I'm still reeling from last night.
Originally the Real Salt Lake (current MLS league leaders) game was supposed to be here. But somehow teams can switch venues for a game if one team coughs up enough money. We - being ownerless and cash strapped - took their money to take on the burden of...
A few highlights from the home games so far:
Venegas scoring from distance, Tchoupe's diving header, Taka's backheel set up to Ibarra, Amani's tight angle shot and backflips (it's all fun and games until someone lands on their neck Amani) and some atmospheric montage shots for who knows why.
Okay, my completely biased an unofficial run down of this years UNDEFEATED Minnesota Stars... other Dark Clouds may disagree with me on various points, but here is my assessment, albeit influenced by the free beer we hand out before the game.
Our starters recently have been:
GK: Van Oekel
D...
It looks good, we've had a lot of compliments on it: the commentators at last nights game in Ft Lauderdale were raving about it. From a distance, the numbers seem a bit speckled, but they are definitely legible.
We beat Fort Lauderdale last night (first time beating them at their home) to close the gap on league leaders Puerto Rico. We remain undefeated!
Worthy of note was Kevin Venegas' first goal as a pro which he racked up against Carolina last Saturday as we beat them 2-1:
So on Tuesday we...
Yeah, it's brutal watching it, but I think the players are probably used to it by now because a lot of lower league teams share with other sports (in this case Canadian Football (Pointyball)). The last pitch we played on had fairly obvious baseball bases marked out on part of the field...
Finally, some goals. After two stolidly defensive matches, we get goals in abundance because both our defenses had rough games. 2 red cards, 1 penalty, 7 goals and we came out ahead in the end. it wasn't pretty, but it was a win and we're second in the table with a game in hand.
For those who...
Howdy gents,
I've been meaning to get back in touch now that our season is underway and fill you in on the start of our defense of the NASL Championship.
The club and supporter's group (the Dark Clouds) have done a great job this year - much more action from the club since we are still...
Update:
We remain unbeaten at home. We're fourth, but 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th are all pretty tightly packed, so a few good results means we could nab second place. Our next game is against 3rd place Puerto Rico at home, so hopefully that'll be the leap we're looking for.
The last home game was...
http://youtu.be/U5gm69vyonc
Gotsmanov's free kick is at 3.18... the more I watch this, the slower the shot seems and the more surprised the keeper looks.
Takada's goal @ 0.45
Shots of the shaky midfield scrapping fill the video out.
He picked up a season-ending injury in practice. :( Too bad, it would have been nice to have him back. He's hoping for an early recovery and is still (afaik) on the team, but likely out this year.
Scored our first goal of the season! Played every position on the field bar goalie and battered our first 2011 goal in.
Second goal in a 2:1 win over Atlanta... hold your breath... Gotsmanov. A f*****g screamer from a wide free kick. I'll post a link to the recap as soon as Atlanta's IT crew...
Not as a matter of course, I don't think. Andrei's brother Sasha also bounced around when we were the Minnesota Thunder, but I haven't heard anything from him.
Re: How we will get on. I'd say hopes are high. We've shed a some dead *cough*MelvinTarley*cough* weight along with some good players...
2011 Season: Adopt a Star!
2011 season starts over here on Saturday and we've been filling out the team since we learned we'd be returning. Some of these boys haven't yet been seen in play, but last year having BHA fans adopt players seemed to give the team a boost. If even a little of...
Well, that is that: Stars crash out of the playoffs with our worst defeat ever, 4-0 to the Carolina Railhawks. Absolutely miserable night.
Maybe we'll be around next year, maybe we won't.
But for now we can focus our full attention on watching Brighton and Hove's ascendancy. ALBION!
Videos of those goals I promised..
STARS TV: 9-30-10 - NSC Minnesota Stars
The first leg of the playoffs finished 0-0 last night. Disappointing result, because I thought we had them on the ropes a few times. Now we have to wait for Saturday...
Two local, well-thought-of football blogs...
Wahey 3-1 vs Tampa Bay, who just fired Kenny Dalglish's son.
Goals for Rodriguez, Bracalello and Takada (finally!).
The second half was terrible because we took off most of our good players. Hopefully we'll get video of the goals soonish.