Saturday night in St. Paul, MNUFC led Houston Dynamo 2–1 heading into stoppage time. Only a few minutes into stoppage time though, the match was level. And it would finish level at 2–2 with the Loons giving up a late lead at home and missing out on much needed points. The main question from supporters has been "what needs to be done to improve the team?" or "How do we start closing out matches?" The latter of which was asked to Cameron Knowles by the media and Knowles said;
“I thought for the most part we did well. They're in a situation where they throw everything at it. You have a set piece moment that I think we can defend the second phase of that a little bit better. But that said, we still had other chances. We had chances at 2-1 to make it 3-1 and really put the game out of sight.”
That score very much could have been the case. Per Fotmob's stats the Loons had two "big chances" and missed scoring on one of those. If that other goal is scored, then the match might just have been over. Even though the Loons missed a chance to score, their second half was a much better performance than the first.
“We talked about that at halftime, how we needed to get guys, make sure we still have width, make sure we have guys coming between lines," said manager Cameron Knowles. "Tomás [Chancalay], AZ [Aziel Jackson], these guys that can find the space in there. They're a difficult team to play against. They're one of the best defending teams and one of the best defensive records in the league.”
After results on Sunday the Loons are just six points back from the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Minnesota needs to get back on the winning track and they'll need to start that Wednesday on the road in Colorado. If MNUFC can take a win over the Rapids that will be a massive boost to the Loons playoff hopes.
“We think about the next game. We think about the next game. There's 6 points to be played for this week. So we have a midweek game. We have another one here at home on the weekend," manager Cameron Knowles said about the next few matches. "And that's what we have to focus on. And it's simply the next game. All our effort and all our concentration goes into that one on a tight turnaround in a difficult place to play.”2
Even though the result wasn't preferable to either team, Anthony Markanich got to play against his twin brother, with Anthony saying;
“It was awesome. When I saw him coming in, I was excited to see him out there and play, especially, yeah, it was special. I'm sure for my family too, it was a special moment.”
