Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

2011 was the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...

'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 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. Also known as the NASL Championship series 2011, the event was contested in a two-game aggregate match between the

NSC Minnesota Stars NSC may refer to: Sport and competition * NSC United, an American soccer team * National Scholastics Championship, an American quiz bowl competition * National Scrabble Championship, now known as the Scrabble Players Championship * National Sho ...

and the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 * Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profe ...

. The first leg was held on October 22, 2011 at

National Sports Center The National Sports Center (NSC) is a multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota. Its site includes a soccer stadium, over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a meeting and convention facility, and an eight-sheet ice rink, the Sup ...

Blaine, Minnesota Blaine is a suburban city in Anoka and Ramsey counties in the State of Minnesota, United States. Once a rural town, Blaine's population has increased significantly in the last 60 years. For several years, Blaine led the Twin Cities metro region ...

, while the second on October 29, 2011 at

Lockhart Stadium Lockhart Stadium was a stadium used mostly for soccer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football. Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium' ...

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...

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

Background

The NSC Minnesota Stars entered the playoffs as the number six seed and defeated the number three seed,

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

, 1–0, in the single-match quarterfinal round. Next they faced the top-seeded,

Carolina RailHawks FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

in the

semifinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

. 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 FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017. The club went on hiatus when NASL ceased competitive operat ...

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

First leg

Second leg

2011 NASL Champions:

References

External links

NASL Soccer Bowl (official website)
* Video of gam
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an
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{{2010–11 in North and Central America, and Caribbean football (CONCACAF)

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

2011 in sports in Minnesota 2011 in sports in Florida Soccer in Florida Soccer in Minnesota