United clinches playoff spot with 2-1 victory

Minnesota United FC is playoff-bound.

A 2-1 victory against Fort Lauderdale clinched one of the four North American Soccer League postseason spots.

Saturday's triumph at the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine ran the Loons' unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive matches, including eight victories. The announced crowd of 9,207 fans included former United standout Miguel Ibarra.

Forward Pablo Campos got the crowd going early, scoring the first goal of the match in the sixth minute.

"That's how we're supposed to play at home," Campos said. "You cannot wait for them to come at us."

Loons coach Manny Lagos lauded his team for playing "one of the best first halves we had all year. Both sides of the ball, we really played good soccer."

The goal was No. 6 on the season for Campos and his first since Sept. 12. While Lagos credited Campos for strong play off the bench during the fall season, the former league scoring champion savored ending a slump.

After his goal, Campos placed the ball under his shirt and mimed sucking his thumb. The celebration was in honor of his nephew, born last month in Seattle.

Campos keyed the Loons' second goal, taking a pass from Daniel Mendes and using a burst of speed to get behind the defense. He tapped the ball toward Mendes to put away and the United (10-2-5 fall season) led 2-0 in the 27th minute.

Minnesota crushed Fort Lauderdale (6-5-5) by a 5-2 score two weeks ago in Florida. The rematch would prove more difficult.

Fort Lauderdale's Victor "PC" Giro sent a ball past Loons goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock in the 77th minute.

"We gave up a goal at probably the worst time of the half because it really gave them some big energy," Lagos said.

"We knew this would be a different game than two weeks ago," said Lagos, who didn't dwell on Saturday's playoff implications.

"We knew we'd likely be in the playoffs so it was more important to think about managing games," he said.

Defenders Tiago Calvano and Justin Davis both must miss Saturday's match at Indy Eleven after accumulating too many yellow cards in the fall season. Both drew a card against Fort Lauderdale.