NSC Minnesota Stars announce 2010 league schedule
Minnesota’s new professional soccer team begins season on April 11; home opener set for April 24
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release, February 5, 2010
For more information:
Barclay Kruse, Chief Communications Officer
National Sports Center
763.785.5634 (office)
763.458.6615 (cell)
bkruse@mnsports.org
BLAINE, Minn. (February 8, 2010) – NSC Minnesota Stars, the state’s new professional soccer team, announced its 2010 league schedule today.
The season will begin on Sunday, April 11, with a road game against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The home opener will be Saturday, April 24 versus the Tampa Bay Rowdies. NSC Minnesota will play all its home games at the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine.
Each of the teams in the league will play a total of 30 league games, in the twelve-team USSF Division II league. The Regular Season will begin on April 10 and conclude on October 3.
The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. The USL Conference will include teams from Austin, Minnesota, Portland (Ore.), Puerto Rico, Rochester (N.Y.) and Tampa Bay. The NASL Conference will consist of teams from Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.
Each US-based team will also play at least one game in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on June 15 or 16 with the home venue and opponents to be determined at a later date. The two Canadian-based teams will compete in the 2010 Nutrilite Canadian Championship.
Here is the NSC Minnesota schedule with home games in bold. Specific game times will be announced in the very near future.
Sunday, April 11 at Vancouver Whitecaps
Friday, April 16 at Carolina RailHawks
Sunday, April 18 at Puerto Rico Islanders
Saturday, April 24 vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies (held during NSC’s Spring Cup youth tournament)
Wednesday, April 28 vs. Rochester Rhinos
Saturday, May 1 vs. Austin Aztex (held during the Blaine Breakout youth tournament)
Sunday, May 9 at Montreal Impact
Saturday, May 15 vs. Miami FC
Saturday, May 22 at Miami FC
Thursday, May 27 at Tampa Bay Rowdies
Saturday, May 29 vs. AC St. Louis (held during the NSC Cup youth tournament)
Friday, June 4 at Rochester Rhinos
Wednesday, June 9 vs. Montreal Impact
Tuesday, June 15 or Wednesday June 16 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup First Round
Thursday, June 17 at Portland Timbers
Saturday, June 19 vs. Portland Timbers (held during the Wal-Mart All-American youth tournament)
Tuesday, June 22 or Wednesday June 23 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Second Round
Saturday, June 26 at Crystal Palace Baltimore
Tuesday, June 29 or Wednesday June 30 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round
Sunday, July 4 vs. Crystal Palace Baltimore
Tuesday, July 6 or Wednesday July 7 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 10 vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies (held during Schwan’s USA CUP youth tournament)
Wednesday, July 14 vs. AC St. Louis (held during Schwan’s USA CUP youth tournament)
Sunday, July 25 at Vancouver Whitecaps
Wednesday, July 28 vs. Puerto Rico Islanders
Sunday, August 1 at AC St. Louis
Wednesday, August 11at Portland Timbers
Saturday, August 14 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
Saturday, August 21 vs. Portland Timbers
Tuesday, August 31 or Wednesday, September 1 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals
Saturday, September 4 at Austin Aztex
Saturday, September 11 at AC St. Louis
Wednesday, September 15 vs. Carolina RailHawks
Saturday, September 18 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
Friday, September 24 at Tampa Bay Rowdies
Schedule notes:
The schedule includes games on Saturday (9), Wednesday (5) and Sunday (1). The schedule features three home-and-away, back-to-back match ups: Miami (away on May 15, home on May 22); Portland (away on June 17, home on June 19); Crystal Palace Baltimore (away on June 26, home on July 4);
Six of the NSC Minnesota home games will be held during one of the youth soccer tournaments at the National Sports Center, to take advantage of the huge attendance base of youth players already attending one of the NSC tournaments.
The popular 4th of July home game returns, with the home game against Crystal Palace Baltimore followed by the “Blaine’s Blazin’ 4th” fireworks display on the NSC campus.
The league schedule is unbalanced. NSC Minnesota will play Vancouver, Portland, St. Louis and Tampa Bay four times (two home, two away). The Stars will play the rest of the teams twice (one home, one away.)
The USSF has also unveiled details of the playoff format for this season:
The first place team (based on total points, at the conclusion of the regular season) in the USL Conference and NASL Conference will become the top two seeds in the playoffs. The next six (6) best teams, based on total points, will round out the playoff field. The four teams with the fewest total points in the regular season are excluded from the playoffs.
Playoffs will begin during the week starting Monday, October 4, with further playoff dates to be determined later. Each playoff round will be a two-game, home-and-away series, determined by total aggregate goals.