Ventura County Fusion

Ventura County Fusion

Full name	Ventura County Fusion Soccer Club
Nickname(s)	The Fusion
Founded	2006; 18 years ago (2006)
Stadium	Ventura College Sportsplex Ventura, California
Capacity	5,000
Owner	Ranbir Shergill
Head Coach	Mike Elias
League	USL League Two
2023	2nd, Southwest Division Playoffs: Conference Final
Website	Club website
Home colors Away colors
Current season

Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.

The team plays its home games in the stadium on the campus of Ventura College, the VC SportsPlex, where they have played since 2011. The team's colors are blue, orange and white. All home games are streamed live on the Fusion's YouTube channel. All broadcasts are done in conjunction with CAPS TV in Ventura.

History

The Fusion entered the Premier Development League in 2007 as the first ever soccer franchise from the Ventura County area of Southern California. They played their first competitive game on April 28, 2007, beating fellow expansion franchise Lancaster Rattlers 2–1, and setting the wheels in motion for what turned out to be a promising first season. Four wins in their next five games – including impressive victories over traditional regional powerhouses Fresno Fuego and Orange County Blue Star – propelled the Fusion to the top of the table by mid-season. However, a spate of injuries began to take its toll on their roster, and by the middle of July the Fusion were stuttering towards the finish line, still in with a shout of making the playoffs, but being hampered by damaging defeats to Fresno and the Southern California Seahorses. By the time the final set of games came round, Fusion needed three points from their final two games to leapfrog the San Fernando Valley Quakes into the playoffs, but two consecutive ties – 3–3 with Southern California Seahorses and a hugely disappointing 0–0 with Los Angeles Storm – meant that they finished their debut season fourth in the table. English striker Mark Draycott was the team's leading marksman, notching an impressive ten goals, while Eric Avila and Chance Myers led the assist stats.

In the offseason, Fusion played against English Premier League side Everton in a closed friendly at the Home Depot Center on July 24, 2007. The match was organised by head coach Smith, who "wanted it to be a reward for their great play during their inaugural season". Later, in early 2008, Fusion hosted games against Hammarby of the Swedish Allsvenskan, and Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew of MLS. Fusion enjoyed a 1–0 victory over a Columbus side that included MLS veterans such as Frankie Hejduk, despite playing without all their college players, due to NCAA regulations.

Ventura started their second competitive season without the services of Chance Myers and Eric Avila, both of whom had been taken in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, and Mark Draycott, who had returned to England to play for Swindon Supermarine. Despite this, anticipation was high that success would be swift, but they actually started the season sluggishly, losing two of their first four games, and not picking up a victory until their 3–0 triumph over Fresno Fuego in late May. This signalled an about-turn in form; Fusion enjoyed four wins in June, including an impressive 4–1 thrashing of Fresno Fuego away from home. Two more impressive victories – 2–0 over Southern California Seahorses and 4–0 over Lancaster Rattlers – kept Fusion's playoff run on course, but a shock 1–0 defeat to struggling Orange County Blue Star at home meant that they had to beat eventual divisional champions San Fernando Valley Quakes in their next game, or their season would be over. The Quakes won 3–2 in a bad-tempered game at Pierce College, and Ventura were left rueing another year of missed opportunities. They eventually finished the season in 3rd, just two points out of the playoffs; Hagop Chirishian was the team's top scorer, with 4 goals, while former Chivas USA midfielder Rodrigo López led with 3 assists.

On July 21, 2009 the Fusion played Burnley of the Barclays Premier League, however the superior class showed through and despite a spirited showing the Fusion went down 5–0.

2009 was a breakout year for Fusion. Having added former MLS players Ivan Becerra, Anthony Hamilton and Adam Smarte to the roster during the offseason, Ventura looked like a decent bet to qualify for the post-season for the first time. Things did not start well; they drew 2–2 with Bakersfield Brigade in their opening game of the season, and then were thumped 4–0 at home by the Hollywood United Hitmen next time out. The hammering, however, seemed to bring things into focus, and things improved sharply. From then on, Ventura embarked on an astonishing 12-game unbeaten streak that included six ties and hard-fought victories away at the Ogden Outlaws, a 3–2 revenge win away at Hollywood, and a 4–2 goal fest at home to the BYU Cougars in which Anthony Hamilton scored a brace. A nervy 1–0 loss to the Los Angeles Legends on the last day of the regular season meant that the Fusion finished third in the Southwest division, but sneaked into the playoffs by the back door as the lowest seed in the West. Fusion beat the Legends 2–1 in the first round of the playoffs thanks to early goals by Alfonso Motagalvan and Anthony Hamilton, and then defeated divisional champions Hollywood in extra time thanks to two late goals by Sam Myerson. For the national quarter finals Ventura travelled to Laredo, Texas, and dispatched Northwest division champions Kitsap Pumas 2–1 on an injury-time free kick from Rodrigo López, and then demolished the Bradenton Academics 6–1 in searing heat to qualify for their first ever PDL Championship game. Ventura hosted the final, which was broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel, and snatched a victory from out of the hands of Chicago Fire Premier with an injury time winner from Alfonso Motagalvan, despite playing for most of the match with ten men.^[1] Artur Aghasyan and Anthony Hamilton were Ventura's regular-season top scorers, with 8 goals each, while Hamilton and Hagop Chirishian contributed 3 assists apiece.

On July 15, 2014, Fusion played a friendly match against Rangers from Glasgow, Scotland, which the Fusion won 3–1.

On July 15, 2018, Jermaine Jones played his last game of competitive football with the Fusion in a 1–0 home loss to FC Golden State Force.^[2]

Players

Current squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  USA Johnny Alcaraz — MF  PHI Henry Brauner — DF  USA Willie Rupert — FW  USA Reed McKenna — DF  PUR Gio Calderón

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  NGA Nwankwo Tochukwu — MF  ZAM Kennedy Chongo — FW  LBR Adam Smarte — FW  ARM Artur Aghasyan

Notable former players

This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular season	Playoffs	Open Cup	Avg. attendance
2007	4	USL PDL	4th, Southwest	did not qualify	did not qualify	1,176
2008	4	USL PDL	3rd, Southwest	did not qualify	did not qualify	1,217
2009	4	USL PDL	3rd, Southwest	Champions	did not qualify	876
2010	4	USL PDL	1st, Southwest	Conference Semi-Finals	1st Round	873
2011	4	USL PDL	2nd, Southwest	Conference Semi-Finals	2nd Round	1,116
2012	4	USL PDL	1st, Southwest	Conference Finals	3rd Round	1,302
2013	4	USL PDL	2nd, Southwest	Conference Semifinals	2nd Round	1,282
2014	4	USL PDL	1st, Southwest	Conference Semifinals	did not qualify	1,322
2015	4	USL PDL	2nd, Southwest	Division Playoffs	2nd Round	—
2016	4	USL PDL	4th, Southwest	did not qualify	1st Round	—
2017	4	USL PDL	8th, Southwest	did not qualify	did not qualify	—
2018	4	USL PDL	2nd, Southwest	did not qualify	did not qualify	—
2019	4	USL League Two	2nd, Southwest	Conference Finals	did not qualify	—
2020	4	USL League Two	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	4	USL League Two	did not play due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	4	USL League Two	2nd, Southwest	Champions	did not qualify	—
2023	4	USL League Two	2nd, Southwest	Conference Final	1st round	—

Honors

• USL PDL Southwest Division
  • Champions: 2010, 2012, 2014
• USL PDL Western Conference
  • Champions: 2009
• USL PDL
  • Champions: 2009
• USL League Two Western Conference
  • Champions: 2022
• USL League Two
  • Champions: 2022

Notable matches

Head coaches

• Graham Smith (2007–2009)
• Ole Mikkelsen (2010–2012)
• Rudy Ybarra (2013–2019)
• Mike Elias (2019–Present)

Stadia

• Bulldog Stadium at Buena High School; Ventura, California (2007–2010)
• Panther Stadium at Newbury Park High School; Thousand Oaks, California, 2 games (2007–2008)
• Stadium at Ventura College; Ventura, California (2009, 2011–present)

References

External links

Eastern Conference

Northeast	AC Connecticut Albany Rush Black Rock FC Boston Bolts Boston City FC Pathfinder FC Seacoast United Phantoms Vermont Green FC Western Mass Pioneers
Mid Atlantic	Lehigh Valley United Ocean City Nor'easters Philadelphia Lone Star FC Reading United AC Real Central New Jersey West Chester United SC
Metropolitan	Cedar Stars Rush Hudson Valley Hammers Ironbound SC Long Island Rough Riders Manhattan SC Morris Elite SC FC Motown STA New Jersey Copa FC Staten Island Sporting Athletic Club Westchester Flames
Chesapeake	Charlotesville Blues Christos FC Lionsbridge FC Northern Virginia FC Patuxent Football Athletics Virginia Beach United FC Virginia Marauders FC
South Atlantic	Charlotte Eagles Charlotte Independence 2 North Carolina FC U23 North Carolina Fusion U23 Salem City FC South Carolina United Tobacco Road FC Wake FC West Virginia United

Central Conference

Great Lakes	AFC Ann Arbor Flint City Bucks Kalamazoo FC Lansing City Football Michiana Lions Midwest United FC Oakland County FC Union FC Macomb
Valley	Cleveland Force FC Dayton Dutch Lions FC Buffalo Fort Wayne FC Kings Hammer FC Toledo Villa FC
Heartland	Chicago City SC Chicago Dutch Lions Des Moines Menace Peoria City River City FC St. Charles FC Sueno FC FC Wichita
Deep North	Bavarian United SC Minneapolis City SC RKC Third Coast Rochester FC St. Croix Legends Thunder Bay Chill

Southern Conference

South Central	Asheville City SC Athens United Birmingham Legion 2 Dothan United East Atlanta Dutch Lions Southern Soccer Academy Kings Tennessee SC
Southeast	Brevard SC Brooke House FC Florida Elite Soccer Academy Inter Gainesville KF NONA FC Brave SC
South Florida	Miami AC Sarasota Paradise St. Petersburg FC Swan City SC Tampa Bay United Weston FC
Mid South	Blue Goose SC Hattiesburg FC Little Rock Rangers LA Krewe FC Mississippi Brilla FC
Lone Star	AC Houston Sur AHFC Royals Corpus Christi FC Hill Country Lobos Houston FC Twin City Toucans

Western Conference

Mountain	Albion SC Colorado CISA Flatirons Rush SC New Mexico United U-23 Salt City SC Utah United Utah Avalanche
Northwest	Ballard FC Capital FC Atletico Lane United FC Midlakes United FC Olympia Tacoma Stars United PDX West Seattle Junction FC
Nor Cal	Academica SC Almaden FC Davis Legacy SC Marin FC Legends Monterey Bay FC 2 Project 51O San Francisco City SC San Francisco Glens
Southwest	AMSG FC Arizona Arsenal SC Capo FC Cochella FC FC Tucson Redlands FC Southern California Eagles Ventura County Fusion

Seasons

as USISL Premier League	1995 1996
as PDSL	1997 1998
as PDL	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
as USL League Two	2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Miscellaneous