Minnesota United Secures Comeback Win against San Diego FC
MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Secures Comeback Win against San Diego FC

Published on April 11, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAN DIEGO - Minnesota United earned a 2-1 road victory over San Diego FC on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium, overcoming an early deficit behind first-half goals from Kyle Duncan and Kelvin Yeboah, while goalkeeper Drake Callender delivered a standout performance with a series of crucial saves to preserve all three points. The Loons now turn their attention to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, where they will face Sacramento Republic FC on Tuesday, April 14 at 9:00 p.m. CT at Heart Health Park.

3' - Minnesota United created their first dangerous chance through Joaquín Pereyra after Morris Duggan carried down the left flank. Duggan then delivered a cross into the inside of the 18-yard box, where connected with Pereyra and bicycle-kicked the opportunity. The attempt went just wide of the left post.

7' (0-1) - San Diego opened the scoring through Luca Bombino after Lewis Morgan found space on the right side in the attacking third. Morgan delivered a cross inside the penalty area, where Bombino met it with a left-footed attempt that found the back of the net.

11' - Onni Valakari broke through the defensive line and fired a shot, but Drake Callender was forced to dive to his left to make a crucial save.

13' - MNUFC earned a free kick near the top left edge of the 18-yard box. Kelvin Yeboah stepped up to take it, but his curling effort went just wide of the left post.

15' (1-1) - Owen Gene and Anthony Markanich combined on a quick give-and-go near the top of the 18-yard box. Markanich then found Tomás Chancalay on the left side, where Chancalay delivered a cross into the penalty area that Kyle Duncan headed into the back of the net to level the score.

29' - Callender made a crucial one-on-one save against Anders Dreyer coming off his line to deny the attempt with his foot. The ball continued to roll toward goal, but Callender recovered in time to stop it on the line.

30' - Callender continued to make himself big and deny every advantage for San Diego. Aníbal Godoy played a through ball to Valakari, who broke into the penalty area and got off a shot, but Callender came up with another big block to keep the match level.

40' (2-1) - Yeboah scored to give the Loons the lead after a short throw-in from Duncan to connect with Gene on the right flank. Gene made a long cross for Markanich, who headed the ball and found Yeboah to push the ball over the line.

46' - Christopher McVey was shown a second yellow card following his rough challenge against Nicolás Romero, which forced San Diego to play a man down for the remainder of the game.

65' - Duncan created another dangerous opportunity after receiving a through ball from Pereyra. Duncan broke into the penalty area and fired a shot, but goalkeeper Duran Ferree made the block and sent the ball out for a corner.

81' - The hosts were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Dreyer stepped up to take the kick, but the effort was once again saved by California native Callender.

90'+ 7' - Callender once again came up with a crucial stop from Dreyer, who unleashed a long-range shot from outside the penalty area. Callender pushed the ball over the net and out on a corner kick for San Diego.

GOAL SUMMARY

0-1 SDFC - Luca Bombino (Lewis Morgan, Anders Dreyer) - 7'

1-1 MIN - Kyle Duncan (Tomás Chancalay, Owen Gene) - 15'

2-1 MIN - Kelvin Yeboah (Anthony Markanich, Owen Gene) - 40'

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

SDFC - Christopher McVey (caution) - 12'

SDFC - Oscar Verhoeven (caution) - 30'

SDFC - Christopher McVey (ejection) - 46'

MIN - Joaquín Pereyra (caution) - 69'

Notable Stats

1 - Defender Kyle Duncan scored his first goal as a member of Minnesota United in tonight's match against San Diego FC. The goal was his first since the 2024 season, and his seventh of his career in MLS action.

2 - Tonight's match marked the first time during the 2026 season that Minnesota United has deployed the same starting lineup in back-to-back matches.

2 - Midfielder Owen Gene recorded his first two assists in his MLS career, making it his first multi-assist game of his professional career.

44 - Goalkeeper Drake Callender recorded his 44th regular season win, after making five saves in tonight's match.

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Drake Callender

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Drake Callender; D Anthony Markanich, Nicolás Romero (Devin Padelford 68'), Morris Duggan, Jefferson Diaz (Carlos Harvey 71'), Kyle Duncan ; M Tomás Chancalay, Owen Gene (Wil Trapp 68'), Nectarios Triantis, Joaquín Pereyra © (Bongokuhle Hlongwane 83'); F Kelvin Yeboah (Mamadou Dieng 83')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Alec Smir; D Kieran Chandler, DJ Taylor; F Mauricio González

Sam Diego FC XI: GK Duran Ferree; D Luca Bombino, Osvald Søe, Christopher McVey, Oscar Verhoeven (Willy Kumado 80'); M Onni Valakari, Jeppe Tverskov ©, Aníbal Godoy (Bryce Duke 80'); F Bryan Zamblé (Marcus Ingvartsen 53'), Lewis Morgan (David Vazquez 73'), Anders Dreyer

Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ dos Santos; M Pedro Soma, Emmanuel Boateng; F Anisse Saidi, Alex Mighten

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC @ SACRAMENTO REPUBLIC FC

Heart Health Park | Sacramento, CA

04.14.2026 | Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup | Round of 32

9:00 p.m. CT (CBS Sports Golazo Network/Paramount+)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH CAMERON KNOWLES

Thoughts on tonight's win...

"Fantastic result. I mean, to come back from going down, and to respond in the way that the players did was tremendous. A real testament to their character, and we had some moments where we were aggressive. There were times where that got a little too stretched, and we had to make some big plays to recover. Drake [Callender] grabbing that ball off the line, I thought was fantastic, but a really, really big performance from a lot of guys."

Thoughts on how his team remained focused after being down 1-0...

"For them to stick with it [looking for the win]. We came here and we wanted to pick moments to be aggressive, we wanted to try and put them [San Diego FC] on the back foot a few times, and when that goes wrong a couple times, they get to have some moments in the game that go, 'well, it can be difficult', and you saw our guys dig in, and sort of double down and remain committed, organized and clawed their way back into the game with a couple of fantastic chances."

On starting Owen Gene when Wil Trapp was healthy and available...

"Based on the performance of last week, it was nothing [to do with Wil Trapp's availability] and I had a good conversation with Wil about it during the week, but the two [Owen Gene and Nectarios Triantis] played together, and the team got a really important win on the road [in Carson against the LA Galaxy], and so we just wanted to have that consistency with the group and continue with the same Starting XI."

On Owen Gene and Nectarios Triantis getting more playing time leading up to this match...

"Those things come with time. The relationships and understanding of positioning for each other and how to interact on the field, both in and out of possession. It takes time, and I thought they [Owen Gene and Nectarios Triantis] got better and both of them were very good today."

On playing with a higher press against San Diego FC...

"No, we wanted to be on the front foot, and we wanted to be more aggressive. You see the way that they [San Diego FC] concentrate numbers centrally, and if we kept the flat back five, we would be deep and we would be sitting on top of the box. We wanted to keep that structure of having those wingbacks kind of play a little bit narrower, get higher, and try to be able to press from inside to out in that way. I thought the guys executed that really well for large stretches of the game."

On holding San Diego defensively in the second half...

"When we look at it, there are moments we should have been more aggressive, both with the ball and without in the second half, [also] going up a man. We don't need to invite some of the pressure that we did, and we can be a lot cleaner with the ball, and enjoy larger stretches of possession where they have to chase a little bit, and so we were trying to get the group a little bit higher up the field. But again, we've talked about this a lot with this group. If there's anyone that can see out the last 10 minutes of a game deep, it's us. You know, the mentality that's in that group to grind out a result is just phenomenal."

On not taking advantage of the potential scoring opportunities being up a man in the second half...

"We talked about it in the locker room, scoring that third goal is critical, puts the game away. We certainly had the opportunities to do it, and we need to be more clinical in those moments. I think when we look back and we watch the game, those are probably the things that we'll look long and hard at. There are a few breakaways where it's just a little bit sloppy in our decision-making. Even sometimes when we turn the ball over after winning it back, where we could just be a little bit cleaner, a little bit more patient, play around pressure versus trying to force it through it. But that's certainly an element that we'll look at, where we can find that goal that kills the game."

On Kyle Duncan and Kelvin Yeboah's goals...

"Great. Good play. We've talked a lot about using wide areas and how we can arrive in the box and how we can get numbers in the box. To see that, to see Kyle arriving and score his first goal for the club is fantastic."

On goalkeeper Drake Callender's performance tonight...

"He's been really steady, and I think the last couple of weeks especially. He has this quiet confidence about going about his business, he's made some really important saves for us, [he's] kicking the ball well and giving us the opportunity to get out. It really helps having that steady presence knowing that you can rely on him."

On San Diego FC's red card and how that impacted the Loons' game play the rest of the second half...

"It's a pivotal moment in the game and it's something we need to take advantage of. It certainly gives life to the group and it gave us the opportunity to put the game away. We can do better with that, but certainly it was a boost for the guys."

On if he sees his squad reflecting his personality or traits in any way at this point in the season...

"I don't know, I don't know... I'm just really pleased for the guys, that they're finding ways to get some results and some wins in some really difficult places to play. You rewind to heading into the week one of the season and you look at the stretch of games, and it's a really difficult stretch. Where we find ourselves having had some adversity through that, and then this run of the last three games, to be really steady and pick up some points against very good teams is just really encouraging; I'm super happy for the guys as they keep putting themselves in a position to be competitive within this league."

On the impact of the team's formation...

"I think that there's a sense of familiarity with it. Our in-possession structure to start the year was very similar [to last season], and out of possession, I think we've tried to be a bit more flexible with it. Part of it, on the back of the Seattle [Sounders FC] game was, it's not always going to look like a five [back line]. When you look at the games, there's times where it looks like a five and looks like a four, and then tonight where it looks like a three. So, I think for the guys it's just getting a really good understanding of how they can build within that structure to be able to be solid when we're defending deep, to hold a mid-block or to move into high pressure. And I think, so far, so good in the way that the guys have executed with that."

On the lead-in to the Sacramento Republic FC match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday...

"It's a tight turnaround with a Tuesday kickoff, but we've got a good group of players here and we'll put out a strong team for that game. There will be some guys that played tonight that will have to turn around and play again, but we see that as a really important competition."

On his overall thoughts about the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup...

"Sacramento [Republic FC] are a fantastic team with a really good coach and a really good staff, a great community that has supported that team for so long. Great crowds. I've been there a number of times as a coach and have known a lot of players and coaches that have gone through that club and it's a real staple of USL and a top-tier organization. So, that's going to be a really difficult game for us to go to. As far as the [U.S. Open] Cup, it's a fantastic competition. I think having the opportunity for teams of all different levels to play against each other is a great experience, and to give teams in different divisions the opportunity to play and compete for a trophy against everyone, and same for us to compete for a trophy against all the teams in this country is fantastic."

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 11, 2026


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