A brace by midfielder Diogo Pacheco and a goal by midfielder Leo Conneh secured the 3-0 road victory at the Real Monarchs on a snowy Friday night in Utah.
The snow-covered pitch created slick conditions for the Twos and the Monarchs on Friday night. The Utah side took the front foot in the first 15 minutes, but MNFUC2 stormed back to claim some control in the next 20 minutes of the contest, winning multiple corner kicks. The Twos knocked on the Monarch’s door multiple times in the box, but no score availed. But the Minnesota squad broke the scorless match first when midfielder Kage Romanshyn sent a perfectly-timed long through ball in front of fellow midfielder Diogo Pacheco, who capitalized on the close-range shot and gave the Twos the 1-0 lead in the 36th minute. Right before halftime, MNUFC2 forward Loic Mesanvi found space in the box, connecting with midfielder Leo Conneh, who netted the ball to double the lead before the whistle.
In the 57th minute, Real Monarch’s Zavier Grozo’s late tackle on Pacheco earned him a second yellow-card caution on the night, sending him off and leaving the Monarchs to play a man down for the remainder of the match.
Pacheco added to his account in the 81st minute when he found space atop the 18-yard box, sneaking the ball past the Monarch’s keeper and extending the Twos’ lead to 3-0. MNUFC2 goalkeeper Fred Emmings finished the night with three saves, earning his first clean sheet and win of the 2023 regular season.
With the win, MNUFC2 starts its second season in MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference regular-season action with a 1-0-0 record (W-L-D) and 3 points.
MNUFC2 next travels to St. Louis, Missouri to face St. Louis CITY2 on Sunday, April 2 at 5:00 p.m. CT at CITY PARK, with broadcast information to be announced in the coming days.
GOALS
1-0 MIN – Diogo Pacheco, assisted by Kage Romanshyn (36’)
2-0 MIN – Leo Conneh, assisted by Loic Mesanvi (45’+2’)
3-0 MIN – Diogo Pacheco, assisted by Leo Conneh (81’)
DISCIPLINAIRY SUMMARY
Yellow, SLC – Zavier Grozo (19’)
Yellow, SLC – Gennaro Nigro (44’)
Yellow; Red, SLC – Zavier Grozo (57’)
Yellow, SLC – Omar Alba (64’)
Yellow, MIN – Tommy Kniser (90’)
NOTABLE STATS
9 – Nine players made their MNUFC2 debuts on Friday night: Britton Fischer, Rory O’Driscoll, Geremy Rodas, Nick Richardson; five of which are MNUFC Academy U19 players, Leo Conneh, Tamer Ibsais, Tommy Kniser, Cooper Lijewski and Kage Romanshyn
3 – Goalkeeper Fred Emmings made three saves to earn his first shutout of the season
TEAM LEADERS (Updated through March 24)
Goals – Diogo Pacheco (2)
Assists – Three tied at one (1)
Saves – Fred Emmings (3)
Wins – Fred Emmings (1)
Shutouts – Fred Emmings (1)
