ST. PAUL, Minn. — It had been four years since Minneapolis City SC had played postseason soccer. Not coincidentally, that period of time precisely overlaps with the Crows’ entrance into USL League Two. And after a trio of losing seasons, Minneapolis broke out in 2025, winning the Heartland Division and punching its ticket to the playoffs.
The Crows’ opponent on Friday evening in Des Moines, Iowa was Peoria City; last year’s League Two national runner-up. The draw presented Minneapolis with a formidable opening match, and the author with the minor annoyance of not being able to refer to either side simply as City in this recap.
The game got off to a flying start. In just the second minute, Minneapolis’ Jackson Kirsch placed his free kick on Preston Kipnusu’s head. Peoria’s keeper, Lucas Fontana, did well to parry the shot, but forward Joe Highfield pounced upon the rebound to put the Crows up, early.
Luke Persenico — the 2024 Heartland Division Player of the Year — equalized in the 13th minute. Possessing a dangerous left foot, the recent graduate of Clarke University found space cutting in, and 22 yards from goal, powered a shot inside the near post.
The scoreline held through halftime, but it looked as if City would take the game’s second lead when Fontana made contact with Kipnusu and got none of the ball, after the forward had been played in behind the Carp back line. However, Fontana dove low toward the same corner to which Highfield sent his penalty kick, and kept the game knotted at 1-1.
In the 60th minute, Crows head coach Justin Oliver would swap out two of his centerbacks, bringing Carson Kowalski and Otis Anderson in for Jared Hecht and Nick Kent. The latter was on a yellow, and both starters had been involved in an intense hour of play that saw Minneapolis press high afield.
Shortly after the pair’s introduction, Anderson was whistled for a shoulder challenge against Kenshin Yasujima inside the Crows’ 18-yard-box.
“To be fair, the guy on Peoria City, he did a good job,” Kowalski said. “He kind of had a step on Otis… and then took a step in front of Otis, and then slowed down. So, Otis had no… he had no chance, really, to stop. And then the guy ended up just falling over. And, yeah, I don’t know…”
Persenico would convert to put himself on a brace, and the Carp ahead with under a half hour remaining in regulation. Having a penalty saved, then being whistled for one, had been a huge swing of momentum away from Minneapolis.
Then, Kipnusu.
Again, from a free kick, Kirsch sought out his collegiate teammate. This time, though, Fontana would not intervene.
Chest-trapping Kirsch’s pass off the half-volley, Kipnusu left his feet while rolling his 6-foot-4 frame underneath the ball in process of hammering a bicycle kick just under the cross bar. The goal would earn second-place honors in Saturday morning’s ESPN SportsCenter Top 10, just losing out to a 300-foot outfield assist by the Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna, Jr.
“I scored a bike before, but it wasn’t on par with that one. That’s probably my best goal, yeah,” said Kipnusu. “And I’m happy to get it in Valley Stadium, where I grew up playing. So, it was a nice one, and it was good to equalize, too.”
Though no one yet knew it, Kipnusu’s wundertor would be the game’s last from standard play.
“That’s where it’s just such a loaded question, because, I felt like our performance was so good, again, today,” Oliver said. “I feel like we could have scored six or seven goals. And then, on the flip side, the only two goals we score on the day are from a free kick in the second minute, and then from a free kick in the 70th minute via bicycle.
“So, it was just a very bizarre game, where I feel like we were so dangerous and created so many high-quality chances, and then the only two goals we scored today were off set pieces.”
Unloading the Bench
One of the first-two substitutes to enter the game for Minneapolis, Kowalski said Oliver’s instructions were to keep the energy high.
For Oliver, a roster comprised predominantly of collegiate players meant most were unused to playing 90 minutes, let alone 120. And as full time progressed into added time, Minneapolis would use all seven of its allowed substitutes.
“Just me and a bunch of the guys, and sitting on the bench in the first half and just talking with them, I’m like, ‘I really hope everyone gets the opportunity to play today, because I know what everyone’s capable of,'” said Kowalski. “And it ended up working out that way. And everyone who came on did, I thought, a great job. I mean, whether it was came-on-in-the-second-half, or came-on-in-the-overtime, I thought everyone off the bench did great.”
The cast included veterans Anderson, Tomas Menna and Bernard Assibey-Rhule, as well as teenagers Ronan Selbo, Sully Twill and Elijah Fearing.
“It was such a good performance from so many people, and everybody stepped up when their name was called upon.” said Oliver. “It was pretty much just thinking, ‘What subs can we make that will help us the most, right now?’ Like, how can we raise the level, and when do we need to make that summit?”
And where the game’s first hour-and-a-half had seen the two teams trade the initiative, the Crows’ depth asserted itself in extra time. But still, no additional goals were to be found.
“I think at the end of regulation, it’s anyone’s game, right? It’s kind-of just who wants to go out and get it,” said Crows goalkeeper Daniel Sessler. “And I thought we had the front-foot most of extra time. And, I would say that we were a little unlucky going to PKs.”
Sessler to the Rescue
The last time Minneapolis City’s senior team had played an extra-time game was a U.S. Open Cup qualifier in 2017. And, the senior Crows had never settled a match from the spot.
Tasked with shooting first, the Crows sent up Jake Swallen, who scored.
Against Grant Paskus, Sessler would produce his first save of the shootout.
Morgan Olson then doubled Minneapolis’ lead.
Peoria’s Alejandro Valverde, tasked with keeping the Carp’s odds manageable, would meet the same fate as Paskus — namely, Daniel Sessler.
“We talked about it before the penalty shootout. We just said, ‘Boys, we know Sessler’s got two saves in him,’ and that’s exactly what he did,” Kipnusu said. “He came in really, really clutch at the end. We can’t win that shootout without a good keeper. So, credit to him. And credit to all the players who took the penalties. Because, calmness-personified, they put into the corner and slotted it away.”
Sessler was asked, postgame, if either Paskus or Valverde had offered any tells to him.
“What I do is I look at the opposition’s posture, right?” Sessler explained. “If they’re if they’re a little sluggish, or don’t seem as confident, that it’s more of like an instinct. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s just their body shape, and the way that they walk up, if they’re confident or not. I just have a bunch of underlying things that I don’t think are too obvious, but sometimes I can identify them and read them early.
“And fortunate enough, I could get the first one. And then the second one came up and went the right way, again.”
Anderson for the Crows and Jamaine Mejias for the Carp would each convert their kicks, putting the tally at 3-1 in favor of Minneapolis.
“After Daniel had saved the first two pens, I was like, ‘Wow. I don’t even know if it’s going to get to me,'” Kowalski said. “Because if he saved that third one, then we would have won already. I was like, not hoping for it, but I was getting, honestly, maybe super-nervous. But I’m glad it ended up getting to me.”
Kowalski, the substitute centerback, then approached the spot with a chance to send Minneapolis into the Round of 16.
Oliver noted that the first-four penalty takers for the Crows had been selected with the coaching staff’s guidance. Following, volunteers were solicited.
“After those four, I was like, I just need somebody who’s gonna step up and want to take one. And then Ronan and Elijah, with their blissful youth, we’re like, ‘Yeah, we’ll take them.’ And Ronan was gonna go fifth, and Elijah was sixth. But it didn’t have to get that far, because Sessler is a dog.”
As to the penalty bona fides of Kowalski, the defender has collegiate experience. As to that collegiate experience, it includes a miss when his UW-Eau Claire team hosted UW-Platteville in the Division III national tournament.
“So, that was kind of in the back of my head, which was actually not something great to think about,” said Kowalski. “But then, once I got up there and I took a deep breath, kind of settled myself down, forgot about it, and then buried the pen.”
As Kowalski’s driven shot billowed the inside netting of the goal, his teammates launched, in unison, in a sprint toward Sessler. The keeper had set his own trajectory, though. Pointing and windmilling his teammates in the direction of the Crows’ supporters at the far end of the main stand, Sessler dashed the length of the field with the rest of the team on his heels, before joining Minneapolis’ players and fans in celebration.
“I think it’s just everyone making the trip down,” said the keeper of his biggest run of the evening. “Whether it’s Shae [Bechtel]’s parents from Illinois, the Citizens from the Minneapolis area, the Iowa fans for the Drake boys and Andrew — I think it’s just everyone that’s supporting us in our journey this year. They deserve a lot of the reciprocal-energy back, because they exhaust a lot of effort, and energy, and money, and time into supporting us. And I think it’s giving back to them, and giving them a moment with them.”
Reunions
Valley Stadium isn’t just host to its own League Two club and the Des Moines pod for the opening two rounds of the league’s playoffs. For most of the year, it’s the home ground of Valley High School, of which Kipnusu is an alumni, having graduated in 2024.
“I talked to my dad beforehand. He told me, ‘Just gotta go out there and have fun.’ All my friends were telling me, ‘Just gotta go out there and have fun.’ I thought it’d be cool, too,” Kipnusu said of his return. “And, yeah, that’s what I did. I just went out there, and I just embraced it, and had fun.”
Alongside Kipnusu this weekend are three other products of VSA Rush, where he, Kirsch, Cole Schrage and Andrew Heckenlaible played their youth soccer. All four started for Minneapolis on the evening. And, with the exception of Heckenlaible who attends St. Louis University, the other three are all teammates at Drake University.
Perennial League Two powerhouse, the Des Moines Menance, also call Valley Stadium home. And where the Menace boast a staggering 250-plus former players having gone on to play professionally, an otherwise-impressive recruiting policy has left some in their home-state of Iowa to feel the two-time league champions’ gaze is a far-sighted one.
Count among them Minneapolis’ VSA Rush quintet that has been integral to one of the best seasons in the Crows’ nine-year history. Which is why the Menace’s 4-2 loss to Sueno FC on Friday night may have come as a disappointment to more than just the Menace’s players and supporters.
That result had not yet occurred when postgame interviews were conducted, and Kipnusu was asked if he had a preference on which team Minneapolis would face on Sunday.
“Bring on the Menace, man. I want to play the Menace,” Kipnusu said. “I wanted to… Ever since day one, I wanted to play the Menace. I just want to see what we can do against them, because we’re more than capable of beating them. Obviously, we’ve played Sueno.
“So yeah, if we can go against the Menace, all the Iowa boys would love that. We would turn up for that game. We would love it.”
Instead, Sunday evening will bring a rematch of the regular-season finale for both the Crows and Dreamers. Having lost 3-2 away to Sueno earlier in the season, and trailing in goal differential going into its final home game, Minneapolis needed to win by at least two goals against Sueno, or cede the Heartland crown to the visitors.
After conceding in just the 11th minute, the Crows rallied to score four-straight before the break, and ultimately secured their first League Two division title by a 4-2 scoreline.
Revenge will certainly be on the Dreamers’ minds. But for Kipnusu, it’s a mix of the present and future.
“I’m ecstatic for it,” Kipnusu answered, when asked what another 48 hours with his Crows teammates this summer meant. “It’s what we play for, although my legs are just a bit tired. But we got one more game in us. And then after that, we’ll get another one. And then after that, we just keep going, just one game at a time.
“But yeah, obviously the boys are happy to be able to stay here for another two days.”
