NASL Championship Series Set: Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. NSC Minnesota Stars

The NASL Championsip series is officially set as the regular season fourth-best club Fort Lauderdale Strikers and sixth-seeded NSC Minnesota Stars will meet to determine which club will be declared the 2011 NASL champions.

The first leg will be in Minnesota on Oct. 22 at 8:30 p.m. The home leg for the Strikers will be on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. at Lockhart Stadium.

In reaching the championship series, both squads had to overcome the two best clubs in the NASL regular season.

In the second leg of NASL semifinals, the Strikers defeated the Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1 at Lockhart Stadium on Saturday night. After winning the first leg 3-1 in Puerto Rico, the Strikers convincingly defeated the second-best Islanders 5-2 aggregate.

In their quest to reach the NASL Championship series for the first time in their team history, Fort Lauderdale won their last three matches by outscoring their opponents 10-2. After winning their first playoff match 5-0 against FC Edmonton, the Strikers clearly established themselves as a team playing with reckless abandon. 

In doing so, Brian Shriver has been their "X-Factor," as he scored a total of five goals in the postseason. Against the Islanders on Saturday night, Shriver scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season.

His first goal came in the 19th minute, when he accepted a pass from teammate Walter Restrepo and directed the ball to the back of the net to give the Strikers a 1-0 lead and 4-1 aggregate advantage in the first half. 

In the second half, the Islanders tied the match 1-1 when David Foley volleyed home a corner kick to tie the match 1-1. Unfortunately for the Islanders, Brian Shriver scored the game-winner in the 59th minute to give his team a 2-1 lead and a 5-2 aggregate advantage. 

Despite the Islanders' late attempts to produce another goal, the match was already decided. With the Strikers clearly the superior playoff team, the Islanders were helpless as they had to accept their fate that once the final whistle blew, their magnificent season had reached a conclusion. 

Even though Puerto Rico was eliminated on Saturday night, the Islanders organization should be commended for their role in Puerto Rico's "Soccer Boom." They've been involved in the community, and they've continued to produce a quality team the island can be proud of.

With Fort Lauderdale advancing to the NASL Championship series, the other semifinals series between NASL-best Carolina RailHawks and NSC Minnesota. 

Even though the RailHawks rallied to win 4-3 in the second leg, they were tied 4-4 aggregate with Minnesota, so the eventual winner needed 30 minutes of extra time and ultimately a shootout, where each team lined up five players and they each took turns in converting penalty kicks.

NSC Minnesota beat the Carolina RailHawks in penalties 5-3, marking the second consecutive year that the RailHawks were unable to win the playoffs even though they were the NASL regular season champions.

Regardless of their playoff outcomes, the RailHawks has been one of the best NASL teams to follow. It'll be interesting to see how they respond to the absence of their head coach Martin Rennie, who has agreed to become the head coach of Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps. 

For Minnesota, Saturday's win demonstrated the heart and poise to win close matches. In the first round, they eliminated FC Tampa Bay following a 1-0 win.

In the semifinals, they defeated Carolina 1-0 before Saturday's classic showdown. In three matches to reach the NASL Championship, they squeaked by their opponents by a combined score of 5-4 in regular time. 

With the Championship Series set, fans will be able to watch the matches online at NASL.com. It will be interesting to see if Minnesota can contain the hottest NASL team or if the Strikers can withstand the poise and grinding style of Minnesota. 

With both teams not expected to reach the NASL Championship, an unexpected champion will be declared.

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for LatinoSports.com. He also writes for 5 Points Press & USSoccerPlayers.com; your source for American Soccer news brought to you by members of the U.S. National Team. Easily accessible, you may reach Cesar at [e-mail] and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer.