US Open Cup -Thunder to Play Chicago Fire PDL Tuesday Night @ the NSC – 7:05 CST – $5.00 Tickets

Come join the Minnesota Thunder in the team’s 2nd round 2009 US Open Cup game.

The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is the oldest standing sports tournament in the United States. It’s similar to other countries’ domestic tournaments, like England’s FA Cup, where an amateur team could end up playing a top tier team.

Tuesday evening at the National Sports Center, the Thunder will play USL’s Chicago Fire PDL team. This team is full of Division 1 collegiate stars. Most notable is former United States U-20 National Team striker, Andre Akpan who played in the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada.

Last week the Thunder defeated the Nebraska 402 to start a 2-game win streak for the team. Minnesota played the USL-1 league leading Carolina RailHawks on Sunday and defeated them 2-0 in perhaps the best effort by the team all season.

The Fire defeated the Milwaukee Bavarians 3-1 last Tuesday to advance to this game. In the process they lost their goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer to a red card in a tackle to a player in the box. Backup keeper Ryan Schwarz came in and made 6 saves in 30 minutes for the Fire. The team also has lost midfielder Mark Blades and central defender Rob Younger to injury. Both players are important to the Fire as they co-captain the team.

There has only been one other meeting between these two teams and that too was a US Open Cup game back in 2005 and started the Thunder’s memorable drive deep into the semi-finals of the competition. The Fire PDL team went down in defeat to Minnesota, 2-1.

Kickoff is at 7:05 CST and if you can’t make it I’ll be doing the color commentary for the game which can be heard online through Team Line. To listen live, go to TEAMLINE who will be providing the technical service.

Play by play: Dave Washburn, North Metro TV
Color Commentary: Brian Quarstad, InsideMinnesotaSoccer.com