The afflicted former Aviators came to Macalester College in Saint Paul this weekend, but didn't threaten the Thunder.
Ross Ongaro's side came to Macalester without a name or more than three subs, but played with heart and pride, and considering what they've been through this past week, did not embarrass themselves.
Although both Tarley and Castellanos had early chances saved by Nic Stankov, for the first twenty-five minutes or so, Edmonton stayed with the Thunder. But then the home side started to take control of the match. In the thirty fourth minute, Marco Ferruzzi took a pass from Melvin Tarley and fired in a 35 yard shot past Stankov to put the Thunder into the lead.
Minnesota outshot Edmonton nine to one in the first half, and the second half started in a very similar fashion. Right from the kickoff, Tenoff crossed from the left in to Tarley in the middle, but his shot was just over. Two minutes later the play was duplicated down to the shot over the bar by Jay Alberts and David Castellanos.
David Castellanos doubled the Thunder advantage in the fifty-first minute. Freddy Juarez took the ball down on the right side of the box, and beat his man, forced Stankov to commit himself before slipping the ball to Castellanos at the penalty spot. Stankov actually managed to save the former Rapid's shot, but the rebound came right back to him, and he made no mistake on the follow up.
In the fifty-ninth minute, Stankov fumbled a shot, and and Brunt managed to bundle it home, but the referee gave a free kick against the Minnesota defender.
The Thunder would get their third goal in the seventy-first minute as Jay Alberts send a perfect cross from the left to the far side of the six-yard box where Marco Ferruzzi headed it back across goal for David Castellanos to tap in his second of the day.
Edmonton had their only real scoring chance in the seventy-seventh minute as Nikola Vijnievic collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area and fired a shot that beat Joe Warren, but came back off the upper ninety of the frame.
The Thunder took advantage of the lack of threat from their opponents to make several substitutions and get some players some valuable rest.
The win puts the Thunder into second place, ahead of Portland on goal difference with a game in hand and five points behind Vancouver with two games in hand. They face a long and taxing road trip, however, and the rest afforded in this match might prove to be invaluable. The next home game for the Thunder is the US Open Cup Quarter final against Landon Donovan and the San Jose Earthquakes on August fourth, back at the Jimmy.
Lineups:
Minnesota: Warren, Branan (Wilson 75), Brunt, Jacquette, Tenoff (Roberts 81), Alberts (Magee 71), Friedland, Ferruzzi, Juarez (Vorenkamp 71), Castellanos, Tarley (Menyongar 61)
Edmonton: Stankov, Ebo, Munoz (Drummond 66), Hart, Bosch, Chin, Vignjevic, Vikrem, Dhaliwal, Fraser, Takie
