Minnesota Thunder was an American professional soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. The team played its home games at the National Sports Center in nearby Blaine, Minnesota for its final two seasons. The team's colors were navy blue, light blue, silver, and white.
Manuel "Manny" Lagos is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He is the current sporting director and former head coach of Minnesota United FC.
Marco Reda is a Canadian former soccer player who began his professional career in the USL A-League with the Toronto Lynx where he developed his skills as a solid defender. This led to his transfer to Europe to sign with Sogndal, where he would eventually have a tenure in Scandinavia for six years. Reda would return to Toronto, this time to sign with expansion franchise Toronto FC, and would conclude his career in the USL First Division. He also played at the indoor level in the National Professional Soccer League with the Toronto ThunderHawks in 2000–2001.
Michael Dellorusso is an American former professional soccer player.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. They are members of the Big Ten Conference and compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ice hockey. The Golden Gophers have won five NCAA national championships, in 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2003. The team also shared the 1929 National Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship with Yale. and captured the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship for amateur hockey in 1940. The Gophers are currently coached by Bob Motzko. Under Don Lucia the Gophers earned a spot in the NCAA tournament in eight seasons during a nine-year time span, including five number 1 seeds and three appearances in the Frozen Four. The team's main rivalries are with the University of Wisconsin and the University of North Dakota, although several other schools claim Minnesota as their archrival. For much of the team's history, there has been a strong emphasis on recruiting native Minnesotan high school and junior hockey players, as opposed to out-of-state, Canadian, or European players. This helped high school ice hockey grow in Minnesota, particularly starting with Hall of Famer John Mariucci, who refused to recruit players from Canada. Minnesota high school ice hockey programs grew from 26 in 1945 to over 150 in 1980. Head coach Doug Woog championed home-grown talent even more, only recruiting Minnesota players in the late 1980s and 1990s, but recent rosters have been more diversified.
Nicolas Platter is an American soccer player who currently is the goalkeeper coach for North Carolina FC.
Chad Dombrowski is a retired American soccer player who spent six seasons in the USL First Division.
Brian Kallman is an American retired soccer player who played for Minnesota United FC in the North American Soccer League. He announced his retirement from professional soccer in January 2016.
Brian Pederson is an American soccer player who played for Rochester Thunder in the USL Premier Development League.
Derek Smith is a retired American soccer player who last played for the Cincinnati Kings in the USL Premier Development League.
Dayton O’Brien is an American soccer player, currently without a club.
Darren Spicer is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder.
Marco Ferruzzi is an American soccer coach and former professional player, who is currently director of methodology for FC Dallas. Ferruzzi had a ten-year professional career playing as a midfielder in several indoor and outdoor leagues including Major League Soccer and the USL First Division.
Paul Moran is an American soccer player who currently plays for Rochester Thunder in the USL Premier Development League.
Kyle Marten Altman is an American former soccer player, who last played for Minnesota United FC in the North American Soccer League. He was the 2003 New Mexico High School Coaches Association's Class 4A boys' soccer player of the year. He played college soccer at Trinity University, where he was a first team All American in 2006 and 2007. He played soccer professionally for the Minnesota Thunder and Minnesota United FC. He won a silver medal with Team USA at the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Frederico Augusto Pieruccini "Freddy" Moojen is a former soccer forward. Born in Brazil, he represented Canada at the international level in futsal.
Mark Schulte is an American retired soccer player who last played for Carolina RailHawks in the USSF Division 2 Professional League. He is currently the Formulations Lead Scientist at LoamBio. His research interests are gas to liquid fuels. In addition to his research activities, Mark serves as a teaching assistant for a graduate transport phenomena course.
Brian Farber is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the San Diego Sockers in the Major Arena Soccer League.
Kentaro Takada is a retired Japanese football player who is currently the technical director for the Tucker Youth Soccer Association in Tucker, Georgia.
Kevin Anderson is a retired American soccer midfielder who played professionally in the Major League Soccer and the USL A-League. He is the head coach of the Southern Connecticut Owls men’s soccer team.
