Minnesota Stars and Fort Lauderdale Strikers will Meet in NASL Championship Series

2011 October 15
tags:
by Brian Quarstad

The Minnesota Stars defeated the Carolina RailHawks tonight in Cary, N.C. winning 2-0 on aggregate. However, that storyline does not tell the picture of an incredible see-saw battle between the two teams. Minnesota headed into the final leg with a 1-0 lead after a win last Saturday in Minnesota. Tonight the teams battled to a 4-3 victory for Carolina that tied the series at 4 apiece aggregate. The game came down to penalty kicks. Minnesota’s Joe Warren made one stop to help lead Minnesota to victory with a 5-3 decision on spot kicks and sending Minnesota to the finals.

The Puerto Rico Islanders were not able to make up the 3-1 aggregate deficit from last weekend’s Fort Lauderdale win in Puerto Rico. The Strikers defeated the Islanders at Lockhart Stadium tonight 2-1 and move on to the NASL Championship series with Minnesota after winning 5-2 on aggregate.

Stories will follow for both games.

8 Responses
  1. October 16, 2011

    Hell of a game in Cary. Following on Twitter from Lockhart and had to say “Are you kidding me?!” several times lol. That’s entertainment right there.

    Strikers finished off the Islanders, what a great game/atmosphere. Should be a great Championship Series.

  2. October 16, 2011

    Great game in Cary! Good luck to both the Stars and the Strikers in the final. Gutted it won’t be in Cary again this year.

  3. bullsear permalink
    October 16, 2011

    Today I learned: NASL doesn’t have the away goals rule.

  4. Jarrett Campbell permalink
    October 16, 2011

    Well, to be technically accurate, Carolina and Minnesota drew the semifinal 4-4.

    Minnesota advanced to the final on penalties.

    I’ve always found it interesting that FIFA doesn’t class a situation like that a “win” or a “loss” for either team, just the fact that one team advances and one team doesn’t.

    In other words, at least we didn’t “lose” to Minnesota again. :)

    Good luck to the Stars. They have truly had Carolina’s goat this season and here’s hoping they destroy the Strikers in the final series.

  5. October 16, 2011

    Watching that game subtracted years from my life.

    Tickets for Ft. Lauderdale are already bought. Come on you Stars!

  6. Bart permalink
    October 16, 2011

    Congratulations to both the Stars and Strikers for two great games!

  7. thesuperrookie permalink
    October 16, 2011

    Can’t wait to see all my Minnesota friends in Miami!

  8. Strikers Return permalink
    October 17, 2011

    @superrookie – That’s FT. LAUDERDALE my friend! Cannot wait for a watch party this Saturday, and then what should be an absolutely epic night at Lockhart October 29th where the championship will be decided, on front of what will be our biggest crowd of the year!!!!

Comments are closed.