Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay put a lot of preparation into the chance that penalty kicks could decide games in the MLS Cup Playoff series against Real Salt Lake. He even invited front-office staff to Blaine on Monday to make it inhospitable for players as they practiced PKs. They booed, chanted and otherwise distracted Loons.
It was worth it as MNUFC and RSL went to PKs after a scoreless regulation on Tuesday. For all the prep work, Ramsay had to turn it over to the players, and center back Jefferson Diaz made this sixth shot, while Salt Lake midfielder Braian Ojeda hit the crossbar.
MNUFC edged RSL 5-4 in six rounds of penalty kicks to take Game 1 of a first-round series at America First Field in Sandy, Utah. Game 2 will be Saturday night at Allianz Field, with Game 3, if necessary, coming Nov. 8 in Utah.
“It’s easy to say in hindsight, but I didn’t doubt Jefferson in that situation,” Ramsay said. “He’s a very cool customer, very level-headed. … He’s taken everything in stride since he’s been here. Quiet. Serious. Gets on with it. Confident. He was probably just the man for that job.”
Before a surprise taker in Diaz, it was more conventional takers in Tani Oluwaseyi, Sang Bin Jeong, Wil Trapp and Kelvin Yeboah. They made their kicks, but Loons captain Michael Boxall and RSL veteran Justen Glad both failed to convert in the third round. Boxall’s low and right shot was denied by Zac MacMath, but Glad’s shot was sent over the crossbar, leaving Dayne St. Clair with nothing to do but watch it sail deep int o the stands.
The Loons’ win looms. In the first year of the best-of-three opening round in, all eight teams that won Game 1s a year ago moved onto the next round.
Third-seeded Real Salt Lake and sixth seed MNUFC also played to a 0-0 draw in Utah in October and 1-1 in St. Paul in April.
In the 68th minute, head coach Eric Ramsay brought in two of the three players who shifted the 4-1 win over St. Louis on Oct. 19. Oluwaseyi and Jeong, who scored two goals 10 days ago. They came in for Robin Lod and Joaquin Pereyra.
Three minutes later, Kelvin Yeboah’s toe-poke pass went to Oluwaweyi, but RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath’s right arm denied the quality scoring chance.
Yeboah and Bongi Hlongwane each had scoring chances denied by MacMath in back-to-back fashion in the 82nd minute.
Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair made his own fair share of saves, including one form Chicho Arango in the 92nd minute.
In the first half, the Loons allowed Salt Lake more possession but limited avenues to attack in the middle of the field. RSL had only one shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes, and that was after a poor Wil Trapp giveaway in MNUFC’s defensive third. St. Clair’s left leg denied Diego Luna’s shot in the 12th minute.
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