HOUSTON DYNAMO vs. MINNESOTA UNITED FC
BBVA Compass Stadium | Houston, Texas
06.18.2018 | U.S. Open Cup Round of 16
7:30 p.m. CT (Stream: US Soccer, Twitter: @MNUFCMatch)
For the first time in its Open Cup history, Minnesota United has advanced to the Round of 16. It wasn’t pretty, but the Loons beat FC Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium 3-1 in penalty kicks, punching their ticket to a matchup against fellow MLS side Houston Dynamo in Texas at BBVA Compass Stadium. Kickoff is set for Monday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed at ussoccer.com.
Forward Christian Ramirez taking the first penalty kick for Minnesota was likely no surprise, but defender Brent Kallman stepping to the spot might have caught some fans by surprise. But the stalwart centerback was not always on the backline and he showed it by calmly drilling the ball into the lower left corner.
“I used to take them all the time as a kid,” said Kallman. “Then when I got older and I became a defender, the coaches wanted to stop letting me take them. I haven’t taken one in a game in nine years, so when they offered, [Heath] said, ‘First off, who wants to take one?’ I jumped at it. I was all over that [stuff].”
Although he might not have been imagining it when asking for volunteers for penalty kicks, stepping up that way is likely exactly what Head Coach Adrian Heath was looking for from Kallman, who has slotted into captain Francisco Calvo’s spot as the left centerback during Calvo’s time with Costa Rica at the World Cup. Kallman acquitted himself well during the run of play as well when some defensive grittiness was called for to hold off a hungry FC Cincinnati team looking to make a mark in the Open Cup.
“The most important thing in any cup competition is to get through,” said Heath. “I was talking to the players before the game, and saying what a tough evening I thought it was going to be, and that’s how it turned out. We knew it was going to be difficult, buoyed by the fact that they’d just been announced as an MLS team. Then you’re playing an MLS team, so if you’re a player on that team, you know it’s another opportunity to show you belong at that level. We played a highly motivated group. I remember going back for my old days, winning the FA Cup. Along the way, you have some luck at some stage. I actually thought that we earned our luck, because I thought that we played really well.”
Although MNUFC failed to put together a final ball through regulation and extra time, the team was disciplined, holding 73% of the possession in the first half and getting more looks in the second half. That included a rocket by forward Abu Danladi that Cincinnati keeper Spencer Richey just managed to get down on and stop. A little additional edge came from the crowd, whom Kallman praised, while also giving them a little guff.
“They’ve got a great crowd already. It’s kind of a unique stadium. The fans are right on top of the game. They’ve got a lot of supporters — they were very loud. The [play] when Boxy gets swung out at, on that corner kick and he’s bleeding from the mouth, and they all just think he’s diving and people are boo-ing him. That one really pissed me off. But I get it, you know. That’s a good crowd. That’s what they’re supposed to do. I think they’ll be a good addition to the league.”
But now the Loons’ focus turns to a current MLS squad, the Houston Dynamo. The Loons defeated the Dynamo 2-1 at TCF Bank Stadium earlier in the season on the back of a Darwin Quintero penalty in the 40th minute and a cheeky Ibson goal in the 70th minute. Minnesota will have its hands full when it travels to Houston, though. BBVA Compass Stadium is a notoriously tough place to play, with Houston racking up a 5-2-0 record there this season after going 12-1-4 there last season. The heat is a factor, the humidity is a factor, and the pace of play will be a factor. And there’s one other element that changes when facing an MLS side in Open Cup play.
“The bottom line is: there’s going to be a result on the night,” said Heath. “Whereas if you were going down there in a league game, you would probably settle for the draw if you were at that stage in the game. That changes a little bit. And obviously with the Open Cup, you’re always undecided what their lineup is going to be. Because are they going to rest starters? Are they going to play their full group? I expect the fact that they have no game, and they have a game the following week, that they will play their full complement of players, like we probably will as well. So we’ll go down there, we’ll treat the Cup competition with the respect that it deserves, and we’ll go and see what we can do.”
For Kallman, the key is preparation.
“Start hydrating,” he laughed. “Like, yesterday. You gotta drink so much water so far in advance. And then you gotta be really smart with the ball. You gotta manage your energy a little bit. You can’t go out and blow your wad in the first 30 minutes, you gotta pace yourself and pace the game a little bit. And just be smart about it. If you get after it too early, you will burn out in those games.”
Following their match against Houston, the Loons will return to league play with a match against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday, June 23. That match kicks off at 8:00 p.m. CT with pre-match coverage beginning on FOX Sports North and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN at 7:30 p.m. CT.
INJURY REPORT
Minnesota United
OUT:
M - Sam Cronin (cervicogenic dysfunction)
M - Kevin Molino (torn left ACL 3/10, out for season)
M - Ethan Finlay (torn ACL 4/22, out indefinitely)
D - Marc Burch (left knee injury)
D - Jerome Thiesson (right leg injury)
QUESTIONABLE:
GK - Matt Lampson (right knee injury)
Houston Dynamo
OUT:
D - A.J. DeLaGarza (torn left ACL)
D - Dylan Remick (concussion)
D - Jared Watts (concussion)
M - Darwin Ceren (leg injury)
M - Juan David Cabezas (left quad injury)
F - Mac Steeves (left hip injury)
M - Andrew Wenger (calf injury)
FIRST TOUCHES
- Collen Warner played for Houston Dynamo in 2016 before being selected by MNUFC in the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft.
- Joe Willis and Collin Martin were both at D.C. United in 2013 and 2014. The two were also loaned to Richmond Kickers in 2014.
- Dylan Remick played with Marc Burch and Tyrone Mears during his tenure with Seattle Sounders FC. He and Burch were teammates in 2013. Mears joined Remick for both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, winning MLS Cup in their final year together.
- Darwin Ceren played under Adrian Heath at Orlando City SC from 2014 through 2016.
- This year’s Round of 16 features 13 MLS clubs and three USL teams.
- The winner of this match will move on to play either Sporting Kansas City or FC Dallas.
- Bobby Shuttleworth earned his eighth shutout as a member of MNUFC in the shootout win against Cincinnati. It was his first clean sheet for the club outside of MLS play.
- The Dynamo thumped amateur side NTX Rayados 5-0 to advance in the Open Cup. Houston had a man advantage for the final 20 minutes of the match.
- Houston’s Alberth Elis currently leads MLS with 30 shots on goal.
- Miguel Ibarra is among the most accurate shooters in MLS, with 71.4% of his shots ending up on target.
- Houston is averaging 2.07 goals per game in MLS play, tied for the second-highest average in the league.
- MNUFC goalkeepers have made 62 saves in league play this year. It is the second-highest total in MLS.
- The Dynamo have scored at least three goals in five of their nine multi-goal matches in MLS.
- Only one team from Texas, FC Dallas, has won the Open Cup. No Minnesota team has ever won the competition.
- Teams from the MLS Western Conference have won the past four Open Cups.
