united gameday
7 p.m. vs. SAN ANTONIO • national sports Center stadium, blaine • ch. 45
Preview: With its draw last Saturday, Minnesota United FC clinched home-field advantage throughout the approaching North American Soccer League playoffs. One piece of hardware remains at stake Saturday. United leads the fall season standings and a victory or draw against second-place San Antonio earns it the title.
United FC at a glance: United extended its unbeaten streak at home to 13 matches with a scoreless draw against New York on Oct. 18. Minnesota (10-2-4) has failed to score in two of its past three matches. NASL scoring leader Christian Ramirez missed a penalty kick late in the New York match. The Loons won 2-0 at San Antonio on Sept. 20. "It's important that we manage these last two weeks the same way we did the entire second half of the season, by looking at the stuff we did last week and making sure that we're evolving to get better this week," United coach Manny Lagos said.
San Antonio at a glance: The Scorpions (9-5-2) are the more desperate team, needing a victory to remain in contention for the fall season crown and help secure a home playoff game. They have only lost twice on the road during the fall season. "Against a team we know is in the playoffs already, a good team that has a lot of good players, it will be a challenge for us," Lagos said.
DAVID LA VAQUE
