by Ian Katan
STILLWATER, Minn. — Crossmetro rivals Minneapolis City SC and St. Croix Legends squared off on a muggy Minnesotan evening, in a match filled with storylines. Most importantly, first-half goals from Henri Tophoven and Mizael Harris brought Minneapolis to 15 points, its most in a League Two season.
With postseason qualification out of sight for both sides, attention was focused more on team accomplishments. The Legends, with a 2-2 draw in Thunder Bay on June 16, secured their highest points total in League Two.
Looking to replicate that feat, City had equaled its own high-water mark with a recent 2-1 win over Thunder Bay. In 2022, two draws and a season-finale win collected 5 points. In 2023, three wins and three draws earned 12 points. Sitting on 12 points after four wins in 2024, any result against the Legends would mean City set a new USL season-best.
“I’m super, super happy with the 10 games that I got with them,” head coach Justin Oliver reflected on his first year in charge of the Crows. “[In League Two] 15 points is our best total, five wins is our best total, so we have a bunch of stuff that we’ve built off. I’m super proud of the guys because, again, they bought in right away, they were committed, everybody showing up doing the right thing, so massive kudos to them.”
In addition to aiming for club-high finishes, there were plenty of other factors at play. The Crows beat the Legends just once in six previous attempts — a 1-0 home win on July 15, 2022 — and were eager to get one back against their Twin Cities rivals. And beyond signaling the end of the league campaign, the match served as a preview of the upcoming Minnesota Super Cup final, also against St. Croix Legends.
“Tonight […] they got to see some stuff that we would probably do against them. We got to see stuff that they would do to us,” Oliver said, looking ahead to the championship. But before the Crows and Legends face off for a chance at silverware on July 25, Sunday evening’s match needed to play out.
In Stillwater, an in-form Henri Tophoven broke the cagey opening 16 minutes with his third goal in four games. Jameson Charles intercepted a long clearance and noticed Tophoven dropping into space between the lines. Finding himself under an unexpected lack of pressure, the German striker shifted the ball out of his feet and tried his luck from 28 yards.
Legends goalkeeper Nolan Meyer sighted the attempt well, but Tophoven’s shot was dipping. Just in front of Meyer, the ball swerved down and caught enough turf to bounce over the diving gloves.
Ten minutes later, City’s night improved further. Boston University wingback Andrew Soczynski made a long run forward, and snapped a cross towards Eli Goldman. In similar fashion to City’s recent opener against Thunder Bay, Goldman opted not to take the chance himself, but teed it up unselfishly for strike-partner Mizael Harris. From eight yards, Harris powered a shot under Meyer for his second goal in as many matches.
“I feel like it kind of just shows the perseverance of the whole team, you know, going through a coaching change midway through the season,” Soczynski said. “As you can see in our last couple of games, we kind of brought it together as a group, we stuck together and rolled through the season. […] And we were able to get some wins here at the end of the season, which is huge for our players, huge for the team.”
Down two, St. Croix nearly pulled one back moments later. Shea Bechtel, a face familiar to many City fans after his 2023 campaign in white and black, rattled the crossbar from close-range. Then on an attack just before the break, squeezed between a retreating defender and a well-positioned goalkeeper, Bechtel was forced to try for the far post, only missing narrowly. St. Croix’s best chances going untaken meant the Crows’ two-goal lead lasted to halftime.
As the stadium’s bleachers — which featured a respectable number of Citizens making the trek to the eastern suburbs— cast more and more valuable shade across the turf in the second period, St. Croix kept up their attack. Nathan Donovan ripped multiple shots at City’s net in the minutes after play restarted. The striker would have converted, if not for another standout night from Evan Siefken in net.
“Evan Siefken made some really big saves for us, again. There’s a reason he was the Golden Crow this year, just being so big time, so consistent, so steady,” Oliver said.
“Evan Siefken played outrageous today,” defender Max Kent put it, more succinctly.
A 56th-minute red card for former Crow Luca Contestabile gave Minneapolis a man-advantage in addition to their two goals, though it didn’t mean smooth sailing was in the forecast.
“Honestly, when we went up a man, I think we actually started to play worse. We were worse on the ball, we didn’t compete as hard,” Oliver said. “We just didn’t really punish them when we went up a man. I think that was just due to a mentality switch. Part of that is on me for not being more clear with instructions of ‘Do we want to play more now that we’re up a man, or do we still want to continue to attack?’”
In City’s home opener earlier this summer, St. Croix beat Minneapolis by three unanswered goals. Though the Crows may not have put out their most comprehensive performance on Sunday, the fact that it was City with the advantage was a clear indication of progress made since that defeat.
“Big thing for us is, I think, that it gave us some momentum and belief that, you know, losing to them 3-0 at our place last time, and coming back here and winning 2-0,” Oliver said, looking back on the previous meeting. “It just, again, goes hand in hand where we’ve now played everybody tight in the league, and can go toe-to-toe with anybody.”
“We also had a system that we’ve played for now, what, eight or nine games?” Kent said. “So we’ve had time under this coaching staff, we’ve really all agreed upon what our roles are and it’s, I think, a whole different team than that first time around.”
Though unable to find a game-sealing third goal, City battled through the 90-degree weather to earn their fourth clean-sheet of the year, and secured the points that carried them to their best-ever League Two finish.
“I feel like the heat was obviously a factor. We felt it in the warmups right away. But I feel like we were able to stick with it, continue to work hard,” said Soczynski. “We were just on tonight. We found that early goal. We were able to keep believing, were able to keep fighting. We fought for each other.”
“It’s gonna look like an interesting team that we play in the Cup final, given the number of guys who are either going back to school or have conflicts,” said Kent, looking ahead to when the two sides will meet again, eleven days later. “But, look, the fact of the matter is we have a really good system here. Justin, Tudor [Flintham], have got a really good, solid idea of how to put this team together. They know the opponent, so we know we can beat them. We have the tools to beat them.”
“I think a lot of what we need to do goes into what we did today. It goes into our preparation, how we prepare for matches, how we train our mentality leading into these games,” Soczynski said.
While the Super Cup final lingers on the horizon, the group shared a moment to admire and appreciate the progress made by their team.
“The club is just awesome. It’s special. I love being in charge and doing it with Tudor, and I’m super proud of the guys, and I’m super proud of the USL2 season,” said Oliver, assessing the importance of setting a new club-best. “I think it’s just getting City back to the level that it belongs, and deserves to be at. It’s one of the best-ran clubs, regardless of level. There’s so much passion and energy and belief from the people who run the club, the fans, the players, all of it.”
“I completely agree with Justin. I was glad to get the 15 points in the season. It shows massive growth in the team, especially given, you know, the start we had,” Kent said. “Of course, we always look for more. This club isn’t bound for 15 point seasons. That’s not our standard.”
“But really glad with the development of players, and the team, and you know, we’re now playing soccer we can be proud of. I’m happy that we got the results, happy that we finished higher than last season. But of course, hopefully, it can get people excited for what’s to come in the future.”
Making Kent’s reflections on the season and hope for the future more impactful was the fact that the shutout and victory were the last acts of his accomplished career.
“It was obviously sad to think that tonight’s the last night,” said Kent, reflecting on a list of accolades that includes All-MIAC awards at Macalester College, being named a team captain at Syracuse University, and spending six years with the Crows. “Soccer is a gift. I said this at the end of the game, but it was actually something that I heard when I first got to City. It was something that guys ahead of me always would say or, you know, people in the front office would always say.”
“It was Max’s last game of the season. We knew that. We had to leave it all out there today. And that’s what we did,” Soczynski said, of playing for his fellow defensemen.
“I just kind of came here tonight with the attitude of just being super grateful,” Kent said. “Obviously it’s been a long, nice career and I feel happy that I had the pleasure of playing here one more season. But you know, I’m excited for what’s to come with all these guys.”
“At the end of the day, City finds a way to win, and that’s the standard,” he finished. “So I’m just happy that I finished my career playing the way that City plays, and that is winning at all costs.”