Minnesota United is on to the next round of the MLS Cup playoffs.
Pretty good, for a team that didn’t win either game in regulation. But when you’ve got Dayne St. Clair in the net, why not just count on a penalty shootout?
For the second straight game in the best-of-three series, the Loons defeated Real Salt Lake in penalty kicks, this time after a 1-1 draw, and this time they clinched a trip to the conference semifinals in the process.
Real Salt Lake missed twice in Game 1’s penalty shootout, but this time around, at Allianz Field, St. Clair took over as the shootout hero. He saved the attempts from both Diogo Gonçalves and Diego Luna, and forced a miss from Matt Crooks. Kelvin Yeboah, Hassani Dotson and Jeong Sang-Bin converted their kicks, giving the Loons a 3-1 win in the shootout.
“I feel like it was well in our favor, the combination of the atmosphere and Dayne back there,” Loons coach Eric Ramsay said.
“It’s an incredible atmosphere here. I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to finish the year with three wins here, because we have to take advantage of what is, as far as I’m concerned, one of the best football-specific atmospheres here.”
The victory sends Minnesota through to the conference semifinals, with the rest of the playoffs set to be traditional one-off playoff games. Minnesota will travel to play the Los Angeles Galaxy, but not until the weekend of Nov. 23, after the FIFA international window.
Joseph Rosales had 10 assists during the regular season but never could find the back of the net from his spot at left wingback. In the 53rd minute, though, he finally got his first goal of the season. Robin Lod fought through a challenge on the counterattack to poke the ball to Yeboah at the top of the penalty area, and Yeboah fed a pass across the left side of the 18-yard box to a wide-open Rosales, rushing towards the RSL goal. Rosales fired low and inside the far post, finally beating RSL keeper Zac MacMath to give the Loons the 1-0 lead.