Saturday night in St. Paul started better than anyone could have expected. An early goal from Tomás Chancalay and a first half that made San Diego look extremely uncomfortable to say the least. In the second half the wheels were turning very slowly to start and almost fell off following a Kyle Duncan foul inside the box. While disappointed with the draw, Knowles was happy overall with his teams performance.
“I thought it was a good performance. The goal that we scored from pressing in the front half, we talked about turning those moments of high regains into quality chances and turning them into goals, and we saw that today," said Knowles. "Unfortunate to let them [San Diego FC] back into the game with the penalty, but even then, I think if you balance the chances, we need to reward ourselves with a result.”
Chancalay's early goal and the play style of the Loons worked hand in hand to make San Diego extremely uncomfortable. SDFC is a club that tries to slow the pace of the match down, but with the Loons energy in the first half that couldn't happen. MNUFC's midfield was constantly chasing after San Diego forcing them to play fast and sloppier than the visitors wanted. When the Loons recovered the ball it was almost always an immediate attack from the transition, forcing San Diego to haul everyone back down the pitch to prevent a goal.
“I’m pleased you used that word, because that’s exactly what we talked about is making them [San Diego FC] feel uncomfortable. That’s a word we used before the game," Knowles said to the media post match. "What we’ve been talking about is making them feel uncomfortable with the way that we press, taking away some of their time on the ball, making it difficult for them, and threatening them in transition.”
However the second half was a completely different story, the Loons started out extremely flat footed and let San Diego control the pace and style of the match. It paid off for the visitors when Kyle Duncan was called for a foul inside the box around the 60th minute. After Anders Dreyer covered the penalty the Loons sprung back to life, pushing hard to find a second goal to secure their first three points since May.
“I actually think after the penalty was scored, we came out with a bit more life to us. We were still pressing, we were still getting forward, and we had the desire to score that winning goal," Cameron Knowles stated. "You could see it right up until the end in the way the guys were playing. I thought they responded well to giving up that goal.”
That was a sentiment that veteran midfielder Wil Trapp agreed with, saying:
“ Yeah, I think there was some frustration after that play because it felt like a little bit of the air came out of the stadium on that one. But I appreciate the response because I think we worked to try to win the game, right? And that's what you want. You want to be on the front foot trying to win versus just trying to hold on.”
But at the end of the day a second draw in a row and seven winless matches ahead of Leagues Cup is frustrating. Morris Duggan felt that and post-match he spoke about the frustration of not getting the result;
“We’re getting to a point where it’s a little bit frustrating. Obviously, I feel like the performances, even before the break, have been pretty good, but we all want a result. We need three points, and that’s what we want, especially at home. This game and the last game, we came really close, so obviously it’s getting a little bit frustrating. But, I mean, we’ve got games after games after games. We can’t really get caught up in it. We’re just looking forward and trying to finally get a result.”
