On a jam-packed Decision Day, Minnesota United found itself with the opportunity to play spoiler to a San Jose Earthquakes squad that needed a win to get themselves past Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas and into the playoffs. Although defender Francisco Calvo stunned the crowd at Avaya Stadium with a late header to level the match, in the end it was not to be as a stoppage time goal by late sub Marco Urena put the Quakes ahead 3-2 and into the postseason.
MNUFC came out in a 4-2-3-1 formation — a new look for the side and one that Head Coach Adrian Heath was likely hoping would plug the gaps in the midfield that were problematic against the Galaxy last week. In the early going, the midfield was falling all the way back to support the backline, putting eight men deep to stymie San Jose’s attack. Nonetheless, the Quakes made forays, including an early test in the third minute by forward Chris Wondolowski from a sharp angle on the right side that goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth turned away.
In the ninth minute, San Jose midfielder Vako sent a dangerous cross after breaking down defender Jerome Thiesson that only stayed out of the net because no Quakes player was waiting in the box. As Minnesota found its feet and began to string together possession, the pace slowed and the Quakes began to probe with longer balls over the top. That strategy yielded their first goal as a long ball by defender Florian Jungwirth found forward Danny Hoesen in the middle of the pitch. Hoesen went unmarked up the gut of the defense and put the ball directly between Shuttleworth’s legs to give San Jose a 1-0 lead.
The Loons would answer, though, in the 36th minute. Midfielder Ethan Finlay went to work in the box on the right wing but had the ball poked away from him, only for it to land at the feet of Thiesson, who settled it and calmly curled a left-footed strike into the upper left corner of the goal to make it 1-1. With both FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake winning their matches at the time, a draw was not going to get it done for San Jose, so the Quakes threw their weight forward over the last ten minutes of the first half.
They created opportunities for Hoesen and Vako — who sent a ball sailing just over the crossbar that Shuttleworth couldn’t quite reach — and in the 45th minute, defender Victor Bernardez got back-to-back looks from near the penalty spot. The first deflected off defender Jermaine Taylor’s foot and bounced directly back to Bernardez. The second, he skied over the goal and into the stands. When the whistle blew, the teams headed into the break deadlocked at 1-1.
It would be San Jose who broke the tie in the 55th minute of the match. This time, it was Hoesen’s turn to assist as he sent in a cross that defender Michael Boxall couldn’t quite reach on its way to Wondolowski, who drove it into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead.
“If you look at the first two goals, one’s a long straight ball and the next one’s a poor turnover,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “We work hard, score decent goals, to get ourselves back in it and well, that’s a microcosm of the season, isn’t it? This game, for me, is our season in a nutshell. ‘Very nearly.’ And that’s what we were, too many times.”
Lead in hand, San Jose settled back a little bit, mostly looking to contain the Loons and, for a while, it worked well. Although Minnesota managed some rugged tackles and some promising strings of possession, they couldn’t create opportunities against a dug-in San Jose side.
It ultimately took a corner kick to open things up as midfielder Johan Venegas — who had come in for midfielder Kevin Molino — delivered from the left side to the far post where Calvo struck a header directly on goal. The ball was likely going in anyways, but Jungwirth attempted to clear it and ended up heading it up into the crossbar and into the net. With the score 2-2, the stadium fell silent and it appeared as if the Loons might fulfill their chance to keep San Jose from the playoffs.
But the Quakes had other ideas. Urena came on for defender Kofi Sarkodie in the 88th minute, making plain the Earthquakes’ desperation to get the ball forward and propel themselves into the playoffs. In stoppage time, forward Quincy Amarikwa struck a hard shot from the left side of the box that Shuttleworth initially deflected. But as the ball trickled out to the right, Wondolowski tapped it back across the face of goal and found the waiting Urena who redirected the ball into the back of the net for a 3-2 win and a ticket to the playoffs.
“Mostly disappointed, because they fought hard,” said Heath of the players’ emotions following the loss. “That’s the least we expect — a fully competitive team. What we need is a bit more quality throughout this group and that’s what we’ll try and do this offseason, try and work hard to improve the squad all around.”
With the final match of the team’s inaugural MLS season in the books, that work begins now. After a brutal first month, the Loons took real strides and ended their season with several strong wins and upsets that augur well for the future.
Lineups
Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Bobby Shuttleworth; D Jerome Thiesson, Michael Boxall, Francisco Calvo, Jermaine Taylor (Marc Burch 73’); M Ethan Finlay, Ibson, Collen Warner, Sam Nicholson (Johan Venegas 67’), Kevin Molino (Abu Danladi 67’); F Christian Ramirez
MIN Unused Subs: GK Patrick McLain; D Brent Kallman; M Miguel Ibarra, Collin Martin
San Jose Earthquakes Starting XI: GK Andrew Tarbell; D Kofi Sarkodie (Marco Urena 88’), Victor Bernardez, Florian Jungwirth, Shea Salinas; M Anibal Godoy, Darwin Ceren, Jahmir Hyka (Tommy Thompson 62’), Chris Wondolowski, Vako; F Danny Hoesen (Quincy Amarikwa 81’)
SJ Unused Subs: GK David Bingham; D Francois Affolter, Andres Imperiale; M Jackson Yueill
Match Events
Goals
15’ – Hoezen (Jungwirth) – SJ
36’ – Thiesson – MIN
55’ – Wondolowski (Hoesen) – SJ
81’ – Calvo (J. Venegas) – MIN
90+’ – Urena (Wondolowski) – SJ
Discipline
23’ – Ibson (YC) – MIN
40’ – Warner (YC) – MIN
68’ – Godoy (YC) – SJ
76’ – Danladi (YC) – MIN
85’ – Bernardez (YC) – SJ
