Match Recap: Minnesota United gets a disappointing draw with Austin FC to close out homestand

Closing out a three game homestand, Minnesota United and Austin FC battled to a one-all draw on Saturday night in St. Paul. A first half Michael Boxall goal put the Loons up 1-0, though that lead would not last very long. Žan Kolmanič scored for Austin just over 10 minutes later to draw the match level. After a dominant second half and a late flurry of chances for the Loons, they would in the end walk away with just one point.

After a tough win on Wednesday that saw heavy rotation from last Saturday’s match with St. Louis, this weekend saw the opposite strategy. Only one change was made from Minnesota’s 3-0 league win over St. Louis, seeing Julian Gressel replace Boni Hlongwane in the midfield. Austin FC also went with the same strategy, swapping out two players; Žan Kolmanič and Nicolás Dubersarsky replacing Owen Wolff and Ilie Sánchez.

Match 🧵 | Matchday 15 #MINvATXBoth teams are coming off midweek wins in #USOC2024 and last time these two sides faced off the Loons took down the Verde and Black 3-1 in Austin.Here's the Starting XI for #MNUFC & #AustinFC

— Northland Soccer Journal (@northlandsoccer.com) 2025-05-25T00:01:59.671Z

With Minnesota making just one small change and retaining the fluid formation, the Loons early on took control of the match. That control and the momentum that went with it proved to be huge as MNUFC were the first ones to put a goal on the board. Joaquín Pereyra sent in a corner that was picked up by Nicolás Romero, who then lobbed it into the six and Michael Boxall finished the play with a header to score the opening goal.

The tap in, then the tap in, courtesy of Michael Boxall

— Minnesota United FC (@mnufc.com) 2025-05-25T01:37:25.600303Z

The momentum and match control would not end up lasting very long for Minnesota. Just over 10 minutes after the Loons goal, Žan Kolmanič leveled the match for Austin FC with a goal that started on a huge counterattack breakaway.

Counter-attack run to perfection and Žan nets his first Austin FC goal! 👏

— Austin FC (@austinfootballclub.bsky.social) 2025-05-25T01:15:46.162Z

Six minutes after the goal, Anthony Markanich was handed a yellow after a tackle on Besard Šabović. Markanich and the crowd protested to referee Joe Dickerson that Markanich got the ball on the tackle, which after the replay was questionable at best. The Loons ended the first half out-shooting Austin and putting 1.06 xG to Austin’s .37, but heading into the locker room it was Austin and not Minnesota in control of the contest.

Heading into the second half, Eric Ramsey made a change, bringing on Joseph Rosales on to replace Markanich. After a few minutes of acclimation the Loons regained the momentum, control, and confidence they had early on in the first half of the match. Joaquín Pereyra, in what became the song of the half, came extremely close to getting a second goal for the Loons but did not put it away.

At the hour mark Eric Ramsey made another few subs bringing Kelvin Yeboah and Bongokuhle Hlongwane to replace Wil Trapp & Julian Gressel. The substitutions made a massive impact on the match in every possible way except for snagging a second goal for Minnesota. Jefferson Díaz, Bongi Hlongwane, and Kelvin Yeboah all managed amazing shots in the last quarter-hour that required Brad Stuver to make some huge saves to keep the match level at one-all.

Past the 80th minute the match tone completely shifted and all of the sudden became extremely chippy and foul ridden. In a period of just three minutes referee Joe Dickerson issued three yellow cards with one going to Pereyra and the other two being given to Austin FC’s Jon Gallagher and Jáder Obrian respectively. The first half goals were all that the crowd would get with the match ending in a one-all draw.