Dayne St. Clair stellar in shootout as Minnesota United completes 1st-round sweep of Real Salt Lake
The Minnesota United celebrate after winning a first-round soccer match of the MLS Cup playoffs against Real Salt Lake in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Emeka Eneli scored the equalizer for Real Salt Lake in the 75th minute of a 1-1 tie in regulation, but Dayne St. Clair had two saves in the shootout as Minnesota United came out on top 3-1 to finish off a sweep of Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
No. 6 seed Minnesota United beat third-seed Real Salt Lake on the road on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie during regulation play in the best-of-three first-round opener.
St. Clair turned away PK shots by Diogo Gonçalves and Diego Luna and had one by Matt Crooks sail over the crossbar. Kelvin Yeboah, Hassani Dotson and Sang Bin Jeong scored for the winners. Cristian “Chicho” Arango scored the lone goal for RSL on the club’s first attempt.
Eneli pulled Real Salt Lake even with his first postseason goal in his fourth appearance after scoring once in 54 previous appearances with the club over the past two regular seasons. Crooks notched his first postseason assist in his first season in the league on the score, and Arango snagged 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 postseason goal in his fourth appearance. Rosales has one regular-season goal in 78 appearances over the last 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 postseason appearances — all starts.
Minnesota United midfielder Will Trapp (20) and Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna (8) vie for the ball during the second half of a first-round soccer match of the MLS Cup playoffs in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ellen Schmidt
St. Clair totaled one save for Minnesota United in his seventh career postseason 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 had two starts in the 2016 postseason for the Colorado Rapids.
Real Salt Lake had played nine straight playoff matches on the road before hosting the opener.
Both clubs scored two goals in four matchups this season. RSL entered the postseason after scoring a club-record 65 goals, eight more than its previous high set in 2013.
Minnesota United will play the second-seeded Los Angeles Galaxy in the next round. The Galaxy swept the Colorado Rapids in a first-round matchup.
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