ST. PAUL, Minn. — The opening 70-plus minutes against first-place Rochester FC had seen visiting Minneapolis City SC the stronger side. The Crows had held more of the ball, and had created the better of the scoring chances.
In the 55th minute, karma bowed to the run-of-play when Morgan Olson’s cross was headed on by Andrew Heckenlaible before being slotted into goal from point-blank range by Shea Bechtel.
Bechtel has regularly played on the wing for the Crows. However, the former Division III national champion and two-time MIAC Offensive Player of the Year was used primarily as a striker for St. Olaf. And Bechtel drew upon that experience to open scoring on the day.
“[Olson] put a good ball across to the back post,” said Bechtel. “Me, being near the front post, kind of expecting a ball back across — so just kind of pounce on it. Preston [Kipnusu] wasn’t able to get there, and I was able to put it home. So, kind of just anticipating the ball to the back post, and knowing that it might end up back on my side, to be in the right spot.”
The one-goal lead was holding up, when, in the 74th minute, Minneapolis head coach Justin Oliver made his second set of substitutions and a tactical change.
“I made a decision as a coach to put us into a 5-4-1 zonal, and just, you know, absorb and just trust that we could defend with numbers behind the ball,” said Oliver. “And then, unfortunately, they find their [expletive] best player on the field, who takes a shot from the top of the box. And he strikes it well — and Nolan [Meyer]’s blinded so he can’t really see it — and equalize through that. So that’s a bummer.
“But also, again we’ve gotten to see, we’ve also failed to see-off leads in a few of our games, now in the 80th plus. So, we tried to just go to a little bit more of a defensive footing, and we conceded still. So, it’s kind of like a you’re-damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t type situation.”
That aforementioned best player for Rochester (per Oliver) was one Alex Matthews, a third-team Division I All-American hailing from Derbyshire, England. And, the Missouri State midfielder, receiving a pull-back from Jovann Ramos, uncorked a 25-yard strike with curl to level the contest in the 88th minute.
“It’s always hard, when you have a one goal lead, to try and protect it without giving the other team too much,” said Bechtel. “And then, obviously, if you’re if you’re up one, getting the second one’s probably the most ideal thing. But it’s difficult when Rochester is a class team, so they’re putting pressure on us. We’re trying not to concede. So, you kind of end up giving them a little bit more than you give them the rest of the game.”
Such a late concession often has a deflating effect on teams. Fortunately, on Sunday, City was not one of those sides.
“We all knew what had to be done,” said centerback Jared Hecht. “We felt like we had dominated the game, and we felt like we deserved it. Some guys really put in good effort at the end, and really put their bodies on the line. Menna — shout out, Tomas Menna — drew three good fouls for us. Drew the penalty right at the end. And it was a good reaction from the boys.
“I don’t think we really doubted it. I never doubted it, the whole time. So, I think we all were very confident that we could pull it off.”
The last-ditch rally played out as follows… Second-half substitute Bernard Assibey-Rhule won a free kick after being taken down with room to run along the touchline. Bo Drath went into the book for the tactical foul. Jackson Kirsch sent the resulting free kick into the Rochester penalty area, with City’s centerbacks and forwards up to contest for a header. Kipnusu’s glancing header was deflected away from goal, and Menna and Loons defender Mikiya Fukata both went for the loose ball.
Some — namely Rochester FC co-owner and president Midhat Mujic, via his personal Twitter account — have insisted Fukata struck ball with a late tackle prior to Menna’s legs. The referee saw things differently, and awarded Minneapolis a free kick, just prior to issuing yellow cards to Ramos and keeper Tomas Butkovic for dissent.
Kirsch then stepped up to the spot, facing a familiar face in Butkovic.
“Ton of confidence [in Kirsch],” said Oliver, on his feelings in that moment. “But also nervous, because that was his college goalkeeper against him. So, sometimes that can be, ‘Oh, man. Does he know his preferred spot?’ It was always going to be [Kirsch]’s ball. And, you know, he slots it in comfortably. So that was very big from Jackson.”
With Kirsch’s cool, calm and collected finish, Minneapolis extended its winning streak in the all-time series with Rochester to four games, having defeated the Loons once in cup and twice in league play last year. The Crows also notched a vital 2-1 victory to keep pace in the Heartland Division.
“Great to get 3 points, great to get back in the win column, and overall, great effort from the team all around,” said Bechtel. “To take the lead, concede late, and then battle back to get the stoppage time winner, it was an excellent game for us.”
Hecht Island
Being tasked with marking 6-foot-4, All-Summit League Second Team forward Faris Colic isn’t an easy ask for many League Two centerbacks. It’s also precisely what Jared Hect was tasked with against Rochester by Oliver.
“There’s a reason Jared Hecht is an All-American defender, and he allows us to live one-v-one,” said Oliver. “He did a phenomenal job defending Faris Colic. Just genuinely class. Sensational. Some big-time tackles. Some big-time blocks. Then the times where he just shepherded the ball out of bounds. Winning firsts. Jared was massive for us today.”
Not exactly slight-of-frame himself, at 6-foot-5 and well north of 200 pounds, the matchup was of a comfortable kind for the Gustavus graduate.
“We’ve been working on our pressing shape, and, you know, we didn’t really give them good looks on the ball. So, they just had to deliver hopeful things into matchups we liked,” Hecht said. “[Colic], he’s a downhill guy, and it’s one of my strengths. You know, I’m big and fast. I back myself in those situations.”
Adding to the difficulty, the defender was on a yellow from the 39th minute, onward. The key, per Hecht, to defending on a caution, is not paying it any mind.
“I like to try to get myself in the right positions, early, when there’s space, before it gets to that point,” Hecht said. “So, try not to think about it. Sometimes, just get a yellow, refs see something one way, and that’s the game we all play.”
A performance — one that saw Hecht defend on an island at several points in the game — went off without the defender putting in a wrong foot for 90-plus minutes, en route to well-deserved Man of the Match honors. And notably, with a pair of big solo tackles inside the Crows’ penalty area in the 71st minute of a one-score game.
The Closer
Tomas Menna spent multiple past-summers with the Futures. Following a breakout season his senior year at Augsburg that saw the Coon Rapids, Minn. native tally nine goals and five assists while starting 16 of 21 games, Menna earned a roster spot on the Crows’ senior team.
He has yet to start a league game. Yet, City might be much, much lower in the division standings without him.
On June 11, after entering the game in the 66th minute, the forward concluded his half-hour shift by sprinting the entire length of the field to win a huge tackle in City’s own penalty area. Coming in added time and in preservation of a narrow 2-1 victory against last-place Chicago City Dutch Lions, the Crows couldn’t have afforded to drop any points.
On Sunday, reporting for duty in the 74th minute, Menna would draw a yellow card in the 84th ahead of earning the game-winning penalty in the 92nd minute.
Oliver, like Hecht, singled out Menna in his postgame for praise.
“I told Tomas Menna, the biggest compliment that I can give him is that I trust him to go on onto the field for the last 25-30 minutes of every-single game, because he competes his butt off,” said Oliver. “He wins tackles. He wins firsts. He wins seconds. He has goals in his game because of his hard running in the box. And he just, he wants it so bad. And he’s a winner.
“And that’s, again, that’s why he’s on the field to end almost every single one of our games.”
Race for the Heartland
The Crows are now second in their division based on points-earned, having reached the halfway mark of their regular season. At time of publication, Sueno FC is the only Heartland team yet to play its sixth game, and has the highest-remaining possible points total (see below). The battle for the top-two spots and corresponding playoff berths remains notably tight. Minneapolis’ win over Rochester has kept it 3 points clear of River Light FC, and level with RKC Third Coast but with a game in hand over the Seagulls.
On the subject of the Seagulls, RKC had its June 8, 4-1 victory over last-place Chicago City Dutch Lions flipped to a 3-0 loss via forfeit, when, as the home team, it failed to provide an athletic trainer for the game.
Up ahead for Minneapolis is its longest homestand of the season, with St. Croix Legends, River Light FC and Rochester each due to visit Edor Nelson Field. Additionally, following that trio of games is the away fixture with the Legends, so the Crows will not have to leave the Twin Cities metro until their July 9 match away to RKC.
With two formidable road games to conclude division play, the Crows are entering an opportune time to pick up more points.
