Stars carry 1-0 lead to Carolina
For the second time in less than a month, the Minnesota Stars travel to Cary, N.C., with their season hanging in the balance. After clinching a playoff berth with a road win against the Carolina RailHawks on Sept. 24, the Stars have a chance now to seal a place in the North American Soccer League championship series as the teams meet for the second of two legs in their total goals semifinal series. The game kicks off at 6 p.m. CDT from WakeMed Soccer Park and will be broadcast live on NSCMinnesota.com and NASL.com.
Download: Match Notes (PDF)
The Stars took a narrow lead with a 1-0 win in the first leg last Saturday at NSC Stadium. The Stars had let chance after chance go begging, and goalkeeper Joe Warren had made seven saves in a game that seemed destined to end scoreless, but midfielder Andrei Gotsmanov’s skillful chip over Carolina goalkeeper Brad Knighton’s head gave the Stars a lead they’ll need to work hard to defend on the road.
Carolina boasted the NASL’s best offense this season, scoring 50 goals in the 28-game regular season, but the Stars have kept them largely contained in five games so far. Carolina has managed only three goals in those games, with one coming from the penalty spot. Carolina’s offensive pace has slowed since the start of September, as the RailHawks have scored only three goals in their past six games, a stretch during which they’ve lost five straight and been shutout four times.
Carolina’s current stretch is reminiscent of one the Stars suffered in August and September that nearly kept them out of the playoffs. Prior to the six-game unbeaten streak they are currently on, the Stars went winless in seven games. Stars head coach Manny Lagos said a season can turn on one good game, so he’s avoiding looking into current form.
“It’s do or die for both teams, so you can’t look backwards, just at what has to transpire in order to move on,” Lagos said. “Playing the best team in the league away from home for a spot in the finals is a tremendous challenge, and it’s one we’re excited about having.”
In addition to a spot in the finals, the Stars also have an opportunity for revenge. The team’s season ended in Carolina last year on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing in the second leg of the USSF D2 Pro League quarterfinals. Entering that match following a scoreless tie in the first leg, everything that could go wrong for the Stars did as their 2010 season came to a disappointing end. The Stars had a player sent off shortly before halftime, and with only 10 men the rest of the way, succumbed to four second-half goals.
