Stars Fall to Hot FC Tampa Bay
The Minnesota Stars lost their 2nd consecutive game on Saturday evening, 2-0 to FC Tampa Bay.
Despite a good first half by Minnesota they went into the locker room at half down a goal after Pascal Millien had a moment of individual brilliance. The flashy FC Tampa Bay outside midfielder dribbled to the top of the box and curled the ball past Stars goalkeeper Joe Warren. After a slow start, like many of the FC Tampa Bay players who couldn’t seem to buy a goal early in the season, Millien’s production has picked up recently. His game winner was his 5th goal of the season.
FC Tampa Bay seemed to have the better of play in the second half and added an insurance goal in the 65th minute when defender and captain Frankie Sanfilippo made a run down the right side of the field and fired in a low hard cross. As the ball was heading towards the goal box, Neil Hlavaty accidentally deflected the ball past Joe Warren for an own goal.
The loss puts Minnesota at 7-7-6 and brings Tampa Bay up to 8-7-6. Minnesota is 2-0-2 in their last four games while Tampa is 3-1-0 in their last four.
After scoring 3 goals against the Montreal Impact on August 6th, the Stars have not scored a goal in their last two contest. The loss puts the quickly climbing Tampa Bay in sole possession of 3rd place (31 pts) for the first time this season and drops Minnesota back to 4th place (28 pts).
Things don’t get any easier for Minnesota as they travel to Cary, North Carolina to play the league-leading RailHawks next Wednesday, August 17th and then to Montreal to play the Impact on Saturday, August 20, before returning home on on the 27th of August to play the Impact for the last time this season.
Tampa will host the streaking Puerto Rico Islanders which could be an interesting matchup with both teams currently playing their best soccer of the season. The Rowdies then travel to Fort Lauderdale to play the Strikers, followed by a trip to Cary, NC, to play the RailHawks before traveling to Minnesota and then away to again play the Islanders before returning home on September 17 to play the Stars for their final matchup of the season. They will close out their season on the 24th of September hosting the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
FC Tampa Bay Lineup: GK Jeff Attinella, D Frankie Sanfilippo (Captain), D Andres Arango, D JP Rodrigues, D Takuya Yamada, M Shane Hill (Tsuyoshi Yoshitake 82′), M Pascal Millien, M Mozzi Gyorio, M Keith Savage, F Mike Ambersley, F Aaron King (Warren Ukah 68′)
NSC Minnesota Stars Lineup: GK Joe Warren, D Scott Lorenz, D Kyle Altman (Captain), D Jack Stewart, D Brian Kallman, M Jeff Cosgriff (Devin Del Do 68′), M Kentaro Takada (Andrei Gotsmanov 63′), M Neil Hlavaty, M Lucas Rodriguez, F Tino Nunez, F Amani Walker (Kevin Friedland 78′)
Scoring Summary: (Note: FCTB has Sanfilippo credited with the 2nd goal even though it looked to be an own goal by Minnesota)
FCTB: Pascal Millien – 45th minute (assisted by Keith Savage)
FCTB: Frankie Sanfilippo – 65th minute (assisted by Aaron King)
Caution Summary:
MIN: Jeff Cosgriff – 62nd minute
FCTB: Warren Ukah – 77th minute
FCTB: Tsuyoshi Yoshitake – 83rd minute
Comments are closed.
Ouch. I thought the Stars had a real solid chance there at the beginning of the game, but just came out flat in the second half. However, special notice must be given to Pascal Millien who has really played into being a star in this league.
Wow.
I was also impressed with Kallman on the right wing.
Ya, that’s why I mentioned his goals because he really has gone from a Steven De Roux type player that was a lot of flash and excitement but left you wanting in the end, to a player who is really producing. I believe he also has 3 assists on the season. So he is turning into a very useful player beside being that player that fans like and inspire their teammates with their play on the field.
Agree with both you on Millien. His play has really increased his confidence and FCTB are a better side because of it. One of my favorite moves of the season was the return of Aaron King to the starting lineup, and when coupled with Ambersley up top and Pascal out wide, weve got a great attack.
About this game, it was a shame that the field was so soggy. It played a huge factor in the first half. These are two very evenly matched teams, though, and Im anxious to see how the final two games between them pan out.
Im looking forward to what I consider is one of FCTB’s biggest games of their brief existence this Saturday. If were gonna catch PR, its gonna be because we took the last two we played against them. The Stars have that game in hand, but face an angry Carolina on Wednesday. Good fun!