Rochester Thunder

Rochester Thunder
Full name Rochester Thunder
Nickname(s) The Thunder
Founded 2008
Dissolved 2010
Stadium RCTC Stadium
Rochester, Minnesota
(Capacity: ????)
Owner Todd Penz
Head Coach Neil Cassidy
League USL Premier Development League
2010 2nd, Heartland Division
Playoffs: Conference Semifinals
Home colors
Away colors

Rochester Thunder was an American soccer team based in Rochester, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 2008, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Heartland Division of the Central Conference. The franchise folded at the end of the 2010 season and left the league thereafter.

The team was originally part of the official development system of the Minnesota Thunder former USL First Division franchise. They played their home games at RCTC Stadium on the campus of Rochester Community and Technical College. The team's colors were blue, white and silver.

Contents

History

The Thunder joined the PDL in 2009[1], and played their first ever game on May 9, 2009, away at Des Moines Menace. The Thunder lost game 2-1, with the first goal in franchise history being scored by Brian Pederson.[2]

The team was initially suspended from the USL PDL after their parent team, the Minnesota Thunder left the USL for the new North American Soccer League.[3] However, the team was re-admitted to the PDL in 2010, and continues to compete.

Following the conclusion of the 2010 season the Thunder folded their operations. In a statement released on November 15, 2010 Thunder owner Dan Penz said "Due to unfortunate circumstances, the Rochester Thunder will no longer be able to continue. With the economy the way it is and only a handful of sponsors we could not make it work financially. This is a hard decision, but one that needed to be made".[4]

Players

Final roster

This list is a historical record of the final group of players on the last Thunder roster for their final game in August 2010. Source: [1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
0 GK Jordan Kadlec[5]
1 GK Sebastian Narvaez
2 FW Samuel Asante[6]
3 MF Jake Kessler
4 DF Justin Hoskins
5 DF Ben Sippola[7]
6 DF Naoki Mihara
8 FW Mark Heath-Preston[8]
9 FW Juan Chang[9]
10 FW Christian Fernandes
11 MF Per Engebreth Faerden[10]
12 MF Chris Andre[11]
13 MF Travis Dehne
No. Position Player
14 MF Alex Evert[12]
15 MF Tyler Moriarty[13]
16 MF Ryan Sappington[14]
17 DF Jordan Burt[15]
18 DF Francis Otira[16]
19 MF Miguel Bonilla[17]
20 MF Finn Jor[18]
21 DF Bakari Williams[19]
22 MF T. J. Haag
25 DF Hezekiah Weiss[20]
26 MF Luis Mojica[21]
00 GK Paul Grandstrand[22]

Notable former players

This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.

Year-by-year

Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs Open Cup
2009 4 USL PDL 5th, Heartland Did not qualify Did not qualify
2010 4 USL PDL 2nd, Heartland Conference Semifinals Did not qualify

Head coaches

Stadia

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html.

References

External links