box.

Oliveira than lifted the ball over goalie Ryan Cooper as he charged to close the already tough angle.

The Heat opened the game strong as the Chill needed 20 mintues to settle into its game.

In that span, the Heat pressed offensively, but all of its shots were blocked by the well-placed Chill defense.

New arrival

The Heat's Felix Garcia and Rachel Carranza welcomed to the world their baby girl Milly, Friday morning. Both have garnered MVP prep honors and are ecstatic to have another potential soccer phenom. The birth of his baby girl has kept him occupied and sleepless, even so he says he's ready to play against the Thunder Bay Chill today for the Premier Development League championship. That's quite a handful for the young man who was also awarded with the PDL Under-19 player of the year and was named to the All-league team.

Both clubs met for the first time today at Myreida's reception hall in a meet-and-greet. For the story check out today's paper.
Even though the Chill if from Canada, the core group of players are from the United States.

Fox Soccer Channel set-up shop on Friday and is going to air the game live on Fox Soccer Channel. The kick off is at 8 p.m.

Team effort boosts Heat

Here's Nino Cardenas' Heat story that ran in today's paper. Unlike the Broncos, the Heat's team effort has been the catalyst to their third championship game in as many years.

Also, a reminder about ticket info: General admission is $10 with VIP seating $20. Kids 12-and-under get in free.

Tickets will be available at Palenque Grill, all Taco Palenque locations, Talk Time and Gametronics. Tickets will be in sale at those locations until Saturday and at the gate on game day.

Early bird special

For those following the U.S. team in the olympics, soccer gets a start before the ceremony.

The U.S. Men’s Olympic Team is ready to kick off its campaign at the 2008 Olympic Games, taking on Japan in the Group B opener on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 5 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) from Tianjin Olympic Sport Stadium in Tianjin, China. The game, one day before the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing, will be shown live on MSNBC, the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and Universal HD.

Lights, Camera, more lights and action

The game is staying put at TAMIU, the main concern was the lights. The SAC provides better lighting and the Fox Soccer Channel crew was already familiar with the facility. At TAMIU the stands might be too dark for the TVs liking and in an effort to squeeze in a little more light the game was moved to 7:45 p.m. The Laredo Heat (the actual weather) still plays a factor in game time.
Also for the second time in Laredo History a sporting event is going to be broadcast LIVE nationally by a network. The first was the Orlando Canizales fight at the Civic Center on CBS.
The Chill don't get into town until Thursday, but in the meantime you can read some basic information about the club in general in Tuesday's article.

Made for TV

The Laredo Heat versus Thunder Bay Chill game took an interesting twist as the game site is going to be determined by Tuesday. With Fox Soccer Channel broadcasting the game nationally, they had become accustomed to the Heat's fine accommodations at the Student Activity Complex.
The layout at TAMIU is yet to be deemed fit to be able to accommodate the broadcast team that'll be making its way to Laredo.
If the Heat plays in the SAC, it means artificial turf and a roomier venue for fans. Most of the team's players played at the SAC last season and they'll have the ability to attract a much larger number of fans. So the drawback is minimal. All in all the club prefers to play at TAMIU. If words comes down that it'll be at the SAC the team will have the opportunity to practice there on Wednesday.

"Just how soft are these guys?"

That quote is not directed at the family of the Pillsburry Doughboy.
After a series of fouls on several Heat players sent them to the ground, the Rage coach found himself screaming at the side judge "Just how soft are these guys?" The coach said these words after Captain Daniel Galvan crashed to the ground after being clocked in the nose. Not knowing the severity or that Galvan was actually hit and would sit out the next 20 or so minutes due to a bloody nose. While soccer lends itself to the acting world when it comes to fouls and brings out the Hamlet out of some players, that was a legit reason to fall.
The momentum clearly swung as the Heat managed to control the ball and knock in the game winner while being a man down. OF NOTE: The Thunder Bay Chill, their opponent in the championship won 2-0 despite playing with two men down in the second half in their postseason opener.

OHH THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES...The Heat straightened out the ship just in time for this playoff run, but this game had its share of what if's, that never came to be, since they won...
The first was in the 16th minute when Garcia kicked the ball past the goalie and watched it get blocked by defender Scott Rowling in the goal line, Mr. Right place right time. That label though was later claimed by the Heat's Pedro Ramos who's first goal as a Heat came at the perfect time. He was johnny on the spot, after several bounces the ball landed on his feet and he sent it on its way to the back of the net.
Garcia again almost scored the opening goal in the 30th minute in which the Rage’s Marc Benson nearly paid dearly for his mental mistake. Benson with Garcia bearing down on him decided to send the ball back to his goalie, but failed to add the necessary oomph to get it there, Garcia sped past Benson and intercepted the attempt. His shot though was slightly off target as it just missed the left side post.
From the 16th minute on the Heat took the offensive. The first 15 minutes of the game was a toe dipping water tempature taking kind've affair.

UP NEXT
The fun begins again next Saturday... In the meantime, some quick facts about the Central Conference Champs Thunder Bay Chill: They're 16-2-1 so far this season and have scored 50 goals and allowed only 18. They have posted two shutouts this postseason, and the club has been in the playoffs twice in nine years. They lost in their opener last season. On the road the team went 7-1-0. This is no doubt the Canadian team's longest road trip.
'Till next time.

Heat wins to advance to championship

The Heat shutout the Rage to advance to the PDL championship game next weekend.

Laredo claimed a 2-0 win before a crowd of 1,693 at the TAMIU Soccer Complex.

The Heat will play the Thunder Bay Chill next Saturday at the soccer complex. Kickoff is slated for 8:15 p.m.

Game day

It's game time.

Laredo Heat vs. Reading Rage in the PDL Semifinals with a championship berth on the line.

Need more?

Here you go.

Almost game time

We're one day away from the Heat hosting the Rage for a chance at another PDL championship berth.

Nino Cardenas will have a preview story for tomorrow's paper. Here's the story that ran in Thursday's Times.

The Heat will also have an advertorial page in Saturday's Sports section so Heat loyalists can look forward to that as well.

The Heat and Rage held a press conference at La Quinta today. Not much was said since neither team has seen the other play.

It was basically an opportunity to exchange pleasantries and build the hype for tomorrow's contest.

Heat prepare for semifinals

While the city goes about its everyday business looking for something to do in order to break from the monotony of the workweek and nightlife there is a select group of indivduals awaiting, yet again, an opportunity of a lifetime.

Laredo gets a sports treat as its very own Laredo Heat (10-4-4) venture into the Premier Development League semifinals for the third time in a row and are on the verge of further adding to their rich playoff history if they advance to the championships.

No team in the PDL or any of the nation’s other professional soccer leagues have seen the same club set foot in the championship game.

Saturday, the Southern Conference champ Heat hosts Eastern Conference champ Reading Rage (13-3-2) at the Texas A&M International soccer grounds.

“This team (Heat) plays with soul and heart, and they leave it all on the field. We’re hoping the city comes out and supports us,” Heat coach Israel Collazo said.

Earlier in the month, with the Heat’s chances of clinching a playoff spot on the line, the club switched gears and steamrolled into the playoffs. It isn’t planning on easing up any time soon.

“As the Houston Leones game was coming up, I told the guys that we have seven games left to play in the season. This game is the beginning of our championship run, and I firmly believed the team has it in them,” Collazo said.

Three crucial regular season games and two postseason games later the Heat is looking to prove Collazo a seer as the final two games approach.

“It’s as I’ve said before, its not about getting their first, but about knowing how it is you got there,” Collazo said.

With players’ mindsets in high gear and stress and pressure increasing at every turn, the club’s previous playoff history has been the calming force they’ve needed.

“The last three regular season games were essentially like gasoline for us in that they became the driving force which we are riding at the moment,” Collazo said.

The Heat’s five game winning streak began with a goal barrage against the Leones, 7-0. It was followed by a crucial win over bitter rival El Paso (3-1) and a easy shutout over a deflated New Orleans team (4-0) to close out the regular season.

The Heat crashed a party in Florida by defeating the host Central Florida Kraze in a nerve racking 2-1 win and finally plucked the thorn from their side by beating the Austin Aztex 3-1 in their third attempt.

“The party was set in anticipation of a Florida win, and unfortunately they ran into us and we had enough to win,” Collazo said.

“We were up 2-1 and controlled the game up to the 80th minute, then with their backs against the wall they began to control the pace and it proved to be a difficult and tiring game,” he added.
The Kraze had the benefit of nine minutes of compensation time, but still fell short of knocking in the tying score.

The following day versus Austin things began as they did before with Laredo trailing, but ended with a much different outcome.

“Austin in the first 25 minutes ran over us with quality football, but after that we took control of the game and the ejection of one of their players in the 42nd minute also helped,” Collazo said.
The Heat was spurred by its offensive weapon, Felix Garcia, who collected three goals in the games. While Felix adding to his goal tally doesn’t come as a surprise, the two goals Greg Mulamba scored were a welcome sight.

“Mulamba to me has been the team MVP. I mean, yes, the whole team has been outstanding, but he’s a player that plays in a position that doesn’t lend itself to attention from the fans. He has been stealing and passing and basically helping stabilize the midfield all season,” Collazo said.

Mulamba has three goals on the season and Felix has scored 14 goals.