Minnesota United’s effort to climb the Western Conference standings on Decision Day started off as poorly as possible Saturday night.

The fourth-place Loons trailed last-place Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 at halftime at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., with center back Morris Duggan coming off with apparent leg injury.

Plus, United wasn’t getting any help from either LAFC and San Diego — the second- and third-place teams — as both had 1-0 leads at the break.

And the situation continued to sour in the second half. MNUFC lost 2-1 to Galaxy, had to settle for a fourth-place finish and will face fifth-place Seattle Sounders in a MLS Cup Playoffs first-round series starting in late October.

Minnesota set a club record with 16th wind this season, but has fallen off that high-flying pace with only one win in its last four games since its crash out of the U.S. Open Cup semifinals Sept. 17.

On Saturday, the Loons gave up goals to Matheus Nascimento in the first half and Joseph Paintsil in the second half.

One silver lining is top striker Kelvin Yeboah returned to the field after missing three full games since the Open Cup defeat to Austin a month ago. He came in as a sub in the 77th minute.

Loons midfielder Joaquin Pereyra took a corner kick and was credited for a goal that trickled in late in stoppage time.

PHILADELPHIA – Noah Cates scored in overtime, lifting the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Wild on Saturday night, handing Minnesota its fourth loss in the past five games.

Leading with less than 14 minutes to play on Vladimir Tarasenko’s first goal as a member of the Wild, the Flyers turned the tables and dominated the late stretches of the game. Minnesota fell to 2-3-1 with the loss.

Jesper Wallstedt, making his second start of the season for the Wild, had 19 saves in the game, as Minnesota failed to gain separation after taking a lead.

Already beset with their share of injuries, the Wild lost top-line center Joel Eriksson Ek on the game’s opening shift. While defending in front of the Minnesota net, a high stick by Flyers winger Matvei Michkov caught Eriksson Ek in the face.

There was a delay of the game while the arena crew cleaned Eriksson Ek’s blood off the ice in front of the Wild crease. No penalty was called on the play. He returned to the game with just under eight minutes to play in the opening period.

The game was not yet two minutes old when gloves hit the ice and Wild winger Marcus Foligno fought Philadelphia’s Nicolas Deslauriers in the neutral zone.

The scoreless first period ended with Minnesota killing the game’s first penalty. Through all the chaos, the Wild managed just three shots on goal in the opening period for the second game in a row.

Minnesota finally broke the deadlock early in the second via a pretty individual play by Tarasenko. First he knocked down a waist-high pass from Marcus Johansson at the blue line to keep play in the offensive zone. The puck went down low to Marco Rossi as Tarasenko drifted toward the net. Rossi’s centering pass landed perfectly on Tarasenko’s stick blade, and the veteran ripped a rising shot over the shoulder of Flyers goalie Dan Vladar.

Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet unsuccessfully challenged the play for offside, giving the Wild their first power play of the game. Minnesota controlled the play on that man advantage and on a second one a short time later, but failed to double the lead.

But where the power play has been quiet for the last few nights, the penalty killers have been spot-on. With Wild players going to the penalty box late in the first and second periods, Minnesota kept the Flyers off the board and kept the crowd out of the game by consistently icing the puck, and with Wallstedt smothering pucks in and around the crease.

It took a fortunate bounce for the Flyers to tie the game in the third period, when Owen Tippet swatted blindly at the puck from behind the Minnesota net, and it glanced off the back of Wallstedt’s leg, landing over the goal line.

Vladar finished with 15 saves for the Flyers, who are 2-2-1 in their first season with Tocchet at the helm.

The Flyers make their only regular season visit to Minnesota on March 12 for a game at Grand Casino Arena. After a day off on Sunday, the Wild’s five-game road trip continues with a Monday night visit to Madison Square Garden for a meeting with the New York Rangers.

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ST. PAUL — Thousands of homeowners in Minnesota are seeing delays in energy bill assistance due to the ongoing government shutdown.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, cannot provide benefits while the shutdown continues.

In 2024, Minnesota received $125 million in federal funds, helping 125,000 homes with their utility bills.

An official with the Minnesota Department of Commerce said she is hopeful the shutdown will end soon and encouraged residents to apply for assistance.

“We need folks to say, ‘Hey, I qualify, and this is who my utility provider or my heating provider is’ so that we are ready and have that set up in the system. We’re able to do that part, but we really can’t start issuing any payments until we have those federal dollars in,” said Lissa Pawlisch of the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

North Dakota Health and Human Services said it is also taking LIHEAP applications. When asked whether the shutdown would delay benefits, a representative said, “No directives have been received about LIHEAP at this time.”

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Earlier in the season, St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso praised the way Amari Powell handled losing the starting quarterback job to transfer Andy Peters.

Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium, that praise was extended to include Powell’s performance on the field in the Tommies’ 55-17 win over Valparaiso.

With Peters sidelined after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit during last week’s win at Davidson, Powell played the best game of his Tommies career. He completed 13 of 20 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 42 yards and a touchdown before being replaced by Ryan Jackson in the third quarter.

“He played magnificently,” Caruso said.

Powell, a senior from Valencia, Calif., has had trouble throwing the ball with accuracy in the part. But not on Saturday. He said it’s simply the result of continuing to try to get better.

“The motto is ‘Chop wood, carry water,’” Powell said. “So you continue to stacks days, you continue to put your head down and work. When my time was called I was ready to go.

“This was just pitch and catch, the way we’ve been playing throughout fall camp and practices,” Powell added. “Going out there and trusting the guy — trusting the guys in front of me — and just getting the ball into their hands.”

With the win, St. Thomas improved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Pioneer Football League. Valparaiso (1-6, 0-3) came into the game having allowed an average of 47.7 points per game in its previous four losses. The Tommies, coming off a 57-13 win over Davidson, topped that number midway through the third quarter.

The Beacons scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game, but the hosts responded with a touchdown of their own. They went on to dominate the rest of the first half, taking a 34-10 lead into the locker room at intermission.

Powell scored on a 20-yard run to give the St. Thomas a 24-7 lead midway through the second quarter. After a Valparaiso field goal, Powell connected on a 56-yard touchdown pass to JaShawn Todd.

Powell threw his third touchdown pass of the game early in the third quarter when he connected with Quentin Cobb-Butler in the end zone for a 41-10 St. Thomas lead.

It gave Cobb-Butler at least one touchdown catch in four consecutive games. He was impressed by Powell’s performance and happy to see him succeed.

“I was super proud of Amari,” Cobb-Butler said. “He’s a guy that shows up every day. Some guys, if they’re a (backup), they complain they’re not getting time. He just shows up every day and puts smiles on other guys’ faces, works his tail off.

“He is just quiet and just comes and plays like he just did, which was amazing.”

There’s a good chance that Peters will be ready to go next weekend when the Tommies travel to Stetson. Caruso said it was too soon to say whether Powell will get playing time should Peters start. But he expects Powell to contribute to the team regardless.

“The way he goes about his work is for everybody who’s attached to the program,” Caruso said. “It’s phenomenal to see a guy who can work that diligently and prepare himself event though he might not be in the roll that he dreamt about as a kid. But he is everything you could ever want. He’s a well-raised kid who understands his responsibility to others.”

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