Aaron Schoenfeld

First Touches | #SKCvMIN

First Touches | #SKCvMIN

MATCHUP QUICK FACTS


  • This will be the fourth time these teams have met in 2020.
  • The MLS Cup Playoffs is the fourth different competition in which the Loons will have faced SKC. The clubs have also faced off in the MLS is Back Tournament, U.S. Open Cup and regular season play.
  • This is the 16th time the Loons and SKC have faced off in all competitions since 2014.
  • MNUFC went 1-2-0 against SKC during the regular season. The victory came during the opening game of the MLS is Back Tournament, with the Loons snagging three points in stoppage time for a 2-1 result.
  • Sporting Kansas City finished on top of the Western Conference with 1.86 points per game. The team finished third overall in MLS.
  • Minnesota advanced to the Conference Semifinals following a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids in Round One.
  • The victory over the Rapids was the Loons’ first-ever MLS Cup Playoff win.
  • Kevin Molino became the first MNUFC player to score multiple goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs, scoring twice against the Colorado Rapids in Round One.
  • Robin Lod scored his first MLS Cup Playoff goal against Colorado. He has now scored in four competitions: regular season play, the U.S. Open Cup, MLS Cup Playoffs and the MLS is Back Tournament.
  • Emanuel Reynoso provided assists on all three goals in Round One. This is the third time a Loon has been credited with three assists in a game since the team joined MLS.
  • Dayne St. Clair earned the club’s first ever win and clean sheet in postseason play since joining MLS.
  • St. Clair made six saves against the Rapids, setting a new club postseason record. The bar was set by Vito Mannone in 2019 with four saves against the LA Galaxy.
  • This Conference Semifinal matchup will be Minnesota’s first road game in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
  • Sporting Kansas City advanced from Round One via a penalty shootout win over the San Jose Earthquakes. The Quakes leveled the game at 3-3 in the closing moments to force extra time. Tim Melia saved all three shots in the shootout to advance SKC to the next round.
  • At 36 years and 82 days old, Kei Kamara subbed on in the second half against Colorado to become the oldest MNUFC player to see action in the postseason.


MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS


  • Ike Opara spent six seasons with Sporting Kansas City, representing the club from 2013 through 2018. He made 127 regular season appearances for SKC, scoring 13 goals and providing five assists.
  • Peter Vermes and Manny Lagos were teammates on the New York/New Jersey MetroStars for the inaugural MLS season in 1996. Lagos played the 1997 season on the MetroStars with current Sporting KC Assistant Coach Kerry Zavagnin.
  • Graham Smith and Hassani Dotson both played for Oregon State in 2015.
  • Aaron Schoenfeld played against SKC’s Gadi Kinda for five minutes in the Israeli Premier League when Schoenfeld’s Maccabi Tel Aviv faced Kinda’s FC Ashdod on December 2, 2017. Schoenfeld came on in the 77th minute while Kinda was subbed off in the 83rd minute of a 1-1 draw.