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Earthquakes bring big guns for Wednesday's Open Cup match

August 3, 2004 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Minnesota Thunder News Release


ST. PAUL, Minn. (Tuesday, August 3, 2004) - The San Jose Earthquakes have brought their best team for Wednesday evening's U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match-up with the Minnesota Thunder. The team arrived in Minnesota on Monday evening and had a training session Tuesday morning at James Griffin Stadium. World Cup stars Landon Donovan and Jeff Agoos were present as were MLS All-Stars Brian Ching, goalkeeper Pat Onstad, and Richard Mulrooney.

The San Jose Earthquakes have lost in the quarterfinal round each of the last three years to the Los Angeles Galaxy. This year the Earthquakes face the team that beat the Galaxy. "San Jose is fresh and hungry," said Thunder president and general manager Jim Froslid. "They have not played since July 24 and they looked very sharp in Tuesday morning's practice. It should be a great challenge."

The Thunder is expecting a near capacity crowd, however, tickets will be available on game day. Tickets range in price from $10-$30 and can be purchased by visiting www.mnthunder.com or by calling the Thunder office at 651-917-8326.

NO TIME OFF FOR THUNDER

Following the Wednesday match with the Earthquakes the Thunder must quickly turn their attention to the last month of the A-League's regular season as the team departs for Portland on Thursday morning at 6 a.m. The Thunder will play two games in as many days for the second time in a week when they face the Portland Timbers Thursday evening.

The Thunder faces a difficult schedule over the next three weeks as they play nine games in just 23 days. Seven of those games will take place away from home. The final month of the season will prove to be very important in the Thunder's bid to make the playoffs. Currently, the Thunder are in third place in the Western Conference (33 points), while the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers are tied for first place (39 points each) with the Seattle Sounders sitting closely behind the Thunder for fourth place (31 points). The Thunder faces a great opportunity to put themselves in the playoffs, as they face each of those three teams twice over the next month.

The top four teams in the Western Conference advance to the post-season.

The Thunder's two final home games will take place on August 10 at Stillwater High School versus the Whitecaps and August 14 at James Griffin Stadium in St. Paul versus the Timbers. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.mnthunder.com or by calling the Thunder office at 651-917-8326.



USL First Division Stories from August 3, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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