Loons respond quickly on home turf to earn draw with Real Salt Lake
Minnesota United took another point earned from Saturday's 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake while knowing full well it's also another two points missed at home.
Winners 1-0 in their last two MLS games at Portland and against Houston at Allianz Field, the Loons swapped first-half goals three minutes apart from a Real Salt Lake team that arrived in 11th place but now has only lost one in its past 10 games in MLS and U.S. Open Cup play.
The Loons now are 5-5-4 overall, 1-1-4 at home and 4-4-0 on the road after Saturday's draw after attacker Bongokuhle Hlongwane created the tying goal, an RSL own goal in the 31st minute.
Afterward, Loons veteran defender Michael Boxall was asked if Saturday's game was the old point gained or two points lost scenario.
"Definitely two dropped," Boxall said. "We have to be better. We must be the worst points per games at home. These are games we should be winning. They had maybe two shots on goal. We need to be creating more in the final third. In front of our fans, we expect more."
The Loons outdid RSL on shots on target 3-2 before a Memorial Day weekend audience that was the biggest this season and third biggest all time, 19,912.
The Loons have played the New York Red Bulls, Vancouver and Dallas all to draws at Allianz Field and lost to Orlando City. The Vancouver draw came on the game's last kick. The Orlando City loss came on a late-game goal.
"I always say I'm never disappointed taking anything from a game," Loons coach Adrian Heath said. "I thought we might have done enough to have won it."
Those 1-0 victories over Portland and Houston earned them six points in their last two games of MLS play. Add Saturday's singular point and you get seven.
"If you told me three games ago that we'd get seven points from these three games, I'd have taken it from the run we were on at that particular time," Heath said. "I'd rather look at the positives than the negatives."
BOXSCORE: Loons 1, Real Salt Lake 1
The positives include a long season that offers more opportunity to win at home. The negatives include points lost at home that are piling up.
"Well, they do," Heath said. "But we could have taken nothing from this evening. Our home record isn't as good as we would have liked at this moment in time. This has normally been where we get most of our points from. When you consider we've won four games on the road already this year, it's probably going to be a record for us this year, I'd think. If we can turn draws into victories, looking back we could have taken a bit more out of those games. But hey, we'll just keep moving on, moving forward."
The Loons played on again without injured midfielder Robin Lod (knee surgery) and two-time MLS All Star Emanuel Reynoso, who participated in the early parts of Thursday training but whom Heath called still likely weeks away from being fit enough to play.
Lod attended the game on crutches.
Defender Kemar Lawrence left the game in the 68th minute because of what Heath called a "niggling" hamstring issue. Heath subbed recently acquired Sang Bin Jeong into the game for him and move starter Joseph Rosales in the attacking midfield back to Lawrence's spot.
The Loons lone goal Saturday came on what officially was determined an own goal after Hlongwane banged a short, sharp-angled shot past RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath in the 31st minute.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Jefferson Savarino had scored the night's first goal in the 28th minute, his second goal this week for a team that Heath on Friday likened to a tooth ache because it just never goes away.
The visitors remained a threat right through second-half stoppage time, even after they had to swap goalkeepers at halftime. Zac MacMath was removed after he had been hit in the head during a collision, replaced by 18-year-old Gavin Beavers.
"I don't think it matters who is in goal, we need to be testing them," Boxall said. "And when you bring on the number two, who's younger, who's inexperienced, you need to throw a bit more at them than we did tonight."
