LD Update: NASL Semifinals Game Night; Molinari re-signs for Pioneers

Just as expected, the opening legs of the two semifinal series proved to be tight affairs, with only one goal total being the difference on the night. The defending league champion Minnesota Stars and reigning regular season champion San Antonio Scorpions played to a stalemate while the second-seeded Tampa Bay Rowdies return home with a one-goal lead over the Carolina RailHawks. The two semifinal series conclude next weekend with a game each on Saturday and Sunday.

#6 Minnesota Stars 0 :: 0 #1 San Antonio Spurs - For the fourth time in five meetings this season, there was no winner after 90 minutes. It was the second time the two teams finished scoreless. It was not one the most entertaining games for a Minnesota crowd that could have been watching the Stars' final game should they not advance and not find new ownership for the league-funded club. A pair of organized defensive units, coupled with physical play and poor shots and performance in the final third created very limited quality opportunities at both ends of the field. Both keepers finished with four saves, but hard little trouble in making the tally. - MORE  |  Leg 2: Sunday, Oct 14

#3 Carolina RailHawks 1 :: 2 #2 Tampa Bay Rowdies - For over an hour it looked like both semifinals were going to go scoreless, which would not have been a surprise given the two sides had finished even in all four meetings this season. Mike Ambersley, however, broke the scoreless stalemate courtesy of Shane Hill when he knocked the ball inside the far post in the 64th minute of the contest to give the visitors the lead. Brian Shriver nearly tied it back up three minutes later only to see defender Frankie Sanfilippo block the shot and goalkeeper Jeff Attinella make a good stop to keep it from rolling over the line. Shriver would get an easier chance from the spot, though, in the 77th after Flody Franks committed a foul in the area, converting the penalty to make things even. With five minutes left the Rowdies found the winner to take a lead back home when Evans Frimpong delievered a ball in to the far post where Dan Antoniuk nodded it in. - MORE  |  Leg 2: Saturday, Oct 13

USL News: Longtime USL Pro and PDL player Federico Molinari of the Western Mass Pioneers re-signed as the head coach for 2013.

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