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Rochester Thunder was an American
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team based in
Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Founded in 2008, the team played in the
USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...
(PDL), the fourth tier of the
American Soccer Pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...
, 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 The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...
franchise. They played their home games at RCTC Stadium on the campus of
Rochester Community and Technical College Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) is a public community college in Rochester, Minnesota. It serves more than 8,000 students annually. The college was founded in 1915 on a motion by Dr. Charles Mayo to the Rochester School Board and ...
. The team's colors were blue, white and silver.


History

The Thunder joined the PDL in 2009, 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. 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 The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
. However, the team was re-admitted to the PDL in 2010, and continued 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".Rochester Thunder Fold PDL Team after Two Short But Good Years
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Players


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.'' * Samuel Asante * Teal Bunbury * Juan Chang * Paul Moran * Brian Pederson * Ben Sippola * Kentaro Takada


Year-by-year


Head coaches

* Neil Cassidy (2009–2010)


Stadia

* Stadium at
Rochester Community and Technical College Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) is a public community college in Rochester, Minnesota. It serves more than 8,000 students annually. The college was founded in 1915 on a motion by Dr. Charles Mayo to the Rochester School Board and ...
;
Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...
(2009–2010)


Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20131208011525/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html. * 2009: 447 * 2010: 322


References


External links


Official Site
{{Minnesota Sports Defunct Premier Development League teams Defunct soccer clubs in Minnesota Association football clubs established in 2008 Association football clubs disestablished in 2010 Minnesota Thunder 2008 establishments in Minnesota 2010 disestablishments in Minnesota