Match Recap: Loons fall in two goal defeat on Pride Night

With three wins in their last five competitive. matches, coming off a stunning win in Seattle, and a few week break everything looked bright for the Loons heading into Pride Night. Early on things looked bright after a horrible own goal from San Diego. But almost immediately SDFC leveled the match to 1-1, only for the Loons to take a one goal lead just before the half. The second half looked completely different, with San Diego dominating and proceeding to score three unanswered goals to secure a win.

“I just wanted to start by publicly saying on behalf of our staff and the team how much we feel what’s happened today [regarding he murder of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the violent attack on Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette], and I think it wouldn’t be right for me to stand up here and not acknowledge that here, manager Eric Ramsey said. “It puts into perspective what’s just happened for 90 minutes there, and our hearts are certainly going out to everyone involved there. I know the players each, to a man, would echo that. I wanted to make that clear from our perspective that that has been felt today.”

After two weeks off for the international break, Minnesota United returned for their 2025 Pride Night match against San Diego FC. With four players out on International Duty, the Loons made four changes from their lineup against Seattle Sounders. Kelvin Yeboah, Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Jefferson Diaz, and Wessel Speel stepped in replacing Tani Oluwaseyi, Robin Lod, Carlos Harvey, and Dayne St. Clair. Lod having just come back from international duty was made available from the bench, while the other three are with their national teams for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Match 🧵 | #MINvSDTonight's lineups for #MNUFC & #SanDiegoFC ahead of tonight's #Pride2025 match.Four changes for the Loons tonight; Yeboah, Hlongwane, Diaz, and Speel replacing Tani, Lod, Harvey, and Dayne St. Clair, with all but Lod (available from the bench) being out on International Duty

— Northland Soccer Journal (@northlandsoccer.com) 2025-06-14T23:52:24.756Z

Just minutes into the match, San Diego opened the scoring with a horribly embarrassing own goal. Chris McVey attempted to back pass to goalkeeper Carlos Dos Santos, who missed the pass and let in the night’s first goal.

https://www.caringglovesgoaliesupportnetwork.net/

— Minnesota United FC (@mnufc.com) 2025-06-15T00:57:24.157393Z

Within just a few minutes, San Diego scored a goal for themselves as Andres Dreyer lobbed a shot from midfield over the top of goalkeeper Wessel Speel.

“Yeah again [MLS is] a different level. Some small details I still have to get adjusted to; read body language better, and I think he [Anders Dreyer] just caught me a bit by surprise,” said Wessel Speel. “Again, just unnecessary goals to concede.”

Late in the half, the Loons took the lead back with a Kelvin Yeboah goal. This lead would carry with the Loons into the break.

Hustle & Flow (feat. Kelvin Yeboah & Joaquín Pereyra)

— Minnesota United FC (@mnufc.com) 2025-06-15T01:26:41.910581Z

After a dominating start by San Diego, the Loons Anthony Markanich was called for a handball inside the box. Following what felt like an extremely long VAR review, the handball was confirmed, handing San Diego a kick from the spot. Dreyer converted the penalty into his second goal, knotting the match back up.

“I mean I think Rubiel [center referee Rubiel Vazquez] went over and looked at it,” said Wil Trapp. “You trust it. He was able to make the right decision. I don’t like it, but it is what it is.”

10 minutes after the penalty, Milan Iloski snatched his first of the night with a 76th minute header, coming off an Andres Dreyer cross. Iloski secured himself a brace in stoppage time to send San Diego home with three points.

“This was always going to be a baptism of fire, and I think we’ve prepared Wessel as well as we possibly could have done from the perspective of softly integrated through the Second Team games and [U.S. Open] Cup games, and he had some good moments today, no question,” said manager Eric Ramsey.

After another break, this time of just 10 days, the Loons once again return to MLS play. They’ll host Houston Dynamo on 25-July, before Minnesota heads on the road for two weeks. Wednesday’s match will be viewable on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.