From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Arizona Sahuaros an American soccer team founded in 1989. The team is currently a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and will play in the Southwest Conference in 2008 against teams from Albuquerque, Denver and San Diego.
The team will play their home games in the stadium on the campus of Grand Canyon University in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The club's colors are gold, blue and white.
[edit] 2008 Roster
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 1 |
 |
GK |
Eric Tate |
| 2 |
 |
MF |
Ugljesa Vrbica |
| 3 |
 |
MF |
Luciano Braga |
| 4 |
 |
DF |
Shawn Watson |
| 5 |
|
FW |
Kit Vitagliano |
| 6 |
|
MF |
Mica Kaplan |
| 7 |
 |
DF |
Jorge Cruz |
| 8 |
|
MF |
Brian Thames |
| 9 |
 |
FW |
Manoel Coehlo |
| 12 |
|
FW |
Don Koontz |
| 15 |
|
MF |
Peter Gbelia |
| 16 |
|
MF |
Eric Begaza |
| 18 |
|
MF |
Gilber Becerra |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 20 |
|
DF |
Brian Newland |
| 23 |
|
MF |
Juan Rojas |
| 24 |
 |
DF |
Carlos Gomez |
| 25 |
|
FW |
Luiz Araujo |
| 31 |
|
GK |
Mark Wilson |
|
|
GK |
Byron Bent |
|
|
FW |
Lucas Coelho |
|
|
MF |
Alex Fonseca |
|
|
MF |
Dan Gottvald |
|
|
MF |
Carlos Macias |
|
|
DF |
Noah Raney |
|
|
FW |
Jordon Smith |
|
[edit] History
The club originally started in 1989 as the Phoenix Hearts in the original indoor SISL league. They changed their name to the Arizona Cotton in 1992 and played both indoor and outdoor for one more year in the USISL, before joining the joined the amateur USISL Premier League in 1995. The following year they became the Arizona Phoenix.
In 1997, they changed their name again, this time to Arizona Sahuaros, and moved up to the USISL D-3 Pro League. After the 2002 season, the left the USL D-3 Pro League and helped form the new Men's Premier Soccer League, finishing the season as champions in the first year. The Sahuarhos competed in the NPSL until 2005, after which the club chose to play in a USASA affiliated league. They re-joined the NPSL in 2008.
[edit] New Stadium Plans
The Sahuaros are currently securing funds to build the one of the first soccer-specific stadium in the USASA. It is to sit 7,500 spectators complete with luxury boxes, restaurants, training facilities, and office headquarters for the team.
[edit] Year-by-year
| Year |
Division |
League |
Reg. Season |
Playoffs |
Open Cup |
| 1989/90 |
N/A |
SISL Indoor |
1st, Cactus |
Final |
N/A |
| 1990 |
N/A |
SISL |
3rd, Western |
Quarterfinals |
Did not enter |
| 1990/91 |
N/A |
SISL Indoor |
4th, Southwest |
Quarterfinals |
N/A |
| 1991 |
N/A |
SISL |
5th, Southwest |
Did not qualify |
Did not enter |
| 1991/92 |
N/A |
USISL Indoor |
4th, Southwest |
Did not qualify |
N/A |
| 1992 |
N/A |
USISL |
4th, Southwest |
Did not qualify |
Did not enter |
| 1992/93 |
N/A |
USISL Indoor |
2nd, Southwest |
Final |
N/A |
| 1993 |
N/A |
USISL |
7th, Southwest |
Did not qualify |
Did not enter |
| 1994 |
3 |
USISL |
5th, Southwest |
Did not qualify |
Did not enter |
| 1995 |
"4" |
USISL Premier League |
6th, Western |
Did not qualify |
Did not qualify |
| 1996 |
"4" |
USISL Premier League |
3rd, Western Southern |
Division Semifinals |
Did not qualify |
| 1997 |
3 |
USISL D-3 Pro League |
6th, West |
Did not qualify |
Did not qualify |
| 1998 |
3 |
USISL D-3 Pro League |
1st, West |
Quarterfinals |
2nd Round |
| 1999 |
3 |
USL D-3 Pro League |
3rd, Western |
Conference Semifinals |
2nd Round |
| 2000 |
3 |
USL D-3 Pro League |
6th, Western |
Did not qualify |
Did not qualify |
| 2001 |
3 |
USL D-3 Pro League |
4th, Western |
Conference Semifinals |
Did not qualify |
| 2002 |
3 |
USL D-3 Pro League |
3rd, Western |
1st Round |
Did not qualify |
| 2003 |
4 |
MPSL |
3rd |
Champion |
Did not qualify |
| 2004 |
4 |
MPSL |
3rd |
Runner Up |
Did not qualify |
| 2005 |
4 |
MPSL |
|
|
Did not qualify |
| 2006 |
|
USASA |
|
|
2nd Round |
| 2007 |
|
USASA |
|
|
Did not qualify |
[edit] External links
