Stars Head Coach Manny Lagos: "It Certainly Hurts, There's No Doubt."

Minnesota Stars head coach Manny Lagos had just watched his team drop another second-half lead - this time with effectively the last kick of the match - and he's feeling about as frustrated as anyone at this point. "There's a level of frustration right after another game that you think you've won," he said. "It certainly hurts, there's no doubt about it. Just from a team standpoint, the guys have worked hard. I thought tonight we were fighting through it and we were going to get a result, and it just didn't happen. I really didn't feel like oh no, here we go again. I really felt like we were navigating the game, even though they had a couple of close chances."

"A little bit of a breakdown, and next thing you know, we've got another tie."

Speaking about Jamie Watson, who I thought was the Stars' most effective attacking player, Lagos said, "He added another dimension. He's an experienced player, he wants to win, he wants to battle for us. We're excited to have him for this run at the end of the year."

I asked if the fans' traditional heckling of Watson played on anybody's mind, but he hardly needed to consider the question: "Jamie's a pro, he's been around a long time - he can take a lot. That doesn't affect his play." (Side note: Stars fans have traditionally hung the national flag for the nationalities of all players on the Stars' roster over the east stands. With Watson now in the fold, they hung a scuba diving flag above the stands, as well.)

I mentioned the wind several times in my report, as it was howling into the faces of the Stars in the second half, but Lagos wasn't ready to use that as an excuse. "We were aware that the wind was going to hurt us a little bit," he said, "but tactically, we felt like we were in pretty good shape up until the last seven or eight minutes, and that's when things kind of went south."

Ultimately, though, Lagos is sounding the same refrain he's sounded throughout the team's nine-game winless streak. He said, "Tomorrow the sun comes up, and we have to think about how we can try to get better, and try to regroup and come out here and get a result on Tuesday."

Stars vs. Edmonton: Late Equaliser Dooms Stars To Yet Another Draw

Another week for the Minnesota Stars. Another week without a win, another week with a relinquished second-half lead - and at least one more week of waiting to clinch a playoff berth. A late equalizer from Shaun Saiko gave Edmonton a second 1-1 draw in three weeks at the NSC - and kept the Eddies' (and the Atlanta Silverbacks') playoff chances mathematically alive, as both teams trail the Stars by eight points with three games to play.

Saiko's goal came with almost literally the last kick of the match, as an Eddies throw-in turned into Saiko driving across the top of the area, and bashing a shot past Matt Van Oekel to tie the game in injury time.

The wind reversed the personalities of the teams, as Edmonton - playing with the wind - suddenly looked much more lively, while the Stars fought into the gale, and were content to wait for set pieces and defensive miscues. Minnesota spent much of the first half playing the ball wide and attacking on the wings, but in the second half were unable to continue this. Instead, Martin Nunez and Jamie Watson regularly dropped back into the midfield, attempting to carry the ball forward through dribbling and, I guess, sheer force of will.

Edmonton, meanwhile, saw much more attacking through the wide forwards, in the persons of Michael Cox and Kyle Porter. Shaun Saiko had several half-chances in the center of the attack - though his final chance was the one that doomed Minnesota.

Minnesota plays Puerto Rico at home on Tuesday, its last home game of the season. They'll have another chance to clinch a playoff berth - but with a nine-game winless streak going, it doesn't seem so likely.

Stars vs. Edmonton: Stars Lead 1-0 At Halftime

Stop me if you've heard this one: the Minnesota Stars lead 1-0 at halftime. Just like last week. And the week before - and both of those games ended in 1-1 draws. To say that another 1-1 draw appears to be on the cards would be an understatement.

The game was 17 minutes old when Amani Walker put the Stars in front. New signing Jamie Watson was fouled in his own half, but had the presence of mind to get up and move the ball quickly after two Edmonton players had stopped to argue with the ref. He took the ball deep into the Edmonton half, then pushed it out wide to Justin Davis on the overlap down the left wing. Davis knocked a cross back across the top of the six-yard box, where Walker was arriving to prod past the onrushing keeper.

Watson has been the attacking impetus for the Stars in the first half. He's shown creativity, scooping the ball from midfield over a defender to release Walker, though the big forward turned out to be just offside. He's also shown a willingness to shoot, driving a cross just wide of the post from in front of goal. If the Stars are to break their one-goal, hard-luck hoodoo, it looks like it'll be Watson that makes the difference.

Meanwhile, Edmonton has mostly been content to wait for set pieces and Stars defensive miscues, of which there have been several of each. Michael Cox was gifted a chance from a wayward pass, but with only the onrushing Matt Van Oekel to beat, his attempted curl around the keeper drifted wide of the far post. Cox has looked by far the most dangerous Eddie going forward.

One factor to keep an eye on: the wind is still whipping through the National Sports Center, from left to right in your internet box. The Stars had the wind-aided advantage in the first half, but Edmonton will have it in the second half as they search for the - seemingly inevitable - equalizer.

Stars vs. Edmonton: Jamie Watson Goes Straight Into Starting Lineup

The Minnesota Stars need to find some goals - and are planning to find them by adding as many attacking players as they can manage. Loan signing Jamie Watson, a forward, will start in midfield for Minnesota in his first game for the Stars. With the addition of Watson to regular attacking winger Miguel Ibarra, as well as usual starting forwards Martin Nunez and Amani Walker, in some ways the Stars are beginning the match with four forwards.

For Edmonton, leading scorer Shaun Saiko - who missed the last match in Minnesota with a combination of injury and bad attitude - is back in the starting lineup for the Eddies. Midfielder Bryan Arguez, who scored Edmonton's lone goal in the 1-1 draw between these teams two weeks ago, is in the starting lineup as well.

In weather news, a strong north wind will have an effect on the game; the team attacking north will have to fight into a gale.

The lineups:

Minnesota
GK: Matt Van Oekel
Def: Justin Davis - Cristiano Dias - Kyle Altman - Brian Kallman
Midfield: Jamie Watson - Neil Hlavaty - Kentaro Takada - Miguel Ibarra
Strikers: Martin Nunez - Amani Walker

Edmonton
GK: Lance Parker
Def: David Proctor - Adam West - Kevin Hatchi - Paul Hamilton
Midfield: Antonio Rago - Bryan Arguez - Kenny Caceros
Strikers: Michael Cox - Shaun Saiko - Kyle Porter

Stars vs. Edmonton: Minnesota Looks To All But Clinch Playoff Berth

With just four games left in the season, the Minnesota Stars are close to wrapping up a playoff berth.