The Loons kicked off their first double-game week of the season with a victory in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. Previously undefeated USL Championship side Louisville City FC fell 1-0 to a heavily rotated Minnesotan lineup, featuring a number of second team players called up on short-term agreements.
The starting XI down in Kentucky saw DJ Taylor, Morris Duggan, and Devin Padelford lining up a solid defense with second team keeper Wessel Speel in goal. Recent acquisition Julian Gressel made his first start for the club as a winger opposite Kieran Chandler, with Hoyeon Jung and Curt Calov manning the middle. Sang Bin Jeong, Samuel Shashoua, and Darius Randell handled the attack.
On the opposing side, longtime Louisville player Sean Totsch and forward Sam Gleadle were notably absent, but a number of usual starters for this undefeated team took to the pitch, including leading scorer Ray Serrano.
Serrano’s shot slipped past Speel in the seventh minute, but was ruled offside. Curt Calov attempted to open up the scoring in the 25th but went wide, and a slow first half ended scoreless on both sides.
Starting the second, Louisville switched things up by bringing in Kevon Lambert — on loan from MLS side Real Salt Lake — for Evan Davila. The Kentucky side had a great opportunity of a 58th-minute corner kick, but Phillip Goodrum just couldn’t get the ball past a very determined Speel. His fantastic save kept the score nil-nil with half an hour left on the clock.
In the 65th minute, Jung played a flawless long pass up to Sang Bin, who set up a cross that Randell swept in to capitalize on. Randell, 17, is the youngest player to ever debut for Minnesota United, and his left-footed shot got Minnesota on the scoreboard. Having successfully made his impact as the youngest-scoring player of all time for MNUFC, he left the pitch in the 67th for Loïc Mesanvi, and Britton Fischer entered for Gressel.
The home side was hungry with 20 minutes left on the clock, and Louisville landed themselves a handful of yellow cards in quick succession. A tough collision with Jake Morris and DJ Taylor ended in a yellow for Morris, the second of the night after defender Kyle Adams’ in the 40th minute. He subsequently left the pitch, making way for Louisville’s Issac Cano. Lambert was shown a card after fouling Calov in the 84th, and Aidan McFadden picked up another in stoppage time.
A 79th-minute change brought in some fresh legs with Babacar Niang for Shashoua, and Louisville reached the 90th minute fighting for a goal in the attacking third, but a disciplined defensive performance from Minnesota sent the ball to the other side starting five minutes of stoppage time. 22-year-old Luke Hille came on for Sang Bin to finish out the evening, and the whistle blew on the end of Louisville’s undefeated streak.
This is a promising win for the Loons — Louisville won the USL equivalent of the Supporters’ Shield last season and is currently second in the league with 17 points. A Minnesota side on full rotation took them down with a number of players who hadn’t previously seen first-team playing time, with standout performances in all areas of the field. Speel’s impact was undeniable, and Hoyeon played a full 90 from box to box, bouncing all over the field and connecting great passes. Padelford and Duggan were stalwarts on the defensive end, and tonight proved the strength of Minnesota’s depth more than ever.
Minnesota will host St. Louis CITY at Allianz Field in two weeks for the Round of 16, just a few days after taking them on in regular season play. Stay tuned to see how deep this USOC run goes.
