In the cold misty surroundings of Stillwater Highschool, the Thunder dispatched the Vancouver Wetnaps as despite the Canadian weather they brought along with them.  Kevin Friedland scored on twenty minutes and set up David Castellanos for the winner in the second half, propelling the Thunder back above the Seattle Flounders to third place.

The game was reasonably even, opening with both teams having a few chances.  In only the fifth minute, Vancouver had a good attack with Jason Jordan racing down the Thunder's right side.  His cross was met by the foot of John Sulentic, but his shot was well wide.  On seventeen minutes, Jay Alberts showed the speed that has made him so dangerous this season racing to catch a Brian Roberts ball over the top of the defense, but couldn't get around the ball and it went out for a goal kick.  With Roberts and Alberts both committed forward, the Whitecaps worked a good counter with Canadian international Martin Nash doing some good work to set up Steve Kindel, but his shot was poor and easily saved by Joe Warren in the Minnesota goal.

Then in the twentieth minute, the Thunder took the lead.  Godfrey Tenoff muscled his was into the right side of the Vancouver box, and crossed.  His cross was deflected high by Old Man Dasovic (another Canadian international) and eluded both Alex Marques in goal and David Castellanos challenging for it.  It fell to Kevin Friedland at the six yard box who coolly side-footed the ball into the net. 

Friedland would then be the target of a couple of cheap shots, as Dave Morris hacked him in retaliation for beating him on the goal.  Morris was booked for his troubles, but in reality Vancouver were lucky not to be down a man before recovering their composure.  The bad blood spilled over to the Thunder as a Vancouver defender held David Castellanos' jersey and the Thunder forward swung his elbow, receiving a well deserved yellow card.  After Melvin Tarley's ejection last week, it was surprising to see Castellanos losing his cool in a similar fashion.

For the rest of the half, the Thunder maintained a possession game, though threatening only rarely.  Vancouver managed the odd break, but it looked as though the Thunder would carry their lead into the locker room.  However Brent Jaquette and Kevin Friedland conspired to fail to clear a ball in stoppage time, allowing Jason Jordan to break down the Thunder's left side and cross the ball to Martin Nash for a tap in.

Your correspondant missed the second half kick-off as he was busy purchasing a game worn Chris Vorenkamp jersey, but managed to spy at the far end of the field Jeff Matteo side step the defense before shooting horribly wide.

Matteo would also set up a great opportunity when he found Johnny Menyongar in the box with a deft chip.  The Liberian international centered back to Matteo, but the Stormville New York native blasted his shot off the bar and out.

Finally the break through occured in the Seventy fifth minute, Kevin Friedland headed the ball accross the box to an unmarked David Castellanos who calmly waited for Marques to commit himself before firing home. 

In the eighty third minute, Johnny Menyongar was replaced by Francis Doe, making his Thunder debut.  The 19 year old looked good, and could have scored, but opted to hold the ball.  He showed signs of promise in his seven minutes, and we can hopefully look forward to him having a breakout year  next year, as Tarley did this year.

The final home game of the season for the Thunder is this Saturday, August 14 at the Jimmy against first placed Portland.  The Thunder haven't managed to beat the Timbers this season, so they'll be looking to claim a division leading scalp to finish their home season on a high note.

Starting Lineups:

Minnesota: Warren, Branan, Jacquette, Roberts, Juarez, Tenoff, Matteo
(Ferruzzi 68), Friedland (Wilson 77), Alberts, Castellanos, Menyongar (Doe
83)

Vancouver: Marques, Dasovic, Piette, Craveiro, Kindel, Clarke, Nash
(Xausa 45), Sultenic, Morris, Corazzin, Jordan