Rochester Thunder Defeat Springfield Demize 4-1

On Friday evening the Rochester Thunder were home again at Rochester Community Technical College. The previous weekend found the team on the road and in Springfield, Missouri to play the Demize, a game they lost 1-0. Coach Neil Cassidy said that defeat was one of the team’s worst performances of the year, so he was eager to have his Rochester Thunder not only win but to show well with this rematch of the Demize.

At halftime his team was up 2-0 with a brace from Miguel Bonilla,assisted both times from Gustavo Dias. However, that wasn’t good enough for the Thunder coach as he reportedly talked to his players at halftime telling them they were not playing up to their potential. His words didn’t fall on deaf ears as the team came out and scored two more goals in the second half for a 4-1 win.

Central midfielder Kentaro Takada heads the ball

In the 56th minute, Teal Bunbury put the Thunder up 3-0 on a beautiful unassisted goal. He dribbled the ball from somewhere just over the halfway line and diagonally from left to right with a defender on his goal-side shoulder the whole way. Keeping the Demize player off him with both speed, control and strength, Bunbury finally unleashed a low driven shot from slightly right of goal and 18 yards out to the lower left corner to beat Demize keeper Adam Legg.

Emmanuel Adewole scored for the Demize in the 63rd minute on a breakdown of the Thunder defense but the Rochester PDL team answered that with their fourth and final goal of the night in the 69th minute by Mark Heath Preston.

“It feels good to get this win,” Thunder coach Neil Cassidy said. “When we were down (in Springfield) they beat us 1-0. They’re a good team and I just think some things came together, especially our finishing.”

One of the unsung heroes of the night was central midfielder Kentaro Takada. Much of the Thunder attack seemed to come through the midfielder as he always seems to be around the ball wherever it is on the field. Coach Cassidy said that Takada was first seen at the senior Minnesota Thunder combine (tryout). The PDL coach said he was very impressed with Takada and thought he was the best player on the field for that tryout. He also said he hasn’t been disappointed this season with the play of Takada as he shows great tactical maturity.

Dark Cloud supporters pose with Brian Pederson (white uniform) and Coach Neal Cassidy (far right bottom)

On a personal note 7 Dark Cloud Thunder supporters made the trip down to Rochester for this game, myself included. The Rochester Community Technical College field where the team plays is an artificial turf stadium but is nice and wide. The stadium has a nice seating area and there is ample parking adjacent to the field and once at the gate the staff working the game was friendly and accommodating. It was a beautiful Friday evening and I would have hoped for more in attendance than the 382 that showed up but I was told that there were several conflicts with community events. However, the fans that were there were very welcoming to us as we sang, chanted and stood for the team. Former MN Thunder players Brian Pederson and Paul Moran made a special point of greeting the group and thanking us for coming down as did coach Cassidy. Overall it was very positive experience and a fun night of well played soccer.