Thunder looks to find footing against Wizards

Competing well will boost the team's confidence; winning will move it to the quarterfinals.

By DAVID La VAQUE, Star Tribune

Last update: June 30, 2009 - 5:12 AM

Kevin Friedland prefers to keep his first Major League Soccer jersey purchase, the original Kansas City Wiz, somewhere at home.

"It's horrendous," he said of the mesh jersey with diagonal yellow, red, green and blue stripes. "I'm talking the joke of all MLS."

Friedland stopped laughing when the franchise, which changed its name to the Wizards, drafted him in 2003. Now a defender for the Minnesota Thunder, Friedland's tone became more serious as he talked about tonight's game against Kansas City.

Minnesota plays host to the Wizards at 7:35 tonight at the National Sports Center in Blaine in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup tournament. A victory moves the Thunder into the quarterfinals July 7 and closer to financial gain. But just competing well could help the team, currently last in the United Soccer Leagues First Division with a 1-6-4 record, find its footing.

"Confidence is important, and winning can become a habit," Friedland said. "So if we come out and knock off Kansas City, it's going to be an even bigger confidence boost that we can hopefully bring to our league matches."

The teams scrimmaged March 14 with Kansas City taking a 1-0 lead at halftime en route to a 4-0 victory. Wizards coach Curt Onalfo, however, told the Kansas City Star that he probably would play only two regulars tonight because the team played a home game Sunday night. The Wizards are currently third in the Eastern Division while the Thunder has struggled to one of the worst starts in team history.

"I hope this game does refocus us to play like the team we are," Thunder President Manny Lagos said. "It is in us to come out and play well."

Minnesota has been in this situation before, emerging from the USL depths to upset three MLS team during its 2005 run to the Open Cup semifinals. Victories against Real Salt Lake and Colorado set up the game at Kansas City. Minnesota won 3-1, and the victory, coupled with a Rochester loss, earned the Thunder $10,000 for being the last USL First Division team left in the tournament. The tournament winner earns $100,000. The runner-up gets $50,000.

"For an organization like this -- for any organization -- that's a lot of money," Friedland said. "And there is no prize to win our league, so you could almost say the cup, in a financial sense, is more important."

Five USL teams remain in this year's tournament, and all five play an MLS opponent tonight. While the USL teams are the underdogs, Thunder goalkeeper Nic Platter believes different playing styles could result in upsets.

"Actually, we will have more freedom because in MLS players have a lot more time on the ball where the USL is more high pressure," Platter said. "I think that's where some MLS teams run into trouble and we can play it to our advantage. So by all means, we're going to go at them."

Forward Melvin Tarley, who scored six goals during the 2005 cup run -- including four against Colorado -- said, "They give you more time to play. In our league, guys are tugging on your shirt."

Four current Thunder players, Rod Dyachenko, Friedland, Quavas Kirk and Andrew Peterson, were drafted by MLS teams. And Tarley played with Real Salt Lake and Colorado, teams intrigued by the potential he showed during the 2005 Open Cup.

"Because it's a higher-level opponent, guys want to prove themselves," Friedland said. "It's important to show we can do some things."