Thunder Bay, ON - Friday, July 30, 2010
The Michigan Bucks set yet another Premier Development League (PDL) record when they advanced to their eighth Elite Eight playoff game after shutting out the Rochester Thunder 2-0 on Friday afternoon in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Bucks advance to the Central Conference Championship match on Saturday at 5:30 against the host Thunder Bay Chill, who defeated FC London 1-0 in the second half of the Conference Final Four.

Kenny Uzoigwe

The Bucks came out the aggressor on Friday and pounded the Thunder defense for the first half of action. It would take a 14th minute Mauro Fuzetti (Houston, TX/ Michigan) corner kick that found the head of Bucks striker Kenny Uzoigwe that accounted for the game’s first goal. The 6’4 striker buried the header into the top corner for his fourteenth goal of the season and to give the Bucks a 1-0 lead.

The first half ended with the Bucks out-shooting the Thunder 9-5, although corner kicks were even at 6-6. Bucks goal keeper Mitch Hildebrandt (Livonia, MI/ Oakland) registered his seventh shutout of the season by making a huge fingertip save on a Rochester shot that was destined for the top corner.

The Bucks finished their fifteenth PDL regular season as the second highest scoring team in the league and knew they needed more offense to insure victory against a strong young Rochester side. Lightning would strike early with what may be the PDL goal of the year when Stefan St. Louis took a long ball at mid field, turned two defenders, beat a third and ripped a shot from 35 yards out that beat Thunder goalkeeper Sebastian Narvaez for a 2-0 lead in the fifty-fourth minute.

With a commanding lead, the Bucks put the game into possession mode and made Rochester chase the game for the final thirty minutes. Although the Bucks had the better chance to finish a third goal, Rochester looked to have lit up the scoreboard when a shot headed for the Bucks net was cleared off the line by Colin Givens (Rochester, MI/ MSU) to preserve the shutout.

The Thunder finished the PDL season with a record of 10-4-3 (33 points). Rochester ends up tied with Hollywood United for 11th best record of 67 teams participating in USL-PDL regular season play in 2010.

Congratulations to the Rochester Thunder players, head coach Neil Cassidy and his staff for an outstanding season.

TAMPA, Fla. – July 26, 2010

The 2010 Premier Development League playoff matchups have been set as 16 of the PDL’s 67 teams keep their title hopes alive. Eight division champions and eight runners-up will battle in a single-elimination format this weekend, with four remaining conference champions headed to the PDL Championship weekend August 6-7.

Leading the way into the conference playoffs are the Portland Timbers U23s, who turned in one of the greatest regular seasons in league history with a 16-0-0 mark in the highly-competitive Northwest Division. Portland enjoyed a 53-6 scoring edge while becoming the first undefeated and untied PDL team since 1998. First up for the Timbers and high-scoring forward Brent Richards at the Western Conference Championship in Kitsap is Hollywood United, which finished second in the Southwest Division with a 10-3-3 mark. The other Western Conference matchup features the host Kitsap Pumas, second to Portland in the Northwest, against the defending PDL champion Ventura County Fusion, who won the Southwest Division with an 11-4-1 mark. Kitsap posted a 12-2-2 mark, tied for the third best overall record in the PDL.

The only other undefeated team in the 2010 PDL regular season was the 11-0-3 Mississippi Brilla, who cruised to the Southeast Division title. Mississippi will host the Southern Conference Championship, opening against the 7-5-4 Houston Leones, second in the Mid South Division after winning a tiebreaker against the DFW Tornados. On the other side of the Southern Conference bracket, The Laredo Heat (9-5-2) captured the Mid South Division title and will take on the Baton Rouge Capitals, who finished second in the Southeast Division at 9-2-3.

The Central Conference Championship will take place in scenic Thunder Bay, Ontario, hosted by the Heartland Division champion Thunder Bay Chill. The Chill, led by PDL scoring leader Brandon Swartzendruber, finished with one of the top records in the league at 12-2-2 and will face fellow Ontarians Forest City London (10-1-5), led by scoring runner-up Luke Holmes. The Michigan Bucks claimed the Great Lakes Division title with a record of 11-3-2, earning a date against the 10-3-3 Rochester Thunder.

The Eastern Conference Championship will also take place north of the border, with the Northeast Division champion Ottawa Fury serving as host. The Fury (11-2-3) are undefeated at home this season and feature the second best defense in the PDL, but they’ll need to be on form to hold off the 10-3-3 Ironbound Express. Also looking to punch their ticket to the PDL final four is Reading United AC (10-2-4), which edged Ironbound for the Mid Atlantic Division title. Reading will take on PDL rookies MPS Portland Phoenix, who have impressed in their first season with a 10-2-4 mark.

The 2010 PDL Championship will take place August 6-7. The host site will be determined through a bid process once the four conference champions have been determined. The 2010 PDL Championship Game will be televised live on FOX Soccer Channel at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 7.

2010 PDL PLAYOFF SCHEDULES

Eastern Conference Championship (At Ottawa)
Saturday, July 31
#1 Reading United AC vs. #2 MPS Portland Phoenix, 4 p.m. ET
#1 Ottawa Fury vs. #2 Ironbound Express, 7 p.m. ET
Sunday, August 1
Semifinal 1 Winner vs. Semifinal 2 Winner, 4 p.m. ET

Central Conference Championship (At Thunder Bay)
Friday, July 30
#1 Michigan Bucks vs. #2 Rochester Thunder, 3 p.m. ET
#1 Thunder Bay Chill vs. #2 Forest City London, 5:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, July 31
Semifinal 1 Winner vs. Semifinal 2 Winner, 5:30 p.m. ET

Southern Conference Championship (At Mississippi)
Friday, July 30
#1 Laredo Heat vs. #2 Baton Rouge Capitals, 5 p.m. CT
#1 Mississippi Brilla vs. #2 Houston Leones, 7:30 p.m. CT
Sunday, August 1
Semifinal 1 Winner vs. Semifinal 2 Winner, 7 p.m. CT

Western Conference Championship (At Kitsap)
Saturday, July 31
#1 Portland Timbers U23s vs. #2 Hollywood United Hitmen, 1:30 p.m. PT
#1 Ventura County Fusion vs. #2 Kitsap Pumas, 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, August 1
Semifinal 1 Winner vs. Semifinal 2 Winner, 5 p.m. PT

2010 PDL Championship (Site TBD)
Friday, August 6
#1 Seed Conference Winner vs. #4 Seed Conference Winner, Time TBD
#2 Seed Conference Winner vs. #3 Seed Conference Winner, Time TBD
Saturday, August 7
Consolation Match, 3:30 p.m. ET
PDL Championship, 7 p.m. ET LIVE ON FOX SOCCER CHANNEL

Rochester, MN – The Rochester Thunder finished its regular season with a weekend series split in Thunder Bay. Friday night, the Chill clinched the Heartland Division title – its third in the last four seasons – with a 2-1 win over the Thunder. All three goals Friday night came in the game’s first 28 minutes. The Chill’s Brandon Swartzendruber opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Rochester equalized just six minutes later, as Ben Sippola split the defense with a pass to Juan Chang, who coolly finished. But another Swartzendruber goal in the 28th minute proved to be the difference.

The Thunder got some measure of revenge on Saturday night, handing Thunder Bay its first home loss of the season. Midfielder Chris Andre got Rochester on the scoreboard first, with a solo goal in the 41st minute. Swartzendruber equalized in the 54th minute, only for the Thunder to grab the victory with a Finn Jor goal in the 78th minute. The Thunder ended the regular season 10-3-3, giving up just ten goals all season – tied for the second-best goals against average in the entire 67 team Premier Development League.

Rochester was missing a number of their regular starters in Thunder Bay, including midfielders Samuel Asante and Miguel Bonilla, as well as the team’s leading scorer, forward Mark Heath Preston. The Thunder is hopeful these players will all be available for the playoffs.

The Thunder, who had already clinched a playoff berth before the weekend, will travel to Thunder Bay again next weekend for the Central Conference Championship. Thunder Bay was chosen to host the post-season conference tournament and Rochester will face the Michigan Bucks, who won the Great Lakes Division title. More information on the playoff schedule will be release by the United Soccer Leagues in the next day or two.

Rochester, MN – 7/21/10

What a difference a year makes. Last season, the Rochester Thunder entered the last few weeks of its inaugural season still in contention for the post season. But the team failed to get the necessary results on the road and missed out, finishing with a 5-9-2 record.

This season, the second-year Premier Development League soccer franchise found itself in nearly the same position. Again, they were in the playoff hunt with only a few weeks remaining in the season. But unlike last season, the team has responded with a string of positive results. Three straight road victories, including a 2-0 victory at Kansas City Sunday night, have clinched the Thunder one of the Heartland Division’s two playoff spots.

Rochester finds itself five points behind first-placed Thunder Bay. If the team can win both games in its double-header at Thunder Bay this weekend, the Thunder would actually win the division. Anything less and the Chill will claim the division title, with the Thunder entering the post-season as the division’s second seed.

Thunder head coach Neil Cassidy targeted a few reasons for the team’s differing fortunes this season. “Our team defense has been a big key to our success this season and we’ve prided ourselves on getting the defensive side of our game right,” Cassidy said. Through 14 games, the Thunder has conceded only seven goals – currently the second-best goals against average in the 67-team Premier Development League.

“Our focus and team mentality has also helped propel us into the playoffs,” Cassidy said. “The players really push each other in practice, which prepares us well for our games.” Cassidy cites the team’s early-season disappointment in missing qualifying for the US Open Cup as an event that really helped sharpen the team’s focus and rally around each other.

“At the beginning of the season we put ourselves into a position to play in the Cup, but then we weren’t able to finish the job,” Cassidy said. “That was disappointing to the guys, but I think it was also a huge learning experience for them. It raised their level of awareness of how competitive the PDL, and the Heartland Division, are, and helped them realize the focus and dedication they would need to make this a successful season.”

The Thunder has solidified its presence in the league during its second season in existence. The team currently has a 9-2-3 record, including a 5-0-1 undefeated road record. It will have its hands (and feet) full this weekend, however, as the Thunder travels to Thunder Bay to face the division-leading Chill. With only one defeat through its first 14 games (a 1-0 loss to the Thunder in Rochester on June 6) the 2008 PDL Champions have set the standard in the Heartland Division this season.

“Thunder Bay is a very good team with some extremely talented players,” said Cassidy. “We’re going to go up there and give them everything we’ve got, and at the end of the weekend we’ll hope to have some positive results.”

Game report and video courtesy of Steve Ole Olson of Southwest Missouri’s Soccer Resource

The MN Thunder defeated the Springfield Demize this evening 1-0 on an 83rd minute penalty kick scored by Mark Heath Preston.  The spot kick was the result of a foul on Ben Sippola as he nutmegged his defender on the right side before running into the box and being tripped.

The Thunder were denied on a corner kick in the 45th minute when Demize keeper Stephen Conner made a diving save on a ball headed for the lower right corner, with the half time whistle blowing immediately afterward.  The visitors came out and controlled the midfield for the majority of the second half, leading up to the game-winner.  While the Demize pressed forward in the final minutes, including 4 minutes of stoppage time, the Thunder were able to keep the clean sheet.

The win brings the Thunder to 7-2-3 on the season with 24 pts. which keep them in 3rd place behind Real Colorado Foxes with 26 pts. (7-2-5) and the Thunder Bay Chill with 31 pts. (10-1-1).

The Thunder will now make a 200 mile trip to St. Louis to play the Lions on Sunday, July 11. St.Louis beat the Thunder 2-1 in late-May in Rochester, in a game that all but ended the Thunder’s chances of qualifying for the US Open Cup. The Lions are currently  in 5th place with 18 pts (5-6-3). With only 4-games remaining in the season for the Thunder and two of those against the 1st place Thunder Bay Chill, Sundays contest will be an important one in the race for a post-season berth.

The foul against Ben Sippola that draws the penalty kick.

Mark Heath Preston coverts the penalty kick

Rochester, MN 6-2-10

Brian Cvilikas and Kentaro Takada scored for the Stars Friday night as they earned a 2-1 victory against the Premier Development League’s Rochester Thunder in an exhibition match in Rochester, Minn.

Head coach Manny Lagos saw the match as an opportunity to get minutes for his reserves, but it was two regular first-teamers who put their names on the scoresheet. Cvilikas scored in the 25th minute to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Rochester equalized past goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel in the 65th minute, but Takada, who was one of the Thunder’s overage PDL players last season, scored against his old club eight minutes later to give the Stars the win.

The game was Rochester’s last home match of the season. The club, which is in second place in the PDL’s Heartland Division and in position to qualify for the playoffs, finishes its 16-game schedule with five consecutive road matches. The Stars return home to the NSC Stadium on Sunday, July 4, for a match with Crystal Palace Baltimore. That match begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by Blaine’s Blazin’ 4th fireworks display. Click here for tickets, or call (763) 792-7355.

Stars come up big in Baltimore winning 3-1. Coach Manny Lagos says team played their best game of the season.

The NSC Minnesota Stars traveled to Crystal Palace Baltimore this weekend. The team had changed venues and times to coordinate the game with a US World Cup watch party previous to the game. The time change did not allow the Stars the opportunity to watch the US Men’s National Team game and it must have thrown off CP Baltimore as well. The team should have been providing a live video stream of the game but none was available. The team didn’t bother to Tweet the game either nor did they contact the NSC Stars to explain the problems. As of Sunday evening, 24 hours after the game there still was no game report posted on their website.

However, the NSC’s terrific media team was able to cobble together a game report. You can read that here.

The Stars took the lead in the 17th minute with a goal by Warren Ukah who’s been seeing more playing time since a positive 2-goal game in US Open Cup play several weeks ago.

The Stars continued to press hard against Crystal Palace but the opposition scored against the run of play in the 50th minute with a goal by Tsuyoshi Yoshitake.

But Minnesota came back strong with goals by Brian Cvilikas in the 65th minute and assisted by Geison Moura. The goal is Cvilikas’ 3rd of the season.

In the 81st minute Andres Arango deflected a Daniel Wasson corner kick into the goal for Arango’s first of the season.

Coach Manny Lagos told IMS on Sunday that it was the Stars best game of the season and they could have just as easily had a few more goals with a bit of luck.

The Stars are now in 3rd place of 6 teams in the USL Conference of the USSF D2 Pro League. They are 6-8-2 and have 22 points. The team is 3-1-1 for the month of June and best of all seem to have stopped the goal leaks of early season. The Stars have only allowed 3 goals in 5 games in the month of June.

The Stars will next play the Rochester Thunder in Rochester MN at the Rochester Community and Technical College stadium this Friday, July 2 at 7:00 pm.

The Stars next league game is a July 4 rematch with Baltimore in Blaine, Minn. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CDT. Fireworks will follow the match. For tickets, call (763) 792-7355 or visit www.nscminnesota.org/tickets.

NSC Minnesota Stars lineup (4-4-2): Joe Warren, Scott Lorenz, Kyle Altman, Andres Arango, Chris Clements, Ely Allen, Kentaro Takada (Neil Hlavaty 90+2), Daniel Wasson, Melvin Tarley (Brian Cvilikas 57), Warren Ukah

Crystal Palace Baltimore lineup (4-4-2): Evan Bush, Zach Flores, Andrew Marshall, Val Teixeira, Stephen Basso (Paul Robson 29), Santiago Fusilier (Gary Brooks 33), Adauto Neto (Pat Healey 82), Lucio Gonzaga (Dan Lader 26), Matthew Mbuta (Yaikel Perez 81), Tsuyoshi Yoshitake, Randi Patterson

Scoring Summary
MIN – Warren Ukah 1 – minute 17
CPB – Tsuyoshi Yoshitake 1 – 50
MIN – Brian Cvilikas 3 (Geison Moura 1) – 65
MIN – Andres Arango 1 (Daniel Wasson 3) – 81

Misconduct Summary
MIN – Daniel Wasson (caution, delaying a restart) – 71
BAL – Paul Robson (caution, unsporting behavior) – 88
MIN – Brian Cvilikas (caution, delaying a restart) – 90+3

Attendance: 2,348

Rochester Thunder
The Rochester Thunder played two home matches against the Des Moines Menace this past week on Thursday and Friday evenings.

The Thunder started the weekend with a 1-1 draw with the Menace even though getting outshot 18-10. The Thunder’s goal was provided by Chris Andre in the 88th minute. Ben Sippola made a fantastic cross, which met the head of Chris Andre and redirected into the back of the net.

On Friday Minnesota faced Des Moines again, this time ending up victorious with a 2-1 win pushing the team into 1st place in the USL-PDL Heartland Division with 21 points and a 6-2-3 record.

The Thunder have 5 league games left, all are away games. However, they do have one more home exhibition match against the NSC Minnesota Stars this Friday, July 2, at 7:00 pm at the RCTC Stadium. Go here for more information.

NPSL

Twin Stars
The NPSL Minnesota Twin Stars were in action this weekend but needed to travel all the way to Chicago to play the Fire NPSL team. The result wasn’t bad as the team comes away with a point for a 1-1 draw. Matt Gagay nabbed the Minnesota goal after a long maze-y run by Adama Diawara who beat 4 defenders before laying the ball off to Gagay.

UW Milwaukee’s Greg Rosenthal was said to have had another outstanding game. Two weeks ago Rosenthal had an assist on each of the three goals the team scored in two games. Rosenthal, a captain on his college team, will be a senior this coming season.

Minnesota Kings
The Minnesota Kings also traveled to Chicago this weekend to play the Fire NPSL team on Sunday, June 27. Just like the Twin Stars, the Kings also came away from the game with a point after a 0-0 draw. Team goalkeeper and owner of the Kings Tim Haselberger told IMS that it was a very good game with both sides having chances.

The Twin Stars currently sit in 1st place in the NPSL Midwest Conference with 14 pts and a 4-4-2 record.  The Kings sit tied for 4th place of 6 teams with 10-points and a 3-1-4 record.

Rochester, MN – The Rochester Thunder is making its final preparations for its next home game, against the Kansas City Brass at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon at Rochester Community & Technical College stadium.

After a couple successful road trips to start the season, the Thunder suffered its first defeat of the campaign last Sunday afternoon against St. Louis. The team will be looking to get back to its winning ways against the Brass.

“We’ve really been focusing on getting everyone on the same page in terms of what we want to do on the field as a unit,” said Thunder head coach Neil Cassidy. “The guys are excited to get back on the field on Sunday and try to get back to winning.”

Sunday’s game has added significance for the Thunder. With a win, the team qualifies for the US Open Cup. Anything less and the Heartland Division’s Open Cup spot goes to Des Moines. “The opportunity to qualify for the Cup is a massive incentive for the team to play well,” Cassidy said. “We know what an accomplishment that would be and we’re determined to get the result that will get us the berth.”

The Thunder will also be recognizing Hanna Hughes on Sunday. Hughes is a traveling player for the Rochester Youth Soccer Association. She was recently diagnosed with bone cancer and has been undergoing treatment for the past several weeks. The Thunder wanted to use this game to support her in her battle with the disease and will be showing that support in a number of ways on Sunday.

Kansas City currently has a 1-3 record, and has lost three straight games, including a pair in Colorado last weekend, since starting the season with a victory over Springfield. The Brass will face Des Moines on Saturday night before traveling up to Rochester for Sunday’s game.

Tickets for Sunday’s game are $8 for adults and $5 for youth and seniors. For more information, please contact the Thunder office at 507-206-4055 or visit the team website.

The Rochester Thunder USL-PDL team were defeated at home this afternoon by the St. Louis Lions 2-1.

The Lions scored in the early minutes of the game throwing the Thunder off their game. The goal was scored in the 3rd minute with St. Louis scoring again at the 39 minute mark. Minnesota also got on the board before half with a 44th minute free kick by Christian Fernandez.

Rochester has plenty of 2nd half chances but the Thunder couldn’t find the back of the net.

Next game for the Thunder is again at home on May 30, at the Rochester Community and Technical College.

Neil Cassidy, head coach of the Rochester Thunder,  thinks this year’s team is improved from the defenders on the back line to the attackers up front. “From front to back I think we have a lot better caliber player,” said Cassidy from Rochester, Minnesota as he prepared his players for their home opener this Sunday, May 23 at 3:00 pm. The Thunder USL-PDL coach says he doesn’t want to take anything away from last year’s players. However, he admits that the team’s first year in the league and his first year coaching PDL helped him to know the quality of the league, the level of player needed to compete and to use his resources better in recruiting.

A quick glance at the roster reveals 9 players from 7 foreign countries. You’ll also notice multiple players from specific universities. Cassidy says that was part of his plan heading into this season. There are: 2 players from Bellevue University Nebraska, 2 players from Butler, 3 players from MSU Billings, 4 players from Northern Illinois University and 5 former Shattuck-St. Mary’s players.

“We’ve got a year’s experience and we know what the competition is like now,” said Cassidy. “We went out and did some pretty specific recruiting. Quite frankly, I probably didn’t make the most of working as a Region II (ODP) staff coach last year. This year I did. I have brought in 4 guys from Northern Illinois and a couple of guys from Butler. I tried to keep guys in groups that have played together before. That really helps a lot with the team gelling. It’s not just 26 individual guys coming together for the first time and trying to learn each others’ style of play. I’ve got some guys who have played at Shattuck-St. Mary’s together. I have some from Northern Illinois University. I’ve also got guys coming back from last year who are used to playing with each other and know each others’ style. But beyond that the personalities of the guys we’ve got this year is absolutely fantastic. They’ve gone out of their way to get to know each other. In fact, when we went to the airport in Denver to pick up a few of the guys for our first game against Colorado, before we had even picked up the rental cars there was just a really good feeling amongst all the lads. I was really impressed with that.”

We will try to lure the other team into our lair and then pounce on them by counter attacking. Drop, let em’ in and counter.
Neil Cassidy

Neil Cassidy

Cassidy said the positive effect of last year’s season also helped as some of the players from last year’s teams spread the word that the Rochester Thunder was a good team to play for.

24 of the 25 players on the Rochester roster are living with host families. “I think that’s really fantastic,” said Cassidy. “The guys are really going to be out there in the community. We also have a lot of community-based plans with the team which I think is one of the important components of the program. It’s great to have high level soccer but they’ve got to be involved with the community as well. We’ve already had a few guys go into schools and do some sessions.”

Cassidy said the host families get season tickets but most of the expenses are paid for by the families themselves. He said it’s more about the experience for these host families and it’s the international players that often get chosen first. “I think they just want a different cultural experience,” said Cassidy. “It’s also great for the guys. We have a couple of Norwegian guys who have never spent a summer in America. The lazy days of Minnesota shall we say?”

“We are going to be more of an attacking team than last year,” says Cassidy as he turns his attention to the playing style of the team. “I think you can see that from our first three games. We’ve already scored 5 goals and we’ve only let one in. But we will also be defensively organized. That’s one of my keys this year.”

“We will try to lure the other team into our lair and then pounce on them by counter attacking,” says a laughing Cassidy.  He says the team did have a somewhat similar game plan going into the first 3 matches of the season – all away matches. “Drop, let em’ in and counter — and it worked,” said the Rochester coach.

Cassidy says the team will play in numerous variations of the 4-4-2 this season, not wanting to share specifics and give away strategies to opponents. Where some foreign coaches have criticized American players for not being mature tactically, Cassidy a native of England, has been very impressed with both last year and this year’s teams. He says his players are able to adjust during a game and not only make the switch but execute it as well. Cassidy credits college and club coaches in the US for doing a better job of tactically preparing players.

Team shape is critical according to Cassidy and nowhere is it more important than in the back line. He says he is already very proud of the job his defense has done in keeping their shape in the first three games of the season. Cassidy says his defenders are also a physical presence. His defensive midfielder Finn Jor (Norway, Northern Illinois University) and central defender Francis Otira (England, Northern Illinois University) are both 6’4″. In the team’s first three games, Cassidy claims he has not had a team get in behind their defense yet.

Another defender on the Thunder is Naoki Mihara (Japan, J-League) who was a Japanese National Team player from U-14 to U-19. He has recently been playing in the J-League but is looking for a pro contract in the US. Cassidy says he feels the USL-PDL is a good way to make that transition just as Kentaro Takada did after his year with the Rochester Thunder. Takada, another former J-League player,  signed a contract with the NSC Stars this spring after having a good season last year with Rochester and playing in several friendlies for the Sr. Thunder team last season.

Members of this years 2010 Rochester Thunder squad go through preseason drills

Cassidy says his midfield is also strong with numerous players that are all highly talented. The Rochester coach says he can switch out a midfield player without losing any quality on the field. “We sub a guy out and we don’t skip a beat,” said Cassidy.

“We have Samuel Asante (Ghana, (Shattuck); Lindsey Wilson, who played for the Des Moines Menace last year and is more of an attacking mid,” Cassidy continued as he listed out some of his midfield players: “We also have Jor from Norway who is a defensive mid and Tyler Moriarty (Montana, MSU-Billings) who is more of an attacking player. Engebreth Faerden (Norway, Northern Illinois University), or Enge as we call him, is another attacking midfielder. Miguel Bonilla (Colombia, Loras) was with us last year as a central mid but we have converted him to wide player.”

With the loss of Hermann Trophy winner and 4th overall MLS Superdraft pick Teal Bunbury, you might believe the Thunder have reason to be concerned about their attack. But Cassidy says he believes the team will have even more scoring prowess this season. Cassidy is very high on Mark Heath-Preston (England, Bellevue University) who was with the team last year but is really coming into his own. “He’s scored 4 goals in 3 games with one assist,” said Cassidy. “I really believe he is a player who could take it to the next level. He can hold the ball up and he’s compact and strong. He just doesn’t get knocked off the ball but he’s also good in the air and is left- or right-footed. He pounces and makes the most of his chances. He had a good season at Bellevue and his confidence is high. He also understands that with Bunbury gone he needs to step up.”

Cassidy points out the other three forwards on the team and says they are all good but each one brings something different to the team like speed or a physical presence. “It will be like a 4-pronged attack,” Cassidy said. “It’s going to be very unpredictable for teams to shut us down.”

The team is also very motivated by their two wins in US Open Cup competition, Cassidy explains. He says the players are looking forward to their next two home games which will serve as part of the 4-game play-in to the USOC. “After the Des Moines Menace victory the guys were very excited with the prospects,” said Cassidy. “We just have to make sure we keep this energy going forward and the confidence without getting too cocky.” The Thunder did not qualify for USOC play last season. This would be the franchise’s first berth in the prestigious long-running soccer tourney if they should qualify. The current point standings find the team at the top of the Central Conference Heartland Division.

Thor as Bolt
The Thunder now have a new mascot which is actually a recycled mascot. Thor, the mascot of the Minnesota Thunder Division-2 team until they folded after last season, has been resurrected for the Rochester Thunder PDL team. However, due to legal reasons the team had to rename him. His new name is Bolt. Yes, as in lightning BOLT.

Rochester Thunder USL-PDL Roster

Goalkeepers:
Sebastian Narvaez – Colombia, Bellevue University Nebraska
Paul Grandstrand – Minnesota, Brown University
Jordan Kadlec – Iowa, Drake

Defenders:
Travis Dehne – Colorado, used to play at Westminster College
Justin Hoskins – Montana, played for us last year. Played at MSU-Billings
Ben Sippola – Minnesota (Shattuck), Butler
Francis Otira – England, Northern Illinois University
Bakari Williams – Virginia (Shattuck), James Madison University
Naoki Mihara – Japan, J-League
Hezekiah Weiss – Kentucky, Lindsey Wilson

Midfielders:
Engebreth Faerden – Norway, Northern Illinois University
Finn Jor – Norway, Northern Illinois University
Samuel Asante – Ghana, (Shattuck) – Lindsey Wilson
Jake Kessler – Minnesota, Luther
Miguel Bonilla – Colombia, Loras
Tyler Moriarty – Montana, MSU-Billings
Chris Andre – Montana, MSU-Billings
TJ Haag – Minnesota, Augsburg
Jordan Burt – Indiana, Butler
Alex Evert – Georgia, Northern Illinois University
Ryan Sappington – Virginia, (Shattuck) Bucknell

Forwards:
Mark Heath-Preston – England, Bellevue University
Christian Fernandes – Brazil, played for Oklahoma Christian University
Juan Chang – Guatemala, Oral Roberts University
Austin Decker – Iowa, (Shattuck) Lehigh