Sang Bin Jeong registered one of the fastest speeds in MLS this season, with the South Korean clocked at 22.6 mph. Only four others had a higher number going into Saturday’s match.

The Minnesota United attacker showed off that burst by running in behind the Colorado Rapids’ defense to score two goals and a 3-1 halftime lead, but the Loons lost the pace and settled for a 3-3 draw at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

MNUFC (7-3-3, 25 points) allowed three goals in a match for the first time this season. All three goals came after Loons lost aerial duels.

MNUFC’s 3-1 halftime lead was on the back of Jeong’s two goals and Tani Oluwaseyi’s one.

Robin Lod produced a picturesque turn and perfectly weighted through ball to set up Jeong’s finish in the eighth minute. After Kevin Cabral tied the game in the 18th minute, Oluwaseyi was credited with a rebound goal in the 24th minute. It needed a VAR check after Oluwaseyi was initially ruled offside.

Oluwaseyi then fed Jeong with another nice through ball behind the Rapids defense. He finished it in the 33rd minute.

The Loons rode their luck at times in the first half, but the worst moment was on a Dayne St. Clair goal kick. Colorado won the first header and the second to send a sprinting Cabral past Michael Boxall and he chipped the ball over St. Clair.

The way MNUFC gave up that goal was nearly a carbon copy of how they conceded in the 2-1 win over Atlanta on May 4.

United gave up its second goal off a corner kick in the 62nd minute. Kervin Arriaga didn’t contest Djordje Mihalovic for a flick-on header and Rafael Navarro tapped it in at the back post.

St. Clair saved a Navarro penalty kick in the 69th minute, but then St. Clair spilled a save on Cabral’s header for the equalizing goal in the 71st minute. Cabral was able to get higher to win the ball between Boxall and Arriaga.

Loons went with a 5-3-2 formation, with Carlos Harvey keeping his midfield spot in starting XI and played next to Lod and Wil Trapp. With center back Micky Tapias suspended for a red card, MNUFC kept a three-center back look with Devin Padelford, Boxall and Arriaga.

Briefly

Lod has 11 total assists this season, only four behind Darwin Quintero’s single-season club record of 15 set in 2018. Lod has roughly 60% of the season to top Quintero’s mark.  …Rapids coach Chris Armas and Loons coach Eric Ramsay overlapped on staff at Manchester United. “He was in the trenches with us,” Armas said of Ramsay this week. “We were all together in a really interesting time. … I’m really happy that I met a guy like him. He’s a tremendous human being. You meet some good ones along the way. He is really wired on a good way. He is a good coach. He’s got lots of ideas about the game.” The two coaches shared a big hug after the match. … Loons loaned Derek Dodson out to Birmingham Legion in the USL Championship with the right to recall at any time. Dodson, who played for Charleston Battery in USL Championship last season, has not played for MNUFC this year. His move frees up a supplemental roster spot. … Hassani Dotson returned after a four-game absence and replaced Harvey at halftime. … Joseph Rosales posted the sixth fastest speed this season at 22.5 mph.

Minnesota Aurora and River Light FC played to a 1-1 draw Saturday in Aurora, Ill., which kept Aurora’s regular-season unbeaten streak alive.

Aurora (1-1-0 in USL W League), didn’t lose a match in the 2022 and 2023 regular seasons. The draw was their first since May 26, 2022.

Aurora goalkeeper Taylor Kane made a fingertip redirect of a shot by Devin Lynch late in the first half to keep the match scoreless.

River Light took the lead in the 52nd minute when University of Minnesota commit Mya Nugent and Aurora defender Alicia Donley bumped ankles, causing Donley to fall and leaving Nugent open to score.

Minnesota Aurora leveled the score in the 54th minute. From a set piece, Addison Weichers served a looping ball into the 18-yard box and connected with the head of Sophie French.

The goal was French’s third of the season and ninth career goal.

“River Light brought a great game against us, and we’re excited to have an opponent like this in the division,” Aurora coach Colette Montgomery said in a news release. “Our players responded well to the game plan we put out there and the strategy we wanted to put in place today.”

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David Festa’s standout run continued Saturday as he pitched five scoreless innings for the St. Paul Saints in a 7-0 win in Buffalo against the Bisons.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Will Holland homered for the Saints, who have won three in a row.

The offense tallied 13 hits, but it was Festa and two relievers who dominated on Saturday.

Festa (1-1) struck out eight batters and gave up just one hit and one walk in his five innings. Jordan Balazovic allowed two hits and a walk in three scoreless innings and Ryan Jensen finished the game with a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Balazovic had two strikeouts as St. Paul combined for 12 strikeouts.

Festa, the Twins’ top pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has now allowed just two runs over his last three starts, covering 10 innings. He’s struck out 22 batters in that time and lowered his ERA to 2.77 this season.

Keirsey, who drove in four runs, had an RBI single in the first inning to score Royce Lewis, who is playing on a rehab assignment. Lewis was 1 for 4 as the designated hitter.

Keirsey later scored when Yunior Severino reached on a throwing error.

In the second, Keirsey hit a three-run homer, his seventh long ball of the season. Holland added his fourth homer, a two-run shot, in the eighth.