Saturday night in Portland was the epitome of MLS After Dark. Nine goals, multiple lead changes, and a near comeback to cap it all off. For the hosting Timbers it was a much needed win, but for the Loons it was another stumble as they shoot for an MLS Cup playoff spot.
"We started that game so well, have a great chance with Kelvin [Yeboah] very early on to put them on the back foot," said manager Cameron Knowles. "Obviously, [we] dig ourselves a big hole, get back into it and get level. But the chances that we give them in transition, we talked so much about that before the game."
Yeboah's early chance on goal was the best chance Minnesota had to score early. Had hid goal gone in rather than crack the post, the match could have been very different. Instead Portland snagged a goal in the 11th minute on a penalty kick, before adding a second on an own goal in the 20th minute. Six minutes later Vincent Janssen added his second of the match, seemingly putting the match out of reach early.
MNUFC didn't give up and proceeded to hammer in two goals before the end of the half. Anthony Markanich and Marcus Caldeira both hit the back of goal, within six minutes of each other. Caldeira's 32nd minute strike extended his scoring streak to three matches and Markanich's goal put the Loons back in the match.
“Well, like I said, some of it is self-inflicted in terms of the giveaways that we have in critical areas or our inability once we win the ball to secure possession," Knowles said. "And there's others we were just a little late in our timing, and that's where we've got to understand that we need to drop off. We need to get behind the ball."
Five minutes into the second half Marcus Caldeira drove home the Loons third goal, securing himself his first ever brace in MLS. Caldeira has quickly become a key scorer for the Loons after putting up great numbers earlier this season in MLS Next Pro. That lead didn't last long as Portland's Vincent Janssen scored his third and an MLS first hat trick for the Timbers.
Portland's Kristoffer Velde tacked on a fifth in the 77th minute, once again making it look as if the Loons were out of the match. Two minutes into an extended stoppage time though, Minnesota went "not so fast" as Tomás Chancalay scored the fourth of the night for the black and blue. With plenty of stoppage time left the Loons pushed hard for a fifth goal, that they just couldn't end up finding.
“Look, it's just picking up moments. I think we've just got to get a really good understanding of if we can't get there we don't chase a lost course. Again, something we've talked about, something we need to continue to work on clearly, but I think when you see the and you saw it in the first 10 minutes, the intensity and the aggression that this group can bring when we pick the right moments for that, it can be a real tool for us. And what we have to understand is when it's not just to get behind the ball and defend a little bit deeper.”
With 11 matches left in the season the Loons sit under the playoff line in 11th place. After a few weeks of just a single match in each, the Loons are back to two match weeks. First MNUFC comes home to host FC Dallas on Wednesday night before they head to St. Louis on Saturday night.
