Free Headers: MNUFC trying to stick to the script
Minnesota United isn't throwing away the plan... just trying to execute it.
For a Minnesota United team that's trying to get back on track, norteño giants UANL Tigres* are probably not the best opponents. Perennially a playoff team, the Monterrey-based squad is one of the biggest clubs in North America, and are annually near the top of the attendance charts across the continent. They'll be in St. Paul Friday night, in the next Leagues Cup game for the Loons.
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(*Brief aside for the non-Liga MX fans: UANL stands for Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León - the third-largest university in Mexico. Yes, Tigres are a college fútbol team; so are Pumas UNAM, the team from the largest university in Mexico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. They aren't college teams in the NCAA sense; they're professionally managed teams the same as everybody else, the players on the teams are not students, but they play in campus stadiums and are still associated with the universities.
When you think about it, most historic soccer teams around the world have similar roots - amateur teams for young people that grew up into professional squads. Basically, imagine what American football would be like today, if the NCAA hadn't insisted on pretending it was all-amateur for a century and a half.)
Minnesota isn't in a good spot right now. In the past three weeks, they've lost to the worst team in MLS (Sporting KC) and the worst team in Mexico (FC Juárez). But there is reason to believe - laid out by Dan Wade here at Call Up A Storm - that maybe things aren't as bad as the results indicate.
That's certainly what the Loons themselves are clinging to.
"We've said along the way that there's been some good performances we haven't got results in," said head coach Cameron Knowles. "Certainly there's moments we can point to that we'd want back, whether those are individual mistakes or even collective organization. But, again, we have a really good group... we have a locker room that we believe in, and we continue to work."
Veteran midfielder Wil Trapp says that the Loons just need to stick to the plan. "When we stay on script, we're a team that can compete with anyone," he said. "When we go off script, we are a very average team. I mean, I think that's the reality of our situation."
Trapp sounded like a coach when he laid out the plan for a game against a team like Tigres. "They have attacking quality, and [it's about] recognizing how we can combat that with our style, in terms of defending in solid blocks, transitioning in the moments, and then living the attack while we can," he said. "When we get up there, it's not rushing decisions or getting nervous about this is our one and only attempt. It's being patient and confident when we do finally win the ball and transition into their end, that we can create chances."
If that sounds like the same kind of thing that former manager Eric Ramsay used to say all the time... well, I don't think that's a coincidence. Ramsay was convinced that defend-to-attack was the best way for the Loons to be competitive, and the squad hasn't changed significantly since his departure. Leaning into that style - evolving it, perhaps, but leaning into it - is probably the best way forward for Minnesota.
Big Ten not big believers in Minnesota
The Gopher women's soccer team finished 15th in the Big Ten last season*, and the conference preseason poll isn't being much more kind about their chances this year; Minnesota's tabbed for 14th this season.
*Siri, read me a sentence that would have seemed entirely absurd in my childhood.
Three Gophers made the preseason conference awards watchlists: goalkeeper Sarah Martin, who played every minute of 2025; midfielder Taylor Heimerl, who started 16 of 17 games; and forward Caroline Birdsell, who tied for second on the squad with four goals last season.
All three are fourth-year players, which we're yet to figure out for sure whether we're supposed to call "seniors" or "redshirt juniors" or just "fourth years, like Harry Potter" or what, in the new five-years-for-all college sports framework.
The Summit League hasn't released its own polls yet, so no word on the other D-1 teams in the area, the men and women from St. Thomas. Incredibly, the Gophers open the season against NDSU in less than a week.
Rizvanovich, USA one win away from title game
Loons goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich and the USA U-20 team are into the semifinals of the Concacaf U-20 Championships. The squad beat Guatemala 3-1 in the quarterfinals, dominating the game after going down 1-0 (the first goal Rizvanovich has allowed in the tournament.)
The USA plays Costa Rica Friday afternoon, with Mexico against Canada to follow. If all goes according to expectations, Rizvanovich will end up with a useful experience for any aspiring American soccer player: having to play Mexico, for a title, in front of a hostile crowd full of Mexico fans.
