With another spectacular victory on penalties against Real salt lakethe Loons booked a spot in the Western Conference semifinals against. Los Angeles Galaxy.

Minnesota got the ball rolling Tuesday with the first game at RSL (0-0), then finished the job in Game 2 Saturday night (1-1).

“I feel like we’ve gotten the group to a point where we feel like we can compete with anybody,” head coach Eric Ramsay said afterward.

“Collectively, we’ve done a really good job of that, in a short amount of time, to bring together our third iteration of this group so quickly this year.”

Canadian international goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was the hero again, using his game sense to fend off RSL’s PK takers. He made two saves, preparing Sang Bin Jeong to ice the 3-1 shootout victory.

“I know this is my time to shine,” St. Clair said. “A lot of pressure is on me at that point, but especially with the crowd tonight, the noise they were making, I felt something coming in.”

Ramsay was confident St. Clair could lead the hosts to a second consecutive shootout victory. Shots on goal followed those of Minnesota Joseph Rosales and the RSLs Emeka Eneli scoring in regulation time.

“I feel like the combination of the atmosphere and Dayne was in our favor,” Ramsay said. “He’s a showman, he feeds off the energy the crowd gives him…Here, he was almost certain he would save one.”

Buoyed by the Allianz Field faithful, MNUFC advanced past the first round for the first time since 2020.

“It’s an incredible atmosphere,” Ramsay said. “I’m really happy and relieved that we were able to finish the season the way we did with three wins here, because we have to enjoy what is, for me, one of the best football-specific atmospheres in the whole country .

Minnesota’s tough defense remains their calling card. In their last seven games, they have only conceded twice and their last defeat was on September 18.

“We’ve been a really good version of ourselves,” Ramsay said. “It’s a tough balance to balance being a team that’s very difficult to play against, but also very exciting to watch. There are two different mentalities that go with that, but I think we’ve got that right.

Minnesota faces a tough challenge in the conference semifinals, as the star-studded Galaxy wait after the November international break. LA just beat Colorado Rapids by a combined score of 9-1 in their first round series.

Minnesota will be an underdog, but it fully believes its run is not over.

“We know we can go to Galaxy, go out there, get a result and keep moving forward,” St. Clair said. “At that point, it wasn’t just about making the playoffs for this team or winning, getting out of the first round. If we’re going to do that, let’s go all the way.”

Ramsay added: “We are in good shape at the moment. This means that we are not afraid of anyone.