The Cincinnati Silverbacks was an indoor soccer club based in Cincinnati, Ohio , that competed in the National Professional Soccer League .
13-725: They performed under the leadership of All-Star goalkeeper Carlos Pena. Other star players included Gino DiFlorio (who scored a team record 10 points in his Silverback debut against rival Cleveland Crunch ), Franklin McIntosh, Shawn Medved , and Dennis Brose. Games were held at the Cincinnati Gardens for their first two seasons before moving downtown along with the Cincinnati Cyclones where they would compete at The Crown (now known as Heritage Bank Center ) for their final year of competition. Despite their performance and fan support,
26-778: A soccer club from Ohio is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to sports in Cincinnati is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gino DiFlorio Gino DiFlorio is an Italian-Canadian former professional soccer player who had an extensive indoor career in North America during the 1990s. Since 2020 he is the Technical Director at the Capital Area Soccer Association (CASA) in Harrisburg, PA. From 2001 to 2020, he
39-891: The American Indoor Soccer Association and in 1988-9 for the Dallas Sidekicks of MISL. He later played for the Toronto Blizzard . DiFlorio played 1990-1 for the Canton Invaders of the National Professional Soccer League and finished the season the league's leading scorer. He then played 1991-2 for the Cleveland Crunch of the MISL. He returned to the Invaders for the 1992–3 season and finished
52-532: The Canadian National Soccer League . This edition of the Rockets's roster was a combination of the 1993 Rockets and Toronto Blizzard , with players coming from both squads. The Rockets finished in last place with a 5–15 record, as well as the worst attendance in the league, drawing in fewer than 1500 fans per match. The club had planned to return for the 1995 season, but withdrew only days before
65-597: The Canadian national soccer team , which came in 1988 on 15 July in a friendly against Poland played in Toronto . Canada lost 1–2. The Harrisburg Heat of the Professional Arena Soccer League , where DiFlorio is the assistant coach, retired his number in a halftime ceremony during the 15 December 2012, game. DiFlorio also trains and coaches players for HMMS Soccer Club and serves as director of coaching for
78-680: The Harrisburg Heat . (The Heat played until 2001 in the NPSL and then belonged to the Major Indoor Soccer League .) DiFlorio began the 2002–2003 season with the Heat, but finished his career with the Baltimore Blast , for whom he played the end of the season. He was the (AISA-)NPSL's 3rd all-time leading scorer with 1,452 points and second all-time goal scorer with 559. DiFlorio had one cap for
91-681: The 20 home games played in an average season, the Silverbacks would need at least 15 to be on a Friday or Saturday night. In their final season, 13 games were played on Friday or Saturday. Roughly 75 percent of Silverbacks ticket sales come from groups, with less than 10 percent—believed to be around 100—season ticket holders. The team was previously known as the Dayton Dynamo , from 1987/88-1994/95. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. This article about
104-650: The Silverbacks were discontinued due to not generating revenue. The Detroit-based Nederlander Organization, which manages Riverbend and the Taft Theater in Cincinnati as well as the Crown, was a partner in Cincinnati Entertainment Associates Ltd., which owned the Crown, Cyclones and Silverbacks. Former President Rich Neumann said a contributing factor to the club's demise was a lack of weekend home dates. Of
117-543: The club. Toronto Rockets (soccer team) The Toronto Rockets were a professional soccer team based in Toronto , Ontario , Canada that competed in the American Professional Soccer League during the 1994 season, with their home stadium at Centennial Park Stadium . After the 1993 APSL season, the Toronto Blizzard folded and were replaced by the North York Rockets , who had played in
130-587: The road to his professional career. DiFlorio began his career in 1983 with Toronto Italia in the National Soccer League where he assisted in securing the NSL Cup by defeating Toronto Panhellenic. In the winter of 1984 he played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League , joining the Cleveland Force in 1984 or 1985, a club he remained with until 1987. He then played in 1987-8 for the Dayton Dynamo of
143-503: The roster. Not long after that, he was training with the Canadian Youth Team, in which he started every game, but did not make the final roster. He stopped for a year and threw out all of his gear, and moved back to Italy. About a year later, he came back to Canada and was put back on the provincial teams, as the coaches recognized that they could not let talent like that go un-noticed. After coming out of highschool, Jay Fox put him on
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#1732924145746156-545: The season the league's 3rd leading scorer for the second time. With the Invaders again for 1993–4, he finished the league's 5th leading scorer. DiFlorio then played a summer season of outdoor soccer, 1994, for the Toronto Rockets in the American Professional Soccer League . He then from 1994 to 1997 played for NPSL side Buffalo Blizzard , for the Cincinnati Silverbacks from 1997 to 1998 and then from 1998 to 2002,
169-581: Was the director of coaching at the youth soccer club in Eastern Pennsylvania called HMMS. Moved into Canada with his immediate family after the first few years of his life in Italy. Growing up and playing recreational soccer, he could not put the soccer ball away, he was hooked. Sometime in his teen years, Gino was recognized by a coach of one of the Canadian Provincial Teams. He was later put on
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