NASL Minnesota United FC

NSC Minnesota Prepared for Midweek Match with Fort Lauderdale

Published on August 9, 2011 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Minnesota United FC News Release


BLAINE, Minn. (August 9, 2011) - Something will have to give as the NSC Minnesota Stars and Fort Lauderdale Strikers put their winning streaks on the line at NSC Stadium at 7:30 Wednesday night. Tickets to the match are available online at NSCMinnesota.com or by calling (763) 792-7355.

The Stars are coming off back-to-back wins against the Montreal Impact, who will join Major League Soccer in 2012 but have had a difficult final year at the second division level. The Stars beat the Impact 1-0 at NSC Stadium on July 22, then enjoyed a two-week break before defeating the Impact 3-1 in Montreal on Saturday night.

Forward Simone Bracalello was in fine form for the Stars Saturday night, scoring twice in the second half as the Stars broke a 1-1 halftime deadlock. Strike partner Devin Del Do looked threatening, too, drawing the penalty that led to Minnesota's first goal and nearly putting away a header from a corner kick. The Stars' defending was also resolute, holding Montreal to only one shot on goal.

"It'll be a good test for us against a team that should be very confident coming off a win over the league leaders," said Stars head coach Manny Lagos. "We've put together some momentum of our own recently with some solid performances, and we're eager to put that last game against the Strikers behind us."

The Strikers are coming off two straight wins of their own after a successful two-game homestand. Fort Lauderdale beat struggling FC Edmonton 3-0 on July 30 and followed it up a week later with a 2-1 win over the North American Soccer League's runaway leaders, the Carolina RailHawks. Despite having forward Abe Thompson sent off with 24 minutes to play, the Strikers managed a late goal to join Minnesota and the Puerto Rico Islanders as the only teams to beat Carolina this season.

Wednesday's game is the fourth and final regular season meeting between the two clubs. Early in the season, the two teams tied 1-1 twice with the home side in each game needing a late goal to save a point. The Strikers beat the Stars 3-0 thanks to three second-half goals on June 11.

Tickets for Wednesday's game start at just $6 for youth age 17 or younger and $12 for adults and are available by calling (763) 792-7355 or visiting NSCMinnesota.com. The Stars will also be collecting school supply and cash donations to benefit The Caring Tree, a Bloomington, Minn., based charity that provides school supplies to children in need in Minnesota. The game will be streamed live on NSCMinnesota.com, Strikers.com and NASL.com.

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