NSC Minnesota Stars

Minnesota Stars

Full name	NSC Minnesota Stars
Nickname(s)	Stars
Founded	2010
Stadium	National Sports Center Blaine, Minnesota (Capacity: 12,000)
Owner	NASL
Head Coach	Manny Lagos
League	North American Soccer League
2011 (NASL)	Regular Season: 6th, Playoffs: NASL Champions
Website	Club home page
Home colors Away colors
Current season

The NSC Minnesota Stars is an American professional soccer team based in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 2010, the team plays in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The Minnesota Stars are the reigning 2011 NASL champions.

The Stars play their home games at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota, roughly 18 miles north of Minneapolis. The team's colors are dark blue and yellow. Their current head coach is Manny Lagos.

History

The National Sports Center began considering fielding a Division 2 men's professional soccer team in December 2009. The current team, the Minnesota Thunder, were tenants of the National Sports Center and were struggling through financial difficulties.^[1] In January 2010, the National Sports Center announced they would field a new team to replace the Minnesota Thunder. The Thunder at the time were not officially folded but were facing financial ruin.^[2] Following a team-naming contest, the NSC announced the official team name would be NSC Minnesota, with the team nickname being Stars on February 5, 2010.^[3]

The team played its first official game on April 11, 2010, a 2–0 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.^[4][5] The first goal in franchise history was scored by Daniel Wasson in their next game, a 1-0 victory over the Carolina RailHawks.^[6] The Stars enjoyed some impressive victories in their debut season, including a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace Baltimore, a 3-0 win over AC St. Louis, and a 3-1 win over FC Tampa Bay, eventually finishing fourth in their conference. Unfortunately for the Stars, they went out of the playoffs at the quarter final stage, 4-0 on aggregate to the Carolina RailHawks,^[7] after defender Andres Arango was issued a red card after just 38 minutes. Simone Bracalello and Brian Cvilikas were the Stars' top scorers in 2010, with 5 goals each.

Colors and badge

The Stars' official colors are blue and gold, following the tradition established the Minnesota Thunder of Minnesota soccer teams wearing predominantly blue as their home color. The club logo is a shield in two-tone blue and gold, with a stylized star overlaid by the NSC Minnesota wordmark.

Stadium

National Sports Center

• National Sports Center; Blaine, Minnesota (2010–present)

The Stars play their home games in the 12,000-seater stadium at the National Sports Center, a 600-acre (2.4 km²) multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota, which in addition to the soccer stadium features over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a velodrome, a meeting and convention facility, and an eight-sheet ice rink, the Schwan Super Rink, which is the largest ice facility of its type in the world.

The Minnesota Thunder also played at the NSC prior to the 2010 season.

Club culture

Rivalries

The Railway Cup was an inter-division match played between the NSC Minnesota Stars and AC St. Louis. The cup was named after the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway (M&StL) which was an American Class I railroad that operated lines radiating south to Saint Louis, Missouri from Minneapolis, Minnesota between 1870 to 1960. The rivalry was disbanded after the 2010 season when AC St. Louis folded.

During the course of the 2011 NASL season a rivalry was formed between the Stars and FC Edmonton known as The Flyover Cup. Created by each team's supporters, it's focused on raising money for charity. The Eddies took home the Cup in 2011, posting a 2-0-2 record against the Stars.

Broadcasting

As with all the teams in the NASL, the Stars host webcasts of all their home matches. The commentary is typically Chris Lidholm on play by play and Buzz Lagos on color commentary. The webcasts are free and streamed live via the official NSC Minnesota Stars page.

Players and staff

Current roster

As of September 19, 2011^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Joe Warren 2 DF Justin Davis 3 DF Cristiano 4 MF Neil Hlavaty 6 DF Kevin Friedland 7 MF Andrei Gotsmanov 8 MF Daniel Wasson 9 FW Tino Nuñez 10 MF Sandy Gbandi 11 DF Chris Clements 13 MF Kentaro Takada 14 DF Brian Kallman 15 DF John Gilkerson 16 DF Kyle Altman (captain) 17 MF Geison

No. Position Player 18 MF Jeff Cosgriff 19 FW Simone Bracalello 20 FW Brian Cvilikas 21 FW Devin Del Do 22 FW Amani Walker 23 MF Ryan Woods 24 DF Jack Stewart (on loan to FC Dallas) 25 FW Anthony Hamilton 26 FW Ely Allen 28 FW Luke Mulholland 30 GK Matt Van Oekel 32 MF Lucas Rodríguez 77 MF Andy Lorei 91 DF Gino Mauro 97 MF Michael Cobb

Staff

• Djorn Buchholz - CEO
• Manny Lagos - Head Coach/Director of Soccer Operations
• Carl Craig - First Assistant Coach
• Kevin Friedland - Player/Assistant Coach

Notable former players

• Gao Leilei
• Johnny Menyongar

• See also All-time NSC Minnesota Stars roster

Head coaches

• Manny Lagos (2010–present)^[9]

Record

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	Open Cup	Avg. Attendance
2010	2	USSF D-2 Pro League	4th, USL (7th)	Quarterfinals	2nd Round	1,374
2011	2	NASL	6th	Champions	Denied entry

References

1. ^ From news services (November 11, 2009) "NSC plans don't include Thunder" Saint Paul Pioneer Press
2. ^ Leighton, Tim (January 8, 2010) "Soccer - New team will replace Thunder" Saint Paul Pioneer Press
3. ^ Quarstad, Brian. "NSC Minnesota is Name of New Pro Soccer Team - Logo Unveiled | IMS Soccer News". Insidemnsoccer.com. http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2010/02/05/nsc-minnesota-is-name-of-new-pro-soccer-team-logo-unveiled/. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
4. ^ "USSF Division-2 Pro League". Ussf.demosphere.com. 2010-04-11. http://ussf.demosphere.com/stats/2010/1634145.html. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
5. ^ LA VAQUE, DAVID (April 25, 2010) "Stars launch franchise with a win - The team, the successor to the Thunder, scored its first goal on a penalty kick and made it hold up." Star Tribune
6. ^ "USSF Division-2 Pro League". Ussf.demosphere.com. 2010-04-16. http://ussf.demosphere.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp::73193+Elements/Display+E+47107+Stats/+1634148. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
7. ^ "USSF Division-2 Pro League". Ussf.demosphere.com. 2010-10-09. http://ussf.demosphere.com/stats/2010/2072057.html. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
8. ^ "2011 Roster | NSC Minnesota Stars". Nscminnesota.com. http://nscminnesota.com/team/2011-roster/. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
9. ^ "National Sports Center News/Information". Nscsports.org. 2010-02-10. http://www.nscsports.org/news-info/media_info/releases/manny_coach.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 

External links

• NSC Minnesota Stars team home page
• North American Soccer League NSC Minnesota page
• Dan's Soccer Zone, history of Minnesota soccer