It’s fitting the lockers of Kervin Arriaga and Joseph Rosales are next to each other inside the Minnesota United dressing room at Allianz Field.

The Hondurans have essentially been joined at the hip since Arriaga joined Rosales in Minnesota in 2022. On the field in the last two games, their partnership has produced two goals off corner kicks; Rosales’ service from the flag twice finding the head of a leaping Arriaga.

After their latest connection in the 2-2 draw with Los Angeles Galaxy on Wedneday, Arriaga was a center of attention during a post-match interview, while an obscured Rosales lounged in the seat next to him, scrolling his phone.

But the dynamic duo needed to be rejoined yet again. Arriaga was asked about the quality of those passes, and Rosales’ head cranked to his right to hear his fellow countryman’s answer.

“Good. The truth is that during the course of the week we have spoken on where to shoot, and according to him, I owe him $100, since it’s $50 for every goal,” Arriaga said. Rosales just smiled.

If that’s not a joke, then Michael Boxall owes Rosales $50 after the set up on his corner-kick goal in a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on April 27. In that three-game span, Rosales has amassed three assists, all on corners.

The Loons have produced five goals from corner kicks across the last four games, including a recycled corner turning into Bongi Hlongwane’s long-range strike against L.A. on Wednesday and Robin Lod’s service headed in by Hassani Dotson in the 3-0 win Charlotte FC on April 21.

MNUFC has scored 19 total goals in 11 matches this season, including six on set pieces. Lod scored on a Sang Bin Jeong free kick in the 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC on March 16.

Before head coach Eric Ramsay joined MNUFC, he was hired by Manchester United in 2021 and was in charge of set plays for the famous Premier League side. It’s a focus of his now with the Loons.

Ramsay has talked about three key ingredients to set pieces: a quality ball entering the box, a “real desperation” for players to get on the end of it, and once the ball is booted, the location of players and their ensuing movements to get free from defenders.

That’s where Ramsay’s often-expansive answers to questions can dry up. He isn’t about to share the secret sauce.

“There’s a lot of detail to it that I won’t give away here,” he said in his news conference Wednesday.

Set pieces also are a big focus of new Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad. The amount of corner kicks compared to the opposition is one of the key stats he looks at in the post-match stats. He also prefers in-swingers and going into Wednesday, 75 percent of the Loons attempts were bending toward goal.

In seasons past, the Loons have relied on Emanuel Reynoso to take the bulk of corners, but with Reynoso missing out on most of the season, it’s been a by-committee approach so far in 2024. Rosales currently leads the team with 24 corners. Lod has 23 and Jeong 19.

MNUFC has totaled more corner kicks than its opponent in only six of the 11 matches so far this season and have averaged 6.3 corners per game. There hasn’t been an uptick in those numbers to coincide with increased scoring on corners in the last four games; they are just making the most of their chances.

But work on Ramsay’s set pieces is a staple in Loons training sessions in Blaine, especially leading up to the Galaxy match, given how they have been prone to allowing goals on set plays this season.

“We … approach these things in a very purposeful way, but there is momentum in that sense,” Ramsay said. “We’ll be a team that’s a real threat across not just corners but on throw-ins and wide free kicks, too. It’s a really good trait to have as a team.”

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Thursday formally moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in a historic shift in generations of U.S. drug policy.

A proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. The plan approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland does not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.

The Drug Enforcement Administration will take public comment on the proposal to move marijuana away from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. It moves pot to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids.

The move comes after a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department, which launched a review of the drug’s status at the urging of President Joe Biden in 2022.

Biden also has moved to pardon thousands of people convicted federally of simple possession of marijuana and has called on governors and local leaders to take similar steps to erase convictions.

“This is monumental,” Biden said in a video statement, calling it an important move toward reversing longstanding inequities. “Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana, and I’m committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it.”

The election year announcement could help Biden, a Democrat, boost flagging support, particularly among younger voters.

The notice of proposed rulemaking submitted to the federal register kicks off a 60-day comment period followed by a possible review from an administrative judge, a potentially lengthy process.

Biden and a growing number of lawmakers from both major political parties have been pushing for the DEA decision as marijuana has become increasingly decriminalized and accepted, particularly by younger people.

The U.S. Cannabis Council, a trade group, applauded the proposed change, saying it would “signal a tectonic shift away from the failed policies of the last 50 years.”

The available data reviewed by HHS shows that while marijuana “is associated with a high prevalence of abuse,” that potential is more in line with other schedule III substances, according to the proposed rule.

The HHS recommendations are binding until the draft rule is submitted, and Garland agreed with it for the purposes of starting the process.

Still, the DEA has not yet formed its own determination as to where marijuana should be scheduled, and it expects to learn more during the rulemaking process, the document states.

Schedule III drugs are still controlled substances and subject to rules and regulations, and people who traffic in them without permission could still face federal criminal prosecution.

Some critics argue the DEA shouldn’t change course on marijuana, saying rescheduling isn’t necessary and could lead to harmful side effects. Others argue marijuana should be treated the way alcohol is.

Federal drug policy has lagged behind many states in recent years, with 38 states having already legalized medical marijuana and 24 legalizing its recreational use. That’s helped fuel fast growth in the marijuana industry, with an estimated worth of nearly $30 billion.

Easing federal regulations could reduce the tax burden that can be 70% or more for marijuana businesses, according to industry groups. It also could make it easier to research marijuana, since it’s very difficult to conduct authorized clinical studies on Schedule I substances.

___

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington and Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.

___

A Minnesota state trooper who’s charged with murder for fatally shooting a motorist as he tried to pull away from a traffic stop is set to go on trial in September.

Trooper Ryan Londregan, 27, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the death of Ricky Cobb II. It was the first hearing in the case for a new prosecution team from a Washington, D.C., law firm that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty hired to take over after the original leader from her office stepped away from the politically charged case.

“I plead innocent your honor,” Londregan told Judge Tamara Garcia.

Garcia scheduled the trial to start Sept. 9, with one week blocked out for jury selection and two weeks for testimony. The next hearing is set for Aug. 12 to iron out rules for the trial. The charges include second-degree murder, manslaughter and assault.

Defense attorney Chris Madel moved to disqualify the special prosecutors from Steptoe LLC, arguing that firm’s $850 per-hour, per-attorney fee, and $250 an hour for paralegals, would factor into prosecutorial decisions. But he then dropped that motion and demanded a speedy trial.

The outside lawyers include four former federal prosecutors and one former Manhattan assistant district attorney. Moriarty has said she hired them because her office lacks enough experienced attorneys, given its current caseload, to handle the high-profile and complicated case. The contract includes an initial $1 million billing cap for their services.

Troopers pulled the 33-year-old Cobb over on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis last July 31 because the lights were out on his car. They then found that the Spring Lake Park man was wanted for violating a protection order in neighboring Ramsey County. Londregan, who is white, shot Cobb twice as the Black man tried to drive away after troopers ordered him to get out of his car.

Madel maintains that Londregan’s use of force was justified to protect himself and another trooper who was partially inside the car.

Law enforcement and Republican leaders have been calling on Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to take the case away from Moriarty, a former public defender who was elected on a platform of police accountability following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer in 2020, and turn it over to Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison. Walz has expressed concern about the direction of the case but has not acted.

Cobb’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit last month, alleging that the stop and the shooting were unjustified.