News

On Saturday, June 30^th, Minnesota Stars FC travel to St. Petersburg, Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium for the second time this season. In the previous meeting at Al Lang on May 25^th, the Stars frustrated the Rowdies for the entire 90 minutes and escaped Florida with a 0-0 draw.

Having won back-to-back matches, including a road win against the Stars two weeks ago, Tampa Bay comes into this match on better form. Last weekend, a goal down at home versus the San Antonio Scorpions with less than three minutes of regulation time left, the Rowdies scored twice in the closing stages of the game to emerge 3-2 winners.

Behind the Rowdies recent wins is Japanese dynamo Tsuyoshi Yoshitake, who won back-to-back Offensive Player of the Week accolades for his performances. The forward, just recently back from injury, scored twice against the Scorpions, including the injury time game-winning goal, and drew the free kick that Luke Mulholland scored on. The week prior, Yoshitake opened the scoring, and assisted on the winning goal versus the Minnesota Stars.

Minnesota ended a four-match winless streak last weekend, defeating the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 2-1 at NSC Stadium. Neil Hlavaty opened the scoring for the home side from the penalty spot, before Simone Bracalello scored the winner before half time. The win was the first for Minnesota since May 19^th which was, incidentally, against the Strikers.

History favors the Rowdies in this match, having gone 2-2-0 against the Stars last term, and 1-1-0 against them this year. A win would move the Rowdies into third place in the standings, at the expense of Minnesota.

Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Minnesota Stars FC

Saturday, June 30, 2012— 7:30 P.M. EDT

Al Lang Stadium

St. Petersburg, FL

Webcast:  NASL on ustream

2012 Series:  Tampa Bay, 1-1-0, 4pts

2011 Series: Tampa Bay, 2-2-0, 8pts  

                                             Tampa Bay                        Minnesota

Head Coach                       Ricky Hill                            Manny Lagos

2012 Records                   4^th: 5-3-5, 18pts               3^rd: 4-3-0, 15pts

Last Five Games               T L L W W                          T T L L W

Goals Leader                     Daniel Antoniuk (4),        Simone Bracalello (3),

              Tsuyoshi Yoshitake (4)   Amani Walker (3)

Assists Leader                  Keith Savage (3)             Amani Walker (3)

QUICK FACTS

Tampa Bay

• Goalkeeper Jeff Atinella leads the league with 58 saves.
• Tampa Bay has the best discipline in the league with 19 yellow cards and no red cards this season.
• Tsuyoshi Yoshitake is the two-time defending NASL Offensive Player of the Week.

Minnesota

• The Stars have lost only once on the road this season (2-4-1).
• Forward Amani Walker leads the Stars in assists and is the joint-leader in goals, with three of each.
• Eleven different players have scored the Stars 18 goals this season.