NSC Minnesota Stars goalie can take the teasing

When Joe Warren retired and unretired the first time, the NSC Minnesota Stars soccer goalkeeper came back because he realized he missed the game. When he retired and unretired the second time, it was because he thought the team could accomplish big things in 2011.

His teammates might occasionally tease Warren, 36, by calling him "Brett Favre," but they are thankful he came back both times. Warren certainly is happy -- primarily because, in both cases, his reasoning was correct.

Warren played at a high level for the Stars in 2010, his first season back after retiring following the 2007 season with the now-defunct Minnesota Thunder. After being coaxed out of retirement again this year, the Warren-led Stars will play for the NASL championship after knocking out regular-season champion Carolina on Saturday via a thrilling shootout victory.

The title will be decided by a two-game, home-and-away, total-goal series against Fort Lauderdale starting 7:30 p.m. Saturday at NSC Stadium in Blaine (ticket info at nscminnesota.com).

"This is where I wanted to get to," said Warren, whose save on Carolina's opening shootout attempt gave the Stars, who scored on all five of their tries, an edge they wouldn't relinquish. "It's special for me to come out of retirement and get to this point."

He retired after playing in 2010, convinced that one season back -- his original plan, and the one on which he had sold his wife, Christina -- was enough. But when head coach Manny Lagos called him in March to gauge his interest in another go-round, Warren felt the tug of the pitch.

"I called my wife, and right away she was like, 'You should play,'" Warren said. "We still had a core group from last year, and it was a great group of guys. And I could see another fun year ahead. Plus I felt like by end of last year I was hitting my stride."

A chance at redemption seemed remote at times this season. The Stars slipped into the playoffs as the final seed, beating Carolina 2-1 in the final match of the regular-season to clinch their berth. Warren helped the Stars earn 1-0 shutouts in the first round against FC Tampa Bay and in the first leg against Carolina. This past Saturday's second leg was a wild affair, with Carolina holding a 4-3 edge after regulation and overtime (for a 4-4 aggregate score) to force a shootout.

"It was awesome. My first reaction was, 'Are you serious? We pulled that off?'" Warren said. "I felt like I wasn't sharp, and I felt like we as a team weren't playing as well as we had lately. It was just one of those gutty performances."

Is another retirement on the horizon after this season? Warren won't say. But he does know this year's objective has been met.