NSC Stars Lose to Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-1
The NSC Minnesota Stars fell to the very hot Tampa Bay Rowdies Thursday night by a score of 3-1. Tampa came out-passing Minnesota early and it wasn’t long before they lashed one by goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel who received his first start in a Stars uniform. The goal came on a defensive break down which has been a problem for the Stars in recent games. Gordon Kljestan, former Cleveland City Stars player and brother to Sasha who plays in MLS, was the goal scorer.
In the 20th minute Van Oekel brought down Rowdies’ Aaron Wheeler while charging into the box. The play drew a yellow for Van Oekel and gave Tampa a penalty which Wheeler took and buried in the back of the netting.
Just 5 minutes later the Rowdies solidified their lead and sealed the game with a goal by Long Tan assisted by Kljestan.
Minnesota drew one back in the 38th minute with a Neil Hlavaty free kick.
The second half saw an improved Stars midfield after the Rowdies coach Paul Dalglish wisely put the team into a defensive shell protecting their lead. However, even with the defense dropped back the Stars never mustered a shot at goal in the second half.
Dalglish explained the team’s defensive game plan in the second half. “If we’re going to win championships, we need to be professional,” said Dalglish. ”When you go 3-0 up, it gives you the right to sit back. They’ve got to come at you and you can try to get them on the counterattack. There’s no point in taking unnecessary risks when you’re 3-0 up. It was a really professional victory tonight.”
The Stars now drop to 2-7-1 with 7 points with 10 games played while the Rowdies move to 4-1-3 for 15 points with 8 games played. Tampa is now in 3rd place overall in the USSF D-2 Pro League standings while Minnesota remains in 10th place. Puerto Rico is in 11th with only 4 games played and AC St. Louis in 12th with 8 games played.
The Stars come home this Saturday evening May 29 to play AC St. Louis. Kick off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
NSC Minnesota Stars Lineup: GK Matt Van Oekel, D Ely Allen (68th minute – Simone Bracalello), D Brian Kallman, D Chris Clements (85th minute – Leland Wright), D Andres Arango, M Neil Hlavaty, M Daniel Wasson, M Kyle Altman (85th minute – Kevin Friedland), M Geison Moura, M Leilei Gao (77th minute – Two-Boys Gumede), F Warren Ukah
Rowdies Starting Lineup: GK Daryl Sattler, D Joe Donoho, D Rob Valentino, D Julian Valentin, D Yendry Diaz (68th minute – Scott Buete), M Gordon Kljestan, M Kwame “JJ” Adjeman-Pamboe (74th minute – Mozzi Gyorio), M Pascal Millien (62nd minute – Stanley Nyazamba), M Long Tan (62nd minute – Drew Yates), M Takuya Yamada, F Aaron Wheeler (46th minute – Aaron King).
Scoring Summary
TAM – Gordon Kljestan – 6th minute (Assisted by Long Tan)
TAM – Aaron Wheeler – 20th minute (Penalty Kick)
TAM – Long Tan – 26th minute (Assisted by Gordon Kljestan)
MIN – Neil Hlavaty – 38th minute (Assisted by Daniel Wasson)
Misconduct Summary
MIN – Matt Van Oekel – yellow (19th minute)
TAM – Aaron Wheeler – yellow (31st minute)
MIN – Chris Clements – yellow (63rd minute)
TAM – Takuya Yamada – yellow (68th minute)
MIN – Warren Ukah – yellow (76th minute)
TAM – Joe Donoho – yellow (88th minute)
MIN – Kevin Friedland – yellow (90th minute)
Comments are closed.
Tough result, hopefully the Stars can bounce back. Is Saturday’s game still good to go?
Are there cumulative yellows at the D2 level? If so, it looks like there are several Stars who will need to tone it down if they play on Saturday night.
I’m sure yellow accumulations require sitting a game. I’ve been curious as to what the rules are.
Soccer Boy. You have the rules now. Why don’t you check. Mine are at home.
BQ has correctly reminded me that I have the rulebook. (Thanks for the gentle reminder and sorry for the needless question.) For all that are interested, the rule is as follows:
2.3.9. Cautions and Suspensions A Player will be suspended for one game upon receiving his fifth yellow card – regardless of the nature of the infraction which resulted in his being awarded the yellow card. A second suspension of one game would result after the awarding of an additional three cards as would a third suspension after the awarding of card number eleven. Reference Section 11.3.1A
Based on this and my feeble memory, I think we have some players that could be in trouble here shortly. I will go through the prior match reports and post the status on the USL boards for all who are interested.
Or you could look here:
http://ussf.demosphere.com/Teams/20945465/20945470-20952154/TEAM.html
at the ‘CT’ column.
only Andres Arango’s getting close. Assuming the info there is accurate. I’ve been keeping an eye on the Aztex, and they seem to be getting things right.
MM, according to Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“Meanwhile, U.S. Soccer, which administers AC St. Louis’ league, looks headed toward reaching a deal for providing necessary funding. That deal to keep the team running through the rest of the season, and possibly beyond, could happen next week. In the meantime, the team will play Saturday in Minnesota as scheduled.”
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/…86?OpenDocument
“It was a really professional victory” seems like a strange comment for Daglish to make. Does he feel he has to justify going into a shell? It strikes me that he is either trying to head off any “anti-soccer” comments or he’s trying to educate us D2 Yank know-nothings.
I don’t know that I’d say the team “went into a shell.” Sure, they played it a bit safe in the second half, but they still took some chances. The Stars were just over matched. Would you rather seen a 6-1 game? I think Dalglish should be commended for not running the score up. The Rowdies had three goals after only 26 minutes! Despite the scoreless second half, it was still enjoyable to watch.
KEEP FAITH IN YOUR STARS. TIGHTEN UP THE DEFENSE,SCORE THE FIRST GOAL SATURDAY AND THE 3 POINTS ARE OURS. COME OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR TEAM
Oh, and thanks, Soccer Boy! I’ve been starting to get curious, as we have a player on 3 now.