Scoring has been a tough thing to come by for much of Minnesota's 2026 season. But Saturday night in San Jose, CA that was not the case. Three first half goals, including a Kelvin Yeboah brace, followed up with two second half goals carried MNUFC a much needed victory.
Two competing coaching philosophies shown themselves as soon as the lineups for the night dropped. Cameron Knowles made only two changes for the Loons from their midweek loss to Atlanta. Kelvin Yeboah and Kyle Duncan came into the eleven for the Loons with Tomás Chancalay being available from the bench and Bongi Hlongwane missing the contest due to injury. Bruce Arena made nine changes from San Jose's midweek showing, only retaining goalkeeper Angus Gunn and attacking mid Niko Tsakiris as starters.
Northland Soccer Journal
Things went sideways early on for Minnesota as Jefferson Díaz was called for a handball just three minutes in, tagging it after a San Jose shot from outside the box. Earthquakes captain Timo Werner stepped up to the spot and drove home the penalty to put the hosts up in under five minutes.
Timo Werner converts an early penalty to put San Jose up 1–0
San Jose's lead didn't last very long as the Loons answered back very quickly, thanks to some cheeky play from Joaquín Pereyra who put his shot in on the back post to draw the match in the 10th minute.
Joaquín Pereyra's 10th minute goal to level the match at 1–1
From that point Minnesota controlled the momentum of the match and made San Jose look relatively uncomfortable and sloppy when trying to match pace with MNUFC. The Quakes slower pace helped them at times by forcing the Loons to work hard for the ball, but most of San Jose's attacks came off the counter.
Minnesota used that to their advantage in the 40th minute when they scored the second goal to go up 2–1. Kyle Duncan sent a pass slightly behind Kelvin Yeboah, who wrangled the ball and then scored with a banger to put the Loons up five minutes before the halftime break.
Kelvin Yeboah's first goal against San Jose to put MNUFC up 2–1
Yeboah's first half work wasn't done with just one goal as four minutes later he earned a brace. Owen Gene sent a quick pass to Kelvin Yeboah who chipped goalkeeper Angus Gunn to put the Loons up 3–1 just before the halftime break.
Kelvin Yeboah's second goal against San Jose to put MNUFC up 3–1
Coming out of the dressing room San Jose got off to a hot start and nearly turned the tide with a second goal. But a massive lunging save by Drake Callender where he also parried the ball away from goal kept Minnesota up by two. Minnesota United had their own chances early on in the half, coming closest when Anthony Markanich missed just inches wide of the far post.
MNUFC's defence did their key job in shutting down San Jose's top offensive producers in Timo Werner and Preston Judd. Werner left the match before the 60th minute due to a potential injury, while Judd looked lost at times and unable to break out much.
Marcus Caldeira's continued work on and off the pitch finally paid off with his first MLS goal in the 65th minute to put the Loons up by three with 25 minutes to play.
Marcus Caldeira's first ever MLS goal to put MNUFC up 4–1
Pace of play slowed down quite a bit following the fourth goal and Cameron Knowles used the timing to bring on multiple subs. In a span of four minutes, four subs came on for the Loons, including Nectarios Triantis who returned from injury tonight.
But the Loons weren't satisfied with just four goals as Mauricio González drove home a fifth goal for MNUFC with just four minutes and stoppage left to play.
Following tonights win in San Jose, the Loons will get a full week between matches for the first time in quite a while. After a full week of recovery and training, MNUFC will stay in the Twin Cities to host their next match against Orlando City. OCSC currently sits at ninth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 7-3-11 (24 points) after 21 matches played. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm next Saturday night at Allianz Field in St. Paul.
