Soccer Bowl 2011

Soccer Bowl 2011
NASL Championship Series 2011
Event	Soccer Bowl
	on aggregate
First leg
Date	October 22, 2011
Venue	National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota
Man of the Match	Luke Mulholland
Attendance	4,511
Second leg
Date	October 29, 2011
Venue	Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Attendance	6,849
	2012 →

NASL Championship Series 2011 was the North American Soccer League's postseason championship final of the 2011 season. It was the first championship match held by the new NASL and the first Soccer Bowl since 1984. Also known as the NASL Championship series 2011, the event was contested in a two-game aggregate match between the NSC Minnesota Stars and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The first leg was held on October 22, 2011 at National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota, while the second on October 29, 2011 at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

After a two-day competition, the NSC Minnesota Stars became the 2011 NASL champions, and the first of the new league.^[1]^[2]

Background

The NSC Minnesota Stars entered the playoffs as the number six seed and defeated the number three seed, Tampa Bay Rowdies, 1–0, in the single-match quarterfinal round. Next they faced the top-seeded, Carolina RailHawks FC in the semifinals. They won the first leg by a score of 1–0, but Carolina won the second leg, 4–3. Since the teams were tied on aggregate, they moved on to 30 minutes of extra time. Since neither side scored in extra time, on to a penalty kick shootout they went. The Stars won the shootout 5–3 to advance to the finals.

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers had a much easier path to the finals. They entered the playoffs as the number four seed and defeated the fifth-seeded, FC Edmonton squad, 5–0, in the single-match quarterfinal round. Next they faced the second-seeded, Puerto Rico Islanders in the semifinals They won the first leg by a score of 3–1 and the second, 2–1, to advance to the finals.

Game summary

Championships results

Team 1	Aggregate	Team 2	First leg	Second leg	Attendance
NSC Minnesota Stars	3–1	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	3–1	0–0	October 22 National Sports Center 4,511 October 29 Lockhart Stadium 6,849