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MLS Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Wins Penalty Shootout in Game 1 of Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-Of-3 Series

October 30, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SANDY, Utah - Minnesota United defeated Real Salt Lake, 5-4, in a penalty shootout following a scoreless draw in Game 1 of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-of-3 Series at America First Field. Minnesota will head home to Allianz Field for Game 2 of the Best-of-3 Series on Saturday, November 2 against Real Salt Lake.

12' - Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair saved Real Salt Lake's first dangerous shot on goal after MNUFC committed a turnover in their defensive third. That turnover gave Salt Lake forward Dominik Marczuk space on the right flank to cross the ball into the 18-yard box, finding Diego Luna in the center of the box. But, the Canadian international goalkeeper was able to stretch out his left leg to save the close-range shot.

31'- MNUFC created their first scoring opportunity after Hassani Dotson crossed the ball from the right side of the pitch, where he found Robin Lod inside the 18-yard box. Lod under pressure laid it off to Kelvin Yeboah for a close-range shot but was blocked by Salt Lake's defense.

47' - Early into the second half, Minnesota found the counter attack after Lod picked off a Real Salt Lake pass. The 2024 All-Star took space up the pitch, passing it off to Kelvin Yeboah on the left side for a one-touch shot that was blocked by Zac MacMath.

49' - Just two minutes later, Lod gained possession in the top left corner of RSL's 18-yard box before he quickly tapped a pass deeper into the keeper's box, connecting with midfielder Carlos Harvey. The Panamanian made an effort to chip a shot into goal, but the ball just barely passed the far post.

52' - St. Clair was able to keep Salt Lake off the scoreboard after two consecutive saves. The Pickering native was caught in a one-versus-one with Luna after Minnesota's back line fell flat, waiting for a free kick to be played. St. Clair, far off his line, was able to stop Luna's shot and save another shot by Salt Lake off the rebound.

64' - Salt Lake nearly scored after a cross into Minnesota's box was settled by Jefferson Diaz, who tried playing the ball back to St. Clair but Marczuk intercepted the pass, for a shot but missed wide of the left post.

71' - Minnesota continued to put pressure on MacMath after Yeboah ran onto a long ball gaining possession in their attacking third. He then found Tani Oluwaseyi for a one-on-one with MacMath, aiming straight towards the goalkeeper for an easy save.

83' - Nearing the end of regular time, MNUFC had two back-to-back shots on goal. Yeboah was able to split Real Salt Lake's defense, allowing him to fire a right-footed shot just above the six-yard box. But MacMath deflected the shot out into play where Bongokuhle Hlongwane on the right flank possessed the ball off the rebound for a shot that was yet again blocked by MacMath.

85' - On the other end of the pitch, St. Clair saved a close-range shot from Salt Lake substitute Diogo Gonçalves, keeping the score 0-0.

GOAL SUMMARY

None

SHOOTOUT SUMMARY

MIN

Yeboah - Scored

Trapp - Scored

Boxall - Saved

Jeong - Scored

Oluwaseyi - Scored

Diaz - Scored

RSL

Arango - Scored

Diogo - Scored

Glad - Missed

Julio - Scored

Eneli - Scored

Ojeda - Missed

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

MIN - Jefferson Diaz (caution) - 8'

MIN - Wil Trapp (caution) - 80'

NOTABLE STATS

6 - Six MNUFC players made their MLS postseason debut in tonight's Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs match, including four starters and two substitutes: defenders Jefferson Diaz and Carlos Harvey, midfielder Joaquín Pereyra, winger Sang Bin Jeong, and forwards Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi.

7 - Defender Michael Boxall and midfielder Robin Lod have appeared in their seventh MLS playoff game for Minnesota United, the most in club MLS history.

19 - Midfielder Wil Trapp appeared in his 19th MLS career playoff game across three MLS teams (Columbus Crew, Inter Miami CF and Minnesota United FC).

6 - Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair made five saves in tonight's Best-of-3 Series Game 1 matchup against Real Salt Lake to earn a shutout.

ATTENDANCE: Not provided

BELL BANK MAN OF THE MATCH: Dayne St. Clair

LINEUPS:

Minnesota United XI: GK Dayne St. Clair; D Joseph Rosales, Jefferson Diaz, Michael Boxall ©, Carlos Harvey, Bongokuhle Hlongwane; M Joaquín Pereyra, Wil Trapp, Hassani Dotson, Robin Lod; F Kelvin Yeboah

Bench: GK Alec Smir; D Miguel Tapias, Anthony Markanich; M Franco Fragapane, Tani Oluwaseyi, DJ Taylor; F, Loïc Mesanvi, Sang Bin Jeong, Teemu Pukki

Real Salt Lake XI: GK Zac MacMath; D Alexandros Katranis, Javain Brown, Justen Glad, Emeka Eneli; M Braian Ojeda, Matt Crooks, Nelson Palacio; F Diego Luna, Cristian Arango, Dominik Marczuk

Bench: GK Gavin Beavers; D Andrew Brody, Tommy Silva, Marcelo Silva; M Noel Caliskan, Diogo Gonçalves, Maikel Chang, Noel Caliskan; F Lechlan Brook, Anderson Julio

UP NEXT:

MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. REAL SALT LAKE

Allianz Field | Saint Paul, Minnesota

11.02.2024 | Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs | Round One Best-of-3 Series Game 2

8:00 p.m. CT (MLS Season Pass/1500 ESPN)

MINNESOTA UNITED POST GAME QUOTE SHEET

HEAD COACH ERIC RAMSAY

On his heart rate following the game and penalty kick shootout...

"It was actually surprisingly calm. We turned over every stone we could in the build up to this in penalties so it felt like if we won it would have justified the work, if we lost there wouldn't have been anything we could've done all that different, so I was pretty balanced about it. And I just had a good feeling based on the preparation that we've done yesterday, the general level of conviction across the group. I sort of backed Dayne's [St. Clair] to make a save, I know that didn't transpire to be the case, but big presence, big personality. It's certainly an imposing figure in the goal so I felt like we had the upper hand so it didn't surprise me."

On who impressed him out of the penalty takers...

"It's difficult to single out any individual but Kelvin [Yeboah] got us off to a really good start, hence why we put him first. We really trust him in those situations. He's proved over the course of his time here already that he's got the personality to handle that situation. He would have probably chosen to go last, he's a man for a big moment. But, we felt like we wanted to really get ahead, put the pressure on the opposition, trust that Dayne [St. Clair] would make a save as it went on and again that didn't transpire to be the case. The first couple of guys got us off to a good start, which is always difficult. So we really appreciate that."

On Dayne St. Clair making an impact in tonight's match...

"I don't really want to overplay Dayne's performance because he made a couple of saves, a couple of routine saves. I don't feel like we gave huge chances away to them [Real Salt Lake], if you look at the stats, that would be reflected. I don't think there were big chances given up either way, it was very even in that sense. As we opened up, we started to leak a little bit more space that wasn't there in the opening stages. And we're obviously at a stage where we're particularly away from home, choosing between one of the two, being very disciplined in how much space we give away and not creating loads and loads beyond opportunities on the counter attack or forcing the game a little bit more with the ball and being slightly more open. And I felt like that was probably how the second half panned out, and therefore Dayne was called into action a couple more times and was their goalkeeper [Zac MacMath]. So it was truly a very even game, given that we're coming here as an away team in difficult conditions. That's hats off to us, for sure."

On what the team did differently in the second half to find chances...

"We obviously forced it a little bit with the substitutions we made. We didn't like the first 15, 20 minutes of the game, that wasn't how we intended to look. We looked, for me, far too deep, far too passive, not building pressure well enough. 20 minutes onwards that started to change, a touch early stages of the second half, once we were able to make a couple corrections at halftime, and nudge the players to be more aggressive, less passive, more front foot in the way we defended. That started to force the game a little bit, but then I will also stress, as we open up, so does the game. And then that's the point at which they [Real Salt Lake] start to get chances. The first half in particular, we gave away very little, we gave them a chance of our own making through giving the ball away really cheaply in the box. But beyond that, we were very solid, very disciplined. Now, that's a goal conceded in six games which, as you guys all know, that's very difficult to achieve at this level. So, I'm really pleased with the defensive effort, I'm also pleased that we were able to start to find a foothold in the game with the ball and create a couple of really good chances."

On what the team did well defensively...

"They [Real Salt Lake] obviously repeatedly switched on us, which is sometimes more difficult to prevent. You might think looking from the sidelines in the sense that they're a team that drops, they dropped so many players outside of your shape. It's very difficult to prevent every single one when they're switching the play quickly. So, we felt like we were sort of, quite happy to take our medicine in that sense and we knew we could defend the switches as well. Both Bongi [Bongokuhle Hlongwane] and Jo [Joseph Rosales] largely did a good job in that sense and we were able to support them really well. I would say, that would be one standout thing, other than the points at which they had counter attacks. Largely, we restricted the space for the creative players they've got, you know, in [Cristian] Arango, [Matt] Crooks, [Diego] Luna, and the guys that came on in between the lines. It would have been really tough, it would have been monumental to come here and restrict them to very little. Particularly given that we wanted to force the game in the second half but largely it was another very good defensive performance, I would say another step forward."

On if the next match will have a defense first mindset...

"We're always going to be the defense first, that's the basis of most good teams. Even the top teams you might associate as being solely possession teams, I'm fairly adamant, the coaches will start with how the team looks defensively. It would be naive for us to go away from being a team that is incredibly difficult to beat, very disciplined, very difficult to score against, very difficult to create chances against because we're sat in a position where we were a win away from going through in the first round, precisely because of that. So, I don't think we need to change that in any way. The atmosphere at home, the energy at home, obviously the lack of altitude that you experience here that will all contribute to us looking different, more exciting, more energetic, more dynamic. The two games will be very different in that sense. As I've said ahead of the last two home games, I don't worry about us scoring goals, I don't worry about us creating chances, looking dynamic, looking energetic. The two games are obviously very different for the context and the conditions. So, I have no worries that the players will look like a different team come Saturday, but what I won't compromise on is how we look defensively."

On how the coaching staff determined the penalty kick order...

"Well, we were very sort of intentional with how we wanted to handle that situation. We talked about it as a staff. We didn't want there to be loads of noise around the players. You see typically in those situations that every staff member wants their say and the players get a lot of information and we decided ahead of the practice we've done this week that Cam [Cameron Knowles] would just deal with it [penalty shootout order], the players and we would try to eliminate any distraction that could possibly creep in. Whether that added effect or not, I don't know, but it was certainly cleaner from my perspective. There was nothing that I could add, nothing that me or Dennis [Lawrence] had talked about adding in that situation. I feel like probably that level of calmness and trust in the process stood us in a good stead."

On the double substitution change in the second half...

"I don't feel that we were in a particularly bad moment in the game at the point in which we made those changes. I had in my mind, we might have changed earlier, but I felt like as we approached an hour, we'd had a couple of good moments between Kelvin [Yeboah], Robin [Lod] and Joaquín [Pereyra]. But it's, as you know, taxing the conditions [that] are here because of the altitude and because of the way in which they use the ball, particularly for the front players. We wanted to make sure that we had some legs on either side of Kelvin as the game went on and, obviously, didn't want to take Kelvin off because it felt like he was showing signs of getting a chance, and irrespective of how the game's going, Kelvin will always find a moment to be a threat and that proved to be the case as it went on and Sang Bin [Jeong] and Tani [Oluwaseyi] came on with legs and were able to build pressure better. And that saw us through to 90 minutes well. And then we made the change with Hassani [Dotson] on account of him feeling a bit, which is expected given the amount of running that he and Wil [Trapp] get through and the conditions and the way they take their toll here."

On how surprising it was for Jefferson Diaz to be the one to score the winning penalty...

"Yes, I mean, it's easy to say in hindsight, but I didn't doubt Jefferson [Diaz] in that situation. He's a very cool customer, very level headed. You'll have seen, he's taken everything in his stride since he's been here. He's quite serious, gets on with it, confident. He was probably just the man for that job and I would have had no qualms had I seen him step up second or third."

On if the front office coming out to training helped the players with the penalty kicks...

"I would like to think so. I would like to think that probably without that the players wouldn't have had maybe the level of conviction that largely they showed. It was a bit of fun. It was probably good for the club's morale, but there was a real sense of us being intentional behind that. As I've said at the beginning of this, [I] felt relatively calm knowing that I felt we'd done as much as we possibly could have done and stopping short of repeating that a couple of times. So, I was really pleased that we had included that as part of our prep, really pleased that we talked very purposefully about how we were going to manage that situation, obviously, really pleased with how the players responded. So it's a good nod toward the quality of the process and really trusting them."

GOALKEEPER DAYNE ST. CLAIR

On what was key in the penalty kick shootout...

"First and foremost, presence. A save or a miss goes down as the same thing for me; as long as the ball doesn't go across the line, I feel like I've done my job. A lot of the work I try to do is sometimes done before (leading up to the shootout). Justin [MacMath] have a decent relationship through the Players Association, so I gave him a smile when he looked up at me and it's unfortunate when you see one of your friends do poorly, but once I cross the white line, I don't have many friends unless they are wearing the same color as me. On the second one, once we've scored, that puts the pressure on them [Real Salt Lake] in a sudden death moment. So, I'm asking the referee in those moments, 'if they miss, is it going to be over,' and just making them [opposing player] think about that process. When one guy misses, and my record, they are probably thinking in their head, 'well, he's due for a save in this next one, so I have to put the ball in the top corner or do something,' which forces them to shoot high versus on the ground. When you shoot high, there's always a risk of missing the net, and today the crossbar was a good friend of mine, so hopefully me and him [crossbar] continue to be in a good relationship."

On the defense's confidence after only allowing one goal in the past six matches...

"[The confidence] is through the roof. But at the same time, we know that it's one game. If we go on a bad stretch, it means nothing. We just need to continue to build on that and know that the past is in the past and we're confident in penalty shootouts with our takers and within myself. It's something we looked into for this game: if we don't concede, we put ourselves in a good place to get it closer to moving on."

On his double save against Diego Luna and Chicho Arango in the second half...

"They're clever players, so I think when you have a set piece like that, some guys kind of shut off and it's my job to be alert. I see Diego making the run and then they play him through, and we did a good job to recover. I make the first save and then we're able to clear it, and I'm out of my net at that point, I'm just trying to stay [put]. Reverting back to my line doesn't really do me any help, so just stay big and I know I've got guys behind me that can potentially clear the ball and the line. In that moment, I'm just trying to stay and read the cues of when to step out and when to stay out there."

On potentially clinching the Best-of-3 series at home at Allianz Field...

"We knew to move on that we're going to have to get a result here [at Real Salt Lake] no matter what, to move on. So, we came in with the mindset of let's do it the first game. The fans [in Minnesota] have shown us a lot of love, so to be able to have the ability to move on in front of them, we know what they bring in terms of the atmosphere. There's going to be a lot more pressure on Salt Lake now going into a must-win for them. But, we're definitely looking at it [Game 2] as a must-win because we don't want to come back here either."

On if he was impressed by any of the penalty kick makers by MNUFC...

"Any [Minnesota United] ball that crosses the line is a good penalty in my book."

On the defensive work by the midfield tonight...

"The one thing we've really focused on as a team is defending as 11 [players]. I know for the strikers it's a lot of hard work for them and they'd rather be closer to the other net, but credit to them because when they drop, we know that once we get in our block, it's very hard to break us down. Between Hassani [Dotson] and Wil [Trapp] the distance they do to cover and shift side-to-side, it's not always the prettiest work and it's obviously tiring, but we've really honed into that, which we know makes teams very difficult to break us down in those moments and limits the amount of chances. In the first half, their [Real Salt Lake] only chance came off a turnover. There's proof of what we're doing, and that builds confidence in us."

On what the referee said after asking if the last penalty would be the last one...

"I did it on the fifth one, but it wasn't so effective, obviously the guy put the ball in the top corner. It's just building it up, maybe making or creating doubt in their minds. I knew what I was doing, so he just told me to get back on my line like I normally do. But keepers, unfortunately with the rules, are so un-favored in these moments, so any one percent or anything you can do to try and give yourself an advantage is something that you have to try and take, whether the risk is not always there. No matter what, they're still expected to score from that distance."

On having front office staff being at training during the penalty kick shootout...

"Obviously, you can practice as much as you want but what comes into play is the pressure. So having people in those moments to kind of create a little bit more pressure, having people behind the net making noise, whatever it may be, kind of makes it a little bit more realistic. But at the same time, I've seen guys hit the top corner 10 times in training and then show up to the game and they don't even want to take one [penalty kick]. So we have a lot of guys that are prepared for the moment and I told them before we went in that I was confident that they would do their job based on what I've seen and I knew that they were confident in me and we'd get this done and not have to come back here again."

On the passing of Holden Trent...

"Obviously both goalies put in a really good performance tonight and the GK [Goalkeeper] Union lost a soul. So it's a sad moment for everyone, but he [Holden Trent] definitely can look down and be proud of both keepers tonight."

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