Minnesota United defeated Real Salt Lake: “Let’s go all the way”

With another impressive shootout win over Real Salt Lake City, the Loons booked their spot in the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Minnesota opened up Tuesday’s game with Game 1 at RSL (0-0) before finishing the job in Game 2 Saturday night (1-1).

“I feel like we’ve developed the group to the point where we feel like we can compete with anyone,” head coach Eric Ramsay said afterward.

“Together, we’ve done a really good job of that in a short period of time to get our third iteration of this group together so quickly this year.”

Canadian international goalkeeper Dane St. Clair was the hero once again, using his skill to baffle the RSL PK players. He made two saves to give Sang Bin-jeong a 3–1 penalty shootout victory.

“I know this is my moment to shine,” St. Clair said. “There was a lot of pressure on me at that point, but especially with the crowd tonight, the noise they were making, I felt like something was going on.”

Ramsay was confident that St. Clair could lead the hosts to a second straight shootout victory. The penalties followed goals from Minnesota’s Joseph Rosales and RSL’s Emeka Eneli in regulation.

“I feel like the combination of the atmosphere and Dane worked well for us,” Ramsay said. “He’s a showman, he feeds off the energy that the crowd gives him… Here it was almost certain that he would save one.”

Led by the Allianz Field faithful, MNUFC made it past the first round for the first time since 2020.

“It’s an incredible atmosphere,” Ramsay said. “I’m very pleased and relieved that we were able to finish the season the way we have here, with three wins, because we have to take advantage of what I understand is one of the best football atmospheres in the whole country.”

Minnesota’s stout defense remains their calling card. They have conceded just twice in their last seven games, with their last defeat coming on September 18th.

“We were a really good version of ourselves,” Ramsay said. “It’s a difficult balance to be a team that is very difficult to play against but very fun to watch. It comes with two different mentalities, but I feel like we got it.”

Minnesota faces a tough task in the conference semifinals, with a star-studded Galaxy waiting after the November international break. Los Angeles just beat the Colorado Rapids 9-1 in their first round series.

Minnesota will be the underdog, but they are fully confident that their victory is not over yet.

“We know we can go to the Galaxy, go there, get a result and move on,” St. Clair said. “At that moment, it wasn’t just about this team making the playoffs or winning, getting out of the first round. If we’re going to do this, let’s go all the way.”

Ramsay added: “We are in shape now. This means that we are not afraid of anyone.”