NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release, March 16, 2010

For more information:

Barclay Kruse, Chief Communications Officer
National Sports Center
763.785.5634 (office)
763.458.6615 (cell)
bkruse@mnsports.org

NSC Minnesota Stars pro soccer team news for March 16, 2010

- NSC Minnesota Stars announce preseason schedule

- Louis Crayton signs player contract

- Simone Bracalello signs player contract

- Joe Warren signs player contract

BLAINE, Minn. (March 16, 2010) – The NSC Minnesota Stars professional soccer team announced a preseason training camp schedule as well as three new signings.

Players will begin arriving on the campus of the National Sports Center on Wednesday to settle into the dormitories before the start of two-a-day training sessions on Thursday. The team will practice Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with inter-squad scrimmages on March 24 and March 31. Practices will be indoors in the Sports Hall until weather and field conditions allow outdoor training. Practice sessions are open to the public.

The team will also play a series of exhibition matches, beginning Saturday, March 20 at 2:30 p.m. against Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minnesota. On March 27, the Stars will play the Marquette University Golden Eagles at 3 p.m. at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis. Admission to both games is free.

On Sunday, April 4, the team will travel to Omaha for two back-to-back exhibition matches against Creighton University and fellow North American Soccer League side AC St. Louis at Creighton’s Morrison Stadium. Details including game times and ticket information are yet to be determined.

Head coach Manny Lagos is eager to have his team living at NSC during training camp, as it will allow the team to gel off the soccer field.

“I’m really looking forward to preseason. Living and training on-site will create a unique camp experience,” he said. “We’ve put together a good plan, and we’re playing competitive teams.”

The team also announced three new player signings, pending US Soccer Federation (USSF) approval.

Louis Crayton, a goalkeeper from Monrovia, Liberia, has signed with the NSC Minnesota Stars.

Crayton played two seasons in Liberia with St. Joseph Warriors before moving to Switzerland for the 1997-1998 season. He played for eight teams in 11 seasons in Switzerland, lastly with prominent club FC Basel, where he won two championships and played in both the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League. Crayton joined Major League Soccer club DC United in August 2008, appearing in 18 games for United before being released in 2009 after injuring his hip.

Crayton represented Liberia 36 times from 1999-2008. He announced his retirement from international soccer in May 2008.

“When you’ve played this game up to this level, obviously it brings experience,” Crayton said. “I’m looking forward to bringing that to this team.”

Simone Bracalello, a midfielder from Genoa, Italy, has also signed with the club.

Bracalello began his career at the youth academy of Italian club U.C. Sampdoria, where he played four seasons from 1995-2000. He also trained in the youth academies of FC Sestrese Calcio and Savona 1907 FBC. He made his professional debut for Savona during the 2002-2003 season, appearing in one game in Serie C2, the Italian fourth division. From 2003-2004, he trained with the first team of second division side Calcio Como of and played for the club’s Primavera team, which competed in a competition open to the under-20 teams from Italy’s top two divisions.

Most recently, Bracalello played for Serie C2 side AC Prato. He appeared in 23 games during the 2007-2008 season, tallying three goals and six assists. He’s also trained recently with the Newcastle Jets of the Australian A-League and Serie C1 club Pescara.

Joe Warren, a goalkeeper and former Minnesota Thunder player, has also agreed to a contract with the team.

Warren retired in 2007 as the longest-tenured player in Thunder history. He has spent several seasons as an assistant coach at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.  Warren began training three to four days a week with some members of the Stars this winter.

“The excitement of starting a new team got my competitive spirit going again,” Warren said, “and there’s the added bonus that my three-year-old daughter can watch me play.”

The NSC Minnesota Stars are a new professional soccer team that is owned by the National Sports Center, and will play its home games at the NSC Stadium. The team will play in the 12-team USSF Division 2 Pro League in 2010. The team will open the season on April 11 with a road game against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The home opener in the 15-game home season will be on April 24 at 7:00 pm against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at the NSC Stadium.

NSC Minnesota Stars tickets are now on sale. For more information go to www.nscminnesota.org or call 763.792.7355.

About the National Sports Center:
The National Sports Center (NSC) is a 600-acre multi-sport facility located in Blaine, Minnesota. The campus includes the Schwan Super Rink, an eight-sheet ice arena that is the world’s largest ice facility; a 8,500-seat soccer stadium; the Schwan Center meeting and convention building; a multi-faceted family golf center; the National Youth Golf Center, which features the 18-hole Victory Links course; an indoor Sports Hall with a FieldTurf field; 150-bed residence hall and 52 soccer fields. The facility hosts nearly 300 events and nearly four million visitors annually, and has welcomed over 32 million visitors since its opening in 1990. The NSC generates over $37 million in annual out-of-state economic impact.
http://www.nscsports.org/

About the league:
NSC Minnesota Stars will play its first year of professional soccer in the USSF Division 2 Pro League in 2010. The team was formally launched in January of 2010. The twelve-team league includes teams from across North America -- Austin (Tex.), Minnesota, Portland (Ore.), Puerto Rico, Rochester (N.Y.), Tampa Bay,  Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.
www.nscminnesota.org 

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