Union takeaways: Kai Wagner shouldn’t have had to save the Union twice against Minnesota

Here are our day-after takeaways on the Union’s wild loss on penalty kicks at Minnesota United in the U.S. Open Cup’s round of 32, after regulation and extra time produced a 3-3 tie.

Kai Wagner. Yes, his penalty kick in the shootout was saved to end the game, but the Union wouldn’t have been there in the first place if not for his 94th-minute equalizer in regulation and his 120th-minute free kick on the last play of extra time.

Nor should it have had to come to that. The goal the Union gave up to go down, 3-2, in the 103rd minute came because the defense didn’t handle a Minnesota throw-in well. In regulation, Mikael Uhre and Joaquín Torres missed many chances to score.

7: The number of shots Torres took before he scored his penalty kick in the shootout. Four of those misses sailed high.

» READ MORE: Two wild late comebacks aren’t enough to stop the Union from losing in the U.S. Open Cup

10: The number of clearances by the Union’s Damion Lowe. Four were with his head. He also had 10 defensive recoveries, four interceptions, and two blocks, won 11 of the 15 duels he contested, and completed 39 of 52 passes (75% accuracy), including eight passes into the attacking third.

“A hard-fought 120 minutes. Came up a little bit short in penalties. I think that the group showed a lot of heart and fight coming back from a two-goal deficit.”

— Union manager Jim Curtin

“Of all the teams in the league, I think that Jim does an incredible job with this group. You know what you’re getting. They don’t give in, and even when you’re ahead, 2-0, I know that they’re going to have a chance at some stage. And then when they get their next goal, you know they’re not going to quit. They’re going to keep going. So I’m pleased we’ve got through against a really well-organized and well-coached team. That’s what Philly are.”

— Minnesota manager Adrian Heath

“I think you have to even rewind to the fact that we haven’t gotten a home game in, I think, five years … We get kind of the short end of the straw in the draw coming to Minnesota. It cost the club a ton of money as well with the charter flight and that kind of thing. So, you know, some things add up and make it harder, for sure, but I still think we went on the field and had a good approach. … We went for it tonight; we didn’t get it done.”

— Curtin reflecting on the circumstances of this game.

The Union haven’t been drawn into an Open Cup home game since the semifinals in 2018, when they were at home for their first four games and went to the final in Houston.

There was no Open Cup in 2020 or 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Union have played their first games of their last three tournaments — 2019, last year, and this year — on the road and lost them all.

» READ MORE: José Andrés Martínez is recovering from a hamstring injury, but not ready to play yet

Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1, New England Revolution 0. The Riverhounds, of the second-division USL Championship, went to New England and ousted the team with the best record in MLS so far this season. Danny Griffin, a four-year veteran of the club, scored the goal in the 44th minute.

There are eight more round of 32 games on deck Wednesday night, headlined by FC Cincinnati hosting New York City FC and the Los Angeles Galaxy hosting the Seattle Sounders. All of the games will be free to watch online on YouTube or CBS Sports’ Golazo Network streaming platform. Click here for the schedule and direct links to the streams.

» READ MORE: CBS Sports launches a 24/7 soccer channel online

The Union visit the Colorado Rapids on Saturday (9:30 p.m., Apple TV+, paywalled). They will fly back to Philadelphia first, then head out west again on Friday.