Imagine: Loons Win a Home Playoff Game with Fans

November 3, 2024
|In MLS, MNUFC, MNUFC Match Recaps
|By Matthew Johnson
Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair (97) celebrates with teammates after winning the series against Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday, November 2, 2024. (Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)

“It Comes Back to You” — Previous Home Playoff Games

After Minnesota United FC lost the 2019 U.S. Open Cup final in Atlanta, Minnesota hoped to make another deep run in the MLS Cup Playoffs. They finished fourth in the Western Conference and hosted the fifth-place LA Galaxy in their first ever MLS playoff game. Ján Greguš scored in the 87th minute — but only after Sebastian Lletget and Jonathan Dos Santos gave the Galaxy the two goals needed to win. Some of Adrian Heath’s statements added insult to calamity: playoff game at home, no win.

The next season, MNUFC’s first round match came back to Allianz Field. A Robin Lod goal and Kevin Molino brace gave the Loons a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. Sadly, the year was 2020, and due to the COVID pandemic, matches were played without fans: playoff win at home, but no fans. The Loons would make their deepest MLS Cup Playoff run that year. They won at Sporting Kansas City only to lose 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals in Seattle after leading 2-0.

I Bet My … Loons

The year is 2024, and the Loons are back in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Last Tuesday, the 6th seed MNUFC beat the 3rd seed Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah. In Game 1 of a best-of-three series, both RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath and MNUFC goalkeeper Dayne Saint Clair made incredible saves and double saves to earn the 0-0 draw at the end of regulation. However, the Loons flew away with a 4-3 penalty shootout victory.

Before the match in Utah, Ramsay threw the seedings out the window: “We are not the underdogs in any way. There’s nothing in our form that says, ‘We are the underdogs, and they’re the favorites.'”

Afterwards, Saint Clair displayed excitement after winning the PK shootout saying, “We ain’t coming back [to Sandy, UT].”

Both Ramsay and Saint Clair were preaching confidence to their choir. They were both saying, “I bet my Loons,” regardless of the path it took to get here. In less than four days, MNUFC would get a chance to make good on their bets. Could they win a home playoff match with fans this time?

“It’s Time”

On Saturday, November 3, Minnesota hosted Real Salt Lake in Game 2 with a chance to win the best-of-three series at Allianz Field. RSL was under pressure to win to keep their season alive and send the series back to Sandy. MNUFC wanted to clinch the series at home, in front of their fans.

Ramsay started MNUFC with the exact same lineup as on Tuesday. Striker Kelvin Yeboah has 7 goals since arriving mid-season, but he had not scored since September 29 when he tallied a brace against the Colorado Rapids. Bongokuhle Hlongwane leads the team with 11 goals and also has 4 assists. Yet, the South African has not scored since September 22 against Sporting Kansas City.

Pablo Mastroeni made two personnel changes from Game 1. Not surprising, Brayan Vera was back at centerback after serving his three-match suspension for spitting on Michael Boxall during the regular season. What was surprising was Anderson Julio starting at striker instead of Chicho Arango, who leads RSL with 17 goals and 12 assists in MLS competition.

Vera’s return shifted Javain Brown back to right fullback, which moved Emeka Eneli into the center midfield and Nelson Palacio to the bench. These changes allowed Brown and Eneli to play their more natural positions.

“Not Giving In”

Similar to Tuesday, both teams played intense defense and both goalkeepers were stellar. MNUFC appeared to have more frequent and more dangerous chances in the first half, but the score at halftime was 0-0.

“Sucker for Pain” (with Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Tyl Dolla Sign, and Logic, featuring X Ambassadors)

To start the second half, RSL looked the better team. In the 47th minute, a Salt Lake short corner kick yielded an extra pass around and outside the penalty area to Brayan Vera. Vera had a central channel to shoot but was 25 to 30 yards out. His shot went in the lower right corner. However, MNUFC’s back line had stepped up before Dominik Marczuk passed the ball to Vera. This left two or three Salt Lake players offside. The players on the left probably didn’t affect the play, but Matt Crooks was closest to both Saint Clair and the path of the ball.

After a VAR review, center referee Tori Penso ruled that Crooks had robbed RSL of their goal for being in an offside position and affecting the play. Despite all the parts coming together like a hit single with many cameos, maybe there were too many players wanting to be in front.

Minnesota United midfielder Joseph Rosales (8) scores a goal during the match against Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday, November 2, 2024. (Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)

‘Cause these Loons are one big “Symphony”

In the 53rd minute, Michael Boxall took a long throw in. Robin Lod, Hassani Dotson, and Bongi combined to work the ball up the right. Lod turned the corner on Vera and dribbled centrally while Vera gave Lod a shoulder bump and a love tap to the back.

Joseph Rosales recounted the rest via MNUFC Spanish translator Deasy Ramirez:

“It was my intuition that told me to follow the play. Thankfully, Robin [Lod] had the opportunity to make a pass to [Kelvin] Yeboah. Yeboah was then able to pass it to me, and I had the opportunity to score.”

Rosales had 8 assists in MLS this season. This was his first goal of 2024 and first since September 2023 in the Leagues Cup match versus Toluca.

“Born To Be Yours”

Rosales had a busy game day as his wife gave birth to a baby girl, Sofia, earlier that day. Ramsay said, “It was going to be 50-50 as to whether he was going to play or not.”

With all the emotions of his first child and first goal of 2024, the Honduran exclaimed, “First of all, I thank God. Today was a beautiful game. I was able to score and dedicate the goal to my baby, who was just born. I am very content and happy [that] we were able to go into the quarterfinals.” [Translation from Spanish courtesy of MNUFC’s Deasy Ramirez]

“Crushed”

In the 75th minute, Eneli, Crooks, and a freshly-subbed Arango threaded several passes to chew up MNUFC’s back two lines. Emeka Eneli dribbled right and shot left to score behind Saint Clair. After Game 1, RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni pleaded for his team to “make plays” and be more creative in the attacking third. Three of his best attackers crushed that assignment to pull even, 1-1, with the home team.

Ramsay said, “Their [Real Salt Lake] goal is a consequence of the number of attacking players that are very crafty between the lines that they have on at that point in time. It felt like we looked very passive as they progressed through the pitch. But it’s partly because every player you felt you were going to jump out on and press at that point was one that could beat you one-versus-one.”

Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay answers questions from the media after after defeating Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday, November 2, 2024. Minnesota progresses to the next round against the LA Galaxy.
(Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)

“Not Today”

The visitors appeared to score the go-ahead goal around the 86th minute. From another short corner, Diego Luna sent in a high looping cross to the back post. Substitute Maikel Chang slid the ball to a knee-sliding Justen Glad, who pushed the ball past the goal line. No VAR needed this time. The assistant referee had the offside flag raised for Chang.

Despite RSL having possession in the Loons’ half for much of the final 10 minutes and stoppage time, the Loons defense and Saint Clair kept the ball out of the net. For the 6th straight meeting between these two teams, regulation ended in a draw. This time it was 1-1.

Minnesota United forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) scores a goal during the penalty kick shootout against Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday, November 2, 2024. (Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)

“Shots” — Penalty Shootout AGAIN

Salt Lake shot first and, in the first round, the strikers Arango and Yeboah both scored for their respective sides.

In the second round, Dayne St Clair dove to his right to save Diogo Gonçalves’ low shot. Hassani Dotson got MacMath going left and opened his hips to strike with his insole, a shot to the right to put MNUFC up 2-1.

The third round should be titled “Children of the Sky” because both Crooks and Wil Trapp skied their shots over the crossbar.

St Clair came up HUGE in the fourth round, diving to his left to get just enough of his mitts to deflect Luna’s hard shot off the post. MNUFC substitute Sang Bin Jeong converted his penalty on Tuesday, but by powering it under MacMath who dove the right way. On Saturday, Sang Bin Jeong was “Cuthroat” using cleverness to send MacMath the wrong way and using power to finish strong.

MNUFC won 1 (3) -1 (1) to advance out of the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs with two PK victories. When asked about CONCACAF’s tendency for skipping the 30 minutes of extra time, Ramsay accepted, “I know there’s a real appetite for games finishing that way. From a fan experience, spectacle experience, I can certainly see it. Players at this stage of the season are tired. There’s a shift globally toward being sensible with extra time in cup competitions, so I can also see it from that perspective. Without picking it apart in my brain too much, I’m pretty happy with it today.”

Minnesota United midfielder Sang Bin Jeong (11) celebrates after scoring the winning penalty kick during the shootout against Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday, November 2, 2024. (Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)

“Smoke + Mirrors”

Dayne St Clair had no PK saves on Tuesday but benefited from Justen Glad and Braian Ojeda shooting high. On Saturday, the Canadian keeper made two key saves in the shootout. St Clair tried to teach the home fans some shootout etiquette while practicing some PK dark arts:

“There’s a lot of eyes on me, and I want the crowd to be loud when I’m in the net. When we practice there is not much noise, or it’s very limited. To be able to kind of quiet the crowd — you’re going to hear a little bit of noise still, but to take the moment and let the shooters from our team go through their process.” He thanked the fans too: “Credit to the fans tonight because they played a role for us shooting and for when I was in net as well.”

NSJ also noticed Saint Clair yelling at Matt Crooks. The goalkeeper explained, “I was just yelling his name. When guys like to put the ball down and not look at me, I know that if I kind of create an environment and — we [also] didn’t have any stats on him for shooting prior, so I didn’t really know where he might be going. So if I can kind of really play into it, because at that moment, I have nothing to lose — versus sometimes, you have the data and you don’t really want to say anything because they might switch. In that moment, I’m just trying to be loud and tell him to look at me and trying to build up as much time before he’s actually able to kind of shoot the penalty, with me pulling my socks up and things like that.”

Latter Day Saints? Maybe “LDS” should now be the Church of Loons, Dayne Saint Clair.

“Thunder”

Manny Lagos started his career playing for the Minnesota Thunder. Now, Lagos serves as MNUFC’s Chief Development Officer and Senior Technical Director. He commented, “I thought it was a special night for Minnesota soccer. I thought the game had ebbs and flows to it. We had some great moments, especially in the first half, and we had some moments where we really struggled to kind of see the game out, and RSL had some great battle in them.”

Lagos later summarized, “And, you know, in the end, our shootout was outstanding, and the crowd was great tonight.”

Manny Lagos and Shari Ballard smile in front of the giant loon sculpture “The Calling.” (Photo by Matthew Johnson)

NSJ asked Manny Lagos to reflect on his journey in Minnesota Soccer. He played for the Minnesota Thunder (1990-96). He coached the Minnesota Stars when his assistant coach Carl Craig started singing “Wonderwall” at various time on the team bus, before it became the MN post-win anthem.

“When the fans were singing Wonderwall, it really hit me that these playoff games don’t come very often: home playoff games, home playoff wins to go to the next round. And I do think the stadium is here is because of the history that we’ve talked about and connected where it’s the ’70s, the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s. When people sing that song, I think it really connects because it’s real. I mean there’s a lot of people that have dedicated their lives to this sport [in Minnesota], and now we have got this cathedral [Allianz Field]. We’ve got a great team right now, who I think unexpectedly just made an upset.” —  Manny Lagos

Minnesota United fans celebrate winning an MLS Playoff match against Real Salt Lake at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minn., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (Photo: Tim McLaughlin)

“Stars Will Align” (with Kygo)

The Loons have 3 weeks to train, study video, and prepare for the LA Galaxy, the 2nd seed who beat the Colorado Rapids in two straight. Saint Clair said, “We’re definitely happy, but we’re not satisfied. We know that we can go to [LA] Galaxy and go in there and get a result and continue to move on.”

Head coach Eric Ramsay stressed that “We can beat anyone in this League. And you know, we’re a good match up for [LA] Galaxy.”

Can Minnesota United beat the LA Galaxy, a team they drew at home and lost 2-1 away? Well, you know the coaches and players will do “Whatever It Takes.”

NSJ

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Chicho Arango Dayne St. Clair Emeka Eneli Eric Ramsay Joseph Rosales Kelvin Yeboah MNUFC MN United FC Pablo Mastroeni Real Salt Lake Sang Bin Jeong Zac MacMath