Fresh from the Heat offices

The Laredo Heat (5 – 3 – 0 / 15 points) are set to welcome the DFW Tornados (5 – 2 – 2 / 17 points) to the Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex on Thursday, June 24^th. Kick-off for the Premier Development League (PDL) Mid-South Division showdown is set for 8:00 PM.

The DFW Tornados are currently sitting in first place in the Mid-South Division of the PDL’s Southern Conference just ahead of the West Texas United (Midland) Sockers and the third place Heat. This is the only visit to Laredo this season by the North Texas soccer team.

 Just last week, the DFW Tornados represented the Mid-South Division in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tournament versus the United States Soccer Federation Division Second Division Austin Aztex, a game which the Tornados dropped 3 – 0 (on Wednesday evening June 23^rd, the Aztex advanced into the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup and will be facing Chivas USA of the MLS).

 “This is a very critical time of the season for all the teams in the PDL as most everyone has already completed fifty percent of their regular season schedule and for us; four of our next five games will be at home with the only exception being that we will be heading to Brownsville for a game on Saturday, July 3^rd to take on the RGV Bravos.” said Heat General Manager J.J. Vela.

 “After that, we finish on the road in Houston and El Paso so taking care of our games during the next four weeks will be very important if we want to continue our streak of playing in the post season.”

 Vela added, “DFW will be our first priority and earlier this season they handed us our second consecutive loss of the season so we know that Coach Robinson and his players will be bringing their A game to Laredo in the hopes of staying on top of the division.”

 “The game should be exciting for our fans to watch as DFW has a very contrasting style of play compared to us. They play a more European

Plenty of shade

The Tornados are coming to town and with them comes a natural advantage.
The Tornados bring a club that is taller and stronger than most of the Heat players and you'll get to see that play a key role in the contest tonight (Thursday).
The good thing is that the Heat is used to playing against taller opponents and they have a few imposing players of their own.
The bad thing is that if Greg Mulamba can't go, they'll need to find another physical player to wear the Tornados players down in the middle.
In the backfield, Angel Hernandez has his work cut out for him, but he should be well rested after sitting out the past game.
Up front the club is hoping to get Felix Garcia back, who's nursing a sore hamstring, his size adds an extra dimension to the attack.

The ebb and flow of a season

A couple of days removed from a great performance against the Houston Dynamos the Laredo Heat finds itself today very much aware that soccer is anything if unpredictable.
The Heat has forever become an important footnote for the Leones, as they became their first ever victory.
While the club was well aware that the Leones wasn't a club to be taken lightly, it seemed that Saturday in a matter of minutes lady luck was on the Houston side.
How much the emotional contest against the Dynamo and the nearly back-to-back road trip affected the club is up for debate.
To a man every Heat player was well aware that despite the opportunity to take on the Dynamo their real goal remained the PDL.
That topic was even touched upon by head coach Israel Collazo in the team's pre-game speech against the Dynamo.
It just goes to show that sometimes things just don't go your way.
It's back to the basics for the club and the near future looks bright, since they play five of their next six games at home where they have had quite a bit of luck.
The club currently trails West Texas and Dallas, but they have played one less game on the season.
Come this time next week a new and tentative picture is going to be on display in the PDL standings.
It all starts again on Friday when the Patriots come to town, in a game that has been termed a classic by several Heat players.
The Patriots look to avenge a 6-0 loss the last time they played the Heat at home this season.