MINNEAPOLIS – It was 70 degrees at kickoff, and picturesque, scattered clouds sundappled the field amid a gentle breeze that wafted cottonwood pollen. The idyllic setting was at odds with the uneasy humor that hung over Edor Nelson Field.
Minneapolis City SC had played its first-two league matches of the summer underneath Matt VanBenschoten, stepping in from his general manager role to stalk the touchline. Two losses followed, though circumstance and strong play from the Crows’ early opponents were responsible. VanBenschoten had done a respectable job shepherding a team in transition.
Still, the pressure of a 12-game regular season is such that slow starts can be measured in just a pair of results.
The Crows had gone through a short preseason and their first game under Carl Craig, who has since stepped away from the club for personal reasons. City’s players had entered their June 22 game against St. Croix with the knowledge they would finish the season under a new coach, but not knowing under whom.
Enter former Crows forward Justin Oliver, fresh off leading St. Olaf to a national title, to take the helm for the remainder of the season.
Perhaps hope for the evening. Perhaps the fabled new-manager bounce. Perhaps Oliver’s passion for his once-and-now-again club would provide a spark. But nothing has seemed to come easy for City in League Two, and the timing of the coaching change coincided with the arrival of a formidable opponent in RKC Third Coast.
The Seagulls had swept the Crows in their home-and-away series last year on the way to second-place in the division, winning each tilt by a pair of goals. They arrived in Minneapolis on the heels of a 6-1 drubbing of Rochester FC. They scored first.
A 25th-minute Juan Moreno foul begat a 30-yard free kick from Collin McCamy, which begat a rattled crossbar. The scramble for the rebound had only begun when Michael Reilly headed the ball home off the half-volley.
Second balls, second chances and crucial seconds have broken against Minneapolis, more often than for, over the past two-plus years. And now City had conceded first for the third-straight game. Worse, it was still in search of its first League Two goal of the summer.
The Crows were also aggressive, chippy, physical, and making the game uncomfortable, at times, for the visitors, and in authentic spite of a lack of momentum.
Six-foot-four No. 10 Joe Highfield bundled over RKC defenders while pressing.
“Just with us wanting to press a bit more, it means we have to commit bodies forward a little bit more. Which means there’s going to open up a little bit more space for [our opponents] to play,” Oliver said. “When they’re playing it to a forward’s feet, there’s a center back on ‘em. If it was a midfielder, there was a midfielder on ‘em. So, naturally that will lead to a little bit more physicality and competition.”
A counterpunch would come from Jonah Garcia – now both the longest-serving player on City’s roster and (apparently) a former center back. Garcia had started Minneapolis’ first-three games at right back, and the evening’s as the outside-left in a three-man back line. When, around the half-hour mark, Oliver opted for an early substitution, Big Curtis Wagner replaced Moreno, and Garcia slid into midfield.
The move would lead to Garcia’s second assist of the summer; already a single-season best for the veteran.
The 35th-minute bisection of the Seagulls’ ranks put Hakeem Morgan on the ball and brought RKC keeper Nicholas Diana well off his line. Morgan’s one-touch, left-footed chip from just inside 25 yards fit inch-perfect under the crossbar.
It was Morgan’s first of the summer. It was City’s first league score of 2024, as well.
“I think as a team, and personally, it’s important to be able to score goals,” said Morgan. “It brings a lot of confidence. Reinforces what we’ve been doing with Justin is working. We’ve had only one day of practice and we come out here and played in an amazing game.
“Get to score again. It’s just an amazing feeling to score. Cannot get tired of it.”
The game now felt on-terms. City was in the fight. With all that had already transpired, entering halftime with the score line level felt like a win.
But Reilly uncorked a brilliant strike with the final kick of the 45th-plus-oneth minute. His first goal, a matter of bad fortune for City — more bad fortune for City – could have rebounded to anyone one of a half-dozen players. But his second? No luck involved. Laces-through-ball with only as much curl as needed to skim the underside of the crossbar and ripple twine.
Whether originating from sanitation efforts at the James Haglund Family Fitness and Recreation Center on the Augsburg University campus, or from the M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital on Riverside Avenue, the summer breeze bore a whiff of chlorine through the press box, adding a foul sting to what was just recently pleasant.
“It was a little-bit deflating, because we felt like we deserved a little bit more from the half, in terms of going down one. [It] was a little bit harsher,” said Oliver. “At the halftime talk, we tried to focus on going forward. Unfortunately, we actually had a tougher start to the next half.”
Channing Chasten would drive the ball to the endline before cutting it back across goal, just four minutes after the restart. The pass put Nick Kent, who centered City’s back-three, in a tough spot, turned face-to-goal.
Kent the Younger’s outstretched foot intercepted the roller at pace, and redirected it just inside the far post. City’s deficit doubled.
Later in the second half, a second Kent redirection required a diving intervention from keeper Daniel Sessler to prevent a second own goal.
And yet, still later, in the 78th minute, the rebound from an impressive Sessler save was played to former-Crow Kevin Andrews inside City’s penalty area. Given an open shot with Sessler working to regain his position, Andrews’ effort had the keeper beaten.
It did not escape the side-foot of Kent, however. The Futures graduate had not given up on the play, and it was his goal-line clearance that kept the scoreline respectable.
Still visibly-frustrated from earlier events, the Macalester junior gathered himself from out of the goal with his gaze low. Sessler, by contrast, followed a celebratory low-five with an enthusiastically-determined back-slap that altered Kent’s gate. There was only support coming from City’s netminder.
The Crows and Seagulls each squandered fine-chances to further alter the scoreline, and the game ended 3-1; a repeat of the result from when the two last met in Racine on July 15, 2023.
This is not the first recap, posted to Minneapolis City’s official website, to focus on an adverse scoreline being unable to halt 90-minutes of committed effort by the Crows. It is a rote framing. But things felt different, at the final whistle.
”I love the club,” Oliver said. “When this opportunity opened, I tired to throw my hat into the ring and say, ‘I love the club. I love the fans. I love the people. It’s a special place. I want to hopefully be the person who can help us get some more forward momentum and traction.’ So, I’m supper happy to be here and doing all of that. Working with a lot of special people and special players.
”And then, just overall, the performance today, I feel like 3-to-1 is kind of a harsh score line. Because, we had a crossbar, we had a post, a couple of penalty shouts. Again, we didn’t lose or win the game because of referee decisions. That’s not what I’m trying to say. But I feel like we deserved more from this game than just one goal. On the flipside, they could have punished us in transitional moments a couple of more times than they did. But focusing on the performance, we built and played really well. We defended as high up the field as possible every-single time. We pressed effectively. So that was awesome.”
Players new to the City’s senior side – Sessler, Kent, Highfield, etc. – battled like their veteran teammates Garcia and Morgan. But not just for reputation’s sake. It was a first step in a new direction, where a week earlier City was still working to identify where it was next headed.
“With coaching changes coming in, it’s just… Obviously we want to win,” said Badgers defender Ryan Keefe, following his City debut. “We’ve had a little bit of preparation with our new coaches. I would just say [for a positive], the energy coming right from one practice, to the start of the game, to the halftime talk. I don’t know the past. With the energy, vibes and support – to where we can go – that’s what I feel, right now.”
Keefe, for his own part, impressed on both ends of the pitch, breaking up attacks in his own defensive third, and bombing forward on long runs through midfield in attack.
“Even as a center back, whether we play a three-back and I’m right center-back, or I can move somewhere else, I hope that I provide, going forward,” said Keefe. “Add some enjoyment for myself and the fans. Provide some flair to the game, in a sense, even if I am just a center back.”
The mood on the field during postgame handshakes, and back in the Crows locker room, was noticeably different from the prior loss to St. Croix. In the hallway, Oliver caught Wagner on his way out, and praised the Loyola Maryland defender for his effort off the bench.
Wagner shook his head and responded, “No. I’ve got so much more. I’ve got way more.”
“We just met in the locker room. Justin, Tudor [Flintham], Matt; they’re all excited for what’s to come,” Morgan said. “All of the guys, seeing the results of just one day of work, come out here and play one of the best teams, it’s really exciting to see what’s to come. Ready to go on Saturday.”
