It was a tough day for MNUFC2 on Sunday afternoon, as the Twos fell to the Tacoma Defiance 5-1 at the Starfire Sports Complex Stadium in Tukwila, Washington. Winger Darius Randell scored the lone goal for the Loons during the afternoon fixture, and the Twos now return home next week for a match against The Town FC.
Within the first two minutes of the match, MNUFC2 conceded a penalty inside the box, which allowed Tacoma Defiance to find the opening goal after midfielder Chris Aquino stepped up and converted from the penalty mark.
MNUFC2 put Tacoma under pressure in the 14th minute after they possessed inside the attacking third, looking to find space to break Defiance’s back line. Unable to break their line, Britton Fischer was able to fire off a shot just outside the 18-yard box but was cleared out by Tacoma Defiance.
In the 27th minute the Twos nearly evened the score after Rory O’Driscoll crossed the ball from the top of the 18-yard box, finding Darius Randell inside the six-yard box for a header to goal that went over the crossbar and out of bounds.
Then just a minute later, forward Enrique Nieves was inside the center of the goalkeeper’s box when he connected with a cross that was sent into the area. Nieves jumped and made a header attempt at goal before he collided with Tacoma’s keeper, where the header ultimately went wide right of the post.
Tacoma Defiance were able to extend the lead in the 36th minute. Georgi Minoungou gained possession on the left side after making a run up the pitch. Minoungou crossed the ball back towards the six-yard line where he found teammate Snyder Brunell for a left footed shot that was able to get past Montali.
Two minutes into stoppage time, Minoungou charged towards goal where he fired off a shot from the right side of the box but Montali was able to save the dangerous attempt.
In the last moments of the first half, Tacoma Defiance scored their third goal after they found Aquino inside the box, who then turned and was able to get a shot off, finding the left corner of the goal off the post.
At the start of the second half, in the 52nd minute, Will Schmidt had a close opportunity to goal after running onto a long ball inside the 18-yard box. Schmidt was able to take a left footed shot, but was deflected by Tacoma goalkeeper Jacob Castro.
Minnesota defender Dom Mawing was shown a straight red card in the 61st minute after a tackle on top of the Defiance 18-yard box, leaving the Twos a man down for the remainder of the game.
MNUFC2 were able to get on the scoreboard in the 69th minute after Enrique Nieves was able to break through Tacoma defenders inside the 18-yard box where he had a close-range shot on goal that was deflected out by Castro back into Nieve’s possession. Nieves, on the endline, passed it back towards the six-yard line where Schmidt quickly laid it off to Darius Randell who then found the bottom right corner of the goal.
In the 78th minute Tacoma scored again after Sebatian Gomez found the left corner of the goal. Then, the home side scored a fifth and final goal of the game in the fifth minute of added stoppage time to secure the victory and three points for the home side.
GOALS
0-1 TAC - Chris Aquino, penalty kick (3’)
0-2 TAC - Snyder Brunell, assisted by Georgi Minoungou (36’)
0-3 TAC - Chris Aquino (45’+3’)
1-3 MNUFC2 - Darius Randell, assisted by Will Schmidt (69’)
1-4 TAC - Sebastian Gomez, assisted by Burke Fahling (78’)
1-5 TAC - Omar Hassan, assisted by Owen O’Malley (90’ + 5’)
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
Ejection, MNUFC2 - Dom Mawing (61’)
Caution, MNUFC2 - Britton Fischer (78’)
Caution, MNUFC2 - Will Schmidt (90’)
NOTABLE STATS
1 - MNUFC Academy U17 winger, who also was a 2024 MLS NEXT All-Star, scored his first MNUFC2 goal of the 2024 campaign.
TEAM LEADERS (Updated through August 4)
Goals – Patrick Weah (8)
Assists – Molik Jesse Khan (3)
Saves – Alec Smir (19)
Wins – Clint Irwin (3)
Shutouts – Clint Irwin (2)
