Thunder, Lightning twinbill at the NSC in Blaine

Last weekend looked like it was going to be a complete debacle for the road-weary Minnesota Thunder. On Friday night ancient Brazilian Zinho headed home a goal in the 51st minute to give Miami FC a 1-0 victory in front of a pitiful crowd of 722 at the Orange Bowl. The loss left the Thunder with an 0-3-2 record to start the season, scoring a paltry three goals in the process.

Then the squad traveled to San Juan to take on the Puerto Rico Islanders and went down a goal almost immediately when former Thunder standout Melvin Tarley broke through alone and buried the ball in the back of the net. The Thunder rallied to tie it up in the 35th minute. Rodrigo Hidalgo drove a free kick in from the left flank that was deftly headed into the goal by Brian Farber.

But then Minnesota's prospects on the road took another hit. Just before halftime, Keisuke Ota, the team's rambunctious 6'4" Japanese striker, got tossed from the game for kicking an Islander defender. "Losing Keisuke on kind of a crappy red card sucked," says Thunder coach Amos Magee. "But at halftime we made a couple of adjustments and I challenged our team to not only get out of there with a draw, but to figure out a way to get three points, because I thought it was in us."

Indeed despite playing a man down, the Thunder proved the better team in the second half. Their hard work paid dividends in the 73rd minute when Farber charged down the right side of the box and slotted a ball across the goal. Thunder forward Leo Gibson knocked home the gamewinner.

Magee praises the play of Godfrey Tenoff, a veteran midfielder who lined up at right back for the first time last weekend. "I thought over the course of both games he was our best player," Magee says. "He was good going forward. I thought he was outstanding defensively. I think he can be an absolute force in that position for us."

The Thunder will attempt to replicate the performance against Puerto Rico on Saturday as the Islanders visit the National Sports Center in Blaine. It's a doubled header with the Minnesota Lightning. The women's squad will kick off their season opener at 5:05 p.m. against the Chicago Gaels, followed by the men's game at 7:35.