Stars earn 1-1 draw at Tampa Bay
FC Tampa Bay held the NSC Minnesota Stars more than 50 minutes without a shot on goal Saturday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., but a strong second half gave the Stars every chance to walk away from Al Lang Stadium with all three points. Instead, the Stars settled for a hard-earned 1-1 draw that will leave them waiting until the final match of the North American Soccer League season to learn their playoff fate.
With one game to play, the Stars narrowly lead the Montreal Impact for the NASL’s sixth and final playoff berth. Montreal defeated FC Edmonton Saturday night to close the Stars’ gap from three points to one.
FC Tampa Bay’s defense stifled the Stars in the first half, holding the visitors without a shot on goal. Tampa had chances to score, forcing Joe Warren to make seven of his franchise-record nine saves in the first half. Tampa Bay’s wastefulness in front of goal cost them in the 54th minute as the Stars took a 1-0 lead as the Stars finally managed a shot on goal.
Forward Luke Mulholland tracked back into the midfield in the 54th minute to win a loose ball before releasing Anthony Hamilton down the left wing. The pacy winger carried the ball to the endline before crossing to the top of the six-yard box, where Brian Cvilikas made no mistake with a close-range header to open the scoring.
The Stars nearly doubled the lead three minutes later. Mulholland did well with his back to goal to feed Hamilton on the left side of the penalty area, and his left-footed shot beat Jeff Attinella at the near post but bounced out of bounds off the upright.
The hit post loomed large two minutes later as Mike Ambersley and Aaron King combined to equalize. Ambersley slipped a through ball to King, who hit a powerful right-footed shot across his body and just inside Warren’s far post.
Keith Savage had a long-range shot saved by a diving Warren and the Minnesota defense had to scramble to keep Ambersley from cleaning up a lucky bounce at the top of the six-yard box. Tampa Bay looked to wrest momentum from the Stars, but the visitors’ defense stood strong as the offense went in search of a winner.
The Stars had two great opportunities in stoppage time. Neil Hlavaty sent a free kick just over the bar from 20 yards out. Moments later, Cvilikas out-jumped Attinella to nod down a long ball from Kyle Altman, but with Attinella out of position, Brian Kallman could only hit the post, leaving the Stars to settle for one point and seek a road win next week against the NASL regular season champion Carolina RailHawks to guarantee a playoff berth.
Match Recap
MIN Lineup (4-4-2): Joe Warren, Justin Davis, Cristiano, Kyle Altman, Brian Kallman, Anthony Hamilton (Lucas Rodriguez 71), Andrei Gotsmanov (Neil Hlavaty 46), Kentaro Takada, Jeff Cosgriff, Luke Mulholland (Devin Del Do 80)
TAM Lineup (4-4-2): Jeff Attinella, Frankie Sanfilippo, Takuya Yamada, Andres Arango, David Hayes, Tsuyoshi Yoshitake (Pascal Millien 66), Mozzi Gyorio, Keith Savage, Chad Burt (Jeremy Christie 78), Mike Ambersley, Aaron King (Kerry Baptiste 67)
Scoring Summary
MIN – Cvilikas 2 (Hamilton 1), 54th minute
TAM – King 9 (Ambersley 6), 59th
Misconduct Summary
TAM – Ambersley, caution 85
Statistics
MIN: Shots 7 (3 on goal), 9 saves, 2 corner kicks, 6 fouls, 2 offsides
TAM: 16 shots (10 on goal), 2 saves, 6 corner kicks, 11 fouls, 3 offsides
Attendance: 3,001
