Syracuse Pulse, initially AC Syracuse Pulse, was an American professional

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

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. The Pulse fielded a men's team in the

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is previously in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season for ...

(NISA), the third tier of the US soccer pyramid, during the 2022 season before merging with the

Flower City Union Flower City Union is an American pre-professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States, that most recently played in the National Independent Soccer Association, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system and ...

History

Founding

In May 2021, an ownership group led by local businessman Samir Belhseine announced an application to join the

for 2022. The team, initially just called AC Syracuse, announced plans to develop an academy system along with a women's soccer team that would compete 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 ...

. The team also announced a fan-vote for the community to pick the club mascot, with the top 32 names at the end of the voting submission window entered into a bracket and a winner announced at the

New York State Fair The New York State Fair, also known as the Great New York State Fair, is a 13-day showcase of agriculture, entertainment, education, and technology. With Midway (fair), midway rides, concessionaires, exhibits, and concerts, it has become New Yo ...

. On October 26, the team was officially accepted into NISA after being approved by the league's Board of Governors. The team also announced its new team nickname Syracuse Pulse and logo the same day in a local press conference. Former

C.F. União Clube de Futebol União, commonly known as União da Madeira, was a Portuguese association football, football club based in Funchal, Madeira, notable for its six season in the Portuguese top-flight Primeira Liga, between the 1989–90 Primeira D ...

assistant manager and

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

youth national team manager Cláudio Garcia was announced as the first-ever team manager, but was replaced before the season by former

Chattanooga FC Chattanooga Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2009, the team is in MLS Next Pro starting in 2024. Prior to joining MLS Next Pro, the club played in the National Indep ...

coach Peter Fuller.

2022 Season

The Pulse entered their inaugural season in a rushed fashion; the club's first training session was March 19, just seven days before their first league match. Nevertheless, they won that inaugural game over

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

rival

. The Pulse finished the 2022 season 7-4-11, good for sixth place and the last playoff spot. They were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, 2-0, by eventual league champions

Michigan Stars FC Michigan Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Metro Detroit area. The team currently competes in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The Michigan Stars play their home games at the 5,000-capacity ...

Merger

On January 17, 2023, Syracuse Pulse ceased to exist as a separate club after they merged with fellow expansion team

based in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. The combined club played home matches in both cities; for home games in Syracuse the club played under the name ''Salt City Union'' with its own logo, uniforms, and color scheme. After winning the 2023 NISA Championship in its first season as a combined club, Flower City Union announced its departure from the league in a statement on February 15, 2024. NISA responded with a press release saying "goodbye to our reigning champions". Five days later, Flower City were announced as new members of the semi-professional

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. ...

. The Salt City identity has been abandoned with the move to the NPSL, and Flower City Union no longer plays any home games in Syracuse.

Ground

AC Syracuse Pulse played their home games at Lazer Stadium on the campus of

Onondaga Community College Onondaga Community College (OCC) is a public community college that serves Onondaga County and Central New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. OCC's 280-acre main campus is located in the Town of Onondaga, which ...

. During their time as Salt City Union, the club played home games at

Falcon Park Falcon Park is a stadium in Auburn, New York. The stadium is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Auburn Doubledays collegiate summer baseball team. The Auburn Maroons high school baseball team also plays its home games at th ...

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

Planned Women's Team

On December 10, 2021, the United Women's Soccer league announced that the a new Pulse women's team had been accepted into the league for the 2022 season. Syracuse native and former UWS player Brooke Barbuto was also announced as the team's first head coach. In May 2022, the league announced that the Pulse would not be playing after all "due to unforeseen circumstances".

Proposed Moroccan Academy

Ahead of its inaugural season, team management from The Pulse and NISA visited Morocco, Belhseine's home country, in November 2021 on a humanitarian mission. In a joint press conference the team announced a partnership with the Moroccan-occupied city of

Laayoune Laayoune or El Aaiún (, Latn, ar, al-ʕuyūn , , ) is the largest city of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, with a population of 271,344 in 2023. The city is the ''de jure'' capital of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, though it ...

to open an academy to promote and develop football in the Sahara region.

References

{{New York Sports National Independent Soccer Association teams United Women's Soccer teams Soccer in Syracuse, New York Men's soccer clubs in New York (state) Women's soccer clubs in New York (state) AC Syracuse Pulse 2021 establishments in New York (state) Association football clubs established in 2021 Association football clubs disestablished in 2022 2022 disestablishments in New York (state)