MINNEAPOLIS — It had been three years since Minneapolis City SC secured 3 points in its season opener. On May 8, 2021, the Crows bested host Sioux Falls Thunder FC three-goals-to-nil at Yankton Trail Park, kicking off a 10-game winning streak that carried the club to its third-straight conference title. A move to join League Two the following year brought with it a new learning curve, and one with a steep grade.
Speaking at a preseason event to Crows fans on April 18 at the Corner Bar in Minneapolis, and reflecting on the recent past, head coach Carl Craig acknowledged the need for improvement.
“I want to produce a product that you guys are proud to watch, and get behind it,” Craig said. “Because, in addition to having a great time — I’m very much beer-90 [minutes]-beer, I love that, I absolutely love that — but I want the 90 to be as special as the beer, as well. And I’ll put me hands up, the 90 wasn’t nearly good enough in my eyes, as it needs to be.”
City required the final game of its 2022 League Two season to earn its first victory in the competition, en route to a total of 5 points in its inaugural USL campaign. And last season — Craig’s first at the helm — the Crows took just 4 points from their first seven League Two games. However, Minneapolis fought to a strong finish, grabbing 8 points over its final five USL contests, and beating longtime-rival Duluth FC 3-1 at home in the Minnesota Super Cup.
On Saturday night, within the friendly confines of Edor Nelson Field, City battled and scraped to begin the new summer with a positive result. Goals from creative midfielder Juan Moreno (3’) and forward Sidike Jabateh (73’) — each making his MCSC debut — bracketed a first-half concession to Rochester FC’s Carlos Navarro (21’). That 2-1 score line was enough to carry the evening, and put City atop its 2024 Super Cup group, ahead of a July 7 tilt against Minnesota United’s U-19 side.
Things began quickly against Rochester as Moreno pounced on a loose ball in just the third minute, following a tackle on Crows winger Camel Htoo. A short burst toward the Loons’ penalty area, with neither opposing centerback immediately stepping to him, gave Moreno the space to snap a skipping shot with his left foot, in between keeper and post.
”Amazing. What a good start,” Moreno said, postgame. “I came here to win games. What a start for me, and it was really good for the club. We needed the win. Just celebrate tonight, and keep thinking for the next game.
“[A win] helps us with our confidence.”
Craig noted that Moreno had arrived in town from school, recently, and had only gotten in one training session ahead of an impressive debut.
”I think he’s going to be a good player for us,” Craig said. “I hadn’t seen much of Juan, and I don’t yet know him well, but I think what you saw from him, in terms of the ability to drive [the ball] through [midfield], that could be really exciting for us and the crowd.”
After taking a beat to steady themselves, the visitors grew into the game. Rochester would pull a goal back in the 21st-minute, in a wild sequence of events.
Coming off his line to defend a cross swung in from City’s right flank, keeper Evan Siefken arrived at the same piece of turf within nanoseconds of Rochester forward Faris Colic and the ball. It was judged that Siefken had gotten man before ball, and a penalty was awarded.
Whatever the merits of the call, Siefken stood tall, saving the resulting penalty with a low parry to his left. It took a third-chance effort from Navarro, which was blocked by Futures-graduate Nick Kent but ruled to have snuck over the goal line, to even the game one-all.
A candid accounting of the remainder of the first half is that City gritted its teeth and fought to keep the game close, while not threatening on the attack very often, over what remained of the opening 45 minutes.
“We couldn’t keep the ball,” Craig said, “they totally dominated it. Second half, when we got in, talked about it. Reiterated what I had been asking from them in the first half, and it got better.”
Thirteen minutes after the restart, Steevie Lamarre corralled a lifted pass with his chest, and with back-to-goal, then turned on the half-volley to smash a shot off the crossbar. The hit looked to have removed Loons keeper Stefan Schenk from further involvement in the play, but the goal’s frame was unobliging.
With the Kent brothers, Max and Nick, partnering one another at centerback and playing in their first-ever competitive match together, Crows veteran Jonah Garcia moved out to right back in Craig’s starting XI. Pushing up the touchline in attack in the 73rd minute, Garcia would provide the game winning assist from the wing, playing second-half substitute Sidike Jabateh into space on the edge of the penalty area.
Jabateh cut the ball onto his left foot and back to his right, in order to create an opening. Then, the No. 9 brought a 20-pound sledge to ground, dropping the hammer on Rochester. His narrow-angle shot taken from wide of the six-yard box rocketed under the bar before testing the tensile-strength of the top netting.
“We don’t expect the big guys to run all over the field,” Craig said of Jabateh. “We expect them to pin the central defenders, hold the ball up for us, bring other players in, and get in the box. The first time I saw him, in the winter, I saw the coolness and the capability to score. He’s got stuff that’s totally different. So, I think he’s a wonderful addition for us.”
The former Park Center Pirate and current Dayton Flier became the sixth player in club history to have scored for-and-against the Crows. Jabateh previously notched a brace against City for the Minnesota TwinStars on June 8, 2022, and on Saturday, joined Miles Stockman-Willis, Mark Boquin, Justin Oliver, Javier Juarez and Whitney Browne in holding the aforementioned distinction.
“Felt amazing,” said Jabateh, who was named Man of the Match by the Minneapolis Citizens supporters group. “I’ve been around for a minute. Been playing with City every winter, but never had a chance to play summer. So, it was an amazing feeling [getting the game winning goal].
“That’s always been my mentality, even from a younger age, that’s what I want to do when I’m on the bench — go in and make a difference.”
On the night, the Crows were more organized in defense than in attack, and after Jabateh’s goal, were able to see out the victory. Five-plus minutes of stoppage time and a late free kick on the edge of Minneapolis’ penalty area raised heart rates, but failed to seriously test Siefken.
“When Sidike scored, it was a little wonderment, if you will, because I think he beat three-or-four blokes with changes of direction,” noted Craig. “I think the lads on the bench were a little wide-eyed. I’ve been going in this game for a long, long time. It’s not a high-scoring game. So, if we’re a competitive team, playing in a competitive league, we’ve got to learn to play at 1-1. And when we get the goals, we’ve got to cherish them, as we did, tonight.
“For us to win 2-1 is a real football score, and I think it speaks to the game. They definitely had the better of the first half, and then at the end of the game, of course they’re chasing it. But in that period between halftime and let’s say the last 20 minutes, now we’re going toe-to-toe, causing them problems. And late, we were comfortable with their long, direct passes. Bit of desperation, and to be honest, I thought it played into our hands.”
