Brazilian center back returns on two-year contract

MINNEAPOLIS (February 27, 2013) — With preseason underway and the 2013 roster nearing completion, Minnesota Stars FC has made a move to continue building around a core group of players with years of experience with the team. The club announced Wednesday morning that it had re-signed Brazilian center back Cristiano Dias on two-year contract. Further details will not be announced, per club and league policy.

“I’m really happy to come back and be a part of a team that went to the finals both years I’ve been here,” Dias said. “I’m even more excited for next year and the expectations of our new owners, and I hope we can win another championship with the talented team we’re putting together right now.”

Dias made 21 appearances in league and Lamar Hunt US Open Cup play for Minnesota in 2012 and scored his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw with FC Edmonton on August 25. In total, he has represented the club 39 times in two seasons.

Dias has been with the club since 2011 after featuring prominently for four seasons with Miami FC (now the Fort Lauderdale Strikers). Prior to moving to the United States in 2007, Dias spent time with four clubs in the regional leagues of his native Brazil. He will join Minnesota in preseason following the completion of his Major Indoor Soccer League season with the Missouri Comets, who play their regular season finale tonight in Chicago before starting the playoffs next week.

“Cristiano is a guy who can contribute in so many ways to this community both on and off the field,” Stars FC head coach Manny Lagos said. “He knows what we’re all about and wants to continue to build the legacy of Minnesota soccer, and we’re very excited to have him back.”

Minnesota opens the North American Soccer League Spring Season at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on Saturday, April 6, against the San Antonio Scorpions. The club plays five straight home games at the Metrodome before returning with fireworks on the Fourth of July to NSC Stadium. Ticket prices are unchanged from 2012, thus providing everyone the opportunity to be part of the professional soccer experience and enjoy the world’s most popular sport.

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MINNEAPOLIS (Nov. 8, 2012) — After two years of searching, last week the North American Soccer League and Minnesota Stars FC announced an agreement in principle that would allow the team to continue playing in 2013 and beyond under new Minnesota-based ownership. On Thursday afternoon at Brit’s Pub, the team and the league held a joint press conference to introduce Minnesota businessman and philanthropist, Dr. William McGuire, as the soon-to-be owner of the Stars.

Stars CEO Djorn Buchholz began the event by addressing the team’s off-field achievements over the past two seasons as a small staff worked to make the team more attractive to a local ownership group and by encouraging the fans in attendance at the event to make a commitment to purchase season tickets for 2013. Buchholz was followed by NASL Commissioner David Downs, who led the search for ownership for the team, which has been owned and funded by the NASL for the past two years. Downs recapped the events that led to McGuire’s interest before introducing the Stars’ new owner.

Downs said: “Bringing Dr. McGuire and his family into the Minnesota Stars means so much for the league, not only because we’ve managed to keep the team going in a very important soccer market, but because we believe this will help provide the foundation for the Stars to thrive for many years to come.”

Dr. McGuire, best known for his tenure as chairman and CEO of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group, stressed the importance of community involvement and installing stability. Mcguire said soccer’s 20-plus-year sustained growth among youth players and rapidly growing fan community made the purchase of the Stars attractive.

“Organizations that succeed do so because they have good people,” McGuire said. “We’re excited to bring some health and stability as we move soccer in this community ahead. We intend to extend the organization further into the community, including calling on people to help us understand what can be better.”

McGuire wouldn’t comment extensively on the future of where the team would play, acknowledging the facility the team currently occupies while also citing the potential of centralized locations in reaching the diverse fan groups he aims to make the team appealing to, taking the opportunity to once again stress his desire to deeply root the team in the community. McGuire and his wife Nadine have made several prominent philanthropic ventures in the Twin Cities and beyond, including gifts to the University of Minnesota, Walker Art Center and Guthrie Theater.

Finally, Stars head coach Manny Lagos, who has led the team to three straight playoff appearances, the 2011 NASL Championship and a berth in the 2012 NASL Championship Series, spoke about the team’s goals on the field in the weeks and months ahead as it builds toward 2013. Lagos did not speak in depth on the team’s personnel needs as it begins to build a roster, but he did address the challenge the league’s new format will present and shared his optimism that Minnesota will continue to be successful on the field under the new ownership group.

A native of St. Paul, Minn., whose father Buzz founded and coached the Minnesota Thunder, Lagos ranked the Stars’ recent events among the highlights of a soccer career that includes ana Olympics appearance, caps with the national team, and multiple MLS Cup championships in Major League Soccer.

“I put this moment right now with all of it, and it has to do with the people in the past who’ve created a baseboard for what Minnesota soccer is and a groundwork for what it can become,” he said.

About Minnesota Stars FC
Soccer in the Twin Cities will enter its 24th consecutive season in 2013 as the Minnesota Stars FC takes to the field once again in the North American Soccer League. For the past three seasons the Minnesota Stars FC has played its home games at the 8,500 seat NSC Stadium on the campus of the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn. The Minnesota Stars FC plays in the NASL, which also includes the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, FC Edmonton, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, New York Cosmos, Puerto Rico Islanders, San Antonio Scorpions FC and Tampa Bay Rowdies. Clubs in Northern Virginia and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada are slated to begin play in 2014.

BLAINE, Minn. (Oct. 19, 2012) — After winning the 2011 North American Soccer League championship, the mantra in the Minnesota Stars FC locker room all season has been “defend the cup.” The Stars will have that chance beginning Saturday night at NSC Stadium in the first leg of the NASL Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

The two-leg, total-goals series gets underway at 7:30 p.m. in Blaine, Minn., as the No. 6 seeded Stars welcome the No. 2 seeded Rowdies. The two teams met four times during the regular season, with Tampa Bay holding a slender advantage with two wins and a draw. The teams split the games this season at NSC Stadium, and the Stars will look to build an advantage in Minnesota’s October chill before departing to Florida for next Saturday’s second leg at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“I think we’re in for an exciting series,” Stars head coach Manny Lagos said. “We have a lot of respect for Tampa Bay and what they’ve achieved in the league the last two seasons, and adapting to the styles they can throw at us is a challenge we’re really excited about.”

One of the greatest challenges could be finding the focal point of Tampa Bay’s attack. Much like Minnesota, the goals have come by committee for the Rowdies this season with multiple attack angles to choose from. With nine goals, Daniel Antoniuk gives the Rowdies an aerial threat for Mike Ambersley and former Star Luke Mulholland to aim for in the box, but with eight and six goals, respectively, Ambersley and Mulholland can inflict plenty of damage on their own.

As for their attack, the Stars will likely continue to target Amani Walker, both as a hold-up striker and a threat in the box. Miguel Ibarra has been dangerous in his new role as a central attacking midfielder, while forward Simone Bracalello has played a role in three of the Stars’ four playoff goals in 2012, assisting two and scoring the game-winner last Sunday as the Stars upset the top-seeded San Antonio Scorpions with a 2-1 victory at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio.

The Minnesota Stars wrapped up the North American Soccer League crown with a
0-0 tie in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., earning a 3-1 total-goals victory in
the two-legged Championship Series. Having won 3-1 at NSC Stadium in
Blaine, Minn., last Saturday, defending was the story of the night for
the Stars, who kept the potent Fort Lauderdale Strikers offense at bay
for 90 rain-soaked minutes to lift the Soccer Bowl trophy for the first
time in the history of the re-launched NASL.Saturday night’s game was markedly different from the first leg, which saw
end-to-end action and a potent Stars attack. The Stars counterattacked
at select moments in the second leg, choosing to rely on the strength
that carried them through the regular season: defense.

“They threw a lot at us and pushed us hard, and it was a challenge for us to
hold onto the ball,” Stars head coach Manny Lagos said. “Our commitment
to defend for 90 minutes was outstanding, and encapsulated what our team
is all about.”

Needing two-goal victory to force extra time in the series, the Strikers wasted
no time throwing men forward. From the onset, Fort Lauderdale pressed
and kept the Stars in their own defensive third, but for 90 minutes, the
Strikers couldn’t find the final touch in the box as they failed to put
their best chances on goal and saw several other shots blocked by Stars
defenders or sail harmlessly high or wide. Despite earning nine corner
kicks, the Strikers only forced veteran Stars goalkeeper Joe Warren into
one save en route to his tenth shutout of the season.

The Stars return to Minnesota at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 31. Fans are
welcome to meet them in Terminal 2 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport
and are also encouraged to attend a championship celebration at Brit’s
Pub in downtown Minneapolis starting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

“We don’t want to shy away from what we are, and that’s a team that’s owned
by the league and looking for the right owner,” Lagos said. “I hope thepride we bring back to the state open eyes and gives Minnesotans some
pride in this state as a soccer market. We’re looking forward to coming
home and sharing this moment with the fans who weren’t able to travel.”

Minnesota Stars survive wild game, bound for NASL championship series

The Minnesota Stars’ wild ride through the North American Soccer League playoffs continues as the team knocked out the No. 1 seed Carolina RailHawks in a shootout Saturday night at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The Stars led the total goals series 1-0 after Andrei Gotsmanov’s late winner last Saturday in Blaine, and Gotsmanov struck in the 40th minute to extend the Stars’ aggregate lead to 2-0. Pablo Campos scored the first of three goals in first-half stoppage time. The second half was a flurry of goals, as Lucas Rodriguez scored to make the game 2-1 and the aggregate score 3-1, but Campos grabbed another back for the RailHawks with a penalty in the 61st minute, and Nick Zimmerman tied the series at 3-3 on aggregate two minutes later. Momentum swung back to the Stars in the 66th minute as Rodriguez was hauled down just before tapping into an empty net, and Carolina was reduced to 10 men with Devon McKenney’s red card for the foul. Neil Hlavaty converted the penalty calmly to put the Stars back up 4-3 on aggregate, but after missing a penalty with just minutes to play, Campos finished his hat trick deep into second-half stoppage to force 30 minutes of extra time. The overtime period finished goalless, leading to a shootout, and Joe Warren saved Jonny Steele’s penalty in the first round, and Rodriguez ended the game with an accurate left-footed shot to cap a perfect shootout round for Stars shooters.

 

The Stars will begin the two-game, total-goals championship series against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CDT at NSC Stadium. The Strikers defeated the Puerto Rico Islanders 5-2 on aggregate to advance to the league’s inaugural championship series.