NASL Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Falls 1-0 to San Antonio in First Home Loss Since 2013

Published on October 25, 2014 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Minnesota United FC News Release


BLAINE, Minn. (Saturday, October 25th, 2014 ) -- Minnesota United fell 1-0 to the San Antonio Scorpions on Saturday night in tough battle for the Fall Season Championship that will continue into next week. Cesar Elizondo's second half strike gave the Scorpions the advantage over United.

"It's a tough loss," said United Head Coach Manny Lagos. "We certainly didn't want to lose. It was a very tough, tight game. It maybe didn't go our way in the second half. Maybe we didn't handle some of the counter attacks in the second half as well as we should have. We certainly should have created more chances than we did at home."

United controlled possession in the first half, putting pressure on the San Antonio throughout the half. Midfielder Miguel Ibarra and forward Rafael Burgos had the best scoring chances of the half for Minnesota. Ibarra unleashed a rocket shot through traffic that blasted into the chest of Saunders, who dove on the ball to prevent it from spilling into the net. Burgos' chance came late in the half as he found himself all alone in front of goal. He decided not to shoot and passed to teammate Christian Ramirez, but a defender cleared the ball away from goal.

The half was very physical but the only card was a yellow given to Minnesota defender Tiago Calvano for an elbow to the head of a Scorpions player. There were several other collisions that could've earned a booking, but the referee decided to give warnings to the players instead.

The physical play continued into the second half with more cards being shown to both sides. Despite all the physical play, San Antonio was able to break the deadlock with a very clean goal. A low cross from Walter Restrepo found Cesar Elizondo wide open in front of the United goal. Elizondo easily placed the ball past goalkeeper Matt VanOekel to give San Antonio the 1-0 lead.

Minnesota began to send more men forward to try to tie the game back up, but San Antonio's defense was up to the task. Several key grabs by goalkeeper Josh Saunders preserved the Scorpions' lead for the remainder of the match. The victory keeps San Antonio's hopes for the Fall Championship alive as they will face the New York Cosmos next week.

"It's a tough call at 1-0, maybe we're pushing the game and push our line to really try to get the ball back in good spots to get the ball going," Lagos continued. "Defensively tonight, it was not our best night. I wouldn't even change the backline. The middle third of the field I thought we could have done a lot better. Overall, it was a tough loss for us. It's been, probably the first time I could say this, the complacency maybe came in because of the results we've had and where we are and certainly we have to learn from this, and get ready for the next couple of weeks."

United will travel to Carolina to face the RailHawks on November 1st for the final match of the regular season before The Championship Semifinal match on November 8th. Tickets are now available online at MNUnitedFC.com/tickets or by calling 763.4SOCCER. Get your seats today!

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North American Soccer League Stories from October 25, 2014


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