USSF D-2 Minnesota United FC

Late Goal Carries Stars Past Impact

June 9, 2010 - U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
Minnesota United FC News Release


BLAINE, Minn. (June 9, 2010) - With a second consecutive scoreless draw looming, the NSC Minnesota Stars came up with late heroics again at NSC Stadium. Melvin Tarley slipped behind the Montreal Impact's defense in the 87th minute to head home the game's only goal from a Simone Bracalello cross.

It was Tarley's first goal of the season, and he celebrated as though the weight of the world was suddenly off his shoulders.

"As a forward, I want to score in every game, so I'd been waiting for a goal for a while now, and it feels good to have it," Tarley said after the game.

The goal came as a sudden knockout in a match where the two sides had barely traded blows. Both sides enjoyed a lot of possession in their attacking thirds, but neither could carve through the defense to truly create anything threatening.

Johnny Menyongar created space for himself in the fifth minute, but his powerful shot was easily within the reach of Montreal goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic. In the 28th minute, Leonardo Di Lorenzo's free kick from the corner of the penalty area made it through a crowd in the box, but the Stars' Joe Warren held it easily as it curled in on goal.

Close-but-not-quite was the theme most of the night. In the 16th minute, Tarley couldn't get enough power behind a shot from about eight yards out. Just before halftime, Rocco Placentino, who terrorized the Stars with two goals in a match earlier this season, scraped the crossbar with a powerful shot. A Brian Cvilikas header nearly put Menyongar through on goal in the 50th minute, but the diminutive Liberian midfielder's first touch was a little too strong, and Djekanovic slid out to take the ball away. Two minutes later, Montreal had a similar good run go unrewarded as Warren collected a lofted through-ball near the penalty spot.

With 10 minutes to play, the action picked up. In the 80th minute, Neil Hlavaty-the hero from the Stars' last home game-dove in front of a David Testo shot from about 14 yards out. Testo had controlled the ball near the penalty spot after it caromed around the box following a poor clearance.

In the 83rd minute, Bracalello nearly won it for the Stars, but his daisy-cutter from the top of the penalty arc went frustratingly wide of Djekanovic's right-hand post. Four minutes later, the Italian's curling left-footed cross found Tarley at the back post after the Liberian forward had beaten Montreal's offside trap.

With three minutes of stoppage time to work with, Montreal pressed forward, aggressively seeking an equalizer. With only two minutes to play, Simon Gatti almost rewarded the aggression, but his volleyed shot from 12 yards out crashed off the crossbar after whizzing past Warren's left shoulder. The Stars cleared the ball and kept the Impact at bay for the last few moments.

The victory was sweet for the Stars, as they checked the "Revenge" goal off their locker room dry erase board. The Impact defeated the Stars with a last-second goal in May in Montreal, and turning the table on their opponents was especially sweet for the Stars, who have now taken seven of a possible nine points from their last three matches.

"We managed the game tonight against a very good team," head coach Manny Lagos said after the match. "Our recovery play was good, our shape was good, and we won some balls in some good spots.

"As a team we feel like we've put a lot of work in for games like this. Walking off the field with the win felt good."

The Stars have six days off before next Tuesday's Lamar Hunt US Open Cup against amateur side the Kansas City Athletics. Tuesday's game is the first of four the Stars will play in six days, and they enter the difficult stretch brimming with the confidence two consecutive shutouts brings.

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U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from June 9, 2010


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