Houston Aces

Houston Aces
Full name Houston Aces Soccer Club
Founded 2012
Stadium Houston Sports Park
Houston, Texas
Capacity 1,000
President Pascal Paul Piazza
Head Coach Andy Smith
League United Women's Soccer
2018 1st, Southwest Division
Playoffs: UWS Champions
Website Club website

The Houston Aces are a North American women's soccer team founded in 2012. The Aces participate in the UWS West Conference of the UWS, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada, underneath the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). UWS is a national league with teams playing in regional conferences. They play at Houston Amateur Sports Park, and also field several academy and youth teams.[1][2][3] They joined the United Women's Soccer league in 2016.[4]

History

The Aces' 2012 season was largely unimpressive, earning just 11 points from 12 games and finishing 7th out of 11 teams in the Big Sky – South division.

In 2013, the Aces were part of a group of seven teams slated to play in the second season of the WPSL Elite, which was to be a set of games played in addition to regular WPSL games (unlike the 2012 WPSL Elite that was truly its own league), but organization ultimately fell through.[5][6]

The Aces' greatest accomplishment to date is winning the 2013 National Women's Open, defeating all three other teams by a combined scoreline of 8-1; their academy team also qualified for the 2013 National Women's U23 competition, but failed to qualify for the final with a 1–2 record and a combined score of 4–8.[7] This was accomplished as part of a 2013 season so far undefeated in all competitions, winning sixteen straight games from friendlies in May through mid-July - a far change from their 2012 season.

They followed these Open Cup and regular seasons successes with a deep run into the 2013 WPSL Playoffs, falling just short of the title in a 1–2 loss to the San Diego WFC SeaLions. During that time, it was reported that the Aces have ambitions to join the National Women's Soccer League, potentially as early as 2014.[8] However, during the 2013-2014 off-season, the Houston Dynamo applied for an expansion slot to create the Houston Dash, effectively closing the door for the Aces.

For the 2014 season, the Aces officially took control of the Houston South Select, renaming the team as the Aces South Select Academy. Despite this growth and their success last season, the Aces struggled through 2014, dropping points in preseason and in Big Sky conference play, as well as finishing runners-up in the USASA Amateur Championships and finishing a distant fourth in their Open Cup title defense. Still, despite these struggles, they had another deep run in the WPSL playoff, once again making it to the final before losing by one goal to Beach Futbol Club (also from WPSL's Pac-South division).

In 2015, the Aces finished in 3rd place in Big Sky – South Division with 10 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses. Then they did not qualify for the playoffs during their final season.

In early February 2016, the Aces moved to United Women's Soccer after having played 4 seasons in WPSL.

In 2016, the Aces finished in 3rd place in Western Conference with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses. They failed to make the UWS championship for their first time.

In 2017, Aces finished in 4th place in Western Conference with 3 wins, 0 draws, and 5 losses. They failed to make the playoffs again.

Before the season begin in 2018, the Aces were added an expansion team HAR FC and placed the newly formed Southwest Conference.

The Aces has clinched the UWS playoffs for the first time on their return since they missed two straight postseasons before they moved to the league in 2016, and their third overall playoff appearances after they won the Southwest Conference while they're finished and undefeated in the season with 8 straight wins. The Aces were succeeded to win their first UWS title after defeating the Lancaster Inferno Rush in the championship finals with a 1-0 victory in extra time.

Players

2014

[9]

2013

[10]

2012

[11]

Season

Year Division League Reg. season Playoffs National Open
2012 2 WPSL 7th, Big Sky South Did not qualify Region III runner-up
2013 2 WPSL 1st, Big Sky South National runners-up Champions
2014 2 WPSL 1st, Big Sky South National runners-up Tie-fourth
2015 2 WPSL 3rd, Big Sky Did not quality Did not quality
2016 2 UWS 3rd, West Did not quality Did not quality
2017 2 UWS 4th, West Did not quality Did not quality
2018 2 UWS 1st, Southwest Champions TBA

Honors

League Championships

  • WPSL (Runner-up) (2): 2013, 2014
  • UWS Champions (1): 2018

Division Championships

Women's Cup

  • Champions (1): 2013
  • Semi-finalist (1): 2014

Staff

  • United States William T. Brumbaugh, Founder/Owner
  • United States Catherine Brumbaugh, Owner
  • United States Deb Schady, Owner, CEO/COO
  • United States Pascal Piazza, Owner and President
  • Australia Bill Van der Vlist, Referee Liaison

[12]

Home stadiums

[13]

Former Stadium

References

  1. ↑ http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/w-soccer/2012-13/releases/201304178el5ym
  2. ↑ http://www.apsugovernors.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16900&ATCLID=209439250
  3. ↑ http://www.ruhighlanders.com/news/2014/3/24/WSOC_0324141941.aspx
  4. ↑ Ryan, Conor (February 6, 2016). "United Women's Soccer unveils West Conference teams". MassLive. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ "W-League and WPSL 2013" (forum). BigSoccer. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "About WPSL Elite". Houston Aces. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "National Women's Championships". USASA. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  8. ↑ Coleman, Adam (17 July 2013). "Cy Woods girls' soccer coach living dream as pro player". Cypress Creek Mirror. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "2014 Houston Aces Roster". Houston Aces. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "2013 Houston Aces Roster". Houston Aces. Retrieved 9 June 2013. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  11. ↑ "2012 Houston Aces Roster". Houston Aces. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Houston Aces Management". Houston Aces. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Houston Aces Home Field Locations". Houston Aces. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
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