Soaking up the Florida sun has made time fly for the Loons, who are halfway through their slate of preseason games with two to go.
Against Charleston Battery on Saturday, March 27, Minnesota notched a 9-0 win against the USL side with goals from Niko Hansen, Ethan Finlay, Osvaldo Alonso, Foster Langsdorf, and newcomers Juan Agudelo, Patrick Weah and Justin McMaster.
Newcomers are starting to feel more and more comfortable and fit in, with the preseason training and matches have been allowing them to get a feel of what it will be like to play with MNUFC this upcoming season.
“I think I love it [here],” said newcomer DJ Taylor. “I love the way Coach [Adrian Heath] talks about whipping the ball in behind the six, because that’s kind of one of my specialties, so I think I’m fitting in pretty good.”
The Loons coaches are making sure newcomers feel welcomed on the team. They’re making sure that players understand drills to the full extent and how to take it onto the field during a game. Not to mention that the coaches help drive the Loons competitiveness with one another.
“We all offer different skill sets and just learning from each other and competing for different spots on the team,” said goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.
The goalkeeper made it back to training this week after playing with the Canada Men’s National Team in Bradenton, Florida. With five other Loons making their way back in the days to come from their international duties, it seems like the Loons are slowly coming together.
The second preseason match for MNUFC was Wednesday, March 31, against the 2020 MLS Cup Champions, Columbus Crew SC. The Loons won 5-2 with goals from Finlay, Emanuel Reynoso, Hansen, Dally and Weah.
“These [players] were the first group, you know, some really good stuff again,” said Heath. “We were wanting to take them off at half time and most of them wanted to play another 15 to 20 minutes, so that was pleasing. Our ball movement, at times, was excellent. And then one or two of the younger ones are given us a little bit of food for thought about whether we keep them or what because they’ve done alright.”
With two wins in two preseason games so far, the returns on the team’s offseason investments looks good, but there’s more to focus on than just chemistry and results.
“Right now, it’s just all about building that fitness base,” said Wil Trapp. “Some things we talked about, building those connections, right? And I think we’re doing a good job of this group coming together and congealing.”
The Loons have demonstrated on and off the field that this upcoming 2021 season is a new chapter for the team. With newcomers on the team and the opportunity to play against other teams, the Loons know what they have to strive for to achieve the next steps.
“Once we got going, you can see that we’re building on from the last game,” said Hansen. “It’s good to play against a good team like that [Columbus Crew SC] and still have success. So, I think we continue with this on Saturday and then moving on to Friday, I think we’ll do great.”
Last Saturday, the Loons faced off against FC Cincinnati. Both teams fought hard during the first half as the game’s first goal came just before the halftime whistle. Midfielder Emanuel Reynoso scored a penalty kick for the Loons to make it 1-0 at the half. As the second half kicked off, the Loons settled in and earned yet another penalty kick, this time taken by midfielder Ethan Finlay. FC Cincinnati fought back and cut the lead in half. Minutes later, rookie Justin McMaster put the game out of reach at 3-1.
“After a difficult first half, we didn’t have the ball a bunch, for the first 15 to 20 minutes,” said Finlay. “There was a little bit of time, kind of going into the wind to really get the game going, at least on the offensive side. In the end, the second half I felt our fitness started to take over in the game. We were able to control more of the tempo in the second half and another good result, another win.”
With McMaster sealing the Loons win with his goal, the youngster is beginning to feel more comfortable and confident about his job on the field.
“Coach Adrian just called me to the side and said, ‘Be ready at halftime,’ so I just did my best to help the team win,” said the rookie. “It means a lot because when a coach talks to you that much, you can tell that they want you to do better and eventually get to your top potential.”
Heath has been working day in and day out to shape the Loons to become stronger, faster and overall better than last season. All his hard work, along with that of the players, has been showing off during their preseason.
“We just want to try and get better from where we were last year,” said Heath. “Now we’re trying to work on certain things: pressing higher up the field, getting better players like Rey, Ethan and Niko higher up the field. It’s been terrific. I know we’ve won again, 3-1, but the most important thing is, we’ve come through, but the attitude of the players has been first class.”
The Loons have now won three of their preseason matches, staying undefeated as they will face Orlando City SC for their final preseason match on Friday, April 9. Although there will be no streaming, fans can follow the action via Twitter by following @MNUFC or @MNUFCes for updates.
