ST. PAUL, Minn. — A momentary lapse in concentration, a touch taken long, and a second-yellow combined to produce another dissapointing result for Minneapolis City SC. In a repeat of the scoreline from the May 13 home leg, the Crows fell 2-1 to cross-metro foe St. Croix Legends for the second time this summer.
Kolton Prater opened scoring from a first-half free kick, former-Crow Luca Contestable notched the Legends’ second after the break, and Hakeem Morgan pulled the game back within one for City. But no additional goals were to be found after the 69th minute as an attempted comeback fizzled in frustrating fashion.
The Crows took the field absent captain Jonah Garcia for the first time this season. Also absent was centerback Curtis Wagner, serving a one-game suspension for receiving a red card against Rochester FC. Though Garcia, who tweaked a hamstring in training this week, was a gameday decision for head coach Carl Craig.
“He would have gone if I’d have told him to go,” said Craig of Garcia, “but at the same time, there’s too much football ahead.”
Deputized in place of Garcia, and wearing the arm band, veteran midfielder Aidan O’Driscoll started at centerback, partnering Andrew Soczynski. It was an adjustment, born of necessity, that nearly went off without a hitch.
“I think [Aidan]’s a tough guy; I don’t mean that negatively,” Craig said. “He willing to put himself about. So, for me, that was the natural choice.”
The upshot was that Legends’ leading goal-scorer Nathan Donovan — who’d tallied four goals in five games entering the evening — was held scoreless. Sacrificing his body, O’Driscoll broke up a particularly-dangerous sequence of play inside the Crows’ penalty area in the 54th minute, extending a leg to reach a loose ball a half-second before coming out the worse for the challenge.
The downside was a pair of yellow cards, both called on O’Driscoll, for fouls on Donovan in the 58th and 80th minutes. The second prompted speculation on the subjective nature of cautions from St. Croix’s broadcast team. And also, a question from the pair as to whether the referee had remembered O’Driscoll was already on a yellow, given the severity of the second foul in relation to the sending off’s impact on the contest. But such is always a risk for defenders carrying a card, especially against a large, athletic forward and an opponent that often looks to play long on the break.
“Let’s be honest, it’s not easy being a referee,” offered Craig. “And then you’ve got [expletive] coaches on both sides givin’ it to you in the ear, sharing their opinions, probably not in the most-appropriate manner.
Aidan [walks away], and the word on the street is, he doesn’t even know he’s been given a [second] yellow.”
Whether City would have salvaged a draw from the final 10-plus minutes was by no means a given, but reduced to 10 men, the odds were grown even longer, punctuating defeat in a game that had begun in promising fashion.
Craig’s aim was to start with a stout defense and then adventure forward in pursuit of a lead. And even with a new centerback pairing, the strategy looked promising. City held the run of play in at least the first half, if not more, and did quite well limiting the Legends’ chances.
In the 23rd minute, goalkeeper Kaelen Matascastillo lost his bearings and wandered a step outside the 18-yard box while handling the ball. Prater did not squander the gift, curling his free kick around the wall and inside the far post to give St. Croix the lead.
Minneapolis went about its business as before, controlling the ball and creating the balance of decent chances. And while he certainly had an off game, Matascastillo himself did well to turn Donovan and the Legends’ only threatening first-half shot from open play over the crossbar in the 42nd minute.
City would nearly level after halftime, when Morgan’s one-on-one effort was saved by Tucker Mann in the 61st minute. Fullback Carson Pina combined with Morgan to create another shot inside the 18-yard box just three minutes after, but Morgan was unable to fully wrap his foot around the ball.
Disaster struck just a moment later, when Matascastillo took too long of a touch, as City circulated the ball around its back line. Donovan was able to corral the loose ball before laying it off to Contestable, who lofted a well-weighted shot over several Crows, off the crossbar, and just over the line.
“Changes in the lineup; we can be conservative to start with and see how it goes. And then, we’ll look to build from there. So, you saw what you were supposed to see,” Craig said. “The lads did what we were supposed to do, apart from when we gifted them a couple of goals.
“We had a few decent chances — not great, but decent — where I thought we should have got a bit more from it. I was, frankly, a bit disappointed to go in one-nil down at the half. I thought we were the better team. Second-half talk was, ‘At some point we’re going to have to go get it, at least because its one-nil and we’re not going to win the game as it stands.’”
Pushing its front three higher up the field, and brining Dennis Mensah on as a second forward, the Crows rallied. In the 69th minute, Morgan chested down a long pass from Pina, inside St. Croix’s penalty area, with his back to goal. Turning and shooting in one motion, the forward skipped the ball through traffic and in between Mann and his far post, with the keeper likely not picking up the ball off Morgan’s foot.
Mensah, in joining Morgan, Eli Goldman and Shea Bechtel, matched the Legends’ back four, numerically. Chasing the game, City’s fullbacks — Pina and Wes Lorrens — were, as a result, finding ample room to attack up the wings with St. Croix’s fullbacks pinned upfield.
O’Driscoll’s second yellow changed this, and forced a shift to a back three. City continued keeping just two defenders deep, but having only the weak-side wide defender attack upfield relieved pressure on the St. Croix defense, which was able to see out the remainder of the game without too much concern.
The result brought Minneapolis’ record to 1-4-1 at the midway point in its League Two regular season, and an even-more challenging schedule awaits. The Crows will play five of their remaining six games against FC Manitoba, the Thunder Bay Chill and RKC Third Coast; the same three teams that occupy the top three spots in the Deep North Division standings.
In spite of the setbacks encountered and obstacles ahead, Craig drew inspiration from his players’ resilience.
“Hats off to the lads,” said the coach. “Whilst the results haven’t been great, the spirit in the dressing room felt really good. And all those who are there often, it really is a nice group of lads to begin with.”
In looking for positives, Craig highlighted a growing connection between midfielder Brayan Lopez and Bechtel. Much of the Crows’ attack in the first half was run up the right side of City’s formation as the two combined well. Additionally, back in the starting XI while Griffin Gyurci remains sidelined with a back injury, Jameson Charles turned in his best performance of the season. The dynamic midfielder provided his usual indefatigable work rate while effectively shielding Minneapolis’ back line, and added much improved passing, proving as tidy in attack as in defense on the evening.
