2022 Central Valley Fuego FC season

Central Valley Fuego FC
2022 season
Owner	Juan and Alicia Ruelas
Head coach	Jaime Ramirez
Stadium	Fresno State Soccer Stadium
USL1 Playoffs	DNQ
U.S. Open Cup	Third Round
Highest home attendance	2,752 (5/7 vs. GVL)
Lowest home attendance	1,075 (8/6 vs. OMA)
Average home league attendance	1,594
Biggest win	TRM 0–4 CV (5/21)
Biggest defeat	CLT 4–0 CV (7/29)

The 2022 Central Valley Fuego FC season was the first season in the club's existence. It marked the return of professional soccer to Fresno since USL Championship club Fresno FC dissolved in October 2019.^[1] The club played its first season in USL League One in the third division of the American soccer pyramid. They played their home games at Fresno State Soccer Stadium on the campus of Fresno State University.

Jaime Ramirez, initially named the team's sporting director, was later named the head coach in late December.^[2] He would resign his position in the preseason, and was replaced by Milton Blanco in the interim.^[3] Martín Vásquez was named the permanent head coach on April 14.^[4]

Club

Roster

As of March 10, 2022^[5]

No.	Pos.	Player	Nation
1	GK	Ofek Antman	Israel
4	DF	William Gillingham	England
5	DF	Nathan Smith	United States
6	MF	Ozzie Ramos	United States
7	MF	Mouhamed Dabo	Senegal
8	MF	Victor Falck	Sweden
9	FW	Christian Chaney	United States
10	MF	Anthony Velarde	United States
12	FW	Michael McFarlane	United States
13	DF	Francois Dulysse	Haiti
14	MF	Julian Chavez	United States
15	DF	Jordan Chavez	United States
16	MF	Neil Boyal	United States
17	FW	Tunde Akinlosotu	United States
18	GK	Mitch North	United States
20	FW	Villyan Bijev	Bulgaria
22	MF	Diego Casillas	Mexico
23	FW	Renato Bustamante	Peru
28	MF	Marco Torralva	United States
30	DF	Maxi Schenfeld	Chile
31	GK	Matías Fernández	United States
32	MF	Alan Gutierrez	United States
—	DF	Michael Hornsby	Germany

Competitions

Exhibitions

February 26, 2022 (2022-02-26) Preseason 1	Sacramento Republic FC	3–2	Fuego FC	Sacramento, California
2:00 PM PST		Report		Stadium: Cosumnes River College Stadium

March 5, 2022 (2022-03-05) Preseason 2	Oakland Roots SC	1–0	Fuego FC	Oakland, California
3:00 PM PST		Report

March 12, 2022 (2022-03-12) Preseason 3	Fuego FC	v	Cal State Northridge
3:00 PM PDT

USL League One

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
6	Charlotte Independence	30	12	12	6	48	48	0	42	Qualification for the play-offs
7	Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC	30	11	10	9	42	38	+4	42
8	Central Valley Fuego FC	30	11	12	7	37	40	−3	40
9	Forward Madison FC	30	7	11	12	34	44	−10	33
10	FC Tucson	30	8	14	8	34	44	−10	32

Source: USL League One
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 6) disciplinary points; 7) drawing of lots.

Match results

April 2, 2022 (2022-04-02) 1	Greenville Triumph	0–2	Fuego FC	Greenville, South Carolina
4:00 PM PDT	Smith 13' Lee 40' Labovitz 67'	Report	Falck 20' Chaney 56', 69' Casillas 80' Antman 86'	Stadium: Legacy Early College Field Attendance: 2,561 Referee: William Steffen

April 8, 2022 (2022-04-08) 2	Charlotte Independence	3–3	Fuego FC	Charlotte, North Carolina
4:00 PM PDT	Mbuyu 32', 41' Dutey 89' McNeill 90' Dimick 90+7'	Report	Chaney 34' Ramos 39', 43' Bijev 81', 90+6'	Stadium: American Legion Memorial Stadium Attendance: 2,435 Referee: Izlen Peksenar

April 23, 2022 (2022-04-23) 3	Union Omaha	3–0	Fuego FC	Papillion, Nebraska
4:00 PM PDT	Kametani 48' Malcolm 90' Scearce 90+4' (pen)	Report	S. Chavez 15' 90+3' Ramos 17' Smith 63' Casillas 90+4'	Stadium: Werner Park Attendance: 3,375 Referee: Greg Dopka

April 30, 2022 (2022-04-30) 4	Forward Madison	0–1	Fuego FC	Madison, Wisconsin
3:00 PM PDT	Maldonado 27' Leonard 44' Bartman 90+6'	Report	Ramos Partida 51', 54' Schenfeld 61' Dulysse 81' Smith 82' Antman 87'	Stadium: Breese Stevens Field Attendance: 2,605 Referee: Jervis Atagana

May 7, 2022 (2022-05-07) 5	Fuego FC	1–1	Greenville Triumph	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Falck 6' Ramos 41' Casillas 45+3' Smith 68' Chaney 71' Dieye 84'	Report	Gavilanes 46' Dulysse 53' (o.g.) Lee 90+3'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 2,752 Referee: Adam Zarrin

May 14, 2022 (2022-05-14) 6	Chattanooga Red Wolves	2–2	Fuego FC	East Ridge, Tennessee
4:30 PM PDT	Mentzingen 3' Galindrez 45+5' (pen) Lombardi 50' Luna 56' Cardona 89' Carrera-García 90'	Report	Casillas 15' Falck 45+3' Schenfeld 90+7'	Stadium: CHI Memorial Stadium Attendance: 2,104 Referee: Kyle Johnston

May 21, 2022 (2022-05-21) 7	Tormenta FC	0–4	Fuego FC	Statesboro, Georgia
4:30 PM PDT	Sterling 31'	Report	Falck 12' S. Chavez 17' Bijev 35', 42' Schenfeld 59' Dulysse 61' Hornsby 75' Antman 77' Bustamante 90'	Stadium: Optim Health System Field Attendance: 1,254 Referee: Alejo Calume

May 28, 2022 (2022-05-28) 8	Fuego FC	1–1	Forward Madison	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Smith 79' Dieye 81' Bijev 90+2'	Report	Conner 41' Leonard 56' Streng 82' Bartman 90'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Referee: Karen Callado

June 11, 2022 (2022-06-11) 9	Fuego FC	0–2	Chattanooga Red Wolves	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Dieye 13' Gillingham 40' Schenfeld 45' Diaz 69' Antman 78'	Report	Mentzingen 45+2' Mehl 70' Espinoza 81' Galindrez 90+5', 90+5'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,545 Referee: Laura Rodriguez

June 18, 2022 (2022-06-18) 10	Fuego FC	0–0	FC Tucson	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Ramos 21' Dieye 48' Schenfeld 56' Chaney 90+3'	Report	Fahling 65' Bedoya 73' Shaw 78'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Referee: Joseph Salinas

June 22, 2022 (2022-06-22) 11	Hailstorm FC	4–1	Fuego FC	Windsor, Colorado
6:00 PM PDT	McLean 21' Amann 41' Parra 50', 74' Hernández 77'	Report	Casillas 7' Gillingham 45+2' Dieye 83' Smith 90+6' 90+7'	Stadium: Future Legends Complex Referee: Joshua Belzer

June 25, 2022 (2022-06-25) 12	Fuego FC	3–2	North Carolina FC	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Ramos 17' S. Chavez 18' Dulysse 22' Schenfeld 30' Chaney 45+5', 75' Antman 65' Diaz 80'	Report	Servania 18' Anderson 37', 66' Fernandes 45+2' McLaughlin 90'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,753 Referee: Michael Zapata

July 2, 2022 (2022-07-02) 13	Fuego FC	0–1	Tormenta FC	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Dullysse 31' Villarreal 78'	Report	Cabral 60' Nembhard 70' Jara 87' Soto 90+4'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,546 Referee: Robert Vincze

July 9, 2022 (2022-07-09) 14	Greenville Triumph	1–0	Fuego FC	Greenville, South Carolina
4:00 PM PDT	Evans 66'	Report	Casillas 80'	Stadium: Legacy Early College Field Attendance: 1,832 Referee: Josiah Parke

July 13, 2022 (2022-07-13) 15	Hailstorm FC	0–1	Fuego FC	Windsor, Colorado
6:00 PM PDT	Folla 37' Lukic 65' 90' Nortey 90' Cornwall 90+4'	Report	Ramos 26' Torralva 32' Partida 54' Chaney 87', 90+2'	Stadium: Future Legends Complex Attendance: 596 Referee: Esad Omanovic

July 23, 2022 (2022-07-23) 16	Fuego FC	3–1	Richmond Kickers	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Falck 16', 35' Hornsby 45' Partida 53' Cerritos 58' Strong 63'	Report	Payne 15' 19' Barnathan 45', 76' Aune 48' Fitzgerald 56' Candela 90+3'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,345 Referee: Adrian Gonzalez

July 29, 2022 (2022-07-29) 17	Charlotte Independence	4–0	Fuego FC	Charlotte, North Carolina
4:00 PM PDT	Dutey 12' Ciss 16' Bennett 20', 39', 45+3', 64' Santos 43' Acosta 52'	Report	S. Chavez 66' Keslley 73' Chaney 90+1'	Stadium: American Legion Memorial Stadium Attendance: 1,511 Referee: Emma Richards

August 3, 2022 (2022-08-03) 18	Fuego FC	0–1	Chattanooga Red Wolves	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Casillas 29' 45+3' Bijev 39' Antman 74' Dieye 77' Partida 90+2' Chaney 90+6'	Report	Cartagena 20' Carrera-García 49' A. Hernández 74' Saunders 85'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,143 Referee: Killian Richardson

August 6, 2022 (2022-08-06) 19	Fuego FC	0–1	Union Omaha	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Bijev 16' Partida 29' Chaney 78' S. Chavez 90+7'	Report	Nuhu 16' Scearce 23' Brito 40'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,075 Referee: Joseph Salinas

August 13, 2022 (2022-08-13) 20	North Carolina FC	0–1	Fuego FC	Cary, North Carolina
4:00 PM PDT	Martinez 19' Servania 78' Tahir 90+4'	Report	Smith 34' Dieye 40' Gillingham 45+2' Bijev 61' Chaney 90+8'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,092 Referee: Joshua Encarnación

August 20, 2022 (2022-08-20) 21	Fuego FC	2–2	Richmond Kickers	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Falck 24' 32' Smith 36' Villarreal 57' North 60' Schenfeld 67'	Report	Bolanos 38' Aune 57' Terzaghi 70' (pen.) Bentley 90+3'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,193 Referee: Robert Vincze

August 27, 2022 (2022-08-27) 22	Fuego FC	0–2	Tormenta FC	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Casillas 24' Cerritos 65' Schenfeld 70'	Report	Cabral 25' Sterling 26', 54' Phelps 45+5' Akale 54' Sierakowski 71' Billhardt 90+5'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,074 Referee: Adam Zarrin

August 31, 2022 (2022-08-31) 23	Fuego FC	3–2	FC Tucson	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Chaney 34', 45+3' Dieye 52' Falck 57', 75' Dabo 78'	Report	F. Pérez 16', 81' Toia 25' Sunday 40' Fahling 45' 90+1' L. Perez 77'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 826 Referee: Adrian Gonzalez

September 17, 2022 (2022-09-17) 25	Fuego FC	0–3	Charlotte Independence	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Smith 36' Dullysse 36' Villarreal 45+1'	Report	Falck 38' (o.g.) Bennett 43', 55', 79' Mbuyu 58' Zendejas 64'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Referee: Samantha Martinez

September 21, 2022 (2022-09-21) 26	Fuego FC	3–0	Forward Madison	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Chaney 9' Ramos 51' Dieye 82', 90+2'	Report	Conner 36' 73' Cassini 50'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Attendance: 1,078 Referee: Karen Callado

September 24, 2022 (2022-09-24) 27	Richmond Kickers	1–1	Fuego FC	Richmond, Virginia
3:30 PM PDT	Bryant 36' Bolanos 58' Crisler 75'	Report	Ramos 31' Schenfeld 43' Bijev 55' Crisler 69' (o.g.) S. Chavez 74' 80'	Stadium: City Stadium Referee: Joshua Encarnación

September 28, 2022 (2022-09-28) 24	North Carolina FC	2–1	Fuego FC	Cary, North Carolina
4:00 PM PDT	Fernandes 9' McLaughlin 22' Skelton 47' Rincon 68' Pecka 90' Servania 90+5'	Report	Vera 24' Chaney 29', 90+2' Dabo 58' Falck 63' Strong 73' Hornsby 76' Dullysse 90+4'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Referee: Josiah Parke
Note: Re-schedule of Sept. 10 match that was postponed due to travel difficulties.^[6]

October 1, 2022 (2022-10-01) 28	Fuego FC	0–1	Hailstorm FC	Fresno, California
7:30 PM PDT	Dieye 10' Falck 58' Schenfeld 72' Dabo 86' Smith 90+7'	Report	Amann 14' Dullysse 62' (o.g.) Cornwall 58' Hernández 71'	Stadium: Fresno State Soccer Stadium Referee: Brandon Stevis

October 5, 2022 (2022-10-05) 29	FC Tucson	0–2	Fuego FC	Tucson, Arizona
7:00 PM PDT	Mastrantonio 12'	Report	Villarreal 13' Chaney 43' 68' Casillas 45+2' Vazquez 50' Smith 70'	Stadium: Kino North Stadium Referee: DeShun Beard

October 15, 2022 (2022-10-15) 30	Union Omaha	0–2	Fuego FC	Papillion, Nebraska
2:00 PM PDT	Rivera 23'	Report	Casillas 32' S. Chavez 40' Villarreal 45+2' Dieye 61', 74' Chaney 78', 90+10' Gillingham 79'	Stadium: Werner Park Attendance: 3,174 Referee: Ricardo Fierro

U.S. Open Cup

Fuego FC made their Open Cup debut in the Second Round.

April 5 2nd Round	Fuego FC (USL1)	4–1	El Paso Locomotive FC (USLC)	Clovis, California
7:30 pm PDT	Bijev 4', 44' Smith 15' Chaney 62'	Report	John-Brown 58' Calvillo 90'	Stadium: Lamonica Stadium at Clovis High School Referee: Michael Zapata

April 20 3rd Round	Sacramento Republic FC (USLC)	2–1	Central Valley Fuego FC (USL1)	Sacramento, California
7:30 pm PDT	Casey 44' LaGrassa 54' López 90+4' (pen)	Report	Smith 56' Bustamante 78' Dullysse 80' Ramos 89'	Stadium: Heart Health Park Attendance: 3,712

References

^ "Fresno FC announces it's done in Fresno, ceasing operations". KFSN-TV. October 29, 2019.
^ Marden, Andrew (December 16, 2020). "FPU's Jaime Ramirez named 'Sporting Director' for Central Valley Fuego FC". YourCentralValley.com. KSEE/KGPE. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
^ Fuego FC Staff (April 13, 2022). "Fuego FC Announces Technical Staff Update". fuegofc.com. Central Valley Fuego FC. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
^ Fuego FC Staff (April 14, 2022). "Central Valley Fuego FC Announces Martín Vásquez As New Head Coach For USL League One Team". fuegofc.com. Central Valley Fuego FC. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
^ "Christian Chaney Signs with Central Valley Fuego FC". fuegofc.com. Central Valley Fuego FC. January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
^ "North Carolina FC vs. Central Valley Fuego FC Postponed". September 8, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.

[1] "Fresno FC announces it's done in Fresno, ceasing operations". KFSN-TV. October 29, 2019.

[2] Marden, Andrew (December 16, 2020). "FPU's Jaime Ramirez named 'Sporting Director' for Central Valley Fuego FC". YourCentralValley.com. KSEE/KGPE. Retrieved June 24, 2021.

[3] Fuego FC Staff (April 13, 2022). "Fuego FC Announces Technical Staff Update". fuegofc.com. Central Valley Fuego FC. Retrieved April 14, 2022.

[4] Fuego FC Staff (April 14, 2022). "Central Valley Fuego FC Announces Martín Vásquez As New Head Coach For USL League One Team". fuegofc.com. Central Valley Fuego FC. Retrieved April 14, 2022.

[5] "Christian Chaney Signs with Central Valley Fuego FC". fuegofc.com. Central Valley Fuego FC. January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.

[6] "North Carolina FC vs. Central Valley Fuego FC Postponed". September 8, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.

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v t e USL League One
Teams	Central Valley Fuego FC Charlotte Independence Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Forward Madison FC Greenville Triumph SC One Knoxville SC Lexington SC Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC Union Omaha Richmond Kickers Spokane Velocity Tormenta FC
Future teams	AV Alta FC (2025) FC Naples (2025) Portland Hearts of Pine (2025) Santa Barbara Sky FC (2025) Texoma FC (2025) Westchester SC (2025) Eugene, OR (2025) Boise Pro Soccer (TBA)
Former teams	Fort Lauderdale CF Lansing Ignite FC New England Revolution II North Carolina FC North Texas SC Orlando City B Toronto FC II FC Tucson
Seasons	2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
USL Cup	2024
Miscellaneous	United Soccer League USL Championship USL League Two