close
close

Apre-salomemanzo

Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

Dayne St. Clair shines in shootout as Minnesota United completes first round sweep of Real Salt Lake | News, Sports, Jobs
aecifo

Dayne St. Clair shines in shootout as Minnesota United completes first round sweep of Real Salt Lake | News, Sports, Jobs

Ellen Schmidt, Associated Press

Minnesota United midfielder Will Trapp (20) and Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna (8) compete for the ball during the second half of a first round MLS Cup playoff soccer match at St. Paul, Minnesota, Saturday, November 11. .2, 2024.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Emeka Eneli scored the equalizer for Real Salt Lake in the 75th minute of a 1-1 draw in regulation, but Dayne St. Clair made two saves in the shootout as as Minnesota United came out on top 3-1 to complete a sweep of Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.

No. 6 seed Minnesota United beat third-seeded Real Salt Lake on the road on penalties after a scoreless tie in regulation play in the best-of-three opening round of the first round.

St. Clair repelled PK shots from Diogo Gonçalves and Diego Luna and sent one from Matt Crooks over the crossbar. Kelvin Yeboah, Hassani Dotson and Sang Bin Jeong scored for the winners. Cristian “Chicho” Arango scored RSL’s only goal in the club’s first attempt.

Eneli tied Real Salt Lake with his first playoff goal in his fourth appearance after scoring once in 54 previous appearances with the club over the past two regular seasons. Crooks picked up his first playoff assist in his first season in the league on the score, and Arango picked up his first in his seventh playoff appearance, the last four with RSL.

Neither club scored until Minnesota United’s Joseph Rosales used assists from Kelvin Yeboah and Robin Lod in the 53rd minute to score his first playoff goal in his fourth appearance. Rosales has one regular season goal in 78 appearances over the past four seasons. Yeboah’s assist was his first in two playoff appearances in his first season in the league and Lod’s was his second in eight playoff appearances – all starts.

St. Clair totaled one save for Minnesota United in his seventh career playoff start with the club.

Zac MacMath started in goal for Real Salt Lake for the sixth time in the playoffs and saved four shots. MacMath made two starts in the 2016 playoffs for the Colorado Rapids.

Real Salt Lake had played nine straight playoff games on the road before hosting the opener.

Both clubs have scored two goals in four matches this season. RSL entered the playoffs having scored a club record 65 goals, eight more than their previous record set in 2013.

Minnesota United will face second-seeded Los Angeles Galaxy in the next round. The Galaxy swept the Colorado Rapids in a first-round matchup.