2014–15 Wichita B-52s season explained

Club:Wichita B-52s
Season:2014–15 MASL
Chrtitle:Owner
Chairman:Joseph Pindell
Mgrtitle:Head Coach
Manager:Jeff Kraft (games 1-5)
Darin Smith (game 6)
Kim Roentved (games 7-)
Stdtitle:Arena
Stadium:Hartman Arena
8151 N. Hartman Arena Drive
Park City, Kansas 67147
League:Major Arena Soccer League
League Result:4th, Central (regular season)
League Topscorer:Matt Clare (35 goals, 13 assists)
Highest Attendance:2,458 (February 21 vs. Tulsa Revolution)
Lowest Attendance:885 (November 16 vs. Oxford City FC of Texas)
Average Attendance:1,703 (10 games)
Prevseason:2013–14 (PASL)
Nextseason:2015–16

The 2014–15 Wichita B-52s season was the second season of the Wichita B-52s professional indoor soccer club. The Wichita B-52s, a Central Division team in the Major Arena Soccer League, played their home games at Hartman Arena in Park City, a suburb of Wichita, Kansas.

The team was led by team president Joseph Pindell and head coach Kim Roentved. The B-52s finished the season with a 10–10 record, placing them 4th in the Central and out of the MASL playoffs.

Season summary

Wichita struggled at the start of the season, losing on the road to the Dallas Sidekicks and then defeating the Tulsa Revolution at home before losing their next 3 games. The B-52s began to find their footing with wins over Tulsa and the Chicago Mustangs then losses to the Missouri Comets and Oxford City FC of Texas. A 5-game win streak started with back-to-back road wins over the Seattle Impact and 3 wins over the St. Louis Ambush on 3 consecutive Saturday nights. Wichita lost 4 more games before home-and-road wins over Tulsa to complete the season. The team finished with a 10-10 record, earning fourth place in the Central Division but not qualifying for post-season play.

History

The B-52s franchise fills a gap left when the second Wichita Wings, a franchise of the third Major Indoor Soccer League, folded in 2013. The B-52s' team colors are based on the Wings' team colors.

In their inaugural season, the B-52 struggled through their first 4 games, beating only the Illinois Piasa and giving up 43 goals with Nic Martinez as the keeper. Jason Dewey was brought in as the new primary goalkeeper, improving the winning percentage and sharply decreasing the number of goals surrendered per game. Wichita earned a 7–9 record but did not qualify for the Ron Newman Cup playoffs. The team performed better at the box office, drawing an average of 1,650 fans per game, placing them 6th in the 20-team league for average attendance.

Off-field moves

In May 2014, the Professional Arena Soccer League added six teams from the failed third incarnation of the Major Indoor Soccer League and reorganized as the Major Arena Soccer League. The 2014–15 MASL season will be 20 games long, 4 more than the 16 regular season games of recent PASL seasons. With the league expansion and reorganization, the B-52s' Central division rivals for 2014–15 are the Chicago Mustangs, Milwaukee Wave, St. Louis Ambush, Tulsa Revolution, and Kansas City-based Missouri Comets.

After an inaugural season where the team lost more games than they won and failed to make the post-season, Wichita released Larry Inlow as head coach in September 2014. New head coach Jeff Kraft is a veteran player and coach with more than 20 years experience in indoor soccer.

In late October, the team hired Kim Roentved as director of soccer operations, a job combining coaching, recruiting, and community outreach. Roentved has strong ties to Wichita, first as a player for the original Wichita Wings from 1980 to 1987 then as a player/coach from 1991 to 1998, with the last 4 of those years as head coach. He had most recently served as the head coach for the Missouri Comets of the now-defunct MISL.

On November 26, with the B-52s earning only a 1–4 record after 5 games and struggling at the box office, the team released head coach Jeff Kraft and named his assistant coach, Darin Smith, to replace him on an interim basis. At the same time, the team released players Damian Garcia and Carlos "Chile" Farias, citing the need to "rebuild" and "to keep moving forward" as a team. On December 2, the team announced Kim Roentved as their new head coach.

In late May 2015, local media reported that some players and staff had worked this season with little or no pay, some checks written by the team to vendors had bounced, and that the team owed Hartman Arena approximately $2,000. Team owner Joey Pindell told KWCH-DT that the "B-52's are experiencing some struggles" but that he was working with MASL officials to resolve their issues.

Schedule

Regular season

GameDayDateKickoffOpponentResultsLocationAttendance
ScoreRecord
1SaturdayNovember 17:00pmat Dallas SidekicksL 6–70–1 Allen Event Center3,768
2SaturdayNovember 87:05pmTulsa RevolutionW 12–61–1 Hartman Arena1,510
3SundayNovember 163:05pmOxford City FC of TexasL 9–10 (SO)1–2 Hartman Arena885
4SaturdayNovember 227:05pmat Missouri CometsL 3–131–3Independence Events Center4,242
5SundayNovember 233:00pmDallas SidekicksL 2–3 (OT)1–4Hartman Arena991
6SaturdayNovember 297:05pmat Tulsa RevolutionW 8–42–4Cox Business Center461
7SaturdayDecember 67:05pmChicago MustangsW 8–53–4Hartman Arena1,539
8SaturdayDecember 137:05pmat Missouri CometsL 3–123–5Independence Events Center3,561
9SaturdayDecember 207:05pmOxford City FC of TexasL 7–83–6Hartman Arena1,340
10SaturdayJanuary 37:30pmat Seattle ImpactW 12–44–6ShoWare Center723
11SundayJanuary 44:00pmat Seattle ImpactW 10–55–6ShoWare Center604
12SaturdayJanuary 107:05pmSt. Louis AmbushW 7–56–6Hartman Arena2,116
13SaturdayJanuary 177:05pmSt. Louis AmbushW 14–97–6Hartman Arena1,864
14SaturdayJanuary 247:05pmat St. Louis AmbushW 9–8 (OT)8–6Family Arena6,027
15SundayJanuary 253:05pmat Milwaukee WaveL 4–128–7UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena2,874
16SaturdayJanuary 317:05pmat Chicago MustangsL 5–88–8Sears Centre1,556
17SaturdayFebruary 77:05pmMilwaukee WaveL 12–148–9Hartman Arena1,957
18 SundayFebruary 83:05pmMissouri CometsL 4–118–10Hartman Arena2,139
19SaturdayFebruary 217:05pmTulsa RevolutionW 12–69–10Hartman Arena2,458
20SundayFebruary 223:05pmat Tulsa RevolutionW 22–410–10Expo Square Pavilion208
Game originally scheduled for Saturday, November 15.
Game rescheduled from December 27 due to a change in home venues.

Awards and honors

In May 2014, BBC America declared the B-52s as one of "10 British Things About Wichita, Kansas".

Wichita defender Alex Moseley was selected for the 2014-15 MASL All-League Second Team.

Wichita's Abel Sebele earned honorable mention for the league's all-rookie team for 2014-15.

External links