Lehigh Valley Spirits named as new MASL indoor soccer team at PPL Center

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley’s new professional indoor soccer franchise has a name.

The Major Arena Soccer League team owned by Lehigh Valley Phantoms co-owners Jim and Rob Brooks will be called the Lehigh Valley Spirits, the organization announced Thursday at a news conference at Chickie’s & Pete’s at PPL Center in Allentown, where the club also introduced the first members of its front office and coaching staff.

The reveal marks the latest step for a franchise that ownership first announced in April. The Spirits will play in the MASL’s Premier Level, the league’s top tier, and are scheduled to begin their inaugural season this fall, with the home opener set for Dec. 5 at PPL Center.

“This is more than a new team, it’s a new land, a new heartbeat, a new spirit,” Sporting Director Giuliano Oliviero said during the unveiling. “Professional indoor soccer has arrived in the Lehigh Valley.”

The team named Oliviero as sporting director and technical director, William Banahene as assistant general manager and director of community relations, and Jeremy Ortiz as associate head coach.

Oliviero, 52, joins the Spirits after eight seasons as head coach of the Milwaukee Wave, where he had also spent much of an 11-season indoor playing career. He said MASL Commissioner Keith Tozer first approached him about the expansion club.

“I never thought I would really be leaving Wisconsin, but Commissioner Tozer came and said, ‘Would you be interested in this new franchise that’s coming into the MASL?'” Oliviero said. He said conversations with the Brooks brothers ultimately persuaded him to take the job.

Banahene, 32, a Rochester, New York, native, is an eight-year indoor veteran of the Harrisburg Heat and the Milwaukee Wave and was selected to the 2025 MASL All-Star Game. He said his background in community work drew him to the role.

“The biggest thing for me is giving the opportunity to create a culture that kind of represents Pennsylvania,” Banahene said. “We wanna do it on the field, we wanna do it off the field, and make a team that the city’s proud of.”

Ortiz, 40, played 12 professional seasons in the MASL with the Rochester Lancers and Baltimore Blast, winning the league’s Ron Newman Cup with Baltimore in 2016. He most recently served as an assistant coach with the Harrisburg Heat, which won the MASL2 championship this past season.

“I’m super excited to start this project,” Ortiz said. “We want to put a competitive team here to fight to win, to play to win a championship. That’s what we’re all about.”

The Spirits do not yet have any players under contract. The franchise’s roster will begin to take shape at the 2026 MASL Expansion Draft, set for Tuesday, May 26, at Chickie’s & Pete’s at PPL Center. Doors will open at 5 p.m. ahead of the 7 p.m. draft, and the public is invited to attend.

Under the format approved at the 2026 MASL League Meetings, each of the league’s eight existing clubs may protect 10 field players and one goalkeeper. The Spirits will select up to one player from each club across eight rounds, and no team can lose more than one player. The team was permitted to negotiate with unprotected players from May 11 through May 25.

The Spirits will be the second tenant at PPL Center, joining the Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, which has called the downtown Allentown arena home since it opened in 2014. The team’s orange-and-black color scheme echoes the Phantoms’ palette.

More information about the franchise is available through the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the Major Arena Soccer League.