NASL Minnesota United FC

Stars Travel to Puerto Rico Looking to Improve Playoff Seed

Published on September 14, 2012 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Minnesota United FC News Release


BLAINE, Minn. (Sept. 14, 2012) - Four days removed from a comprehensive home win over the Puerto Rico Islanders, Minnesota Stars FC takes to the road to face that same Islanders squad in a match that promises a more difficult task than Tuesday night's 4-0 victory at NSC Stadium. The Stars and Puerto Rico square off again Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. CDT from the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Tuesday night's game clinched a playoff berth for the Stars, who currently sit in sixth place in the North American Soccer League. With the six teams for the league's postseason in place, there's still plenty to play for in the final two games of the season, as the Stars and the third-place Islanders are separated only by three points in the race to clinch a home game in the first round of the playoffs at the end of the month.

"There's a lot of teams still with something left to play for, and I expect all of them to be fighting hard and jostling for a better seeding," Stars head coach Manny Lagos said. "Puerto Rico is always a tough place to play. We expect to see some of the guys they had missing with international obligations on Tuesday night, and we know this is going to be a very different game."

Minnesota has put together two excellent performances at home against the Islanders this season, beating them 4-0 both times they've met at NSC Stadium, but the trip to Bayamon has always challenged the Stars, who haven't won in Puerto Rico in their history, managing only a 1-1 draw in 2011 to go along with three losses. The Stars played well early but struggled in the second half of their first visit to the island this season, falling 1-0 on Noah Delgado's strike early in the second half.

Delgado will be among 12 Islanders returning from international duty during the past week. The call ups left the Islanders short-handed during a recent road trip to Fort Lauderdale and Minnesota. While the returning players may also be tired from recent international games and the travel they necessitated, a full complement of players will be a welcome sight for Islanders head coach Adrian Whitbread as the team looks to wrap up a home playoff game and keep the pressure on Tampa Bay in the race for second place and the bye week through the quarterfinals that comes with it.

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