WOODBURY, Minn. — Minneapolis City scored three times in 9 minutes to take a two-goal lead into halftime, but Minnesota United Reserves fought back with two second-half goals to earn a point. Though both sides had been eliminated from postseason play last week, the draw saw the Crows finish one place higher than their local rivals in the Premier League of America’s West Division as the regular season came to an end.

Local bragging rights were enough to inspire both sides to produce an exciting final contest featuring six goals and several near misses.

The hosts began the game in a 4-3-3 with Peter Runquist starting in goal. Brian Chapman — who began the season on Minneapolis City’s roster — and Miles Stockman-Willis bracketed Ben Eastwell and Grant Bell across the Loons’ back line. In the center of midfield, Charlie Adams sat in front of defense with Rodrigo Galvan Yanez operating centrally and Daniel O’Brien playing in the hole behind striker. Abbai Habte and Midhat Mujic flanked Javier Alcantara up top.

The Grumpy Cats ran out in their familiar 4-2-3-1. Matt Elder began the contest between the posts behind a back line of Abdallah Bah, Aaron Olson, captain Trey Benhart, and Emmanuel Brown. Holding midfielder AJ Albers, playmaker Samuel Ruiz Plaza, and attacking midfielder Ben Wexler formed City’s central midfield triangle. Up top, Matthew Gweh was given the start at center forward with Will Kidd and Connor Stevenson on the wings.

First Half

Reserves controlled the first 20 minutes, holding possession and the run of play, with the Crows rarely able to advance the ball into the Loons’ defensive third.

The Loons produced a number of half chances before coming close to scoring in the 14th minute. Ruiz Plaza was dispossessed off the dribble, leading to a shot from Galvan Yanez taken from the top of the arc. Fortunately for City, Elder was equal to the task and parried the ball over the bar with an extended right hand.

Reserves would draw first blood four minutes later. Stockman-Willis, charging up the right flank, played a low, driven ball across the face of goal to find Habte. Arriving at the back post, the winger poked the ball past a sprawling Elder to give Reserves the first lead of the game.

The Loons almost doubled their lead in the 20th minute when City was caught sleeping on a long kick from Runquist. A bounding ball slipped through City’s back line with Habte running on to it, looking to score his second goal in as many minutes. One-on-one with Elder, the winger shot low and to the keeper’s right, but Elder was able to get down and block the effort with sole of his left foot, extending his leg to make an important reaction save.

Having survived a lackluster start to the game and finding itself only down a goal, City began to grow into the contest around the 25th minute.

In the 27th, the Crows worked the ball forward quickly and played Gweh in one-on-one with Eastwell, with Gweh making a driving run from 25 yards out. A quick left foot from Eastwell inside his own 18-yard box spared Reserves as the center back was able to deflect Gweh’s powerful effort into the side netting.

Gweh would not be denied, however. In the 35th minute, Gweh was played into the penalty area. The forward’s first attempt was blocked by Bell, but the rebound fell to Gweh. The forward’s second effort was smothered by Runquist, but with the keeper unable to hold from point-blank range, again the rebound fell to Gweh. The forward finally smacked the ball through traffic and inside the near post to level the match for City.

On being played at the point of City’s attack instead of on the wing, Gweh offered, “That’s my position, but I was starting to really get comfortable out wide. I can play anywhere across the forward line, depending upon where the coaches want me to play.”

While Reserves still held more possession, the Crows were now asking questions of the Loons’ defense on the counter.

In the 41st, Ruiz Plaza found himself on the break, cutting in from his right and into a channel through the Loons’ ranks. Approaching the edge of the 18-yard box, the midfielder curled the ball over Runquist, swinging it out towards the back post. Running past a pair of Loons, Stevenson reached the ball first and was able to sidefoot it into an empty bottom corner.

“Will [Kidd] got the ball, and I saw a little gap. I made the run through, and got the ball. Initially, I was going to chip the keeper and score, but Connor called for it,” said Ruiz Plaza. “I thought, ‘This is a little more high-percentage.’ So I chipped it far post and Connor finished it. Nice little East Ridge connection, as we both played here in high school.”

City would make it three goals in nine minutes when a deflection fell to Kidd in the Reserves’ penalty area. The winger, rolling the ball with the toe of his boot, sent a gently-weighted, no-look pass behind his back to Wexler. The attacking midfielder let fly from the top of the 18 and beat a diving Runquist low, just inside the near post.

The Loons nearly pulled one back just before the half. Pouncing on a City turnover, Galvan Yanez was able to take a touch and square himself from the edge of the penalty area, but fired over the bar while aiming for the back post.

Second Half

“At halftime, I just told the guys, ‘We have to play like we did in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game.’ We controlled the ball, we moved it, and as soon as we lost it, we won it back,” said Reserves coach Chris Brisson.

Seemingly motivated by Brisson’s words, it did not take long for Reserves to find a way back into the game.

Awarded a corner in the 50th minute, the ball was delivered to Eastwell. While the center back scuffed his shot, the ball fell to Bell in traffic, who took a touch before firing past Duncan Werling — who had replaced Elder at the half — low, to the keeper’s right.

The Loons would again threaten the Crows’ goal in the 54th, when Habte crossed the ball from the wing to Alcantara, who had found a pocket of space just outside the six-yard box. Fortunately for City, the forward beat his header down into the turf, bouncing it wide of Werling’s right post.

Reserves would tie the game 3 minutes later when Stockman-Willis, bombing forward from defense, pulled the ball back from the Reserves’ right flank for Galvan Yanez. Shooting from the top of the arc, the midfielder fired low and hard to beat a diving Werling to the far bottom corner.

In the 60th minute, O’Brien received the ball with his back to goal just inside City’s penalty area. The attacking midfielder sent a rainbow over his own head in the direction of goal. The ball fell within reach of Habte, who attempted a volley from a narrow angle at the edge of the six-yard box. Werling, able to get down quickly and parry at full stretch, denied what would have been a goal, protecting his near post.

Eight minutes later, second-half substitute Ian Smith placed his hand on Habte’s back shoulder and received a yellow card for pulling down the forward. The referee spotted the ball just outside the penalty area, awarding Reserves a free kick.

A trio of Loons addressed the ball before Stockman-Willis sent a curling effort around the wall and toward City’s back post. Quickly moving to his left, Werling was able to hold the shot comfortably.

A Benhart turnover in the 73rd minute gave Alcantara and Habte a half step on the counter. With the option of attempting to square the ball for Habte at the back post, Alcantara elected to shoot from just inside the 18-yard box. Aiming low for the near corner, Alcantara was denied by a strong left hand from Werling.

In the 81st, the Reserves found themselves three versus three on the counter. Alcantara, again electing to shoot, had his shot partially deflected by Benhart and easily collected by Werling.

A minute later, Habte flashed a fancy bit of footwork and dribbled his way in on goal from out wide. Facing a narrow angle, Habte tried to play the ball across the face of the goal for second-half substitute Skylar Schulz, but the pass was a step behind Schulz and Werling was able to come off his line to collect.

Having weathered Reserves’ late push, City ended the match with a pair of chances of its own.

Kidd, making another no-look pullback, left the ball for Ruiz Plaza just beyond the top of the arc. But the midfielder’s subsequent shot sailed over crossbar.

Then, on the second-to-last play of the game, the Crows hoofed the ball forward into the Loons’ 18-yard box. Stretching for the ball, Benhart was able to flick it on with his head towards the back post. Andy Lorei — who had replaced Gweh in the 78th minute — had a chance to give City a last-second victory, but his own header struck the near post.

As soon as Reserves cleared the rebound, the final whistle was blown.

Reactions

Both coaches were of a similar mind regarding the changes in momentum that took place on the afternoon.

“You know, I thought we played really well the first 15 minutes of the game. Controlled the play, kept the ball, moved it. We should have scored a couple goals in the first 15 — we only got one. And then we just kind of lost our way,” said Brisson. “They started counterattacking. We started making bad decisions with the ball and getting away from our game. They punished us for it… three straight goals. That was tough.”

“At halftime, I just told the guys, ‘We have to play like we did in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game,’” Brisson continued. “We played great in the second half. Really happy with how we battled back after going two goals down. It’s the last game of the season for both teams. Our players could have easily just said, ‘Oh, that’s it,’ down by two goals. But they came back.”

City coach Jeremy Iwaszkowiec offered his thoughts.

“The first 20 minutes, we were flat and they were all over us. We conceded a goal, then worked our way into the game. We felt at about the 25-minute mark, we started to finally get our feet — matching their energy and passion — and scored three goals. It was like, ‘Alright, let’s go. Let’s do this.’”

“We made a couple changes at half. We had predetermined those,” Iwaszkowiec said. “Regardless of game scenario, we were going to make some changes. I don’t know if that affected how we started, but again we came out flat. To be honest, it was the set piece. Once that goal went in, everything changed — the ebbs and flows of any game that happen. Hats off to those guys. They didn’t quit and they got one right back. Then it was game on. And there, we had to fight again.”

Habte — who asked questions of City’s defense up and down the flank all match — reflected, “I thought we did well to come back. Being up, it was a good lead for us. Then being down 3-1 at the half, fighting back and getting that result, it was a pretty fair result for us.”

Gweh, who scored to spark City’s three-goal run, conceded, “A win would have been nice. It was sort of a hot day. I think we did our best to win the game, but couldn’t after they came back and scored two goals.”

Ruiz Plaza followed his teammate, adding, “We definitely started off flat. Gave up a set piece goal, which was kind of tough, and that put them right back in it. We knew the next goal was huge and it went their way. Just kind of fell apart from there and they were able to equalize. And then, at the end, it was a wide open game with chances both ways. Neither team could put the nail in the coffin, I guess.”

Of those wide-open, end-to-end final minutes, Iwaszkowiec said, “It was there, I think, for both teams. Guys getting tired, the game stretches out a little bit. I felt like we missed a couple chances. Our last decisions weren’t the right decisions, or defensively they would make a good play. Obviously, the last-second header off the post was a heartbreaker. That would have been fun.”

Looking Back and Ahead

“I think it was a season of missed opportunities,” Brisson said. “This game is an example of it. We had a lot of opportunities throughout the season to win games. We didn’t, we would tie. Or we’d at least deserve a point and we’d get a loss. We’re disappointed at where we ended up in the table — obviously, we’d like to be in the top two going to the playoffs next weekend. But I think that sums it up. We didn’t finish chances and we gave up goals at inopportune times that caused us to lose points in a lot of games.”

When asked about his initial thoughts on the close of the season, Iwaszkowiec replied they were, “similar to those after our last game.”

“A lot of fun things to build on, also, some frustration for missed opportunities. It felt like we had the talent to grab more points than we got. We just didn’t. And sometimes, that’s soccer. There’s frustration, but at the same time we accomplished good things as a first-year club,” said Iwaszkowiec. “Ultimately, it was positive. I’m optimistic. But there’s a little bit of a bad taste.”

Though the Crows’ third-place finish may have been bittersweet, City’s inaugural campaign made an impression on its players.

“It’s a good program they’ve begun here in Minnesota, and I think it’s going to help a lot of kids coming from high school going into college and kids from college coming back home to play,” Gweh said. “I don’t know where my next step is after college soccer. But, if the opportunity comes, I’m back here. I’ll definitely play.”

Ruiz Plaza echoed Gweh, stating, “It was a great experience. I love it because I can come home and play at a high level, instead of having to stay out East. Definitely, if I come home, I’m more than willing to play for City another season and I’m excited to get back at it next year.”