Positive Numbers: United FC (Last Week: Positive Numbers). I know I've said in the past that I have regretted being an MNUFC season ticketholder. That was then, when they sucked. They don't suck now, therefore I don't regret it. In fact, with the Lynx still finding themselves and the Twins cooling off, I think the Loons have become the hottest ticket in town.
First, let's talk about Wednesday's Open Cup Quarterfinal against New Mexico United, a virgin club which has started a pretty raucous fanbase already. On short notice and through the help of a bank (I think) subsidizing tickets, 188 fans (the supporters group calls itself "The Curse" -- cool name) chartered a flight up here. And there were still more people who wanted to come up, so 75 more fans chartered a bus to make a trip up to the North a weeklong vacation. Now that's dedication. That's soccer dedication!
And starting from first kick, NMU had the upper hand on MNUFC. In fact, they scored first, as Santi Moar took a pass from Christopher Wehan and ripped a long shot through a closing phalanx of Loons and past Vito Mannone in the Seventh Minute to give the second-division visitors a 1-0 lead. I'll admit I shit some bricks at that. But three Minutes later, Angelo Rodriguez brought order back into the American soccer pyramid by taking a Hassani Dotson Assist and scoring for Minnesota. And the hits kept coming for the home side: Darwin Quintero, Rodriguez for the Brace, Jan Gregus on a sweet Free Kick, Rodriguez for the Hat Trick, and Miguel Ibarra finally scoring one at Allianz, and our Loons are off to the USOC Semifinals with a 6-1 win.
Saturday's important tilt versus FC Dallas was a whole different affair. Since the side has been on a very busy part of the schedule, playing two Games every week for the past ... uh, three? ... weeks, I was wondering how much Adrian Heath was going to rotate his players. The answer, stemming from the XI that started: Not much. Ibarra was put on the bench for Ethan Finlay, but otherwise, the ten who started Wednesday started Saturday. And that may have been the reason Minnesota played so sluggishly. In fact, now that I think about how often I was looking at my phone, both clubs didn't really do much for the 90 Minutes.
But come Second Half Injury Time, literally as the public address announcer was announcing there would be five more Minutes, this game went into overdrive. Jan Gregus got off a shot that Dallas Goalie Jesse Gonzalez could only get his fingertips on. And substitute Mason Toye, who has been as in-form a player as anyone in Major League Soccer, was Mr. Right Place, Right Time for the rebound to give MNUFC a very late 1-0 lead.
Dallas tried to mount a counterattack, and very late into the Match there was a whistle. There was a lot of confusion and a lot of time trying to sort out what happened, and that was just on the field. (We folks in the stands were even more in the dark. I had to check Twitter to find out that Mannone fouled FC Dallas' Bryan Reynolds in the box, but the official checked VAR before deciding a Penalty Kick was going to be awarded to Dallas.
That's when I thought this was going to end in a tie. OK, one Point in a very important Match in the middle of a tight Western Conference -- I can make my peace with that. But Vito said no-no.
You can catch both highlights in this spliced-together video supplied by the team through Twitter:
I've been going back and forth about this game because of the admittedly boring 90 Minutes, but right now, I'll say that this was the best Loons game I have ever seen. And those two extra Points puts them, as of press time, fourth in the rough-and-tumble Western Conference.
One final two-Match week this week -- one, however, if you don't count Friendlies, which Wednesday's match is, versus venerable side Aston Villa. Wonder how many regulars will start, let alone play, in this one. The more important Game is Saturday at postseason-contending Real Salt Lake. MNUFC currently has a four-Game winning streak when it comes to Major League Soccer matches, and an eight-Game winning streak when you include Open Cup matches and Friendlies.
#0: Twins (Last Week: -1). Right out of the gate, the Twins open up the Second Half of the season with an extremely important three-Game series against Cleveland in Cleveland. The good guys were once up by 11 1/2 Games on the Tribe, but that had shrunk to 5 1/2 by the All-Star Break. (By the way, I caught, like, a minute of the ASG before hoofing it to Caffetto, so I couldn't tell you what Berrios or Polanco did.)
And ... they won two-of-three in that series over the weekend. Could have been better; Jose Berrios got shaken down on Sunday, the club scored three to tie it up, then Carlos Santana homered for the Game-deciding, 4-3 victory. (Weird stat: On Saturday, Max Kepler homered off of Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer in his first two at-bats of that Game, thereby giving him five consecutive HRs in as many at-bats off of him, tying a Major League Baseball record for most homers in a row by a batter from a Pitcher.) But they could have lost the series, or they could have been swept. So Minnesota left the CLE with a 6 1/2-Game lead in the A. L. Central (which is, as of press time, down to six, since the Tribe beat Detroit last/Monday night). The sky isn't falling -- yet. And there is about a fortnight before the Trade Deadline.
They have a maximum homestand. Today/Tuesday they have a two-fer with the Mets. They entertain Oakland for four over the weekend, then begin a three-Game series vs. the Yankees. This could be an important screening week.
#-1: Lynx (Last Week: 0). I've got to be honest: This year I have over looked the Lynx. The players comprising their dynasty, save Sylvia Fowles, are gone, at least for now. And they are not the dominant squad like they were before. Even though they went 2-1 this screening week (a loss at last-place Atlanta is sandwiched by a road win in Chicago and a home drubbing of Phoenix), they simply don't have the decades-long devotion of the Twins or the darling status of United FC right now.
But I took a gander at the Women's National Basketball Standings. And although it is tight -- they are only a half-Game ahead of Los Angeles and Seattle -- the Lynx sit in second place in the West, 1 1/2 Games behind Las Vegas, a team everybody predicted would break out and be a great team this year. (And not for nothing, Connecticut and Washington have better records from the East.) So it could be a lot worse. In the meantime, both Fowles and Odyssey Sims have been named as reserves for the All-Star Game, being held in Las Vegas. At least one writer online suggests that Rookie Napheesa Collier is a snub. I'm just glad the Lynx found what seems to be a keeper.
Home to the Storm Wednesday, then at Vegas Sunday.
First, let's talk about Wednesday's Open Cup Quarterfinal against New Mexico United, a virgin club which has started a pretty raucous fanbase already. On short notice and through the help of a bank (I think) subsidizing tickets, 188 fans (the supporters group calls itself "The Curse" -- cool name) chartered a flight up here. And there were still more people who wanted to come up, so 75 more fans chartered a bus to make a trip up to the North a weeklong vacation. Now that's dedication. That's soccer dedication!
And starting from first kick, NMU had the upper hand on MNUFC. In fact, they scored first, as Santi Moar took a pass from Christopher Wehan and ripped a long shot through a closing phalanx of Loons and past Vito Mannone in the Seventh Minute to give the second-division visitors a 1-0 lead. I'll admit I shit some bricks at that. But three Minutes later, Angelo Rodriguez brought order back into the American soccer pyramid by taking a Hassani Dotson Assist and scoring for Minnesota. And the hits kept coming for the home side: Darwin Quintero, Rodriguez for the Brace, Jan Gregus on a sweet Free Kick, Rodriguez for the Hat Trick, and Miguel Ibarra finally scoring one at Allianz, and our Loons are off to the USOC Semifinals with a 6-1 win.
Saturday's important tilt versus FC Dallas was a whole different affair. Since the side has been on a very busy part of the schedule, playing two Games every week for the past ... uh, three? ... weeks, I was wondering how much Adrian Heath was going to rotate his players. The answer, stemming from the XI that started: Not much. Ibarra was put on the bench for Ethan Finlay, but otherwise, the ten who started Wednesday started Saturday. And that may have been the reason Minnesota played so sluggishly. In fact, now that I think about how often I was looking at my phone, both clubs didn't really do much for the 90 Minutes.
But come Second Half Injury Time, literally as the public address announcer was announcing there would be five more Minutes, this game went into overdrive. Jan Gregus got off a shot that Dallas Goalie Jesse Gonzalez could only get his fingertips on. And substitute Mason Toye, who has been as in-form a player as anyone in Major League Soccer, was Mr. Right Place, Right Time for the rebound to give MNUFC a very late 1-0 lead.
Dallas tried to mount a counterattack, and very late into the Match there was a whistle. There was a lot of confusion and a lot of time trying to sort out what happened, and that was just on the field. (We folks in the stands were even more in the dark. I had to check Twitter to find out that Mannone fouled FC Dallas' Bryan Reynolds in the box, but the official checked VAR before deciding a Penalty Kick was going to be awarded to Dallas.
That's when I thought this was going to end in a tie. OK, one Point in a very important Match in the middle of a tight Western Conference -- I can make my peace with that. But Vito said no-no.
You can catch both highlights in this spliced-together video supplied by the team through Twitter:
Loonies never say die... pic.twitter.com/jOJFJSOXJe— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) July 16, 2019
I've been going back and forth about this game because of the admittedly boring 90 Minutes, but right now, I'll say that this was the best Loons game I have ever seen. And those two extra Points puts them, as of press time, fourth in the rough-and-tumble Western Conference.
One final two-Match week this week -- one, however, if you don't count Friendlies, which Wednesday's match is, versus venerable side Aston Villa. Wonder how many regulars will start, let alone play, in this one. The more important Game is Saturday at postseason-contending Real Salt Lake. MNUFC currently has a four-Game winning streak when it comes to Major League Soccer matches, and an eight-Game winning streak when you include Open Cup matches and Friendlies.
#0: Twins (Last Week: -1). Right out of the gate, the Twins open up the Second Half of the season with an extremely important three-Game series against Cleveland in Cleveland. The good guys were once up by 11 1/2 Games on the Tribe, but that had shrunk to 5 1/2 by the All-Star Break. (By the way, I caught, like, a minute of the ASG before hoofing it to Caffetto, so I couldn't tell you what Berrios or Polanco did.)
And ... they won two-of-three in that series over the weekend. Could have been better; Jose Berrios got shaken down on Sunday, the club scored three to tie it up, then Carlos Santana homered for the Game-deciding, 4-3 victory. (Weird stat: On Saturday, Max Kepler homered off of Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer in his first two at-bats of that Game, thereby giving him five consecutive HRs in as many at-bats off of him, tying a Major League Baseball record for most homers in a row by a batter from a Pitcher.) But they could have lost the series, or they could have been swept. So Minnesota left the CLE with a 6 1/2-Game lead in the A. L. Central (which is, as of press time, down to six, since the Tribe beat Detroit last/Monday night). The sky isn't falling -- yet. And there is about a fortnight before the Trade Deadline.
They have a maximum homestand. Today/Tuesday they have a two-fer with the Mets. They entertain Oakland for four over the weekend, then begin a three-Game series vs. the Yankees. This could be an important screening week.
#-1: Lynx (Last Week: 0). I've got to be honest: This year I have over looked the Lynx. The players comprising their dynasty, save Sylvia Fowles, are gone, at least for now. And they are not the dominant squad like they were before. Even though they went 2-1 this screening week (a loss at last-place Atlanta is sandwiched by a road win in Chicago and a home drubbing of Phoenix), they simply don't have the decades-long devotion of the Twins or the darling status of United FC right now.
But I took a gander at the Women's National Basketball Standings. And although it is tight -- they are only a half-Game ahead of Los Angeles and Seattle -- the Lynx sit in second place in the West, 1 1/2 Games behind Las Vegas, a team everybody predicted would break out and be a great team this year. (And not for nothing, Connecticut and Washington have better records from the East.) So it could be a lot worse. In the meantime, both Fowles and Odyssey Sims have been named as reserves for the All-Star Game, being held in Las Vegas. At least one writer online suggests that Rookie Napheesa Collier is a snub. I'm just glad the Lynx found what seems to be a keeper.
Home to the Storm Wednesday, then at Vegas Sunday.
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