Montreal Ties Thunder Late in Game

Press release MN Thunder
MONTREAL (Sunday, September 13, 2009)

The Minnesota Thunder finish their last road game with a 1-1 draw against the Montreal Impact.  Minnesota played with confidence and took the lead early in the first half, but Montreal dominated in the final minutes.

The Thunder started with an early goal in the sixth minute.  Nate Knox assisted when he dished the ball off to Marco Terminesi who finished the advance.  This is the second game in a row that Terminesi scored a goal within the first ten minutes.

Montreal’s Rocco Placentino rushed the net in the 28th minute and took a short range shot but Matt VanOekel, who started for the first time this season, came up with a good save.  VanOekel lost his rebound but kept his composure and made another quick save allowing the defense to clear the ball.

The tempo of the first half was much quick but toward the end of the first 45 minutes the pace slowed.

Peter Byers of Montreal nearly scored the equalizer in the first minute of the second half.  He beat the Thunder defenders and came to a one-on-one with VanOekel but VanOekel made the stop.

The second half was dominated by Montreal, but Minnesota’s goalkeeper VanOekel held the Thunder defense together.  VanOekel made several one-on-one saves.  The Thunder offense still had its presence but it was not nearly as obvious as the first half.

Peter Byers scored the equalizer in the 85th minute.  Byers danced around a Minnesota defender to create a shooting lane and blasted a shot to the corner.  VanOekel was not able to make the save and the Impact evened the score.

The last minutes were played exclusively in Minnesota’s third with many shots on goal but VanOekel and the rest of the Thunder were able to maintain the 1-1 score until the final whistle blew.

“The team should be proud of themselves tonight,” said Thunder Head Coach Donny Gramenz.  “I thought we played very well for the first 60 minutes and had a couple scoring opportunities.  Montreal gave us a lot of pressure in the last 30 minutes.  It was unfortunate to give up the tying goal in the 85th minute but Matt VanOekel played very well for his first USL First Division match.”

The Minnesota Thunder have only one game left in their 2009 campaign.  The Charleston Battery will be visiting the National Sports Center on Sunday, September 20 and kick off will be at 5:05 p.m.
Starting Lineups:

Minnesota: VanOekel, Kallman (Clements, 45), Greenfield, Arango, Costanzo, Knox (Cvilikas, 63), Olum, Bass, Tarley (O’Brien, 84), Saint-Preux (Kante, 90), Terminesi (Myers, 69)

Montreal: Jordan, Aaboubou, Joqueviel, Pesoli, ZanZan (DeRoux, 45), Gatti (O’Brien C, 71), Biello (Gjertsen, 59), Di Lorenzo, O’Brein L (Brown, 45), Byers, Placentino (Donatelli, 66)

Game Summary:

Scoring Summary
MIN: Terminesi, 6
MON: Byers, 85

Game Statistics
Minnesota: Shots 8, Fouls 2, Offsides 3, Corners 1
Montreal: Shots 9, Fouls 8, Offsides 2, Corners 3

Goalkeeper Statistics
VanOekel (Minnesota): Shots faces 9, Saves 4, Goals Allowed 1
Jordan (Montreal): Shots faces 8, Saves 4, Goals Allowed 1

Cautions:
MON: Byers, 85
MIN: Costanzo, 90

Ejections:
MON: Byers, 90

Attendance:
12,805