Things were stacked against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers before Saturday night’s NASL Championship Final even began.

Trailing the Minnesota Stars 3-1 after the first leg of the two-leg series, the Strikers had to win Saturday’s match by two goals to force a deciding 30-minute mini-game, or by three goals to win the title outright. A one-goal victory would not be enough, and the Stars knew it, so they clogged the back with eight, sometimes nine defenders.

As if that weren’t plenty to contend with, Mother Nature dumped another obstacle on the home team. Heavy rain drenched Lockhart Stadium for hours before kickoff, soaking the field and scaring away thousands of fans who likely would have shown up for the biggest game in the new Strikers’ short history.

And so, 31 years after the original Strikers lost their one shot at the NASL Soccer Bowl, the new incarnation of the team — dressed in the familiar red-and-yellow bumblebee stripes — suffered the same fate. Hard as they tried to puncture the Minnesota defense, they came up empty, and tied 0-0 to the dismay of the soggy but enthusiastic 6,849 fans who braved the weather.

The only people celebrating the Stars’ 3-1 aggregate win were the players and about a dozen of their fans, clad in blue and playing a trumpet and drums.

“Play Like Legends” read a banner in the West end zone, and the Strikers did their best to recreate some of the magic delivered by former Strikers Gordon Banks, George Best, Teofilo Cubillas, Gerd Muller and Ray Hudson. But their spirited effort wasn’t enough.

Hudson, the former Miami Fusion coach, attended his first game of the season.

“I live a half-mile away from here and hadn’t come to a game,” Hudson said. “They were just a blip on the radar when they were Miami FC, and I didn’t see much the few times I watched them. But [new president] Tim Robbie has made quantum leaps with this club. There’s a buzz now, a good feeling, and some real footballers out there. Those are good lads out there playing nice football under [coaches] Daryl [Shore] and Jimmy [Rooney]. They can build on this and there’s a real chance of the Strikers rolling forward.”

Hudson lamented that the Strikers couldn’t score on Saturday.

“The bumblebees put in a hell of an effort, but Minnesota earned the right to sit back, and that’s what they did,” he said. “They were stubborn and gritty and protected the fort.”

The Stars were clearly protecting their two-goal lead, hanging back for most of the match. The onus was on the Strikers to score, and the Stars weren’t going to take any unnecessary chances. Minnesota took just one shot in the first half, compared to four for the home team, and stacked the middle, forcing the Strikers to run up the wings and cross the ball inside.

It made for plenty of exciting Strikers’ runs, but every time they got in striking range, a taller Minnesota defender stepped in the way. Martin Nuñez, an Uruguay native who won two state titles with Miami Sunset High, got a rare start at forward alongside Brian Shriver and Mike Palacio. But Nuñez is 5-6, and two Striker midfielders are 5-8. The Stars had two 6-3 starters and two 6-4.

“When you have a two-goal lead, you can put numbers behind the ball, and it made it tough for us to break them down,” Shore said. “They didn’t care about scoring, didn’t have to. We fought ’til the end, but just fell a little short.”

Strikers defender Martyn Lancaster said: “It wasn’t our night. It was very frustrating. We kept plugging away, but couldn’t get that break. It felt like we could have played all night and not scored. All the credit to Minnesota.”