Minnesota Stars Advance in NASL Playoffs with Upset of FC Tampa Bay

Goal scorer Luke Mulholland battles former Stars player Andres Arango. Photo courtesy of FC Tampa Bay

Minnesota Stars 1 – 0  FC Tampa Bay

A 27th minute goal from Minnesota Stars’ late season signing Luke Mulholland was all the team needed to defeat FC Tampa Bay and move on to the semifinals of the NASL playoffs. Mulholland had a earlier free kick from a similar position that he struck well, hard and low, to the far post, but FC Tampa Bay rookie goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was able to palm the ball away. Mulholland, the USL PRO Rookie of the Year, scored on a free kick that wrong-footed Attinella after taking a deflection off the shoulder of a member of the Tampa wall.

“The first free kick I hit to the far left and the keeper got a good hand to it and pushed it out to the corner,” said Mulholland. “So the next time I hit it I was trying to go the other way but it deflected off the outside of the wall and wrong-footed the goalkeeper. I watched it go in and it was sort of like slow motion. It just trickled over the line.”

The Stars came out strong from the get-go and outshot FC Tampa Bay 6-3 in the first half, forcing Attinella into 4 saves. Minnesota keeper Joe Warren was not tested in the first half although he was busy charging off his line and cutting off a number of Rowdies’ crosses.

The second half saw Tampa go to a 3-man back and forced the ball up the left side to the very explosive Pascal Millien who at times gave the Stars fits as he made deep runs, sometimes dribbling into the box. But the Stars defense bent but didn’t break and the experience of seasoned pro Warren might have been the difference. He positioned himself well throughout the game and continued to cut off dangerous crosses until the final whistle that gave the Stars a victory and a home and away semifinal game starting next weekend.

“I’m really proud of the guys again tonight,” said Minnesota head coach Manny Lagos. “Again they had to go on the road and again they got a result in a tough hostile environment.”

The Stars coach said he wasn’t aware of the statistic that saw FC Tampa Bay with a record of 1 win, 2 ties, and 7 losses this season when the opposition scored first. But he did acknowledge the team’s goal was to take it to Tampa early by coming up with a good first half of play.

“It was very important for us to get off to a good start,” continued Lagos. “The last couple of times we played Tampa they really dominated early in the game. They set a tempo we didn’t like and brought us out of our comfort zone. I thought the guys did a great job tonight of pushing the tempo against a very good team. Hats off to Tampa, they had an outstanding season. But I can’t say enough about how our guys came out really strong.”

“I was really pleased about how we really embraced the challenge, once we got the lead, to hold onto it. I think we got stretched the last 10 minutes but between our defenders and Joe Warren they got the job done. I think tonight Joe was the difference for our team by being one of the best goalies in the league and showing his great leadership qualities. He’s been through a lot of things and that was especially true the last 20 to 30 minutes when Tampa was really coming at us.

“I don’t think we played our best football tonight,” said Mulholland. “It was one of those nights where once we got ahead we just needed to grind out the result. In the playoffs it’s a different ball game. It’s all about the result and not necessarily how you would play the rest of the season. I thought the defense and the goalkeeper all had a very good game, especially Joe Warren. I thought he was very composed in the back. It’s just nice we can have another home game next week.”

The Stars will open a home-and-home, total goals series with the regular season champion Carolina RailHawks with a home game next Saturday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available by calling (763) 792-7355 or visiting NSCMinnesota.com.

Lineups:

FC Tampa Bay: GK Jeff Attinella, D Frankie Sanfilippo (Captain), D Andres Arango, D JP Rodrigues (Tsuyoshi Yoshitake 67′), D Takuya Yamada, M Shane Hill (Matt Clare 66′), M Pascal Millien, M Mozzi Gyorio, M Keith Savage, F Mike Ambersley, F Aaron King (Kerry Baptiste 74′)

NSC Minnesota Stars: GK Joe Warren, D Justin Davis, D Cristiano Dias, D Kyle Altman (Captain), D Brian Kallman, M Andrei Gotsmanov (Neil Hlavaty 59′), M Kentaro Takada, M Jeff Cosgriff, M Luke Mulholland (Devin Del Do 71′), M Lucas Rodriguez, F Brian Cvilikas

Scoring Summary:
MIN: Luke Mulholland – 27th minute

Caution Summary:
FCTB: Andres Arango – 14th minute
MIN: Jeff Cosgriff – 55th minute
MIN: Kyle Altman – 57th minute

Final Stats:
FCTB: 11 shots (6 on goal), 6 saves, 10 fouls, 0 offsides, 6 corners
MIN: 10 shots (7 on goal), 6 saves, 18 fouls, 2 offsides, 1 corner

Attendance:
3,003