Lancaster Inferno is a top level amateur women's
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club based in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...
. Founded in 2008, the club fields a first team that plays in
United Women's Soccer
United Women's Soccer (UWS) is a national pro-am Women's association football, women's Association football, soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the Women's ...
(UWS), a national pro-am league at the second tier of the
American Soccer Pyramid
The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur association football, soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are no ...
, and a U23 team that competes in UWS League Two.
Timeline
* 2008: PA Classics starts Lancaster Inferno, a women's team playing in the WPSL (Women's Premier Soccer League), along with a men's team playing in the
National Premier Soccer League
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...
, also called the
Lancaster Inferno. The women are coached by Doug Harris.
The home field is
Hempfield High School's athletic stadium in
Landisville.
* 2009: The men's team folds, but the women continue to compete.
* 2011: Inferno is no longer under the PA Classics umbrella, and plays under the sponsorship of the Penn Legacy Soccer Club. The team's name is changed to "Penn Legacy Inferno".
* 2013: Inferno becomes independent, no longer associated with PA Classics or Penn Legacy. The team's name reverts to its former name, "Lancaster Inferno".
* 2014: Lancaster Inferno is sold to Francisco Cleaves, who also begins operations as head coach.
* 2015: Inferno changes its home field to
Millersville University's Pucillo Field in the
Lancaster
Lancaster may refer to:
Lands and titles
*The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire
*Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies
*Duke of Lancaster
*Earl of Lancaster
*House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty
...
suburb of
Millersville.
* 2016: Lancaster Inferno leaves WPSL and joins
United Women's Soccer (UWS).
* 2018: The team enters an agreement with Rush Soccer, to be recognized as the club's top level women's team. The team's name was changed to Inferno Rush, branding under the Rush Soccer brand, along with the
USL
USL may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project
* Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool
Companies
* United Spirits Limited, India
* Former United States Lines shipping company
C ...
's
Penn FC
Harrisburg City Islanders, known as Penn FC in their final season, were an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of th ...
. The Inferno became both the UWS East Conference Regular Season Champions, as well as beating the Connecticut Fusion to become the East Conference Playoff Champions. The Inferno went to the UWS National Championship held in
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
and defeated
Grand Rapids FC in the semi-final match.
In the final match, Inferno faced the
Houston Aces
The Houston Aces are an American women's soccer team that was founded in 2012. The Aces participate in the WPSL, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada, underneath the NWSL. The Aces play at Albion Campbell Road. Th ...
and lost 1-0 in
extra time
Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
.
* 2019: The agreement with Rush Soccer was terminated and the team reverted to its former name, "Lancaster Inferno".
Players
2021 First Team
2021 U23 Team
Notable former and present players
* Kelly O'Brien: Lancaster Inferno (20172019) Diósgyőri VTK of the Hungarian Női Nemzeti Bajnokság
* Sonia Rada: Lancaster Inferno(2019), EN Thoi Lakatamia (Cyprus) 2018-2019, FF Lugano 1976 Lugano, Switzerland (2017-2018),
* Emily Armstrong:
Sundsvalls DFF (Sundsvalls damfotbollsförening), Sweden (present);
IBV, in league
Úrvalsdeild Kvenna, Iceland (2018);
Medkila IL, Norway (2017); Lancaster Inferno (2016)
*
Sydney Blomquist: Lancaster Inferno (2014 & 2016), Västerås BK30 (2016), Åland United (2017), Sporting CP (2019–present)
* Emily Dolan:
Real Betis Balompié
Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...
(
Liga Iberdrola), Spain (2018present);
KKPK Medyk Konin
KKPK Medyk Konin is a Polish women's football club from Konin. As of the 2024–25 season, they compete in the I liga, the second level of competition, following relegation from the 2023–24 Ekstraliga.
Medyk Konin was founded in 1985. Since ...
(
Champions League &
Ekstraliga), Poland (20172018); USD San Zaccaria/Ravenna Woman (
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
), Italy (20162017); Lancaster Inferno (2016)
* Jade Flory: Lancaster Inferno (20132014), Prottur Reykjavik otherwise known as Throttur FC (Icelandic Women’s Premier Division) / Ravasens IK Karlskoga (Sweden)
* Tesa McKibben: Lancaster Inferno (20122014, 2017present); Germany's
FC Saarbrücken (20142016); Germany's ETSV Wurzburg (2014)
* Teresa Rynier: Lancaster Inferno (20072010, 2016, 2018present);
Ottawa Fury (2011 & 2014);
FH Hafnafjördur, Iceland (2013);
Kvarnsvedens IK
Kvarnsvedens IK is a Swedish football club located in Borlänge in Dalarna County.
Background
Football was first played in 1907 under the name Kvarnsvedens GOIF and this continued until 1935 when operations were shut down for financial reasons ...
, Sweden (2012)
* Kendra Jones: Lancaster Inferno (20102012, 2018present
); Women's
National Premier Leagues
The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a men's national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state- ...
's FC Bulleen Lions & Bayside United FC in Melbourne Australia (20162017); Czech Republic's
Zeny 1 Liga team
AC Sparta Praha
Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional association football, football club based in Prague.
It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in cen ...
(2015);
Victorian Premier League
The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...
of Australia: Heidelberg United (20132014)
* Carol Sánchez: Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia) & the Costa Rica women's national football team Lancaster Inferno (2016)
Team standings and statistics
Coaching staff
* Francisco Cleaves, Head Coach of First Team (2014–present)
* Rob Smith, Associate Head Coach of First Team (2020–present)
* Wendell Hannaford, Head Coach of U23 Team (2021–present)
* Chris Weibel, Strength & Conditioning Coach (2014–present)
Home stadiums
* Pucillo Field,
Millersville University
Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the ten schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educa ...
(2015–present)
*
Hempfield High School (2008–2014)
*Warwick High School (2024–present)
References
External links
Official Website
{{Pennsylvania Sports
Sports in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Amateur soccer teams in Pennsylvania
Women's soccer clubs in the United States
Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania