Two wild late comebacks aren’t enough to stop the Union from losing in the U.S. Open Cup
Kai Wagner tied the score, 2-2, in the 94th minute and 3-3 in the 120th, but was stopped in the penalty shootout to deal the Union a loss to Minnesota United.
The magic of cup soccer is the feeling that anything can happen in a knockout tournament. And on Tuesday night in the U.S. Open Cup’s round of 32, the Union and Minnesota United had just about everything happen.
The teams combined for six goals in 120 minutes, all from the 68th on. Minnesota’s Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Joseph Rosales put the Loons up, 2-0, only for Chris Donovan and Kai Wagner to rally the Union — with Wagner tying the game in the last minute of second-half stoppage time.
And while Hlongwane struck again in the first extra time period, Wagner nailed an exquisite free kick with the last play of the second period to send the game to penalties.
Andre Blake made the shootout’s first save on Kervin Arriaga, but Clint Irwin stopped Matt Real and Wagner to give the Loons the win in the eighth round and send the Union out.
More lineup rotation
In the third of eight games on deck this month, Union manager Jim Curtin once again made changes to his starting lineup. And because it was a cup game instead of a regular season contest, Curtin took the liberty of making quite a few changes.
Jack Elliott and Damion Lowe were the starting centerbacks, with Lowe making his second straight start to give Jakob Glesnes the night off, and Real started at left back.
In the midfield, Jesús Bueno got a turn at the bottom of the diamond. Curtin said that would happen after last Saturday’s win at the New York Red Bulls, in which Bueno impressed as a 79th-minute substitute. Andrés Perea gave Alejandro Bedoya the night off, and Joaquín Torres went in for Dániel Gazdag at the top of the quartet.
Donovan was the last player rotated in, starting at forward for Julián Carranza.
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Highlights and lowlights
With a sparse crowd in the stands at Allianz Field, neither team did all that much memorable in the first half.
The Loons came closest to scoring when Rosales fizzed a low shot just left of the net from 25 yards. The Union’s best chance was a 35th-minute rip by Mikael Uhre from the right flank that Irwin leapt at to tip over his crossbar.
Attacks wake up
Minnesota put the first crooked numbers on Allianz Field’s hand-operated scoreboard. On the opener, DJ Taylor and Franco Fragapane played a give-and-go down the left side, and Taylor crossed for Hlongwane to head the ball over a leaping Lowe and past Blake.
Lowe was victimized again on the second goal, as Hlongwane danced past him and Perea before laying the ball off for Rosales to smash in.
The comeback
Only then did Curtin send Carranza in for Perea. It felt like it was too little, too late, but Donovan — often criticized for his lack of finishing touch — broke through Minnesota’s back line off a turnover and scored a first-time hit to cut the deficit.
Curtin sent Wagner and Leon Flach in for Jack McGlynn and Bueno in the 87th, trying to come up with one last way to find a goal. Flach set up Torres again in the 88th, but the Argentine once again shot high.
Between that miss and a pair of poor fouls the Union conceded, it seemed their fate was sealed. Remarkably, though, it was not. Elliott produced a steal and got the ball wide to Nathan Harriel, who raced down the right flank and left Rosales in his dust. Torres was waiting, received Harriel’s pass, crossed up Miguel Tapias with a dribble, and floated a cross to Wagner that he smashed in off a bounce.
All of a sudden, the game was off to extra time.
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The roller-coaster continues
Sadly for the Union, the momentum didn’t last. In the 103rd minute, their defense fell asleep for a moment. Off a Minnesota throw-in, Rosales crossed for Hlongwane from the left, and the South African forward cashed in his second goal of the night.
Though there were still 17 minutes left, the teams were clearly tiring, and the Union rarely threatened. But a 120th-minute free kick from just outside the 18-yard box offered the Union a final chance at salvation, and Wagner seized it by belting the ball into the top corner.
Under-20 World Cup call-ups
Two Union players were notable by their absences. Forward Quinn Sullivan and reserve centerback Brandan Craig were released to the U.S. under-20 men’s World Cup squad, which will be officially announced on Wednesday. McGlynn will join them after Saturday’s game at the Colorado Rapids (9:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled).
A notable Union alumnus won’t be on the squad: Medford’s Paxten Aaronson. Though he and his three former teammates starred on the qualifying squad, Aaronson wasn’t released by Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt, the club he joined from the Union in January. Eintracht plays in the German Cup final on June 3, and Aaronson has played so well already that manager Oliver Glasner wants to keep him in town.
The tournament will take place from May 20-June 11 in Argentina. The U.S. will have a few days of training camp in Buenos Aires before heading 625 miles west to San Juan for its group stage games.
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