Harrisburg City Islanders

Harrisburg City Islanders

Full name	Harrisburg City Islanders
Nickname(s)	City Islanders, Harrisburg City, City
Founded	2004
Stadium	Skyline Sports Complex Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Capacity: 4,000)
Owner	Eric Pettis
Head Coach	Bill Becher
League	USL Pro
2011	Regular Season: 5th, National Division: 2nd, Playoffs: Runners-up
Website	Club home page
Home colors Away colors
Current season

Harrisburg City Islanders is an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2004, the team plays in the National Division of the new USL Professional Division, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

The team plays its home games at the Skyline Sports Complex, located on Harrisburg's City Island, where they have played since 2004. The team's colors are tropical blue, navy blue, and white. Their current head coach is Bill Becher.

The City Islanders also field a team in the USL’s Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age, operated by the United Soccer Leagues.

On March 1, 2010, the City Islanders entered into an agreement to become the official USL-2 affiliate club of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union.

History

The City Islanders were an immediate success in the second division, finishing fifth in their inaugural season, and qualifying for the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The City Islanders improved on this showing in their second year, as they finished third in the league with a 12-3-5 record, but were eliminated from the playoffs by the eventual champions, the Charlotte Eagles.

In 2005, Bill Becher, the Harrisburg coach, was named USL-2 Coach of the Year, while player Chad Severs was named Rookie of the Year, before moving on to the Rochester Raging Rhinos.

In 2007, the Islanders were the USL Second Division Champions. They also defeated Major League Soccer team D.C. United 1-0 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to reach the quarterfinals, where they subsequently lost to the New England Revolution. In 2009, they again defeated an MLS team to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, this time defeating the New England Revolution before losing to D.C. United. The Islanders repeated the feat in 2010, knocking off Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup round of 16.

Colors and badge

Stadium

• Skyline Sports Complex; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (2004-present)

Club culture

The Harrisburg City Islanders have two of their own supporters groups - the City Island Hecklers (or CI Hecklers) and the Sons of the Susquehanna (or SoS). The CI Hecklers often position themselves behind one goal while the Sons of the Susquehanna position themselves behind the other.^[1][2] In addition to these two, members of the Sons of Ben (supporters of the Philadelphia Union) also provide support.

Broadcasting

Players and staff

Current roster

As of July 31, 2011.^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Phil Tuttle 3 DF Dustin Bixler 4 DF Geoff Bloes 5 DF Andrew Marshall 6 DF Jeritt Thayer 7 MF Vincenzo Bernardo 8 MF Brian Ombiji 9 FW Jason Herrick 10 MF David Schofield 11 MF Jason Hotchkin 12 MF Andrew Welker

No. Position Player 13 DF Stephen Basso 14 FW Jordan Seabrook 16 MF J. T. Noone 17 MF Nelson Becerra 18 MF Drew Yates 18 DF David Rodriguez 19 FW Jose Angulo 20 FW Sainey Touray 22 MF Jason Pelletier 23 DF Anthony Calvano 33 FW Brian Ackley

Staff

• Bill Becher - Head Coach
• Steve Widdowson - Assistant Coach
• Dave Kern - Goalkeeper Coach
• vacant - General Manager

Notable former players

• See also: All-time Harrisburg City Islanders roster

Danny Cepero Tomer Chencinski John DiRaimondo Tom Heinemann Jack McInerney Tino Nuñez Yuki Stalph

Anthony Peters Shea Salinas Ty Shipalane Toni Ståhl Sheanon Williams Nick Zimmerman

Head coaches

• Bill Becher (2004-present)

Achievements

• USL Second Division Champions 2007

Record

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	Avg. Attendance
2004	3	USL Pro Soccer League	2nd, Atlantic	Quarterfinals	Did not qualify	1,510
2005	3	USL Second Division	3rd	Semifinals	Did not qualify	1,604
2006	3	USL Second Division	7th	Did not qualify	Did not qualify	1,781
2007	3	USL Second Division	3rd	Champions	Quarterfinals	1,724
2008	3	USL Second Division	5th	Quarterfinals	2nd Round	1,684
2009	3	USL Second Division	3rd	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	1,857
2010	3	USL Second Division	5th	Did not qualify	Quarterfinals	1,666
2011	3	USL Pro	2nd, National	Finalist	2nd Round	1,404

References

1. ^ CI Hecklers
2. ^ Q&A With the Sons of the Susquehanna
3. ^ http://www.cityislanders.com/driver.aspx?topic=2010%20Pro%20Team

External links

• Harrisburg City Islanders