Minnesota Stars Heading to the NASL Championship Series; Take Semifinal in Penalty Kicks

It was a big night for the Stars' Lucas Rodriguez who scored a goal, drew a penalty kick and finished his chance as the 5th and final penalty kick shootout taker for Minnesota. Photos by Rob Kinnan - www.robkinnanphotography.com

The second leg NASL Semifinal game in Cary, N.C. on Saturday evening between the Minnesota Stars and regular season champion Carolina RailHawks had everything a soccer fan could ask for. In fact it was probably more enjoyable for the neutral fan than if you were supporting either Minnesota or Carolina. The ups and down, goals and counter goals, fouls, yellow cards and even a red card followed by penalty kick shootouts was enough to cause supporters of either club to go from head-in-hands one moment to shear jubilation the next.

“That was definitely one of the crazier games I’ve ever played in,” said Stars central defender and captain, Kyle Altman. “It was amazing, exhausting, exciting… so many things. There were so many twists and turns. After the game I got a call from my mom who said she actually threw up during the game it was so intense.”

Stars head coach Manny Lagos, who brings a Minnesota soccer team to the division II championship for the first time since his father Buzz brought the Thunder to the USL A-Leauge championship games in 1998, 1999 2000 and 2003, also said he was not immune to the seesaw battle on the field. “I was numb with exhaustion from the ebb and flow of the game,” sighed Lagos in his post game comments.

The game started off all Carolina in the opening minutes which was something the Stars were hoping to avoid. Both teams had chances but the best went to Minnesota when midfielder Neil Hlavaty hit a 30 yard dipping shot that beat Carolina keeper Brad Knighton but hit the cross bar.

After several good spells of play for Minnesota it was the Stars’ Andrei Gotsmanov who scored the opening goal in the 40th minute of play. Gotsmanov, who scored the only goal in Minnesota’s leg of the home and away series, shot from the left side and saw his ball deflect off of traffic and into the RailHawks goal.

Minnesota looked to be going into the half with a 2-0 aggregate lead but the RailHawks’ Pablo Campos brought that back down to 1 when he tied the score in added time of the first half. A long ball played down the field gave Altman trouble as he tried to shield the ball for the Stars goalkeeper Joe Warren to grab. Bad communication allowed Campos to flick the ball around the two and while stumbling forward drilled the ball into the Stars goal.

“We weren’t that concerned about it,” said Altman. “We knew we had 15 minutes to regroup before the second half and another 45 minutes to take care of things.”

“I really tried to get them to get their intensity back up at halftime,” said Lagos about his halftime talk. “There is some accountability but never in a negative way. It’s more important for them to understand that they can’t let that get them down.”

Just 7 minutes into the second half Lucas Rodriguez put the Stars back into the lead. Rodriguez, who was playing outside midfield, struggled defensively in the early part of the game against the very fast Brian Farber, who had started for Carolina in place of Jonny Steele. But on the other end of things, Rodriguez started to assert himself in the RailHawks’ third as Carolina were pushing hard for goals. The Argentinean midfielder was patient on the ball as he played it in from the left side of the box. He pushed the ball ahead and then unleashed a shot that deflected off Carolina’s Gareth Evans and into the net.

The RailHawks subbed in Nick Zimmerman and Jonny Steele in hopes of bolstering their attack. Head coach Martin Rennie’s substitutions worked well as the RailHawks brought the game even again in the 60th minute. Steele headed a ball over the top of the Minnesota defense which the very active Campos ran onto. Minnesota’s Cristiano jumped for the ball but ended up falling onto Campos and giving Carolina a penalty kick which Campos converted.

The goal brought the score to 2-2 and gave the Stars a 3-2 aggregate, but not for long.

It was Carolina again and substitute Zimmerman who chipped Stars keeper Warren and put Carolina back into the lead 3-2, 3-3 aggregate. But neither team was done yet.

Stars goalkeeper Joe Warren came up big saving Carolina's first PK taker Jonny Steele's shot. Photo by Rob Kinnan.

Rodriguez jumped on a lose ball that Carolina’s defense handled poorly. He got around Knighton but was knocked down by defender Devon McKenney who was responsible for the original defensive miscue. Rodriguez swiped at the ball which Knighton knocked away and a follow up shot for the Stars went high. But McKenney was called for the take down and shown a red card. Stars PK specialist Neil Hlavaty stepped up and put the ball away soundly for the Stars and tying the score again 3-3, 4-3 aggregate.

Being down a man down and goal down, the RailHawks quickly shifted to a 3 man back putting it all on the line.  That paid off as the Stars struggled for possession. “Certainly if we had possessed the ball better we would have been able to see the game out,” said Lagos. “Maybe it’s being live at the game compared to watching it on the TV, the reality is you have both teams desperate for it not to be their last game. They are throwing everything both energy and effort onto the field. Carolina was desperate and made it hard for us.”

It looked as if the Stars ‘bend but don’t break’ defense would see out the tie and put them through on total goals aggregate. But the Stars gave up a late penalty kick when a cross was driven off Hlavaty’s arm that he knew nothing about. Campos stepped up to the line and hit the ball hard, high and to the left of Joe Warren. Warren guessed correctly but the ball hit the crossbar and sailed up and bounced to Warren who gathered it in before Campos could get to his own rebound.

While the Stars were letting out a sigh of relief, Carolina was back on the attack. With 5 minutes of stoppage time added in regulation, Carolina won a corner kick. Steele headed the ball back into the box and Campos collected the hat trick as he riffled off a half-volley from close range that hit Warren but deflected into the goal. The go-ahead goal aggregate equalizer came in the 5th minute of added time.

The match went though another agonizing 30 minutes of overtime with neither team scoring but chances for each side. The best a chance for Stars substitute Simone Bracalello who shot through a defender’s leg and beat Knighton far post. But the ball caromed off the inside of that post and rolled helplessly across the goal mouth with no one there to finish or clear.

With Carolina ahead 4-3 but even with Minnesota aggregate 4-4, the game went to penalty kicks.

The Stars’ Hlavaty stepped up and drilled the first kick home. Steele stepped up for Carolina. Hitting the ball hard but not very accurately, big Joe Warren dropped left and guessed correctly, stopping the midfielder’s shot and putting Minnesota up 1-0. The Stars’ Devin Del Do, Altman and Bracalello all converted as did Carolina’s Barbara, Kupono Low and Knighton. Rodriguez calmly stepped up as the Stars’ 5th shooter. He placed his shot low right beating Knighton and sending Minnesota into the finals.

The Stars players mobbed each other near the goal but Altman said it wasn’t just jubilation they were feeling. “I think at the end of the penalty kicks we were more relieved than anything because we had the lead several times in the game and gave it away. It really helped to have Joe Warren in goal for the penalty kicks. He’s just such a big presence in goal.”

Head coach Lagos agreed but credited all the players who stepped up during the game and for the spot kicks. “Certainly we made some lapses which kept Carolina in the game. But the way we dealt with adversity was amazing.”

“PKs can go any way and you really never know. But Joe Warren is outstanding. I think everyone knows that. Certainly our players know that but I think the fans feel that and I believe the other teams feel that as well. He’s amazing in terms of his ability to step up, especially in PKs.”

“But I give credit to all the guys who stepped up to take those kicks. Just like in the game they showed resilience to say whatever happened in the game is behind us now and we’ll focus on the moment. They certainly did that with their kicks.”

“Brad (Knighton) could have been the hero, but he didn’t really have any chances with those (Minnesota) penalty kicks,” Rennie told the Cary News and Observer.

Lagos, speaking about an hour after the game, said they were leaving for the airport in four short hours to catch a red-eye home for the Twin Cities and would take Sunday off to recoup. “The early flight isn’t going to be easy for the guys who just spent 120 minutes out there tonight playing soccer. But we’ll get some rest and come back on Monday and start focusing on a team that has done very well, probably the hottest team in the league for sure at the end of the season. Fort Lauderdale has done outstanding in the playoffs. I told the guys to enjoy this, they deserve it for knocking off the very best team in the league. But tomorrow when we wake up we have to start preparing ourselves to play another very, very good team.”

The Stars will host the first leg of the NASL Championship series next Saturday, October 22nd, at home at the NSC Stadium with a 7:30 p.m. CST kickoff. The return leg will be played in Fort Lauderdale at Lockhart Stadium on October, 29th.

MATCH RECAP

Carolina 4, Minnesota 3 (Series tied 4-4 on aggregate. Minnesota wins series 5-3 in shootout.)

LINEUPS
MIN: GK Joe Warren, D Justin Davis, D Cristiano Dias, D Brian Kallman, D Kyle Altman, M Neil Hlavaty, M Andrei Gotsmanov (Kentaro Takada, 56), M Jeff Cosgriff, M Lucas Rodriguez, F Brian Cvilikas (Simone Bracalello, 75), F Luke Mulholland (Devin Del Do, 102)

CAR: GK Brad Knighton, D Kupono Low, D Devon McKenney, D Tyler Lassiter (Nick Zimmerman, 55), M Floyd Franks, M Tony McManus (Chris Nurse, 75), M Matt Watson, F Brian Farber (Jonny Steele, 55), F Pablo Campos, F Etienne Barbara

SCORING SUMMARY
MIN: Gotsmanov, 40
CAR: Campos (Low), 45+
MIN: Rodriguez, 52
CAR: Campos (penalty), 60
CAR: Zimmerman (Barbara), 63
MIN: Hlavaty (penalty), 67
CAR: Campos (Steele), 90+

PENALTIES

MIN (5): Hlavaty (goal), Del Do (goal), Altman (goal), Bracalello (goal), Rodriguez (goal)
CAR: (3): Steele (saved), Barbara (goal), Low (goal), Knighton (goal)

CAUTIONS
MIN: Kallman, 7; Gotsmanov, 10; Cvilikas, 36; Altman, 47; Davis, 120+
CAR: Campos, 45+; Steele, 57; Franks, 85; Nurse, 103

EJECTIONS
CAR: McKenney, 66

SHOTS
MIN: 18
CAR: 19

FOULS
MIN: 11
CAR: 17

Attendance: 4,002